Aldo B. Martin Presents: The Reclamation

"An audience is in some sense timeless...an artist must trust his audience, and know that his audience trusts him and he cannot cheat that invisible one or two or multitude of people.  Between him...and that audience, there is an unspoken bond, an unspoken promise not to betray..."    - James Baldwin

Stay updated on Aldo's current and future projects by signing up for his Newsletter
Other Podcasts by Aldo B. Martin:
Finding James Baldwin: The Magpie Years
Jammin' on the One
The Fatherhood Project
YAL...

My thoughts on the word cult.  

Stay updated on Aldo's current and future projects by signing up for his Newsletter
Other Podcasts by Aldo B. Martin:
Finding James Baldwin: The Magpie Years
Jammin' on the One
The Fatherhood Project
YALD. The Podcast
So...Tell Me About Your Podcast

To get in touch with Aldo, you can find him on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook

Today we speak with Dr. Patrick Knapp, PhD who, along with is wife, Heidi Knapp, CLC, runs an organization called Becoming Free where they "assist people to better understand and recover from their unique harmful religious or spiritual experiences and  the painful relational dynamics of family estrangement."  Their goal is "to support people to process their abusive experiences for improved insight, emotional growth, relational healing and spiritual development."  They believe that this can be  "accomplished through life-recovery coaching, periodic support and recovery groups, and various online and in-person educational resources.”

Dr. Knapp is also the author of “Understa...

Today we speak with Alan Allard.  Alan was a psychotherapist in private practice for 12 years in the Chicago suburbs. Since 2005 he has been a coach and is an expert in helping abuse and trauma victims take ownership of their life and begin to thrive. He works with clients who have experienced sexual abuse, abusive relationships, adverse childhood experiences, and especially spiritual and religious abuse.

More specifically, Alan has spent many years as a therapist or coach to members of the ICOC or similar religious organizations.  It should also be mentioned that he was a member of the IC...

In February 2003, the Henry Kriete Letter was released.  He titled it "Honest to God."  The letter's impact was immediate.  Aldo has always wondered why the letter had such an impact.  "Honest to God" was not the first time that criticisms of the church were penned, published, and distributed.  However, those writings did not have the same impact that the letter did.  Why?  Aldo concludes that the reason for the immediate impact of the letter was due to "our level of indoctrination."   Aldo asserts that had Henry Kriete not been a standing evangelist with the organization, his letter would not have had...

Long before the Henry Kriete Letter was delivered to the hands of ICOC members around the globe, the brothers and sisters of the London Church of Christ set the table.   The regular disciples of that church began to speak up about the injustices that they’ve experienced.  It seems that they did so because they wanted to preserve and protect the church that they loved from continuing their harmful practices.   They held open forums and created the working groups.  Today, we are going to hear from three men who were present at one of these meetings.  The three of them sa...

Shortly before the release of Henry Kriete's letter in early  2003, the London Church of Christ experienced an upheaval.  The members of the London Church of Christ spoke up and against the systemic failures of their congregation.  As a result, members of the London Church of Christ formed a "Working Group."  The "Working Group" was comprised of paid staff members and unpaid members of their church.  They were tasked with addressing the issues of the church and to create a path moving forward.  As these meetings took place, notes, or minutes, were taken at these meetings.  Elena and Aldo got a hold...

The "Discipling Dilemma" by Dr. Flavil Yeakley Jr, is at the crux of season 3.  Christina, Chris T, Jenn, and Matthew met with Aldo to discuss their views on the book.  The five of them all joined the church in different years.  In addition they also represent different parts of the church; London 1988, North Carolina 1990, New York City 1995 and 2000, Los Angeles 2001.  

Some of the topics raised in the book and discussed on this episode:
- The ICOC resembling a multi level marketing system.
- "The Discipling Dilemma" finding good qualities in the ICOC
- Members conf...

Dr. Jerry Jones joined the Boston Movement in 1984.  Prior to joining the Boston Movement, Dr. Jones was a member of the traditional Church of Christ.  As a member of the Boston Movement, he was a bible talk leader, evangelist and was finally appointed as an elder with the Boston Church of Christ.   The leadership of the Boston Movement were more than happy to have Dr. Jones as a member of the organization as he "would bring tremendous credibility to the Movement" because "up to that time he was the Head of the Bible Department at Harding University." 

Dr...

Today, Elena and Christina take the wheel and speak with Tina.  Tina joined the London Church of Christ in 1985.  The three of them discuss the church's annual event called "Women's Day."  The trio discuss the differences and similarities between the "Women's Day" events in New York City and in London.  Tina also discusses her conversion as the creation of a family and  a series of sermons cassette tapes is what helped to convert her.  Tina also discusses joining a mission team to Lagos, Nigeria.  She tells us what is was like to join and be a part of a mission...