Episode 72: David Farrier is a journalist, documentary maker, podcaster, and the author of online newsletter Webworm. Throughout 2022, David’s investigative work on Arise Church - one of New Zealand’s largest megachurches - brought to light a toxic culture that included numerous allegations of burn out, abuse of power, toxicity and the covering up of claims of sexual harassment and assault. David’s work also opened up a larger public conversation about megachurches (and toxic church cultures in general), and the narcissism, ego and systemic abuse of power that is often present in these spaces.
In this conversation we talk with David about his own experience of Christianity as a child and young adult, why he started Webworm, the attention to bullies and narcissists in so much of his work, and why he focused in on a New Zealand megachurch. We talk through the unfolding of this story, the perspective he brings as an outsider to megachurch culture, and how hard it seems to be to get people within the church to take these claims seriously.
You can subscribe to David’s newsletter at www.webworm.co
Email us: feedback@intheshift.com
Support In the Shift: www.patreon.com/intheshift
Making "peace" with the past
Where we’ve been: a conversation on suffering, friendship, vulnerability and resisting hustle culture
Experiencing God (or not) - then and now
(Un)Certain: stories of deconstruction with Olivia Jackson
Experiencing God - Interpretation, suggestibility, and the harm of a withholding God
Experiencing God... or not
Dr Karen O’Donnell - Trauma-informed theology and post-traumatic remaking
Marc Fennell on ”The Kingdom” and the tangled web of megachurch experience
Another Level Part 1: The Megachurch Playbook [REISSUE]
Already Enough - LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the church (with Amanda Pilbrow)
Reframing Easter (live recording)
Flipping the script
’Sons and Servants’: A case study in religious conditioning
Mega-close to home
Q & A on unravelling, changing church systems, and why we’re still Christian
Healing from spiritual trauma - with Dr Hillary McBride
Moving Beyond Purity Culture - with Meg Cowan
The Impact of Purity Culture - with Meg Cowan
Celebrities for Jesus - with Katelyn Beaty
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Hello Heaven Podcast
Cast The Word
Let Me Be Frank | Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Podcast | Diocese of Bridgeport, CT
The Kingdom Power Fellowship Podcast
The Bible Recap
The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)