Brian McDowell

Brian was born into a large, non-religious family in Melbourne, Australia. When he was a teenager, several of his older siblings converted to fundamentalist Christianity.

In 1991, at 17 years old, he too converted in a Christian City Church (now c3). This was the start of almost 20 years of Pentecostal and Evangelical church involvement both as a congregant and in leadership, much of which was spent in The Assemblies of God in Australia (now the Australian Christian Churches). He attended the Assemblies of God flagship Bible College and had his sights set on formal ministry. Brian believes the first 7 or 8 years, arguably the most formative of his fundamentalist journey, were the most impactful, traumatising and left the biggest scars. 

After some years in the Baptist Union and Churches of Christ, Brian walked away from the faith in 2012 at 40 years old. Now describing himself as Agnostic, he uses his personal experiences to help others seeking to recover from the effects of toxic religious experiences.

Brian lives in Melbourne, Australia with his partner and children. In his day job, he is an experienced leader in the Health and Human Services sector.