The Legacy of Abuse Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Jude and Mike, a couple whose journey through three high‑control Christian communities began with the charismatic Light of the World movement and led them into the covenant‑based structure of People of Praise. They describe communal living, financial surrender, strict headship hierarchies, and the pressure to shape every major life decision - dating, housing, work - around spiritual authority.
Their story reveals how seemingly vibrant renewal movements can slide into systems of control, shunning, and expectations of obedience. As Jude and Mike recount the move of more than 100 members to Saskatoon and the painful realization that the community they joined didn't want them, listeners see early patterns that would later intensify inside Saskatoon Christian Center.
 
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This week we're diving into the wild story of Donald Howard, the man behind Accelerated Christian Education, also known as the curriculum that tried to teach generations of kids that dinosaurs and humans hung out together like it was a prehistoric group project.
We break down the doctrine, the beliefs, and the very creative version of science and history baked into the program that spread through Christian schools around the world. Then we ask the obvious question: what actually happened to the guy who built the whole thing? Because when you start pulling on that thread, the story gets… let's just say biblically messy.
 
Join the Class Action: https://scharfsteinlaw.com/class-action/
Links and Socials: https://linktr.ee/legacyofabusepodcast
Contact Us: [email protected]

Alumni packed their cars and headed to Regina for their day in court as our stayed civil action was argued before the Court of Appeal. Our legal team: Grant Scharfstein, Samuel Edmondson, Michael Scharfstein, and Christine Libner, faced counsel for the church and the government. 
During the hearing, the Chief Justices of the Court of Appeal characterized the rationale for staying the civil suit due to a supposed "change in the litigation landscape" as "abstract theory and speculation". 
Tune in as we share our ongoing saga with the legal system. 
 
Join the Class Action: https://scharfsteinlaw.com/class-action/
Links and Socials: https://linktr.ee/legacyofabusepodcast
Contact Us: [email protected]

After decades of referring politely to what was called the volleyball incident, justice finally set the record straight. It was not an "incident." It was an assault on the volleyball team.
For years, euphemisms softened the story. Language blurred responsibility. Memory did the careful tiptoe that institutions often prefer. In this episode, we unpack how the truth was buried in plain sight, and what it means when a long-whispered reality is finally spoken out loud. This is about accountability, about survivors, and about a last minute guilty plea.
 
Join the Class Action: https://scharfsteinlaw.com/class-action/
Links and Socials: https://linktr.ee/legacyofabusepodcast
Contact Us: [email protected]

This week's episode is unhinged in the most revealing way. We're talking to an alum who was pregnant in high school at the school, because apparently "Christian education" meant shame with a side of silence. And in a plot twist absolutely no one should be surprised by, the woman the church advised her parents to send her to, you know, as a "solution" for a problematic child, was just convicted in criminal court for child abuse.
Turns out when an institution treats kids like liabilities instead of humans, the call is coming from inside the church.
 
Join the Class Action: https://scharfsteinlaw.com/class-action/
Links and Socials: https://linktr.ee/legacyofabusepodcast
Contact Us: [email protected]