Cheryl Bawtinheimer

Cheryl Bawtinheimer (born Cheryl Hope) is a Canadian activist, media producer, and whistleblower known for her advocacy regarding the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC), a high-control religious organization formerly known as the Exclusive Brethren. She is a prominent critic of the group's internal practices and the co-founder of the Get a Life podcast, which documents allegations of systemic abuse and coercive control within the church.

Early life and exit from PBCC Bawtinheimer was born and raised within the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. She has described the environment of her upbringing as a "psychological cult" where members were subjected to intense surveillance and social isolation. She has stated that her exit was motivated by the church's restrictive doctrines and her personal experiences of trauma. Following her departure, she was subject to "withdrawal," a form of shunning practiced by the PBCC based on their "Doctrine of Separation," which severs contact between former members and their families still within the church.

Whistleblowing and advocacy In 2022, Bawtinheimer began publicly sharing her experiences following the release of the documentary Breaking Brethren. She filed an extensive police report with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), detailing allegations of historic sexual abuse and sex trafficking involving a church elder during her childhood.

Bawtinheimer is the co-producer and editor of Get a Life Podcast: Ex-Cult Conversations, a podcast launched in October 2022. The podcast has been cited as a primary resource for church "insiders" seeking to leave the organization. Her presentation, titled "It’s Our Turn to Speak," examined the role of digital media and podcasts in breaking the information isolation of current church members. This pattern of legal contestation has been described by academics as a "cyberspace propaganda war" or a "modern Hydra," where litigation is used to mute criticism and protect internal documents. The lawsuit alleges that Bawtinheimer intentionally infringed on the RRT's copyrighted stylized bird logo in her YouTube channel Get a Life Podcast.

Media features Bawtinheimer’s story has been the subject of several investigative reports, including the episode "Big Brethren" on ABC's Four Corners, which investigated the financial and political influence of PBCC leader Bruce Hales; as well as media coverage in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and CTV News.