People were eager to engage, but I dont think answers were ever very satisfying. My mom was a single mother and had registered for an upcoming class. I'd recently read a secular book and they also blamed that. Meli Vinpearl Phu Ly. Bill Green, who handles some public relations for The Ways New Knoxville, Ohio headquarters, declined to be interviewed about the classes and related developments. Martindale openly and vulgarly expressed his contempt for the splinter groups during his Rock of Ages 95 sermons. Because they had women on the Board of Directors and allowed women to lead fellowships, they could espouse their views as progressive. Your last sentence though. dagger to the heart ..internal turmoil reconciling her faith with just being a person in the world. While accusing the Christian church at large of being divisive, the new groups (like The Way International) practice division much more stringently than most Christian denominations or churches. Splintering of the group since 1985 has greatly reduced its active membership, from a peak of about . This includes Wierwilles plagiarism, approval of adultery, authoritarianism, errors of scholarship and Bible interpretation, and so forth. At first I was told how loved and adored I was but quickly that facade died and it was clear I was not loved. Way trustees fired Schoenheit for writing the paper and sternly warned Wayers not to read it, ask about its contents, or have contact with those who read it. They have been active and effective at exposing problems in The Way through personal influence and meetings of Wayers around the nation. 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. Can any recent survivors provide their reflections if its not to much: What are the manipulation tactics used? 1 See The Way Tree Is Splintering, Christian Research Journal, Fall 1988. 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. Defectors also accused Way leadership of practicing and approving adultery as a godly practice. . 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. For Feb 24, 2023 | Christian Articles, en Espanol. Almost every long-time member has had at least one question such as: Why did Dr. Wierwille never speak against adultery in his Christian Family and Sex class? Why does my Limb leader often spend the night with certain twig leaders of the opposite sex? Why did our womens meeting leave the impression that a woman should satisfy any physical desire of visiting Way leaders? Why do Way leaders give contradictory answers when I ask about the biblical stance on sex outside of marriage? Why did the twig leader make sexual advances toward me the first time I attended?10, Ex-Wayers are increasingly charging The Way with false teaching and scholarship. Good call. One Scripture passage (2 Cor. Wierwilles ideas on sense knowledge, confession, and healing (among others) he found in E.W. Wierwilles stance that the whole Bible was authored in Aramaic, that parts of Scripture have been lost, that many Bible passages in popular translations were deviously inserted by pagans, and his Nestorian-like view of Jesus Christ (which drives a wedge between the human Jesus and the divine Christ) all trace to mystic George Lamsa. Take The Diary of Anne Frank for example. Martindales classes include material from PFAL as well as new topics. However, we are still driven by their nefarious existence. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Spirit and Truth Fellowship International, Out of the Way: The Offshoots Latest Topics. A number of people died. Also former TWI here, my parents are still in it, and its causing incredible family pain, now between my older sister. Started in the early 1950s by the late Victor Paul Wierwille (1916-1985), the original organization was called the Way Incorporated. The immediate cause was metastatic melanoma of the liver, which means that the cancer spread from the eye to the liver. Second, the doctrine of the splinter groups is nearly a carbon copy of Way . haga clic aqu para obtener ms informacin. Instead of it being an isolated incident that sucks from time to time in life, its framed as The Adversary (the devil) is making your life difficult, and as athletes of the spirit we can outmaneuver him. Reportedly, a few people have even considered suicide or entered mental institutions. I can remember being a teenager and being intellectually curious and asking a lot of questions. Subforums. 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. I think youre absolutely right in that educating others will help with the grieving process. Pretty sure "in good standing" meant you "tithed" over a certain amount each month. Stiles, a leader in the early charismatic movement. I remember he looked at her with sympathy but didnt say anything. 14 Letter by Steve Sann, Pacific West Fellowship, 2 March 1988. When I arrived back home my entire bedroom and all my belongings had been searched for anything ungodly. The Way, International Profile The Way of Life or The Way of Death (self-published, 1987), 106. I figured out I was gay in college, and having grown up in a household that called people faggots, fudge-packers, rump-riders and played count the queers when we went to amusement parks, I knew this wasnt going to fly. 35 0 obj <> endobj 60 0 obj <>stream The group itself says it is a Christian ministry. I would lovingly suggest that your time might be more effectively spent honoring your friend's memory by educating others about the harm that cults cause and working with a counselor to process the grief of losing your friend twice - first to a cult and then to suicide. CES now wants to be seen as an independent ministry, not just as a Way splinter group, even though its glaring similarity to The Way is obvious to outsiders. 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. I was raised "in the word" as they say, meaning I was a born into the cult. Mostly shame, guilt, separation from anyone but the group, brainwashing. As Wayers recognize false teachings, they further see the inaccurate scholarship Wierwille used to defend his teachings.11 Therefore, they also criticize Wierwilles skill as a Bible researcher and teacher and call into question everything they learned from him. Think of the creed is their unwritten Bible. Just as 100 different Mormon groups all revere the Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri, because of founder Joseph Smiths attachment to it, the many Way splinter groups also revere Wierwilles New Knoxville, Ohio family farm and books. I just wanted to paint a picture here of the laid back approach to Christian faith that makes the Way appealing to people. 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). Think of an abuser boyfriend who doesnt let you have friendships with other guys or other people, really, because it distracts your attention from him, the most important person in your life. It's another thing entirely when the leader of a "Biblical Research and Fellowship Ministry" delivers a fire and brimstone sermon threatening to chain gays to the back bumper of an RV and go for a little drive. An iconic five-star international hotel Our hotel is located in the heart of the city and provides 180 rooms and suites. For example, Lionel Recio and Steve Lefevers claim that one woman was gang-raped by several Way clergy and that the Corps residence training was sometimes like a bordello with promiscuity, adultery, orgies, and wife-swapping. 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. 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. She was loved by many because she was easy going, fit in with many and different groups - a legitimate interest in others, etc. He told Corps grads that the Ambassadors had accomplished their mission of getting Gods Word over the world. He called it WOW redefined, but he never explained how reaching only a fraction of a percent of residents of the United States (much less of the world) constitutes completing the mission. Pacific West Fellowship,13 headed by Steve Sann (who also was once a Limb and Region Coordinator), seems to be the second most aggressive splinter group. - Nowadays, Finnegan runs another Way splinter group called Christian Biblical Counsel. The kind of stuff people go to therapy for years to get over. After Dr. Weirwill died and leadership was given to Craig Martindale, TWI essentially split into those who followed Craig and stayed in TWI's proper organization, and those who moved into splinter groups. A good example of this is John Lynns 12-session class Keys to Victorious Living. The Class is nearly an exact duplicate of Wierwilles Power for Abundant Living class, teaching over two dozen of the same specific doctrines and using the same proof texts Wierwille used (though Lynn corrects some of Wierwilles most glaring misinterpretations). Although Wayers project a curt and indifferent attitude toward the many who have left the group, they have undoubtedly been hurt deeply in recent years. It is fundamentalist due to many non-negotiable beliefs, most notably the inerrancy of the Scriptures, and it is a cult, a high-control group, due to its social .