The Legacy of Abuse Podcast

Not everything that glitters is gold. People often wonder: How does someone end up at Christian Centre anyway? In this episode, we sit down with a former parent and congregant, Jackie, who once brought her family into the church and enrolled her children in the school. She shares her firsthand experience as an adult navigating the community, what initially attracted her, and what she learned after getting a closer look behind the curtain.
 
Join the Class Action: https://scharfsteinlaw.com/class-action/
Website and Socials: https://www.legacyofabuse.com/
Contact Us: legacyofabusepodcast@gmail.com

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.
 
Join the Class Action: https://scharfsteinlaw.com/class-action/
Links and Socials: https://linktr.ee/legacyofabusepodcast
Contact Us: legacyofabusepodcast@gmail.com

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: legacyofabusepodcast@gmail.com

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: legacyofabusepodcast@gmail.com

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: legacyofabusepodcast@gmail.com