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Joy Vetterlein – The Nomadic Soul

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Sam

Joy Vetterlein Podcast Episode

Who is Joy?

Joy Vetterlein is a spiritual coach and writer who is engaged in reimagining life after faith. As a pastor’s kid, a good Christian girl, a Bible college grad, and a former worship pastor, she now helps post-evangelicals to find freedom from oppressive religious programming and to discover their own unique spiritual path. Joy lives in Orange County, California, with her husband and two children.

My thoughts..

Joy has been for the past 3 years and will probably will always be, my ‘Deconstruction Queen’; and the way she articulates not just her own experience but those of others is warm, gentle, and freeing. I am certain that you will love this episode as much as I loved recording it. Joy shares with realness and authenticity and ultimately is the epitome of her name – joyful.

Episode Summary

  • Joy shares about the family that she was born into; describing them as ‘spiritual seekers’ who then became born-again Christians.
  • We discuss what being ‘all in’ looked like and Joy then shares what it felt like in that Christian bubble.
  • Joy shares about the anxiety felt around needing to follow God’s plan or around the saviour complex.
  • We explore the layers of what it is like to be a part of the church as a woman.
  • Joy discusses the impact of external authority had on her own intuition and the self-spiritual bypassing that occurred.
  • I ask Joy how she went from good Christian girl to being a Pastor. An experience she says kick started her inner deconstruction.
  • Joy shares what her experience was like being a Pastor and beginning to see the cracks within the church.
  • Joy shares about how she left the church; and how it lacked empathy and humanity.
  • We explore the role that identity plays in losing her pastoral role; and how the 5-year anniversary has brought up all the emotions.
  • Joy shares around the post-trauma anxiety around the fear of running into former church community members.
  • We explore the need to create new meaning throughout deconstruction where there is a lot of anxiety.
  • Joy shares about what her personal deconstruction journey has looked like and the freedom that she now had in asking all the questions.
  • I ask Joy what it was like trying to find a new or preferred sense of spirituality and why she felt like she couldn’t look at it for a long time.
  • We discuss what brings joy and peace to Joy now, in the present day.
  • Finally, Joy answers the question “what would you say to someone fresh in their deconstruction?”