Where Each of the Duggar Kids Stands With the IBLP Church (2024)

Several members of the Duggar family have spoken out about their standing with the Institute in Basic Life Principles church (IBLP) over the years.The former reality TV family’s connection to the controversial church — founded by conservative Christian minister Bill Gothard in 1961 — was explored in the bombshell Prime Video docuseries Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets, which premiered in June 2023. In the series, the family’s cousin Amy Duggar recalled hearing the phrase “be fruitful and multiply” and being required to follow IBLP’s modesty rules throughout her childhood.Jill Duggar — the fourth eldest of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 19 children — also claimed that IBLP parents often used corporal punishment against their kids from an early age. The show explored the concept of “Blanket Training,” in which children are placed on a blanket with a singular toy nearby and are faced with consequences — sometimes physical — if they try to touch it.Gothard, stepped down from IBLP in 2014 after being accused of sexual harassment and abuse by multiple women, some of whom were minors at the time of their incidents. He has since denied the allegations against him.Scroll down to see where each of the Duggar kids stands with IBLP today:

Joshua was an active member of IBLP prior to his child p*rnography scandal. He was convicted of possessing and receiving child p*rnography in December 2021 and was sentenced to 151 months in prison in May 2022. In Touch reported in July 2022 that Joshua will only serve 10 years of his over 12-year sentence.

In the Shiny Happy People docuseries, family friends Jim Holt and Bobye Holt claimed that Jim Bob and Michelle kept Josh’s past molestation incidents a secret while he was dating their eldest daughter, Kaeleigh, in 2003. Jim Bob reported Josh to a state trooper who did not take immediate action as it was revealed the trooper was a friend of his.

It is currently unknown whether he, his wife Anna Duggar, and their seven children are still active members of IBLP.

The eldest Duggar daughter sported jeans while hanging out with her mom and sisters one month after Shiny Happy People’s release, which goes against IBLP’s clothing guidelines for women. Jana has sported pants and shorts several times over the past few years, though she has not publicly commented on her standing with the IBLP church.

In a September 2023 YouTube livestream, Jill addressed whether she was concerned about Jana being able to move on from their parents and IBLP. “I don’t know,” she responded. “I try not to meddle too much in my siblings’ lives. I don’t know where they’re all at.”

Jill continued: “I’ll let them tell their story or figure it out themselves. I think anyone that’s grown up in IBLP, it’s definitely a process, and it’s one that’s very hard to come away from and kind of sort through.”

Like his twin sister Jana, John-David’s wife Abbie has sported pants in several pics on the couple’s shared Instagram page. The couple — who share kids Grace and Charlie — have primarily kept their personal lives out of the public eye and have not commented on their status with IBLP.

Jill has become one of the most outspoken Duggar children when it comes to her ups and downs with her family and IBLP. Following the premiere of Shiny Happy People, the Counting On alum responded to a comment reminding her that children across the world — not just in IBLP — are “neglected.” She told the user that she wasn’t “minimizing or comparing my trauma to other people’s trauma,” adding, “I also realize nobody is perfect (myself included. My love for my family’s [sic] hasn’t changed … that’s not what this is about.”

She and her husband, Derick Dillard, and their three sons, Israel, Samuel and Frederick, are not members of IBLP.

Jessa revealed that she and her husband Ben Seewald — with whom she shares kids Spurgeon, Henry, Ivy and Fern — “do not” belong to IBLP in a September 2023 Instagram Story Q&A. Ben currently serves as a pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Arkansas.

Ahead of the release of her 2023 memoir, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear, Jinger told Us Weekly that her upbringing in IBLP was “cult-like in many ways.” In the book, Jinger wrote that felt like a “Stepford wife” during her first year living with her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, in Texas, as IBLP taught her to not express her opinions in order to keep her partner “faithful.”

“He gently encouraged me to speak my mind and let him know if I didn’t agree with something — and to not apologize for that,” she shared. “He didn’t want me to perform or be fake. He wanted me to be myself. More than once he said, ‘Jing, you’re not a Stepford wife. The first time he said that, I asked, ‘What’s a Stepford wife?’ When he explained the concept, I realized … He wanted me to think for myself and figure out what my convictions were and what I liked and disliked.”

The couple and their daughters, Felicity and Evangeline, are not members of IBLP.

Joseph shares three kids — Garrett, Addison and Brooklyn — with his wife, Kendra. The duo often share pics of their children via Instagram but have not publicly commented on their standing with the IBLP church.

Josiah and his wife, Lauren, have also kept their lives out of the spotlight in recent years and have not addressed their relationship with IBLP. The two share two daughters named Bella and Daisy.

While answering fan questions in a September 2023 YouTube video, Joy-Anna and her husband, Austin Forsyth, claimed they “never” were a part of IBLP during their time as a couple. “Once we got married, we started distancing ourselves from those functions,” Austin explained. “We’d always talk about when we were dating that we weren’t gonna use their literature and stuff like that … Just kinda distanced ourselves.”

Joy-Anna — who tied the knot with Austin in 2017 — noted that they followed “Jesus alone.” The pair share kids Gideon, Evelyn and Gunner.

Like some of the Duggar women, Jedidiah’s wife Katey has been photographed wearing pants in a handful of Instagram pictures. However, it is unknown whether the two — who share kids Truett and Nora — are still active members of IBLP.

Similar to his twin brother Jedidiah, Jeremiah’s current standing with IBLP is unknown. He shares his daughter Brynley with his wife, Hannah.

While Jason has not publicly addressed the Shiny Happy People docuseries or his relationship with IBLP, he seemingly remains close with many of his siblings as he has posted pics with James, Jinger, Jana, Justin and more via Instagram.

James subtly showed his parents support following the release of Shiny Happy People by wishing Jim Bob a Happy Father’s Day in June 2023. “Happy Father's Day to the man who has always been my biggest supporter,” he captioned a slideshow of Instagram pics. “Pops, Thank you for your endless sacrifices, your belief in me, you always pointing me to Christ, and the countless memories we've made together. I am grateful to call you my dad, and I'm proud to be your child. Regardless of what anyone may say, your the best dad I in the world! Today, and every day, I celebrate you and the incredible father you are. Love you a Ton! ❤️ #FathersDay #bestdadever.”

Despite the post, it is unknown whether James still belongs to the IBLP church.

Justin’s wife, Claire, posed for an Instagram pic with her husband while wearing jeans in honor of their first wedding anniversary in February 2022. The couple have not revealed whether or not they belong to IBLP.

The five youngest Duggar children — most of whom are still minors — have remained out of the public eye following 19 Kids and Counting’s conclusion in 2015.

Olivia Crist, codirector and executive producer of Shiny Happy People, previously told In Touch that “there’s still a lot of family members who are either officially still in IBLP or are associated with the belief system.”

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