OldSkool

I wanted to post this to further expose TWI and their lies concerning how they provide biblical research. Much of this has been covered in great detail elsewhere, my purpose is to expose the present practices, at least at a cursory level. Ok, we all know that TWI calls themselves a Biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry. Anyway. I wasn't around in the old days when there was an actual "research" arm of TWI. But I understand there were many people devoted to this endeavor. For the record I have read a lot of the arguments that poke major holes in what TWI calls research, so I agree that these efforts were suspect from the beginning. So along comes Craig Martindale who manages to pretty much run off anyone who was associated with these research efforts. Presently, research is handled by Presidents Publications and I think there is even a "research department" that is basically a part time effort by David Chavoustie. That would make a research department of one part time person. Yes you heard me correctly. <_< Of course Way Publications initiates a lot of queries that would go to Presidents Pub for further research, anything of note would eventually land in Rosalie's lap for approval. Occasionally someone would be assigned a current topic that is controversial. An example of this is the debt teaching assigned to Rico Magnelli a few years ago. These topics are worked, taught, and from there it is considered above debate. You either believe it or you don't because TWI has presented absolute truth that is above question. It's the word of god. Basically this outfit places the highest regard on whatever has been written by TWI. This would includes years of old Way Ragazine articles, available tapes, books, etc. This means anything that is officially released by TWI, be it a Way Rag or STS or advanced class special has been through this process. All current teaching topics are selected by Rosalie and some of her minions according to what they feel people need to hear, these topics are assigned an approved teacher, and from there the material must line up with proven ministry research. This so called proven ministry research is beyond question. It is considered absolute truth. Examples of this are Volumes 1 through 5 in Studies for Abundant Living - a.k.a. the collaterals. I'm giving a very brief synopsis of this so called research methodology since there is a lot I could cover on the topic. I set all this background because a few years ago I remember Rosalie saying that "most people don't know what true biblical research is." Think about this. This is a ministry that started with suspect methods for proving their research. All of the research gurus of old were fired or they quit, and all of them have suffered character assassination at the hands of Craig Martindale. This pseudo-intellectual organization makes statements in their foundational class such as "we RE SEARCH the bible, re because we search over and over again." All the while the 800 pound gorilla in the room is that all research teams and departments are long gone, I mean they don't exist anymore. In their place are a group of people who spend their time validating teachings against what TWI considers proven ministry research, which is considered absolute truth. On a side note: Does anyone find it odd that the bible is relegated below proven ministry research? Does anyone find it ironic that what is considered proven ministry research was worked and validated by teams of people who were fired, quit, and almost always suffered public character assassination by Craig Martindale in the 80s and 90s?

lol - They would immediately escort me off grounds.

Your welcome. I'm glad I have the avenue to tell what I know. I get a sense of closure out of it and also can get a little justice along the way. I guess their habit of mishandling people really has some negative consequences. Especially since the way I was treated is directly related to me leaving that outfit and posting here today. Great job Rosalie! Guess you know by now that I'm not gonna silently creep off into the night. This has been going on for several years. They started rotating in branch/limb/region visits to try and fill the place up a little. They have trouble filling up the first three to four rows. It's funny.

It is worse than I am describing too. It was bad enough back when Craig Martindale was running the show. But now headquarters has this superficial, sugary sweet, hypocritical, lovey dovey feel to it. Also, they have made so many efforts to be mindful of human resource and other laws relevant to a 501c3 that the directors are sorely limited from many of their old tyrannical ways. The old system is still there though, and in my opinion, it's worse because it's cloaked in that fake "sweetness" that Rosalie brought to the table. Plus there is no more rallying cry or "buy in point." So folks definitely lack that old united towards a common goal feel that used to be present. I think disillusionment aptly describes things. I can't stress enough how much trouble they are having finding people to come on staff. It's been a couple years since I left but I remember during placements that Rosalie was talking about having advanced class grads serve as department coordinators. Of course it was presented like it was something Dr. Wierwille used to do and would be a good idea. I saw it for what it was - desperation and the results of attrition. It's really become a preservation society. They have scrubbed Craig Martindale from everything possible and enshrined Dr. Wierwille. On another note, I had several friends on the field running limbs/branches and I heard the same thing from all of them. The internet is kicking the crap out of them. Many, many people that are witnessed to hop on ye' olde interweb and google the way international. Guess what comes up? Yep....Grease Spot Cafe and others that bring all the dirty laundry to light. Needless to say most of the folks they witness to run like hell. Yet they persist in their "grassroots" efforts, going door to door, lurking in shopping malls and other stores, hitting friends, family, and fellow workers. Their model is outdated and ineffective. So when you factor in the neglible growth that happens on the field, the very restrictive debt policy, all the people who have left over the last several years, and the fact word has gotten out that HQ isn't the utopia that it was once thought to be - they are seriously hurting. Instead of the winter staff dance, they will have Parcheesi Night - ya retirement center is the destination.

Well, the 46 hour work week pretty much canned all the work as many hours as you are told crap. About the same time the 46 hours came along they also did away with the need basis junk too. Staff are paid a "salary" and it's a pretty lousy salary at that. You get a really lame insurance plan that has less coverage than a mini-med, it even has lifetime limits that are really low. As soon as you go over the lifetime limit you are "unofficially" shown how to get Medicaid. So that should speak volumes regarding the low, crappy pay. Let's explore the salary concept according to TWI. 46 hours a week is sold as being a salaried worker according to hourly pay. It's really not a salary at all. They pay people the absolute lowest they can for 40 hours and pay time and 1/2 for 6 hours. I suspect this is their way of masking the fact that most of the jobs at HQ are at minimum wage. How do I know you may ask? I saw minimum wage increases result in "raises" for many staffers. Classes are run for the staff usually by cabinet area. Witnessing doesn't happen and isn't required for staff. The logic, if you call it that, is working your staff job is moving the word and being on staff you are serving in an increased capacity. I know, the whole ministry of reconciliation spiel that people on the field are fed conveniently goes out the window.

They scaled back a lot of positions in many departments over the past few years. They did give a pay increase a couple years ago. Rosalie announced it and then immediately in the next breath announced an increase in rent for on grounds housing. Se hates moonlighting and has the same rhetoric that Wierwille hatched but she will not do anything because of laws. The Allen lawsuit really changed how they operate and interface with the staff. Rosalie hates that too. I heard her say "she hates all the changes that have happened in recent years." I am paraphrasing but she said what she said. You are so right about their lack of real authority. As soon as a person realizes that the way international is powerless to control anyones life without their consent the bondage over.

I knew several people working part time jobs when I was there, and let me tell you what, Rosalie absolutely HATES it. Actually, Linder's gig leans towards the "professional" end of things. Most staffers wind up at some place like walmart, you get the idea.

You have some great points. I have a little more empathy towards the average innie since some of them are stuck in a variety of situations. I'm a little less understanding towards the cabinet and other top leadership who see first hand the hypocrisy and corruption that happens with the board of directors. So many of them lack a backbone. I can say that I stood on my principals and fought them tooth and nail. And I also left that outfit because I could not stomach the hypocrisy, or promote that organization with a clear conscience.

sup!

nothing oops....everything....lol

When I was around you could basically divide the cabinet into two camps. The ones who would blindly follow whatever Rosalie said and really believe the bull, or those who would do their jobs and have lots of discontent sessions with their peers. There was quite a few of them that hated what was going on as well but lacked the integrity to leave.

With Crown and Dannon around he will get it too. But, yep that's John alright.

No. She is forever the wife of whoever the President is. Last I knew she was on the cabinet and was the housing officer. Basically, she functions as a silent partner. Her and Rosalie are REAL tight. She is also in all the director group meetings including the director annual meeting. So basically she is running TWI alongside Rosalie.

That is exactly what some of the cabinet/director level people are doing. I can't stomach the hypocrisy.

Oh, they think that is the best in the world.

Is gravity in the bible? or is it untrue?....

I got several months of severance pay after leaving TWI for good...lol. Not the same but that was the sweetes money I ever made...lol :P

TWI is a hollowed out shell of it's former self. It's led by people who have no experience what so ever in marketing and business management neither are they forward thinkers. How can you be when your guiding light is what Dr. Wierwille did or worse yet, what did we did last year. It has become a preservation society that, no doubt, will chug along in some guise, but otherwise, it's finished.

Instead of learning to read the bible for enjoyment, I basically lost all desire to read books from forced study during Way Disciple and In-res Way Corp.

Some of the posts here carry "dated" information but I like it because it shows the history of that ministry. Nothing of note has changed. If anything the evil in that outfit has become more subtle but at the top of the dog pile, Rosalie pines away for the good old days when they could be mean and nasty all the time. Really, if anything has changed, it's been because of legal restrictions and not wanting to get dragged into court again.

I thought I would add a little more. During placements 2007 the cabinet were basically blamed for there not being enough staff applications to fill all the open positions. Now, there were still loads of unfilled positions even after countless unfilled positions were cut across the board at HQ. The positions were cut to save money. The cabinet were tasked to meet with their director to "brain storm" ideas to attract new staff. I think by now you can get the picture of 5 days of placements meetings with only a handful of applicants... So the cabinet did multiple meetings with their director. Yipee. Did I mention that the cabinet have no control over hiring or firing and no avenue to promote being on staff? Ya. It was that lame. The meetings were an exercise in futility and were totally devoid of substance. Anything that might actually help give incentives to get folks on staff was filtered out by the respective director because, after all, the reasons for coming on staff should be spiritual and not compensation based. In fact, there was one cabinet member who broached the topic during the first day of placements ,when input was requested in an open forum, of increasing incentives to make TWI staff positions more competitive and the individual was politely shut down by rosZilla only to be raked over the coals during several meetings / phone calls in the subsequent days. The end result of all of this achieved two things. First, a sub-group was formed to produce a promotional DVD that was comprised of select staff who gave testimonials as to why they were on staff...blah, blah. It was epic fail and no tangible results. Second, the region coordinators were invited to attend placements in person again. It was a few years where they were involved via phone-hookup. Well, I am laughing my butt off that no one is signing on as yet. Keep up the good work TWI, you seem to like attrition based on your stubborness to deal with your lack of incentives and lack of quality of life for your staff. On another note. Earlier in the 2000s there were always plenty of young people coming on staff. This really halted from backlash from four young staffers being fired for under age drinking. But here's the kicker. Tim Martindale was the ring leader of the party crowd at the time. He received no consequences for his involvement in the incident and the other kids were blamed for corrupting Tim. Which is laughable cause that boy was a party animal at the time. And to show how stupid Donna and Rosalie thought the kids were. Tim lived in Bowling Green at the time and had a room in founders hall even though he wasn't on staff. They let him keep his room but took his name off the door. Needless to say there were a lot of young, ....ed off staffers who left staff as a result of this blatant hypocrisy. Subsequent years the influx of young people virtually dried up. Seems news traveled fast across those dwindled numbers of young people around the way of the USA. Here's my emoticon of Rosalie trying to figure out how to get people on staff =

Being on Staff is a horrible experience. Lot's of work, little pay, very little appreciation for efforts made, cramped living quarters, forced participation in the STS, subtle and not so subtle coercion at every turn, and that is just the tip of the ice berg. Make no mistake, they have been hurting for Staff for a few years now and it seems like it's a problem they are stuck with. It's poetic justice.

OMG - is that goofy or what?

I could only describe the time immediately after I left as a free fall. Guess that's the price for being involved in a cult.

Thanks again. Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets draw an interesting parallel in my life from zealously supporting TWI to helping expose their corrupt ways. This link sums it up.