TheHighWay

Oh yeah... the legend of THE will live on for decades, lol...

Is there a message or announcement posted anywhere stating that Pawtucket is closing down the Greasespot Cafe? I can't find one anywhere... ---- oops, finally found it ---- nevermind. :-)

Perfect description of "way corps alum" category they set up for all us drop-kicked corps in the 90's... Martindale went around booting everyone out, then realized he'd lost a good chunk of his butt-kissing work-force in the process and tried to round us back up by offering this hollow title... I accepted it because my spouse didn't know how to function outside the hive and I was (stupidly) trying to save the marriage at the time but I definitely remember thinking almost verbatim what you just posted, 100% Free...

Let's see... they could apologize to people who were booted for communicating with "outies" (since that is allowed now) they could apologize to people who were booted over their financial situations (since they have backed off that hard-line now) they could apologize to anyone who endured the 90's under Martindale's regime (since they are 'kinder and gentler' now) they could apologize to everyone who's tapes, books, and other productions were trashed and purged (since they aren't doing that with Martindale's crap) they could apologize to every spouse who was forced to endure a terrible marriage because they 'took a vow before God', and to every couple they broke up because of 'unbelief' they could... oh heck, let's cut to the chase... they should just apologize for still existing!!

Quite the contrary to actually tendering any kind of apology, I've been told everything from "just get over it" to "that was then, this is now" to "well, we've changed so you are welcome to come back" to "they couldn't possibly track every last person down just to offer an apology to them" .... as reasons for the BOT/BOD doing absolutely nothing!

That is exactly what they did in Indiana... When they sold Emporia, great pains were taken to "ready" the campus... it was emptied of all those "treasured" TWI items like the dove gates, artwork, books, etc. Even the best of the bunks and mattresses were shipped to HQ for storage. But it was left as a "walk-in" facility... with a full set of kitchen, cafeteria, dorm, and classroom items left as part of the campus itself. In stark contrast, when twi sold the Rome City property, they left everything behind !! ... A stained glass window that was a gift from one of the corps, all the wine-making equipment, the stone (marble?) way-corps logo in the basement, the big back-yard swimming pool, and the entire contents of the library (some offshoot bought that)... And those same dove gates they took such pains to rescue from Emporia still hang at the entrance to the Rome City campus today... It is a shame the purchaser couldn't make a go of renting the place out to various groups (sports camps, retreats, seminars, etc.) The current owners were devout Roman Catholics and believed fervently in the miracles that were said to have taken place there. They were petitioning the church to recognize their claims but I don't believe it ever did.

Well, I enjoyed Emporia in the early 80's because I was just there as a red-tagger. I enjoyed Gunnison because I was only there for three weeks to staff Family Camps. And I enjoyed Rome City for the three months I was there because the Clapps were in charge, and it was such a breath of fresh air from HQ at the time. But I know a lot of folks who had VERY different experiences at each of those campuses and VERY different memories. It was never the buildings... just the stuff that was going on inside of them...

It's like stepping back in time... The five corps principals lifted word-for-word... The rural setting, the happy victims, er... followers... And (OMG!) the VP-sr voiceovers... They look like they are having a good time... I just wonder if twenty years from now they are going to wonder why they wasted the prime of their life serving an egotistical, self-serving tyrant in the name of God, like so many of us did? --- It's all pretty darned sad when you think about it.

This pretty much sums up my experience as well... I was a newbie and much of what they covered (beyond the class, of course) I had never been exposed to before... in fact, my first time sitting through the Advanced class was that year on campus...

Ham... schedules were never required on campus, at least up to 1990 when I was there. The schedule fanatacism came later, and I believe it was limited to corps on the field. And as far as that goes, once I found out what our local leadership expected to see, I filled it out the same way every week and then proceded to do whatever the heck I wanted. No one even noticed. Like I said, the guy who insisted they were video wires also insisted some Europeon Phd was DocVic's son who had changed his name... even in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary... I only posted what he said hoping someone who knows for sure might let us know the truth...

TrustAndObey, that sounds about right... They certainly have a track record of getting these grand ideas but not researching them properly (ie log homes in the Ohio woods) or setting something up but never properly training enough people on how to run it (ie the musical fountain) and they always seemed to be a day late and a dollar short on technology in general (ie Beta players and the internet)... Let's hope this kind of incompetence carried over to this as well...

I took a tour of the Rome City campus last year... I had communicated online a bit with the current owner and he was gracious enough to have his on-site caretaker walk me around and let me take a bunch of pictures. They were also curious about things they knew/thought they knew/heard about twi and I think they saw it as their opportunity to ask someone who might know, who had no reason to lie. One of the things they mentioned was that they were stunned to find video wires strung from an office in the back that went all over campus. (For those that know the campus, they were not talking about the main office in the foyer but a little room down at the end of the side hall near the drinking fountain fed by spring water. Sorry, can't remember names.) I assured them I didn't think it was video wiring but public-address wiring, as I know that sometimes they made announcements when we were scattered all over the grounds and they wanted everyone to be able to hear it. They said I was wrong... that their tech guy specifically called them VIDEO wires... said they went into the bathrooms and everything. Now, that being said, the guy had a horrible opinion of twi (naturally) and also insisted that this man: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/prof-jonathan-paul-de-vierville-phd-lcsw/8/287/448 was John Paul Wierwille trying to distance himself from the family (ROTFL) --- I showed him pictuers of Doc Vic, the real JP, and this guy but he still seemed skeptical. So... I don't doubt they found wiring all over the Rome City complex, but were those wires part of an innocent PA system, or part of a surveillance system? Who knows? Anyone? I, for one, would sure like an informed answer...

Actually, one of the things I really enjoyed was the variety of teachers we had... For those who don't know the College Division was set up so that we studied one subject at a time, for 1-3 weeks, and they brought in 1-2 instructors specifically to teach that subject. --- I still have my curriculum list somewhere and I'll try to post it here just as an fyi. Yes, a lot of the subjects were straight out of the collaterals but a lot of them were actually pretty decent. I distinctly remember figures of speech, one god, and old testament history (which we had with the corps... fantastic class!!). Oh, and early church history wasn't half bad either. But I think a lot of that depended on who was teaching the subject your year. Homework was usually reading, being ready to discuss, writing short papers, taking tests/quizzes, putting on skits... that sort of thing. There was never any kind of long research paper involved. I must say, it is really nice to read some of the kind comments here regarding this program... I spent decades almost being embarrassed that I was a red-tagger among my fellow corps. And yes, looking back I think that elitism was actively built into the corps program by the leadership. Also, looking back it seems obvious to me now that Vic et al only wanted the College program for the legitimacy it might bring to twi in the public eye. If they could have managed to get it accredited you can bet it would have been touted as a big feather in Vic's cap!! But it wasn't and therefore it was allowed to die off...

Just Loafing said: I always wondered how the college division felt. I mean we [the way corps] were the big people (or so we thought) on campus and the College Division were always sort of shuffled to the back a little. Yeah we always knew about you and I knew some of the College Division and wonderful people you were. Sort of strange how we (College and Corps) were kept apart though and we were right there together. Well, as a College Division (later Program) "red-tagger" as Don Wierwille used to call us, I had a great deal of respect for the corps and mostly just tried to stay out of their way. To me, it seemed they had a higher calling. (yup, that was back in my innocent days) I watched them work all day, and study all evening, do fun-runs, keep the campus running, and go out LEAD, Lightbearers, and to Rodeo School. All things I had no desire whatsoever to be doing, hahahaha. Sometimes we were allowed to sit in on some special training the corps was doing like Bedside Manners with DocVic or Craig's latest rant about his Athlete's of the Spirit production... and at the time (again, my innocent years) I felt priveleged, even though I often came away wondering what the heck it was we had just been exposed to and why!? Anyway, by the end of the year, it became clear that many way corps thought of us in the "shoulda gone corps but weren't man enough" category... almost as if we were cop-outs, not giving our best to God and daVurd. Funny, it was okay to take a year and go WOW and then be done, but not to take a year and go College Division and then go back to your life... It also became obvious that many higher-ups in TWI considered the College Division to be just another corps-feeder program like WOW was... even though both were publically promoted as being for individual growth. I have to say my year in that program was my best year in twi... I was still quite new, and still very impressed by everything and everybody... I was learning what I thought to be valid Biblical principals that I could apply to my life, I was learning how to be disciplined in other categories (like exercise) that I had never attempted before, and I made a lot of good friends. We had class half the day, and a few other required activities like twig, meals, and of course homework assignments, but other than that we were pretty free to come and go as we pleased. I sang in a women's quartet at a lot of the Sunday services, worked a job at the local Hardee's, and when I got stressed I either went for a run or drove over to the little zoo on the other side of town. In the context of twi, it was a really sweet gig! If I had just gone back to my own life after that year, who knows how I would have turned out. However, I met someone who had corps ambitions. We married. Went into the 18th corps. Got placed. Lived through the Nazi-Nineties, and I got booted by the WayGB in 2000. (fun, fun) Anyway, I would love to hear other people's perspectives about the College Program/Division, whether you were corps at Emporia or not... TheHighWay

I haven't taken the Foundational since Craiggers hisself was still teaching it... So, Rupp drones on, and Beth C reiterates and reviews??? Egad!! Once through isn't enough? (so glad I'm out... so glad I'm out... so glad I'm out... so glad I'm out...)

Bramble, I agree with everything you posted here... from the nature of how many of us "good God-fearing folks" were raised back in the sixties, to how I have tried to raise my son to ask questions and think for himself!!

Dog Lover… I was in Emporia with the 13th & 15th (I was college program)… we only had to do Bless Patrol when you guys were gone for Lightbearers and such, but I remember the cold winters much the same as Just Loafing did:

I remember being taught that God gave out gift ministries in order to aid a leader in serving His people... and that only after a gift ministry became apparent via the gift in action was a person ordained. But I think I remember VP or someone saying that God gave them the revelation on who should be ordained and when. But wait, if it is obvious someone has a gift ministry, why would you need revelation to go ahead and ordain them? Because... (according to Craig) not everyone "needs" the title in order to have their gift function the best... but some do... and God knows which is which. What???? Yup, typical twi --- absolutely contradictory, totally self-serving, and just as clear as mud!!

Are you talking about the little bronze statue of the great mog himself? That's the only thing I can remember them selling to folks on the field...

Oh wow... nine years... seems just yesterday I was keeping my eyes averted and my opinions to myself, lol... Congrats, Oakspear! Nine years for you means it is almost ten years for me!! Yippee!! Just sign me "outed by the WayGB and proud of it" !!!

Great summation of what the in-rez program is and does to a person who comes in with some genuine heart and humility, and the silly notion that they will gain spiritual insight, a closer walk with God, and the ability to lead others if they just follow the program laid out before them... It certainly changed me. (and not in the ways I had hoped)

Seems like I remember paying something like $200 for an on-campus Advanced Class...

From the posts here, it sounds like Jim wasn't quite happy with his manuscript yet, and wasn't going to publish it until he got it "just right"... so no, I don't think it ever has been published, but I would SURE love to have a copy!!

Tom... I would love to know the name of the book, or the author... sounds like an excellent read!

Must add my "ditto" here... woulda been a lot more messed up for a lot longer without WayDale and Greasespot... (meaning the wonderful people who post what they know and what they think)...Thank you, thank you!!!!