Performing Devotion, Planning Departure

In Part 3 of my conversation with Lane Kamp, we explore the dual life of the cult during its time in Tonto Village — a small mountain town where the group integrated deeply into the community while privately maintaining layers of spiritual control and unspoken rules.

Lane, now an adult with his own family, describes what it was like to live under that public-private split. The charter school had winning chess and basketball teams. The church’s businesses — from construction and frozen treats to law and accounting — were seen as legitimate and even admirable. But beneath that positive reputation was a powerful pressure to conform.

In this episode, Lane shares how he once faked  “trancing” to meet expectations, and how he slowly began to recognize the cracks in the system — the subtle contradictions, the lawsuits used as defense, and the quiet conversations that led to the earliest version of a plan to leave.

This episode captures the moment when performance starts to falter… and truth begins to rise.