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I disagree. Here's why. I understand how some people may think The Way was good “in the old days” and somehow “got off track” in later years. But I take issue with this line of thinking. I call it deluded nostalgia: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. What exactly is that condition people are craving? I was involved from 1971-1987 and I don’t crave any of it. But I figure I’d pitch in my two cents here. Frankly, I think it appears to be nostalgia for small fellowships with rock music or old hymns “corrected to be accurate” with Way doctrine, simple teachings (I guess), and camaraderie with others who thought like we did, and learning “what the Bible says.” On the surface, these things seem fairly harmless. But when I really think about the “old TWI days,” and these activities, I come up with some concerns: 1. The simplistic idealism that we could save the world with cut and dry Bible answers 2. The lack of mature dealings in the world. I was addressed as a child and kept from growing up while in the Corps and afterwards, 3. The gross neglect of my critical thinking faculty 4. The fact we were supposed to sell the PFAL class to people in order for VP to approve of our lives 5. The issue of whether we were “helping people” by using tools belonging to VP’s brand of fundamentalism 6. As far as I know, some still think they helped people with “the Word.” But what exactly is “The Word?” It’s very vague to me. My understanding is that when a phrase is used, there’s a definition for it somewhere. I don’t know of one for “The Word.” It is a phrase thrown around as if we all know what it means. This reminds me of the fairytale about the Emperor’s new clothes. The fact was: Emperor was not wearing any clothes. I don’t think anyone knows what The Word is. 7. Suffice it to say here, the usual explanation by TWI people and former TWI people for what “The Word” is goes something like this: you have to “use certain keys to research to discover what the original Word was.” Whose keys to research? How come we so readily accepted VP’s which he took from various other people who were fundamentalists? If it were so simple to know “The Word,” how come so many diverse interpretations persist? But back to the good old days. Let’s say the “good old Way days” were good after all, although this is hard for me to fathom. What exactly is being referred to by this claim? IMO, VP created some sense of community with some people for awhile, but what was that based upon? The way I see it, it was based on an agreement that VP’s teachings were God’s Word, on the commitment to the common cause of VP’s delusion of “moving The Word over the World,” and on a simple love for other people - as long as they obeyed what VP said was The Word. If they didn’t, at the very least they were not as spiritual as we were; at the very worst they were “born of the seed of the devil.” Let’s not forget, however, that this conditional camaraderie came at a price: It was held together by a patriarchal system fraught with deception and power struggles, not to mention rampant sexual, fiscal, and emotional abuse. In my view, wishing for “the good old days of The Way” denies the nature of the group itself – a fundamentalist, narrow-minded, anti-Christian movement. Why do I say it is anti-Christian? Because people were used as a means to an end. What was the end? Believe that what VP taught was the truth. Evangelize. Sell PFAL classes. Behave according to what The Way leadership dictated. Nostalgia for the old days also seems to deny the fact that from its inception, the cult was engineered by V.P. Wierwille, who claimed, like Paul in the New Testament, that he heard an audible voice from a monotheistic God adopted from another culture from thousands of years ago (or the voice of Jesus, as in Paul’s case) that no one else heard. This raises all sorts of issues too complex to get into here I think. While I met many good people whose kindness made me feel loved, during my TWI years, VP’s teachings, such as telling me I was “more than a conqueror” did not help me resolve problems I brought into The Way with me. For awhile, it engendered a positive attitude in me but it did not produce a healthy self image or tolerance, understanding and compassion for others who might not agree with what I believed. I think the doctrines in many instances only instilled a good deal of denial about myself, the good in the world, other cultures, and denial about what it means to be human. When I first took PFAL, at 18 years old, I certainly was gullible to The Way’s “answers” but the human brain is not even fully developed until 23 or 24 years old so that’s part of this scenario, too. But I also readily admit that I consciously turned a deaf ear to people who warned me not to get involved. Not only did I make grave errors in judgment when getting involved with TWI, but I was seduced by big fat claims about the nature of the system I was in. It claimed to be a biblical research ministry but it is extreme fundamentalism. I suggest more of us get informed not only about how cults function but what fundamentalism is and the history of its development. It’s not only a way of interpreting the bible but a way of existing in the world.

Yup, saw the auditorium too. Drove down Wierwille Rd., turned left on Shelby County Rd. Could hardly believe what I was seeing so I turned around & came back for a double take. I actually stopped for a few moments & looked back into the trailer park.... Looks like a "trailer park." They took the "Victor Paul Wierwille" off of the auditorium sign. Actually renamed the building. Speaks so loudly to their current intentions, I'd say... how much "kinder & gentler" is that? The sign looks unkempt, actually shocking, put me in mind of one of those doomsday scenario movies. The building looks, more dreary than I remember. It had an "abandoned" feel to it - was a bit weird, especially seeing as they still use it. Your question brings back memories.... I actually did the design for the sign; helped build that building, literally, pounded a few nails, swept some construction dust, stuff like that. Part of my job was to document the building project from the designs on paper, through the groundbreaking and every construction phase. Even stopped in on the architects regularly & threw my two cents in on their design plans (it was really only work about 2 cents :-). We put all of the best the ministry had to offer into that building. The best architectural designers available worked with the best auditorium design consultants in the country to meet the specs that we'd come up with. The building was to be the "perfect" place to speak God's Word from. Decades of experiences to draw from; doing SNS services in the BRC and countless venues, meeting rooms, convention centers & the like around the country and other parts of the world really helped. ... Not to mention years of doing Way Productions everywhere from the smallest living room to mansions, parks, every type of auditorium one could think of, to the BRC; and countless "Saturday Night Doo's" at that little church in New Bremen - - "The Way Cultural Center." We put everything we had collectively learned about putting on a production, years of likes & dislikes of every place we'd been along with (paid) consultation from some of the best minds in the "auditorium building," building business into that place. I looked at it sort of like the grace administration's, our 20th century, version of "the temple." TWi called in many of the best artisans in the ministry to decorate it. We even used this theory of "color/music harmony" we'd been working on for years (the paintings in the lunch room at Emporia were earlier ventures into it) to come up with the color schemes, particularly in the main auditorium. From the wood from the hand carved auditorium doors, to the huge map in the lobby, to the painting of VPW, etc. everything in there had specific biblical/scriptural significance. Even VP's pose in the picture to the "Timothy" statue in the lobby - - all of it was done with great care by supposedly, our absolute best artisans in each field required for the building. It was thrilling, felt like Old Testament stuff coming to life. There was a constant flow of people in from the field to "work on the auditorium." For it to be "the best" the best worked on it. Eg: The main auditorium was designed acoustically by some sound expert dude, so that a person could stand at the lecturn and need not be amplified for the furthest person in the highest seat in the balcony to hear him. It originally had a wireless headphone system installed so that people attending who needed translation could sit anywhere w/o having to plug in headphones. "Not one bad seat in the house" was VP's directive for the design. The stage is deep enough and wide enough that "any" traveling broadway show could be produced there. They built it with the concept in mind that we could, and would approach major touring acts of any type to have them add New Knoxville, Ohio (!???!) as a stop on their tour. We could offer them "the finest auditorium facility between New York & Chicago" and a full house for every performance. While we were building it, we did special "Saturday Doo's" for local executives, ViP's, & honored guests, etc. (those were some times when I'd drive VP & his guests in his Lincoln) - - they'd sometimes get a classy dinner & show thing where some of the New York, Broadway folk, Branded, (when they were at their best), etc. came in to do some really great Way Prod performances. We did multimedia, live tapings of the TV Show (High Country Caravan)- all this great stuff leading up to the grand opening of the "Victor Paul Wierwille Word Over The World Auditorium." VP sold community leaders on the idea that TWI would get world class performers & shows that they would normally have to fly or drive to some big city (like Chicago) to see... we'd get them right here in their own back yard. That went a long way towards improving community relations. In his last few years of vitality, the auditorium was his last big hurrah. Local people really liked the shows, sometimes there were more locals there than staff folk. Then VP got sick, faded away & LCM took over. After that we got LCM and "Athletes of the Spirit." HQ was abuzz w/ auditorium this & that, it seemed like forever. It was exciting to be a part of it, it was the "next HUGE ministry thing" the new centerpiece of TWi... the "WOW Auditorium." I was caught up in what it represented, this huge undertaking an amalgamation of all the best we, the ministry's artisans had to offer. Once it opened WayProd did a couple of Saturday Night Doo's leading up to to the grand opening it seemed like a "warm up" of sorts & build up of our production building chops in the new building. One show in particular called something like "PFAL, Our Life-Style" was this HUGE HIT! EVERYONE who saw it absolutely LOVED it! That show was "squashed (at the trustee level) like a fat bug on a windshield" and swept under the rug "quicker than a greased pig in a barrel of hog fat." (reference intended) After maybe like, ONE performance it was GONE. All who were in it were told not to speak of it. No tapes were ever shown of it & it became firmly entrenched in HQ's "more than abundant" rumor mill. Rumor had it that Craig didn't like it because it took away focus from "Athletes." Deeper rumor was that it was so good that it made "Athletes" look like "Muppets on Amateur Hour." At that time we had some really heavy hittin' performers in Way Productions. K@n McC@w was running WProd @ that time & he's a musical genius "par excellance." Scuttlebutt on the show was that it was "one of the most spiritually right on things we'd ever done." Further rumor was that K@n had put together a SUPERB show worthy of all the WOW Aud. hype & LCM was jealous cause "K@n's show was better than his." I don't know for sure, I didn't see it. What does all this have to do w/ the topic "We Bumped into a Lifer?" WE WERE ALL LIFERS. Those of us who put our lives, heart & soul into that auditorium, pretty much to a man - - were "Lifers." Myself included. I moved to New Knoxville, Ohio after graduating the 11th Way Corps with absolutely NO intention of ever living anywhere else. Geez. I went INTO the 11th WC with full intent to become a lifer @ HQ. I felt I was a "God Inspired Professional" and was willing to devote my life & God given talents to further God's purposes. You know, the ol' utmost for His highest thing, servin' at "the root." At times I felt I'd "died & gone to heaven on earth" during the years I worked @ HQ. I worked tirelessly: many times round the clock, developing myself spiritually & professionally (I even pulled a 'B' in GREEK class in the Corps!) so I could honestly BE world class. My greatest desire, professionally, was to be able to put our publications up against ANY publication in the world and have them be "on par w/ the BEST." We actually did it. I was about 15 or 16 years old, an aspiring art student when I saw the "America Awakes" airbrushed album cover art. Excited, I asked David Craley (the Way Mag editor) at some ministry function, "Who did the cover art?" He told me the guy's name and that he was an unbeliever they hired because we didn't have anybody in the ministry who could do that kind of work at that level of quality. I said. "Then I'll do it." I finished high school, went to & graduated art school & studied under a world famous airbrush artist (who just "happened" to teach at the school I chose). Then went WOW at Mr. Craley's suggestion, came to HQ to work in Way Publications & now have illustrated more Way Mag Covers than anyone in TWI history (pre POP, as far as I know). We actually did it. The Way Mag won secular awards. Our printer won printing industry awards for its printing quality. We then decided to "bring the mag home" and print it ourselves in the OSC. In a year, we went from a one-color duplication shop to become rated as one of the "Top 100 In-Plant Printing" 'four-color plus' operations in the country. When we put our stuff up against the best secular stuff, we won awards. I married a local NK girl, bought a little house on an acre of land in the country & settled in to raise family. My plan was to be a "lifer" doing "artwork for God & His Minisrty." Many, many of us who worked @ HQ late '70s through the early 80's were there "for life." That was when the term "lifer" proliferated. Then it all fell apart, even as we were building it. Now what they have there are lifer's, "lovingly encouraging" M&A folk to "come home." Home? HQ has not been "home" Come back to what? A dingy, dank looking, shell of "what once was & could have been???" A place where the blacktop cracks, weeds abound-chocking the once manicured grass lawns, significantly beautiful trees have died, lives have lost & ruined? The hand painted murals have faded, the hand made lobby art, (two stories tall ceramic relief map of the continental US with 1ft diameter embossed brass seals of each of the 50 US states) surely has layers of grimy dust on it. (That was a gift to HQ from "The Way of the USA" believers to honor the auditorium. It has what look like sound waves repeating outward from the spot on the Ohio map where HQ is to signify God's Word emanating from that point through the entire US to the whole world (Word Over The World Auditorium, get it? :-) It took two & 1/2 artist/ceramicists (I was the half, cause all I ever did was hang around w/ them while THEY worked, doin' a little grunt work moving tiles around, checking kiln temps & saying stuff like, "Yep. That color doesn't work. Oh, that one's better.") ...it took them/us about two MAN-YEARS to make that map, I'd love to know how much that thing alone is worth - custom formulated glazes to get the right browns, blues, & greens et al. Come back to TWI? To the Auditorium? The facility with world class intent and potential wasted... that place? Oh you mean the place where they sing mind numbing lyrics dressed in circa 1980 outfits and some Ken doll looking wannabe "performer" moonwalks and break dances with 20 yr old outdated moves in a Navy blue (or was it "funeral black") business suit? I don't think so. I/ WE were "lifers." I feel free to speak for so many of us when I say "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift." They threw US out! THANK YOU!!! Those folk, sorry to say even some of my dear friends, are "lifers" on a dead boat. They have missed the boat so badly, the ship is not even on the horizon for them to see how far off the mark they are. It truly IS sad. Sorry for the lengthy post, These things start out to be "one short little comment." Really they do. BTW. In case you wondered. I'm still living out my "God Inspired Professional" dream. Yes. I'm still doing artwork (hopefully world class) for "God's Ministry." However. Now I've come to learn that "GOD's Ministry" is not the ministry work of one particular "church" or one group. Its not the ego-driven desire or lusts of one man. God's ministry is the work of THE church. The "church" I attend, we have a ministry to the country of Swaziland, South Africa. Its about as big as New Jersey, (I think) yet it has the highest incident rate of HIV/AIDS on the entire world. In fact, "this lovely little country" is (or should I say WAS) actually statistically on track to be extinct as a nation of people within a generation, should HIV/AIDS continue on the path its on. WE have decided to do something about it. We feel we are called of God to be His hands & feet in His effort to save the people of Swaziland from disappearing from the face of the Earth. I serve on our Swaziland Communications Team, as part of our Swaziland Ministry. Last Saturday we held our 2nd Annual Swaziland 5K Run/Walk fund raising event. Its just one small part of our overall comprehensive effort that IS ACTUALLY SAVING PEOPLE's LIVES. We help orphan's and widow's and others who simply need some help from those of us who have abundant resources, whereas they have little. This is abundant sharing. Been there, done that? Here's the t'shirt: Talk about your "lifers." How about an 11yr old kid with three younger siblings who is now "Head of his household" because both of his parents died last year from diseases related to HIV/AIDS. He's a "lifer." I'm now a "lifer" whose helping God give that kid his life back. Part of our "work of the ministry" to Swaziland is to help finance his schooling. Our In Community, By Community (ICBC) plan (among other things) finds and identifies orphans & families; recruits & trains widows who are more than willing to become "house mothers" to raise the children. ICBC identifies, recruits & trains pastors who then live IN their community and oversee their local church and the orphan homes in his community. Our church here in the US supplies funding, we send construction groups who build the pastor's home & build & maintain the orphan homes. We come along side them & supply whatever other support we can be for THEIR efforts to educate, and provide for themselves. We don't tell them what to do. we are not their leaders, coordinators, or even mentors. We are their PARTNERS. Our theme for our Swaziland Ministry is "partnering today. preserving tomorrow." I came up with that theme, one night sitting at this same computer while in prayer, asking God, "Hey God, what can we call this thing?" I designed the T'Shirt & my company provided the printing for the shirts. I also expanded the them for the 5k Run to say, "running today. preserving tomorrow." Folks love it. God loves it. I'm a lifer in His, God's ministry.