Many former Way members are flocking to break-off organizations some of which are led by well-known and respected ex-leaders. Some retain great respect for Wierwille, while a few joke about him. Another splinter group By Fredchopin, September 3, 2021. Also former TWI here, my parents are still in it, and its causing incredible family pain, now between my older sister. Okay. And Im not sure I can completely answer your question about stepping out of line and facing consequences. Accordingly, several groups have arisen to try to meet these needs. Each year The Way had sent out hundreds of WOW (Word Over the World) Ambassadors as volunteer missionaries to cities around the world, which was its primary outreach for 25 years. Im not saying that people in the Way avoid doctors entirely, but theres definitely a sense of what counts and doesnt or that people are putting waaay too much trust in men and not in God. In that same breathe, her sister/siblings believed she was waking up and coming to her own conclusion about her situation and the life she had created with the expectation that she would removing herself as they did during that similar age period of their lives. The Cults podcast on Stitcher has a 2-part special on The Way and River Road Fellowship, which was one of the splinter groups. I did look your friend up on facebook and we have friends in common from the cult (I should probably just start a new FB to rid myself of them), which would lead me to believe it's a splinter group since the two don't typically mix. The crowd of 11,000 applauded the changes, hoping that this would help remedy the severe decline and turbulence of the past 10 years. TL;DR: the Way seems chill and relaxed on the outside but its pretty intense on a personal level. I mention this because in the athletes analogy, theres always an adversary. The figure other Christians might call the Devil the Way often calls the Adversary (lol it looks weird to write it out). Have others committed suicide? This video covers some of the deaths and suicides of former members. Oh my goodness. Wierwille exercised very little discernment in learning from others, readily accepting teachings from itinerant mystics, Christian Scientists, and spiritists. Martindale told his followers at the 1995 Rock of Ages conference that new classes were needed because The Ways opponents had attended PFAL classes and learned how to use this material against The Way. Para ms informacin o para Join now to access this Journal subscriber only content. Im not educated or enlightened by any metric, but reading that after your personal experience as well as observation grounded and solidified what you were sharing. The Way used to mail cassette tapes of the Sunday service to those "in good standing". A number of people died. Prominent ex-Way leaders took with them networks of ex-followers of TWI. OVERVIEW OF THE WAY'S SPLINTER GROUPS. One response still in print is Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth by H.A. In the 90s as home internet was starting to become a thing, and ex-Way followers were posting their experiences on message boards, I remember fellowship leaders told us to limit our time online and to not Google search (or in those days Yahoo?) Gotta run! The false apostles disguises are being pulled from their faces, and the virgins who were led astray are returning to the one true Jesus, Spirit, and gospel, and the church of Jesus Christ. Youve saved me an extensive amount of grieving. Point out that Wierwilles adultery and lying (plagiarism) mark him a false teacher, not just a teacher with failings (Matt. 5 Christopher C. Geer, The Passing of a Patriarch (Attrincham, Cheshire, U.K.: European Christian Press, n.d.), 34. The past two years have been a very unsettling time for Wayers. The Corp program was insane and I could write a huge thread just about that experience. The Way sent out 138 Disciples to 15 cities during the Rock of Ages 1995 conference, far below a peak of 3,100 WOW Ambassadors it claimed to have sent in 1982. At one point I got sick with an infectious disease that typically kills you within 48 hours. They also feel the need for teaching and fellowship with other believers. This article first appeared in the in the Ask Hank column of the Christian Research Journal, Feb 20, 2023 | Christian Articles, en Espanol, Feb 13, 2023 | Christian Articles, en Espanol. Splinter group of the Worldwide Church of God (WCoG). I want to be clear that if you think something nefarious has happened here, go with your gut. No. During WOW training at the 1994 Rock of Ages conference, however, Way leaders decided not to send WOWs, because nearly 10 percent of their Ambassadors were homosexual. These people are capable of anything. Nevertheless, The Ways situation has improved. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Brainwashing is in part convincing you that the world is evil and filled with devil spirits that are everywhere and you must be vigilant, and part CONSTANT information about the bible. The Way International has a book value of all assets over $68 million, however believers often pay a facility fee to meet as a State or Branch, or they meet in only "budget" or "free" spaces. The Corp is their leadership training program where you live on campus and attend their unaccredited "college." For instance, trustee Donald Wierwille (Victor Pauls son) confessed, I apologize for not having followed my man of God.6. Her recent suicide however was as a member in leadership. No one is going to beat you. John Lynn claims that Wierwille and at least four other trustees had sex with literally hundreds of women, many of whom Lynn and other ex-leaders have counseled personally.9 They also claim the Trustees fired long-time researcher John Schonheit for writing a brief paper summarizing the Bibles teaching against adultery. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 44, number 2 (2021). Are other families struggling to watch their loved ones involved? If the person refuses to read or hear material which exposes such errors, then take the time to obtain the primary sources which demonstrate them and ask his or her opinion of them. This article first appeared in the in the Ask Hank column of the Christian Research Journal, Feb 20, 2023 | Christian Articles, en Espanol, Feb 13, 2023 | Christian Articles, en Espanol. My splinter group was one of them. It's 2am and so I decided to reminisce in Google-land by doing a search on the The Way International; a group I was once affiliated with . (New Knoxville, OH: American Christian Press, 1972), x. as I got older I was terrified of doing something that would have me cast out because my whole life THESE were the people I knew and had history with, and it made me deeply sad to imagine suddenly being cut off from that. The leader was arrested recently as he had convinced the fellowship members to give him their eldest daughters which he physically and sexually abused for 9+ years until one girl escaped. Despite a pattern of members losing their lives to the insanity of this group, proving negligence/culpability in Court regarding a suicide is very, very difficult. Could you elaborate on the manipulation? Additionally, ex-members have on file letters and transcripts in which Way president L. Craig Martindale defends sex outside marriage in many situations. He never credited his sources, in effect lying to his readers by leading them to believe that he originated his teachings under Gods direct tutelage. That is to say, other people are nice and fine, but its only the true Believers that are truly living Godly lives. Anyways, one summer afternoon on a car ride to grandma's with a Way following family member: the tape deck had one of these Sunday service tapes start playing when they started the car. Christian can also help (ex-) Wayers through four basic steps of reorientation: 1) expose, 2) emotional reaction, 3) relearning, and 4) reconstruction. 4v$gi Children who grew into adults in the Way are another matter because it is hard to go out into the world and maybe get your own place or go to college and have your worldview challenged by people you were taught were lazy, selfish, or had an agenda. Their arguments included: women who traveled with Jesus and Paul supplied them with sex because it satisfied their legitimate needs; men have needs for sex with a variety of women and God provides for this; all things are lawful when done in faith (Rom. I was a Girl Scout as a kid and all through high school, and I devoted myself to community projects my whole life. Somewhere in the 90s someone in charge of such decisions recognized that it was probably a good idea to stop calling it twig because it sounds weird to newcomers. And we have to consider the times: inspired by peace movements and anti-war efforts. We believe and speculate it was attributed because of the known cult The Way International. Just after Wierwilles death, Geer published The Passing of a Patriarch, which is a rambling account of Geers final conversations with Wierwille shortly before his death. I'd recently read a secular book and they also blamed that. There were some other elite leadership groups in the faith (like Way Disciple that you mention) but the three I listed are the ones that most people in fellowships are expected to take. We both are still active in the remnants of one of the many splinter groups and have become the inheritors of a fellowship in limbo. In the meantime, I want to share about her thread with you. Heads up on Another Splinter off the Way International Tree. A place for discussion about cults and other new age religious movements. He taught that Jesus Christ was not resurrected bodily and will not return visibly, and that the Holy Spirit is an influence, not a personal being. 2 The Way Magazine, Nov.-Dec. 1994, 26. in English, I was well traveled as an Army wife, and never dreamed I would be embarking on events that would change my life forever. Disgusting. Your last sentence though. dagger to the heart ..internal turmoil reconciling her faith with just being a person in the world. Many have realized that they have also been falsely taught on Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and have turned to evangelical beliefs instead. My story might be pretty different compared to those of you who grew up in the 80's/90's. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 1987). SPIRIT AND TRUTH FELLOWSHIP / CHRISTIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES / JOHN LYNN. Oral Robertss The Red Thread in his Lifestyle of Gods Word. Ancient Aliens and the Bible: What the Popular Television Series Says about Extraterrestrials in Scripture, Famous for Jesus: A Review of Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church by Katelyn Beaty (Brazos Press, 2022), Famosos por Jess: Resea de Celebridades por Jess: Cmo los personajes, las plataformas y los beneficios estn perjudicando a la Iglesia por Katelyn Beaty (Brazos Press, 2022). They perpetuation of mental health that manifested in suicide with no accountability. Im going to say something rude here: my experience of adults in the Way is that they arent exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. I was isolated from my family physically because they didn't live close, and during private conversations about leadership I was told that my family didn't love me and that they could understand why because I was so horrible, but at least I had them. Could John Lynn be the undisputed king of Offshoot ministries? Ex-Wayers also charge that The Way teaches falsely on the topics of believing, abundant sharing, tithing, interpretation of tongues, and athletes of the spirit (the belief that every warfare metaphor in the Epistles should be understood as an athletic metaphor instead). When he first presented it verbally to gatherings of Way leadership (at which, John Lynn reports, he carried a large-caliber pistol for self-protection), it caused tremendous turbulence, and its content was kept out of general circulation. Im so sorry for your loss. One Scripture passage (2 Cor. Pretty sure "in good standing" meant you "tithed" over a certain amount each month. Any time I needed to see a doctor (I've had chronic health issues) I had to do it in secret and lie about where I was going, and have the bills sent to fake addresses so no one would find out. If youve seen the documentaries about Scientology or even that Nxivm sex cult this is practically a template for revenue income for these religious organizations. These classes replace the Power for Abundant Living (PFAL) classes by Way founder, Victor Paul Wierwille, who died of cancer in 1985 after losing an eye to the disease and suffering strokes. 16 Wierwille noted that acquiring young people from the Jesus movement caused the Ways growth (Whiteside, 230-35). The 27-storey building hotel is the tallest building in Phu Ly and has been carefully designed for contemporary travellers looking for sleek comforts, simplified luxury and bleisure. My mom thought God helped her get a good parking space once (Im not kidding). %PDF-1.7 % Un apologista cristiano responde a la actuacin satnica de Sam Smith y Kim Petras en los Grammy, Connect with the Christian Research Institute. Geer believes Wierwille actually caused his body to die: There were two points when I felt that he might change his mind and decide to go on living.I am fully convinced that he believed to stop the functions of his body.8 He seems to believe that Wierwille chose to commit suicide, using his spiritual weapon of believing, rather than to continue fighting the spiritual decline of the trustees. Geer and trustee Howard Allen apparently believed that the behavior of the trustees, not strokes and cancer, caused Wierwilles death. In response, he defends such Way teachings as that on interpretation of tongues.14 Ralph Dubofsky told the May 1988 CES meeting that the reason they like so much of E.W. The logic has more dangerous consequences when people literally think God will cure their Cancer, Lupus, diabetes. Maybe it will help to read what I experienced. I'm pretty sure that "The Word" has quite a bit to say about murder. Since then, The Way has sought to purge (that is, totally shun) all who do not tithe or who question Martindale on any issue. European Christian Press (which Geer controls) then published it a few years after Wierwilles death. There hasn't been a good gathering place for survivors since the Greasespot Cafe and I think there is a need for one. About The Way International has the most comprehensive collection of articles on The Way International found anywhere-- over 110. If you weren't in good standing, you didn't get tapes of the way singers or of "reverend" Martindale. Soooo, I guess to answer your question about how she was allowed to do non-Christian activities, I think the thing to remember is that the Way picked up steam in the late 70s when a big wave of evangelicalism was sweeping through the US. This thread is like a walk down memory lane - Sunday Service tapes, the Rock of Ages, Athletes of the Spirit, all the lingo others have quoted, and Martindale's violent tirades against homosexuality in the mid 90s bring me right back. Many of us were had gotten the impression that she was back. Martindale openly and vulgarly expressed his contempt for the splinter groups during his Rock of Ages 95 sermons. 2013-08-09T12:10:58-05:00 I had been a professional lead singer and performer since I was 16, and although I . Wierwille was always more effective at turning people away from the church of Jesus Christ than he was at turning people toward the Bible or The Way International. I once broke a bone and had to secretly crawl to my car to go to the hospital. Rev. He also was a spiritist and claimed, Many of the subjects I have given in my Bible class have been dictated to me by the loved ones long since passed on.6 It would appear that Wierwilles gnostic leanings, healing emphasis, camp/advance (retreat) formats, divine laws, stress on physical exercise, desire to be the best, and even the term The Way itself were derived from New Thought speakers Glenn Clark, Starr Daily, and Rufus Moseley. In spite of its name, however, The Way . The Way International, The Way, La Voie, El Camino, PFAL, The Way of Abundance and Power, The Way Magazine, The Way Corps are trademarks registered by The Way International in the United States and/or other countries. Many remember current leaders as friends, but at the same time despise them for wrongs they believe they have done or allowed. Not that a college degree is by any means the only metric of intelligence, but there arent a lot of college degrees in the faith. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light; therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds. I dont know if this is still true, but a weird criteria at the time was that you had to be debt free to participate. All of these classes are weeks long, have an enrollment fee, and have their own expensive materials (books, binders, etc.) Jun 10, 2009. Sale of assets, reduction of overhead, smaller Corps classes, large numbers of defections (which left more staff openings), staff purges, and the sale of the The Way College of Emporia, Kansas, campus helped make this possible. Scientology front group. I mention these because these are classic isolating manipulation tactics. . Although Guideposts helped popularize Cliffes writings and he claimed to be Anglican, Cliffe held New Thought beliefs, seeing God as impersonal principle. He cultivated an image of being an original Bible researcher and his followers have seen him as such. haga clic aqu para obtener ms informacin. Youre a survivor. Wierwille as father, friend, and teacher, but both the Scriptures and the empirical evidence demand it. We were required to eat every dinner together or we would be reprimanded in front of the whole house (about 10 people). In fact, Martindale considers homosexuality to be devil-spirit possession.. Take The Diary of Anne Frank for example. She probably could have just gone and not told anyone because its not like anyone checked your bank account, but her guilt consumed her and a couple days before, she called our fellowship coordinator over and confessed to him that she had debt. Accusations have disturbed many people and strained or broken numerous friendships. 9 John Lynn, Overview of Events, two-cassette series, 1987. Here's a copy of. Most still feel hurt from being betrayed by The Way, are suspicious of any new organizations, and hesitate to connect themselves with any Christian church. CES includes Wayers who were respected or well known, such as Lynn who had three books published by The Way, more than any author except Wierwille. uuid:a0e7d6d5-45d0-8c4c-9602-8d6d3c43e9ff Until then I was personally fighting acceptance because I wasnt able to understand and someone else had not articulated a realistic and plausible answer. After I had a fight in elementary school, TWI advised him to beat me into submission. This conflict has increased as ex-Wayers have persuaded many of their friends to leave Martindales group. Leonard. He is a former follower of The Way International, the same group from which I escaped in 1987. And you mentioned twig earlier. They run off anyone who is not currently active in a Way-controlled twig and who doesnt have a Way escort. The apostle Paul warned of deceivers when he told the Ephesians, I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:29-30). Hahahaha. I was raised "in the word" as they say, meaning I was a born into the cult. Homey reported that it liquidated $29 million of debt by mid 1995. The group's misogyny was deeply ingrained while also being subtle at times. TWI's was (and still is in a smaller capacity) an actual institution with employees, an unaccredited college, and evangelist programs that relocate people and had actual methods for indoctrination. I think youre absolutely right in that educating others will help with the grieving process. While PFAL was used to introduce prospects to The Way, Martindales new classes are open only to people who have attended a twig (home fellowship) for a year and have been taught how to receive holy spirit and speak in tongues by the twig coordinator. Our dear and sweet beloved friend. Moving on: I know a lot of people who grew up in strict religious contexts, but the thing that I always found kind of culty about the Way was how we were always supposed to prioritize people in the ministry to the exclusion of others. Stiles, a leader in the early charismatic movement. In my research since leaving in 2013 I have found a number of people who reported that their loved ones died in the way dating back to the 70s. For Feb 24, 2023 | Christian Articles, en Espanol. I was born in Sidney, Ohio in 2001 and lived at the Way Headquarters in New Knoxville. - Nowadays, Finnegan runs another Way splinter group called Christian Biblical Counsel. Although Lamsas blemished translation of the Bible appears in Christian bookstores, he held New Thought (Christian Science-like), not evangelical, beliefs.5 Wierwille drew his laws of believing, of tithing, prosperity, mental imaging (imagining good things to bring them to pass), and the more abundant life from Albert Cliffe. Edited to add: Would anyone be interested in an ex-Way subreddit? This is hard to accept for those who knew V.P. Not even post TWI as a survivor. I cannot stress enough how much the control and fear is internal. The Way stressed that these gatherings were for committed, faithful followers, unlike the Rock, which was open to anyone. What practices are different from the 80s? The Way also teaches its followers to receive an impersonal power (called holy spirit, power from on high, or Christ in you) by inhaling, and that speaking in tongues is the only proof that one is born again. Martindale hopes that the Disciples will have more strict and disciplined lives than WOWs did, which itself is an implicit indictment against the lifestyles of many WOWs.
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