MOSCOW (ID)
The Lewiston Tribune [Lewiston ID]
August 9, 2025
By Anthony Kuipers
Sons of Patriarchy hosts live episode at Moscow theater
MOSCOW — A podcast that has investigated allegations of abuse in Christ Church visited Moscow on Friday to record a live episode.
A crowd of people nearly filled the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, located just two doors from Christ Church’s downtown office, to watch the Sons of Patriarchy podcast recording.
Sons of Patriarchy host Peter Bell interviewed author and journalist Sarah Stankorb about her work studying female survivors of abuse in churches across the country.
Bell told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News the idea for Sons of Patriarchy started three years ago when a think tank that was examining Christ Church Pastor Doug Wilson reached out to him about starting a podcast on the subject.
Bell has a background in podcasting and theology.
“So I put all that together, got connected with some survivors from the church and said, ‘I think I can do this. I think there’s something here,’ ” he said.
Sons of Patriarchy, which began nine months ago, has a series of episodes focused on abuse allegations from women in the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches that Wilson founded.
Bell said his team intentionally scheduled this trip to Moscow the same weekend as Grace Agenda, which is a series of events hosted by Christ Church.
“We wanted Moscow during Grace Agenda to be more known for Sons of Patriarchy than Christ Church,” Bell said.
During the episode, Stankorb spoke about her books that examine women across the country who suffered abuse within their churches and found a way to leave their congregation. One of those books, “Disobedient Women” was published in 2023 and she is currently working on her second book that explores similar topics.
She said many of these women felt isolated and believed they would go to hell or lose custody of their children if they left the church. Stankorb said there is no easy solution for leaving a church, “but I can say brave people have done it,” she said.
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Stankorb said the women who decided to talk to her are doing so because they are trying to save someone else.
Following the interview, both Bell and Stankorb encouraged Moscow residents to organize their efforts if they oppose Christ Church and want to help abuse survivors. They called on other local churches to speak out against Christ Church as well.
“If our theology means anything, it’s got to mean something to those being hurt,” he said.
Bell encouraged people to come together even if they don’t share political or religious beliefs.
“Say yes to everybody and then grow together,” he said.
Bell told the Daily News he hoped that people who attended Friday’s event would feel inspired to speak up.
“We just stuck our noses out there and we’re telling other people, ‘Hey, you can do it too,’ ” he said.
Bell told the crowd that he wants to come back to Moscow in the future with the hope of scaring Wilson.
“We’re the bully of the bullies,” he said.
Friday’s podcast is already available for download. More information can be found at sonsofpatriarchy.com.
Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.