Joy Vetterlein - The Nomadic Soul

Beyond the Surface

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.

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?”

Links

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Unveiling the Layers - Navigating Religious Trauma and the Anger Within
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Anxiety's Grip: Unpacking the Search for Certainty in Faith