By Tracy Simmons | FāVS News
Peter Bell, producer of the “Sons of Patriarchy” podcast, and reporter Sarah Stankorb will host a live recording and Q&A session at the Kenworthy Theater in Moscow, Idaho, on Friday (Aug. 8) at 4 p.m. — deliberately timed to coincide with Christ Church’s Grace Agenda conference.
Bell’s podcast, which launched in October 2024, focuses on exposing what he describes as abuse and Christian nationalism within Christ Church Moscow and the broader Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches denomination.
Christ Church in Moscow, led by Wilson for more than 40 years, boasts about 3,000 congregants in the town of 25,000 and operates what critics describe as “a communal ecosystem” of affiliated businesses and institutions throughout Moscow’s downtown.
Bell said the event is strategically planned to “crash” Grace Agenda, which he described as “the biggest recruiting conference” for the church. The Grace Agenda conference runs Aug. 8-9 and features seminars, concerts and community events throughout Moscow, all themed around C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series.
Sons of Patriarchy Live Q&A
The Sons of Patriarchy event will feature a live podcast recording with Bell and Stankorb discussing her upcoming book about women leaving churches — women who have been “hurt by church, hurt in church,” according to Bell. He also said the book relays how these women “deal with this, stats behind it [and] best practices for leaving/resources.” This will be followed by an unfiltered Q&A session.
“Any question that comes in, we’ll do our best to answer, or provide resources,” Bell said.
Stankorb has emerged as a key figure in exposing Christ Church Moscow’s culture. Her 2021 VICE article detailed allegations of abuse within the church community, including accounts of marital rape and spiritual abuse, under the headline “Inside the Church That Preaches ‘Wives Need to Be Led with a Firm Hand.”
“The article opened many eyes to the church’s teachings and practices,” Bell said.
Stankorb, who identifies as agnostic while Bell is Christian, brings extensive journalistic work on the subject.
Bell said they have multiple objectives for the visit.
The Moscow visit
“We want to meet the people we’ve talked about, talked to and see how they’re doing since all this has come out,” he said.
Bell also said he wants to “plant seeds of disillusionment in the Moscow community, especially with Kirkers and those in the church by showing there’s a bigger and brighter world outside of this that has better answers to the questions you’re asking.”
He said he hopes Wilson will reach out and invite him for a discussion, though he did not notify Wilson in advance about their visit.
This is the Sons of Patriarchy’s first visit to Moscow, and Bell plans to spend the weekend in the area throughout Grace Agenda. The crew plans to return for future visits.
“This is not the only visit. We want to make this as much of a regular thing as we can,” Bell said.
Wilson has previously dismissed the podcast, telling media he expected “Sons of Patriarchy” to consist of “recycled (and refuted) defamation and slander.”
Bell said Wilson knows they exist and has mentioned the podcast in a few blog posts, making jokes about it. However, he has not engaged directly with the producers.
The free Sons of Patriarchy event at the Kenworthy Theater has 250-300 seats available, though Bell expects those to go fast. Overflow viewing will be available at Cafe Artista via YouTube livestream. A donor paid for the venue space.
Free tickets go live Monday (Aug. 4), on EventBrite.
