Burning Butterflies

Chapter 7, Episode 6

Thursday Night Service has been nothing but worship and small groups for a few weeks now and Melissa and Froggy are leading a study. Their plan? Read through the Bible as married couples. A plan that is simple in premise, but difficult in execution. Froggy's grandparents continually try to have deep discussions on Biblical marriage (which is not what the study is about). And Froggy who is supposed to be the lea...

Chapter 7, Episode 5

The men have completed the eldership training and are ready to be presented to the body as elders. But there's one glaring issue. There is a clear difference between the men that serve the body that will become elders and those that will become elders that don't serve the body. Also, Tom wasn't planning on seeking the input of the entire church family. In a prayer meeting, Amanda speaks up to bring up red flags...

Chapter 7, Episode 4

With the pandemic, the ladies can't travel up the mountain for retreat in 2020. With many women having pre-paid, Come As You Are needs to come up with something quick before ladies start asking for refunds. The solution? A conference! This will be Melissa's women's ministry debut, leading along side Brandi and Amanda will not be involved at all. Well, at least that was the plan.

Chapter 7, Episode 3

Join Melissa and Amanda as they discuss Melissa's marriage after Froggy returned from helping his brother during COVID. The time away gives Melissa clarity and she begins to plot her escape. However, she still has to "do church." 

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Chapter 7, Episode 2

Tom thought forming an eldership would solve his leadership problems—but instead, it created new ones. These men are about to complete their eldership training and will become official leaders in the church. The problem? Ministries already have leaders. People who’ve been doing the work faithfully for years are now being told they have to answer to someone else.

Enter Tom’s brilliant solution: the Color Levels....

Chapter 7, Episode 1

In the debut episode of our final chapter, the ladies pick up where they left off in chapter 6. Amanda was yelled at and called inept for not sending Tom's mother in law a text message. Amanda intends to confront Tom, pointing out that he has lost his way and Come As You Are isn't living up to it's purposes. But Tom takes Amanda's words as "affirmation" that he has heard from the Lord. 

Chapter 6, Episode 13 - Chapter Finale

As tensions build in the church against Barry, people start asking questions. Barry and Miss America seem to have changed their narrative and people are taking notice. At the same time, Amanda is starting to question if Tom is someone worth following. 

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Chapter 6, Episode 12

Come As You Are finally gets cleared from the county to reopen from the Covid shutdown and who does Tom choose to make huge decisions? Barry! The man who has not even been at the church for a year, the man who hasn't taken any of the onboarding classes, the man who keeps changing his past. And in the midst of it all, Amanda finds the backbone to finally stand up to Tom and call out his questionable decisions. 

Chapter 6, Episode 11

Throughout the pandemic, Froggy travels out of state to work for his brother. This time apart is not only good for Froggy (who is finding fulfillment in his work) but also for Melissa (who is getting her groove back without the abusive cloud of Froggy looming over her). 

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Chapter 6, Episode 10

They're making Barry a pastor, so how does his debut go? And what is that smell coming from the church office? But there's no time to worry about any of that, we have a VBS to put on in the middle of a pandemic!

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Chapter 6, Episode 9

Some weeks blur together. This one? Felt like a lifetime.

In this episode, the ladies double-check the receipts, because there’s no way all of this chaos unfolded in just seven days… right? Wrong. In the middle of a glo...

Chapter 6, Episode 8

Amanda walks into the church office ready to quit. She’s exhausted, disillusioned, and done. But before she can even get to Tom, she’s intercepted by Charlette who begs her not to leave. To Charlette, it’s simple: Amanda’s just burned out. The solution? A vacation.

But this is 2020. ...

Chapter 6, Episode 7

The mandates loosen very slightly and suddenly, gathering in groups of 10 or fewer becomes the new spiritual loophole. Masks on, six feet apart, and… lights, camera, live stream! In this episode, the ladies recount the surreal phase of "10 people or Less."

Tom is elated—he finally has a live audience again, no matter how small. Amanda? She’s just relieved she no longer has to sneak into the building in the dead...

Chapter 6, Episode 6

In this episode, the ladies take us back to the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when fear and uncertainty were real—but inside the church, they were dismissed as weakness or lack of faith. Tom publicly reassured the congregation that they would “honor the authorities” because it was biblical, presenting himself as obedient and humble. But behind closed doors, it was a different story: mocking those who ...

Chapter 6, Episode 5

While the men were buzzing about the formation of an eldership, the women were… well, doing everything else. In this episode, the ladies dig into what they were actually up to while the boys were playing church politics. Plus: the shady origins of the phrase “you girls,” how it was used to diminish and what is the world is a red tent and why was i...

Chapter 6, Episode 4

Everyone who was asking problematic questions has left, but now how can Tom keep those pesky doubts from rising up again? We can have elders!

But we're not like a normal church here at Come As You Are! No! We don't do things just because that is how other churches do things. We will have elders on our own terms (aka Tom's Terms!)

Bur...

Chapter 6, Episode 3

As Amanda reels from the accusation that she is the reason people are leaving the church, the pressure mounts. She’s angry, confused, and desperate for clarity—but the one thing she’s not allowed to do is sit down and talk to anyone about it. In this episode, we unpack what was the t...

Chapter 6, Episode 2

Everyone take a sign of relief that the banquet went smoothly. Maybe, just maybe all of this staging a coup stuff will blow over. Or maybe not. 

What happens when Tom is called out before Sunday service? What was really said behind closed doors and why is it Brandi and Amanda's fault?

Burning Butterflies is a listener supported podca...