Hey Lori, welcome aboard ! I was in TWI from 1975 - 1989. The great thing about this place is that you see other people went through a lot of the same crap and it establishes in your heart that it was the system in TWI that was the problem, not you.
Good morning lori, and welcome to this site for ex-Way adherents.
As you may have read, there is a multiplicity of opinions, viewpoints and experiences here on these forums. These serve as a challenge to think through your beliefs and experiences, and may help you to separate truth from error more than TWI (the Way International) ever did.
TWI did not promote individual thinking or critical analysis of its policies, edicts, or interpretation of the Word (and yes, the Way International had its own interpretation of "the Word"). This site (like the Waydale site before it, and others) is primarily a discussion forum. You're encouraged to discuss, to throw out ideas and see where they land, to have your own opinion about....anything.
I also encourage you, if you have not done so already, to check out the information on this site's Main Page. You may already know some of this, but I'll bet some of it will (pardon the expression) knock your socks off.
Some of it will be so amazingly terrible, you may not believe it. All I can say is, Keep reading.
Some people here have recently left TWI, others (like myself) left a long time ago. You will find a wide range of Way experience here, from household (or twig) fellowship level to Way Corps to HQ staff to Trustee Cabinet level. Stick around long enough, and you may be surprised who posts here.
My time in TWI was from 1971 to 1987, and , even though I saw petty abuse from time to time, I did not and could not imagine the evil perpetrated on people who only wanted to love God, know how to read the bible, and live a more abundant life. This and other sites detailing the abuses opened my eyes.
Someone will be around soon to offer you coffee and a danish here at the Greasespot Cafe (I'm a Guinness man myself :) ). So enjoy your time here, and prepare to have the eyes of your understanding enlightened.
Thanks for sharing Lori and it was nice to briefly meet you in chat. :)
I left TWI almost a year ago after 28 years and GSC has been wonderful for me. Posting was scarey for me (and sometimes still is), but that is one reason I do it. I'm endeavoring to learn to express MY opinions and to believe again that God works in me...and to learn to think "outloud" again. Plus I've had some heartfelt and grand reunions and made new friends as well.
It just dawned on me...we might know each other. Did you ever live in Cleveland? PM me if you did. :)
As Kevlar pointed out, the people here have had a wide range of experiences with TWI, ranging from not so bad to downright abysmal. There are all sorts of things to do at Greasespot, from doctrinal discussions to sharing experiences to prayer rooms to game playing! Find what suits you. Not everyone here will always agree with you, but there are always plenty of people willing to help!
Welcome Lori! Sounds like we left about the same time. :)
Boy, oh boy, do we learn how to think, disagree and discuss things like we never did in TWI. You're in for a great time! I look forward to reading more of you.
This round of coffee and danishes for the cafe is on me.
Hi there Lori! Welcome to the GS Cafe! Thanks for sharing, and glad for you to be out. My wife and I were in from 75 till my wife and I were thrown out in 1990. We refused to answer Craigs unbiblical ultimatum letter (who do you stand with? Me, or Chris Geer?) and finally Craig "defrocked me" (but was I ever really "frocked"?) and gave us the boot. My wife and I have been away from all things WAY for a long time, and I suppose I come here just because of the "enquiring minds want to know" thing. But I have learned a great deal here, and, I have also come to learn that there really was sexual abuse perpetrated by way upper level people, most notably, VPW and LCM. It was hard for me to believe at first, but I have become friends with a few gals here to whom it happened. One very good friend of mine here was forcibly and physically raped at HQ by LCM, and I was really shocked to hear her story. I had to change a lot of my pre-packaged thinking when I heard that.
One of the things you will find here is two (among others) different schools of thought. Some, like me, believe that The Way started out with VPW actually trying to help people, and that at one time VPW really did love God and simply wanted to help out the world with God's Word, but then as the numbers and the power and the money grew, the power corrupted him. I tend to go along with that old adage; "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". And so, as the Ministry grew, the willingness to compromise and take indecent liberties grew as well, until he and those surrounding VP thought themselves "above the law" of decency, above the law of God's Word, and also above the laws of this land.
And then there is the other school of thought, that VP and his evil minions started the whole thing with a "sex and money farm" in mind at the very onset, and that he never ever believed in God much and that there is no way that he could even have been born again and that the whole thing was a complete and total scam from the git go.
As noted, I am not of this latter school of thought, but of the former. But this of course is for you to decide, if you haven't already. I do know that I have cringed in horror at the stories of legalism and "control" that I have read here that mirror those of your own. I could not even imagine what it would have been like to be involved in what is known around here as "TWI 2", those years after Craig "regained his footing" after Chris Geer helped to blow the whole thing apart. I was part of TWI 1, and as the"out front ugliness" began to rear it's ugly head, my wife and I just had to buck up against it, which got us a quick ticket out of there, which was, just like with you, most refreshing! Once we were out into the sun light, we felt like a couple of "un-earthed moles" blinking in the springtime sunshine! And it has been wonderful ever since! And so, enjoy your time here, and if you still believe in God, Jesus Christ, and God's Word, do your best to judge what you read with God's Word as your guide. That is only my opinion of course, but opinions, although hotly contested around here at times, are not to be suppressed as they once were in The Way.
And by the way, nice that you had the cojones to write that note to the trustees on how they were "hunting believers". How cruel of them, and good for you!!
I left almost 4 years ago after almost 20 years in which included a 5-year-stint on staff at HQ. My eyes were opened to the way people were treated. I thought all of the BS I had seen over the years were isolated incidents. In reality, it was common for those of us who worked hard to financially and emotionally support the ministry to be treated less than the best.
I remembered a line that "practical error ALWAYS leads to doctrinal error". Once realizing the practical errors which were practiced by the upper leadership and some of the in betweens, I started to wonder if all I had been taught was truth. That doctrine they forced with so many classes and repeat after repeat of those classes helped to indoctrinate us and brainwash us to be the good little wayfers we became.
Hope you enjoy your time here. I look forward to getting to see you around the cafe. :)
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TOMMYZ
Hey Lori, welcome aboard ! I was in TWI from 1975 - 1989. The great thing about this place is that you see other people went through a lot of the same crap and it establishes in your heart that it was the system in TWI that was the problem, not you.
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Kevlar2000
Good morning lori, and welcome to this site for ex-Way adherents.
As you may have read, there is a multiplicity of opinions, viewpoints and experiences here on these forums. These serve as a challenge to think through your beliefs and experiences, and may help you to separate truth from error more than TWI (the Way International) ever did.
TWI did not promote individual thinking or critical analysis of its policies, edicts, or interpretation of the Word (and yes, the Way International had its own interpretation of "the Word"). This site (like the Waydale site before it, and others) is primarily a discussion forum. You're encouraged to discuss, to throw out ideas and see where they land, to have your own opinion about....anything.
I also encourage you, if you have not done so already, to check out the information on this site's Main Page. You may already know some of this, but I'll bet some of it will (pardon the expression) knock your socks off.
Some of it will be so amazingly terrible, you may not believe it. All I can say is, Keep reading.
Some people here have recently left TWI, others (like myself) left a long time ago. You will find a wide range of Way experience here, from household (or twig) fellowship level to Way Corps to HQ staff to Trustee Cabinet level. Stick around long enough, and you may be surprised who posts here.
My time in TWI was from 1971 to 1987, and , even though I saw petty abuse from time to time, I did not and could not imagine the evil perpetrated on people who only wanted to love God, know how to read the bible, and live a more abundant life. This and other sites detailing the abuses opened my eyes.
Someone will be around soon to offer you coffee and a danish here at the Greasespot Cafe (I'm a Guinness man myself :) ). So enjoy your time here, and prepare to have the eyes of your understanding enlightened.
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mstar1
Good Mornin and welcome Lori--Glad you made it!
We've been sitting here in the lifeboat waiting for you to come! :)
sooner or later the waitress will by with some coffee--I could us a shot myself
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I Love Bagpipes
Thanks for sharing Lori and it was nice to briefly meet you in chat. :)
I left TWI almost a year ago after 28 years and GSC has been wonderful for me. Posting was scarey for me (and sometimes still is), but that is one reason I do it. I'm endeavoring to learn to express MY opinions and to believe again that God works in me...and to learn to think "outloud" again. Plus I've had some heartfelt and grand reunions and made new friends as well.
It just dawned on me...we might know each other. Did you ever live in Cleveland? PM me if you did. :)
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Kit Sober
And a "Hi" and "Welcome" from me, too.
(And I also concur that Pawtucket is earning some great [heavenly] reward for giving a home to the truth and to people who want to know.)
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GeorgeStGeorge
Welcome, Lori!
As Kevlar pointed out, the people here have had a wide range of experiences with TWI, ranging from not so bad to downright abysmal. There are all sorts of things to do at Greasespot, from doctrinal discussions to sharing experiences to prayer rooms to game playing! Find what suits you. Not everyone here will always agree with you, but there are always plenty of people willing to help!
George
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Belle
Welcome Lori! Sounds like we left about the same time. :)
Boy, oh boy, do we learn how to think, disagree and discuss things like we never did in TWI.
You're in for a great time! I look forward to reading more of you.
This round of coffee and danishes for the cafe is on me.
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AHAT4JC
Welcome Lori,
I was in from '82-'89. Started my healing on Waydale. Have a cup of coffee and some pecan pie on me.
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coolchef
welcome lori
i don't drink coffee but have a
on me!
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J0nny Ling0
Hi there Lori! Welcome to the GS Cafe! Thanks for sharing, and glad for you to be out. My wife and I were in from 75 till my wife and I were thrown out in 1990. We refused to answer Craigs unbiblical ultimatum letter (who do you stand with? Me, or Chris Geer?) and finally Craig "defrocked me" (but was I ever really "frocked"?) and gave us the boot. My wife and I have been away from all things WAY for a long time, and I suppose I come here just because of the "enquiring minds want to know" thing. But I have learned a great deal here, and, I have also come to learn that there really was sexual abuse perpetrated by way upper level people, most notably, VPW and LCM. It was hard for me to believe at first, but I have become friends with a few gals here to whom it happened. One very good friend of mine here was forcibly and physically raped at HQ by LCM, and I was really shocked to hear her story. I had to change a lot of my pre-packaged thinking when I heard that.
One of the things you will find here is two (among others) different schools of thought. Some, like me, believe that The Way started out with VPW actually trying to help people, and that at one time VPW really did love God and simply wanted to help out the world with God's Word, but then as the numbers and the power and the money grew, the power corrupted him. I tend to go along with that old adage; "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". And so, as the Ministry grew, the willingness to compromise and take indecent liberties grew as well, until he and those surrounding VP thought themselves "above the law" of decency, above the law of God's Word, and also above the laws of this land.
And then there is the other school of thought, that VP and his evil minions started the whole thing with a "sex and money farm" in mind at the very onset, and that he never ever believed in God much and that there is no way that he could even have been born again and that the whole thing was a complete and total scam from the git go.
As noted, I am not of this latter school of thought, but of the former. But this of course is for you to decide, if you haven't already. I do know that I have cringed in horror at the stories of legalism and "control" that I have read here that mirror those of your own. I could not even imagine what it would have been like to be involved in what is known around here as "TWI 2", those years after Craig "regained his footing" after Chris Geer helped to blow the whole thing apart. I was part of TWI 1, and as the"out front ugliness" began to rear it's ugly head, my wife and I just had to buck up against it, which got us a quick ticket out of there, which was, just like with you, most refreshing! Once we were out into the sun light, we felt like a couple of "un-earthed moles" blinking in the springtime sunshine! And it has been wonderful ever since! And so, enjoy your time here, and if you still believe in God, Jesus Christ, and God's Word, do your best to judge what you read with God's Word as your guide. That is only my opinion of course, but opinions, although hotly contested around here at times, are not to be suppressed as they once were in The Way.
And by the way, nice that you had the cojones to write that note to the trustees on how they were "hunting believers". How cruel of them, and good for you!!
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topoftheworld
Welcome, Lori. Look forward to getting to know you.
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Suda
Welcome Lori. Good to have you here in the forums and in chat. Look forward to getting to know you better!
Suda
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Nottawayfer
Hi Lori and Welcome!
I left almost 4 years ago after almost 20 years in which included a 5-year-stint on staff at HQ. My eyes were opened to the way people were treated. I thought all of the BS I had seen over the years were isolated incidents. In reality, it was common for those of us who worked hard to financially and emotionally support the ministry to be treated less than the best.
I remembered a line that "practical error ALWAYS leads to doctrinal error". Once realizing the practical errors which were practiced by the upper leadership and some of the in betweens, I started to wonder if all I had been taught was truth. That doctrine they forced with so many classes and repeat after repeat of those classes helped to indoctrinate us and brainwash us to be the good little wayfers we became.
Hope you enjoy your time here. I look forward to getting to see you around the cafe. :)
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