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As an afterthought there’s something I want to add to the last point of my previous post - of folks referencing Philippians 1 as if to say “don’t be too critical of wierwille’s ministry since Paul wasn’t that harsh on leaders preaching Christ with questionable motives” ...Perhaps the type of preachers Paul had in mind (just going on the caliber of character that the Bible reveals about him ) were equivalent to some televangelists who want you to send your “seed money “ to them so they can buy a bigger and fancier jet for their ministry. Monetary ripoffs are one thing and when one wises up to the scam it might be easier to bounce back from that than sexual molestation which is probably one of the most intimate and deeply personal attacks imaginable... Hey guys, try to develop some empathy here for the women who were victimized...try to imagine how you would feel about all the stuff that wierwille taught you if one day while in the motor coach he drugged you and then he fvcked you up the a$$. I could be way off base in saying this but I just can’t imagine a god who is supposed to be loving and benevolent would also be okay with a sexual predator like wierwille molesting select women just because he also preached the gospel. As if it were a numbers game - his sexual sins / crimes against a small percentage of women was insignificant compared to how many were blessed by his teaching ministry...there’s something so fvcked up by that scale of values ! It’s just my opinion, but I get the idea from the parables of the ONE lost coin, the ONE lost sheep, and the ONE prodigal son in Luke 15 - that God is concerned about the INDIVIDUAL and NOT about how many people you get to take some stupid class or even to fill a stadium...if you don’t think each individual is that important to God then consider Mark 9:42 If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a very large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea... ...I believe it’s such a myopic view to have of wierwille’s reprehensible behavior if one thinks that his victimization of women was no big deal in the grand scheme of things or that (in light of Mark 9:42) there won’t be terrible consequences administered to him for all those he had caused to stumble.

WordWolf brings up some very important things to keep in mind. From the get-go wierwille tried to distinguish his “ministry” as better than any church or ministry out there. In my humble opinion there was always an underlying double-pronged message in his teachings: that the churches got a lot of it wrong - but not to worry cuz wierwille would show us how to rightly divide “the word” and get us back to true Christianity...however this is perhaps the best trick that he ever pulled off. I believe anything about Christ in PFAL was almost like window dressing - whether or not wierwille intended it to be that way; I see it as Christ being something like the bait on a hook - the old bait & switch routine. This is evident in practice once you graduated from the class - it was all about following what wierwille said was the true Christian way...the ebb and flow of followers of wierwille / TWI was the rhythmic pattern of old timers getting frustrated and burned out on wierwille’s twisted narcissistic theology and the influx of new suckers fresh out of PFAL. I’ve heard some grads reference Philippians 1 (about some leaders having a different motivation for preaching Christ but at least Christ is preached) as if this somehow justified wierwille’s “ministry” - to which I disagree since it is debatable as to how much of what wierwille preached was even about Christ.

You missed living through A LOT. twi was accused of being a cult mostly due to doctrine, but should fairly have been accused of it based on its practices- which were kept under wraps so outsiders never complained about them. That was vpw's idea. He even grandstanded to try to get media attention. When he found out the main objections were backlash from their position on the Trinity, he attempted to manufacture a media event. He signed copied of "Jesus Christ is Not God". He left each copy at a church doorstep along with a sign: "Jesus Christ. Not God. Never was, never will be!" He told insiders that what he was going to leave was a list of the verses calling Jesus "the Son of God." lcm ran twi like a cult because vpw instructed him to do so. lcm unwittingly documented that in "VP and Me", and we discussed that in the thread "vp and me in wonderland." twi is corrupt through and through because vpw wanted it that way and designed it that way. The current power brokers in twi want it that way also. They're just milking the cash cow as long as they can, getting kids educated, getting free labor, getting all expenses covered independent of salary, etc. Even if someone removed the entire top, the system has no checks-and-balances, and is designed to support one dictator or another. rivenbark knows this, held power directly as long as she could, and has the current leader under her thumb. twi has been circling the drain for years, and its end is inevitable. The powers that be are just "running the clock" and getting what they can. Frankly, sensible Christians are all better off leaving twi. Lots of Christians attempted to reform it, none succeeded. It's over-optimism to think that the NEXT group of Christians will fare any better.

Yep.......twi is corrupt through and through because it was set up that way. Wierwille set in motion a system of deception and unaccountability......even his "trustees" couldn't be trusted with oversight. For ten years (1957-1967), wierwille *thought* he alone could teach and inspire a following as he taught class after class. His unconventional style and confrontational tone drove many back to their church pews instead. And, wierwille threw caution to the wind when he gambled on filming the '67 foundational class and stared into the glaring lights trying to finish his segments before his money ran out and the studio fees / furniture rentals became due. The youth movement brought the surge of energy and zeal. Wierwille needed young leaders to advance his agenda.....and Heefner, Doop, Wade and others didn't take a liking to what wierwille offered. They would soon find the exit doors, having seen the man behind the mask. Nevertheless, there were the Moneyhands, Lynns, Winegarn-rs, Standag-es, and others who would fall in line and help lead the systematizing of error for others to follow. To this day, some are STILL staunch "believers of the wierwille-cult" who still have no clue that they were beguiled. Everything wierwille set in place was sleight-of-hand........as he utilized buzzwords that had double meanings. Note: wierwille never set about to have disciples of Christ. "The Way" was not about Jesus Christ.....it was about wierwille's self-appointment. Double meanings. Double standards. Double-crossed. "Word Over the World Ambassadors"......who's "word?" Vpw's "word." Way Corps..........disciples of wierwille and a corps trained to obey him. Followers of The Way..............indeed, indeed. Cult followers. Today.......there is NO research department. Not needed. Today.......there is NO true teaching. Just regurgitation. Today.......there is NO joyful fellowship. Only obedience. Last year, there was another exodus of corps leadership........but the crazy part is that they will NOT denounce wierwille. This R/R group has been outspoken of Rosalie Rivenbark, but they cannot admit to martindale's depravity and their misguided loyalty to him. NOPE....because that would then be called into question as to why they stayed the course. So, they have no interest in discussing the Martindale era.......let alone the Wierwille pyramid and the "slave-foundation." This R/R group wants to ride on wierwille's coattails of "teaching the word" and having the little people tithe and abundantly share of their hard-earned money. Same deal, different pew. After some 18 years of GSC telling "the other side of twi's leaders, organization and agenda"........this last group of corps, who jumped to start their own splinter group, is the most loathsome and disgusting of the bunch. There is already a charade parade of panderers to the wierhead-cult of complicity.

Oh, chockfull........what you said brings back those memories. In July 1981......(yeah, a long time ago)......going on staff from in-residence corps, my bi-monthly paycheck from twi was $235.00. So, each month I received like $470........for like 200+ hours of work (50 hrs each wk) Trailer #6 housed 12 singles......6 males in one bedroom & one bathroom/ 6 females on other side. No common area / no sitting room / no TV .......just a bedroom with 3 bunk beds and one bathroom on each side. Cafeteria-style meals were available in the OSC......and you made sure to eat there (no time/money to drive into NK) Married couples and families were assigned to "family units on grounds".....and those with seniority or $$ lived in nearby communities. During summer months (esp. near roa time)......staff were assigned evening work detail (6:30-8:30pm).....especially us young men. At supper, they would announce that they NEEDED such-and-such done.....and often, called out names for assignment. In some respects, it didn't matter much......what else were we doing? When you live a life of servitude.......it has little significance unless you're working. With heavy-handedness....."your life was NOT your own" and therefore, you obeyed. When young (23) and strong.......the long work days didn't matter much and drove away the boredom. When 33 or more...........one is more apt to question, consider career, life fulfillment, family, long-range goals, etc. If a person stays on staff passed 50.....40 years old, then their resume looks like sh!t to those in the real world. That is one of the reasons why Panar*llos, Moneyhands and others start splinter groups. They have nothing else. .

The families they pay minimum wage to live in a mobile home park they call "units". They have strict living rules or "housing" rules governed I think by Donna last I heard where it's not even one family to a unit (read double-wide mobile home), but two families share a "unit" each with their own bedroom and sharing the common living room and kitchen area. Families with 3? or more kids can have their own "unit". People there obey not only the myriad numbers of rules established in every little area of HQ, as it has been ruled by an over-the-top OCD micromanager for decades, but also the unwritten rules which are even more sinister, keeping people in bondage with bribery, hoping for the favor of the elite to raise them out of minimum wage doldrums with somewhat of a future. Then after they've been on staff for more than 5 years there is an extreme fear handcuff that keeps them compliant and smiling little sheep. No job at the Way has anything like a title that will prepare you for something in the real world. As an extreme example of that, a current Board of Dummy member, JR, a few years back peeved at being passed over for the top position in spite of his valiant efforts to reframe his personality as a "yes maam" posted up his resume on a public site. Grandiose titles, ridiculous accomplishments, and exactly how many phone calls do you think he received for job interviews? Zero? Then there is also the case of the demoted dummy member VP who now works in his own collection firm agency. Yes they are cheaper than h3ll and it is a story of a narcissist sex offender starting a cult and amassing like $80M to date with all of the frugality you get out of mistreating your employees.

"I cannot speak for the whole group, but I know at least one of the people in the panel, and I don't see greed/power or monetary gain being the motivation here. I think it is more of a mid-life crisis type of situation, knowing they have invested the better part of their lives towards an organization that has given them nothing back." Hello, Sugarrush. I don't think that those 2 reasons are exclusive. A mid-life crisis reminds you that you have no nest egg, and that sends some people to make their own group and start soliciting donations. "Yes, they may have been previously aware of issues, but you don't question leadership in the Way (and you certainly don't discuss them) you just follow orders." Actually, most of the people in twi's history DID question leadership, didn't like the answers, and made tracks LONG ago. THOUSANDS of them have posted here, and countless others have lurked here without posting publickly. The people you mentioned were ok with sticking around, drawing a paycheck, and glossing over problems. Other people spoke up and were escorted off-grounds, or had to leave because they knew they'd be kicked out as soon as they spoke up. The people you mentioned stuck around through all the public exits, and only jumped ship now when it was financially advantageous to do so. Those 2 things tell me a lot-their inaction when others acted or left, and the timing of their action NOW. "I think we all can relate to knowing about sites like waydale in the 2000s when still with the Way, and and not wanting to know what was on there. It has always been an us vs. them mentality. " And yet, so many people follow/ed the GSC down the decades. With twi keeping secrets from their own membership, the members turned here for news. In fact, twi once insisted that the GSC post a news item for them- since they knew that was the best way to get the news out to their rank-and-file! "I think they have just had enough of the BS. I agree they are holding their tongue on many things but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. If they had truly fresh thinking and research they would have a much higher chance of success than trying to go back to a baseline of VPW's plagerized material as their foundation. The rabbit hole just goes way too deep, and this is why I left years ago. " This makes it sound like you get it.

While we have all been in denial at one point or another, only Moses as a baby actually floated down de Nile in a basket.