Crimes, Killers, Cults and Beer: A True Crime Podcast · Dark Pass Productions

148 Cult! Jane Whaley and the Word of Faith Fellowship

·1 hr 49 min·5 clips

Audio recordings capture people shrieking, begging for Jesus, while children are forced into the prayer sessions.

The show opens by flagging a painful bit of timing: the episode was recorded on April 19, 2025, six days before Todd Teal died. That hangs over the episode even as the hosts settle into their usual rhythm. Kevin, the history goon, returns as the guest, and the banter starts right away. The hosts trade jokes, shirt commentary, and podcast updates before getting to the cult. Once the subject lands, the conversation turns to the Word of Faith Fellowship and Jane Whaley's grip on it. The center of the discussion is a new-member handout that reads like a threat dressed up as a welcome packet. The hosts react to how many rules it contains and how much it asks of people. One of the sharpest details is the demand for a 10 percent tithe on gross earnings, plus offerings. Another is the expectation that Jane will review financial records from time to time. They also note that cash can't just be tossed in casually; it has to go in an envelope with the member's name on it. That detail makes the whole operation feel more invasive. The conversation then moves into the group's bans on alcohol. No drinking. No cooking with alcohol. No root beer, either. The hosts react like normal people confronted with a strange purity ladder. Their jokes do not soften the material so much as make it easier to sit with. The episode keeps coming back to the same basic point: this is a system of rules and oversight, not a relaxed spiritual community. The loose, profane delivery keeps it from feeling academic. At the same time, the roughness leaves room for the hosts to sound genuinely appalled when a rule crosses from odd into oppressive. The discussion never turns clinical or detached. It stays personal, irritated, and often funny. That balance gives the episode its shape. The cult is ridiculous in places, but the damage underneath is never hard to miss. The closing stretch keeps that mix intact, ending on the same irreverent, combative note that runs through the whole show. It is a story about coercion, vanity, and regulation, told by people who refuse to pretend the madness deserves a straight face.

As heard by us

A cult episode that stays funny without losing the rot underneath.

Crimes, Killers, Cults, and Beer uses the Word of Faith Fellowship material to frame control as belonging, and it leans hardest on the new-member handout, the tithe checks, and the no-alcohol rules.

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Why you'd press play

A cult rulebook, a blunt teardown, and plenty of side-eye.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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