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The Wierwille Heritage


skyrider
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This topic deserves its own thread............DWBH posted this on the here we go again thread.

.........i remember, during the "40th anniversary year", and oftentimes at various gatherings at new knoxville and gunnison, that vic had those special conclaves with and for the wierwille family..........he'd get them all together, you know, children and grandchildren, and pump 'em full of their "special" calling as the "man-o-gawd's bloodline family", and how their individual and collective stand on "the greatness of der verd" was of the utmost importance and significance to gawd!........i distinctly remember don answering one of my questions to him about one such meeting at gunnison, which took place while i was there teaching at a family camp, with, "just be thankful YOU were'nt born into this family!"!!.........LOL!........makes me laugh when i recall his facial expression and tone of voice while saying that!.......

I, too, vividly remember aspects of that 40th Anniversary year......1982......when wierwille was stepping down as the president. At that time, twi headquarters was at its zenith in activity.....preparations for Living Victoriously and the 40th Anniversary ceremonies with the passing of the mantle to martindale, the president-elect. During the summer, there was a larger-than-normal "international summer school" group.....accommodating lots of brc teachings, extra activities, housing shuffling, extra lunchtime fanfare, every department was a-buzz with more workload.......the founding president was nearing the last months of his "reign."

By mid-summer, more hype and substance was brewing.......more "wierwille heritage" sharings were surfacing at lunchtime........"how ALL the wierwille family NEEDED TO STAND 'on the word' was of great spiritual importance for the survival of 'the word' and thus, the ministry".......Then, the wierwille crest was presented and displayed......and the 40th anniversary plate.....and wine glasses with the wierwille crest would be made available for purchase from the bookstore.

EVEN THEN.........I remember the doubts that surfaced in my thinking......"whoa, what's this??"......"why all the parading on the wierwille children, grandchildren and WILL GOD ONLY HONOR TWI WITH BLESSINGS IF THEY STAND TOGETHER 'ON THE WORD'...??.......I kept my questions and doubts to myself....and wondered, why was I thinking evil and questioning dr. wierwille's proclamations.

Not too long after that.......the little statue of vpw was being promoted.

WHOA, NELLIE..................what..???!!!

Now.....in hindsight, I am of the opinion that......this postulating and pre-eminence of wierwille heritage, with dr. victor paul wierwille as the newly, embraced 'patriarch' of the wierwille family, and the larger 'family of followers' was a destination that he, long ago, set out to acquire.

And, curiously enough. after acknowledgments in mrs. w's book, "born again to serve".....THE FIRST SENTENCE reads: "The Wierwille family ancestry can be traced as far back as the 1300s to a small town in northern France called Vierville-sur-Mer, translated "Wierwille by the Sea."

Well.......I NEVER TOOK PFAL to follow a man, a man-made ministry OR the wierwille family heritage!!!

And........I NEVER WENT CORPS to follow one man's agenda, one ministry's servitude a lifetime.

I took that 'bible class' nearly 34 years ago......TO BETTER FOLLOW GOD AND MY LORD, JESUS CHRIST.

Now, to me..........concerning the wierwille heritage.........pppppfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffttt.

:evildenk:

Edited by skyrider
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I kinda wonder what the surviving Wierwilles are thinking regarding their supposed 'spurchel heritage'? Do they still think that their family was specially called out by God in such a fashion (even if they evidently aren't publically yammering on about it)? Or do they think that all that hulabaloo was just a bunch of hooie?

Any Wierwille out there who might be brave enough to be reading Greasespot want to chime in? :evilshades:

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At best I pity the poor bastards.

Obviously, SOME of them think they are "special".. regard their heritage as a gift of gawd or something.

Why else would they try to resurrect the wierwille name and ministry on a farm in the middle of nowhere.. I don't think ALL of them are actively involved, but at least the one who named his kid after gramps.

The older kids managed to strike out on their own, and you couldn't see the road for dust.

I wonder what they think of this new venture..

why they'd yoke a baby with this, I have no idea.. either way you look at his "heritage"- the "official" white-washed version, or the "unofficial" testimony of what really went on behind the scenes, it's a heritage I personally would not want to deal with.

I wonder what he's gonna do when he finally realizes he can't live up to the illusion of the supposed icon they've given him.

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i remember some of this..... the wine glasses and special softbound black holy spirit books

also remember the veepee kids getting paraded up on stage and all those scary prophecies !!!!!!

i'm like "oh sheet it doesn't matter whether or not i stand. we're all going to hell in a handbasket if they don't" !!!!!!

jimmy doop told me the older kids were definitely definitely not into this.....

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also remember the veepee kids getting paraded up on stage and all those scary prophecies !!!!!!

i'm like "oh sheet it doesn't matter whether or not i stand. we're all going to hell in a handbasket if they don't" !!!!!!

:biglaugh::biglaugh:

Yeah.......what was that all about??? Did those 'german-ancestry spirits' take a dive into vic's braincells when those "prophecies" were delivered, or what?

You mean to say......that if that little grandson of vic wierwille doesn't stand committed to "the way's word".....er, is that "the word's way.......we're all toast...???

Uummmmm............chapter and verse, please.

:spy:

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I suppose that those who were a product of Wierwille's seed became an extension of his ego as he grew older...

I can almost hear him thinking..."YES, my grandson will become a great man of God!...Yeah, that's the ticket"

It allowed him to continue living vicariously through his heritage that would "turn the world upside down"...his quest. The mighty Wierwille family will save the world. I think it only illustrates the extreme self love and high regard that he had for himself...

In reality, most of his offspring have had enough brains to distance themselves from the delusional legacy left by the monster of New Knoxville...and let me add that I hold them in high regard for the people they are. I will not attach the sins of their father to them.

I wish them all well...

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In reality, most of his offspring have had enough brains to distance themselves from the delusional legacy left by the monster of New Knoxville...and let me add that I hold them in high regard for the people they are. I will not attach the sins of their father to them.

I wish them all well...

I couldn't agree more........... :eusa_clap::eusa_clap:

More often than not.......those who bought into that "father in the word" doctrine are 'THE SPIRITUAL OFFSPRING' whose delusional belief is to stay committed to 'da vey'.....it's a perverted birthright.

:evildenk:

Edited by skyrider
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In the Corps during 1982-83, I remember hearing the tapes from "A Day with the Wierwilles" -- and later hearing that Don Wierwille thought all of that about how Luke Somerville should be groomed to be the third president of the Way (move over, Rosie!) and about how the Wierwille family had to stand for the ministry to stand was "just Dad's opinion."

I think he (and probably Karen and Mary also) knew it was a bunch of hooey.

Just MHO.

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DogLover,

I wanted to post it too. . .

Vp said it for himself (in one of those closed door after meetings where special bits of "insight" came up) about the future of his ministry; about Luke, '. . . well kids, you know, . . . I went to the cookie jar. . . and. . . daddy showed me. . . Luke Somerville

. . . will become president of the ministry. . .'

It was at HQ, a corps week environment. LCM had been chosen, but not yet crowned. Lots of people were there. That's where I heard it. But it didn't hit the grapevine that I know of. I've never seen a video, or heard an audio of it.

At the time it just struck me as odd, him making such a definative comment, acting like an old testament prophet. Then Luke was

just a kid, what a thing for him to have to grow up with.

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I am asking because I do not know.

How many Wierwille kids and grandkids stand with the twi.

I really believe no kids do grandkids ???

Who is Luke Somerville and where is he.Whos kid also?

copenhagen

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I wonder how much of this nonsense was more about how the vicster saw his family being scattered to the winds so to speak. Older group gone, off making a different kind of life.. and facing the same possibility with the younger group.

Who in their right mind would put that kind of pressure on his own offspring to tow the line..

"if it fails, it's YOUR fault.."

any way I look at it, it looks like he was NUTS.

Did he REALLY think that he could sow the seeds of destruction- what.. about twenty Drambuie soaked years of adulterous and worse behavior, and somehow, the kids could pull the "ministry" out of the fire?

that's a yoke I wouldn't put on MY offspring..

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I wonder if that was really a call to keep the "family lockbox" tightly sealed.

Kids don't get to pick their parents but they do have to deal their actions.

I wish only good for these kids.

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(snip)

Did he REALLY think that he could sow the seeds of destruction- what.. about twenty Drambuie soaked years of adulterous and worse behavior, and somehow, the kids could pull the "ministry" out of the fire?

that's a yoke I wouldn't put on MY offspring..

Thing is, remember, a conman has to be CONVINCING. If a conman really wants to do a successful con, he has

to convince HIMSELF it's true.

I think vpw worked so hard at his con for so long, that he genuinely thought that whatever he thought, said or did was

the RIGHT thing, and just constructed rationalizations afterward-if at all.

I believe what someone said-that, as his hours dwindled to their final few, that he really was trying to figure out where

what he did was less than perfect- and was unable to see anything present itself....

I suppose that those who were a product of Wierwille's seed became an extension of his ego as he grew older...

I can almost hear him thinking..."YES, my grandson will become a great man of God!...Yeah, that's the ticket"

It allowed him to continue living vicariously through his heritage that would "turn the world upside down"...his quest. The mighty Wierwille family will save the world. I think it only illustrates the extreme self love and high regard that he had for himself...

In reality, most of his offspring have had enough brains to distance themselves from the delusional legacy left by the monster of New Knoxville...and let me add that I hold them in high regard for the people they are. I will not attach the sins of their father to them.

I wish them all well...

I think THIS is what happened.

It was ALWAYS about vpw, remember.

With him getting older, and considering retirement (one way or another), he thought that he could

hand down the entire package to some of his genetic offspring, sustaining a vpw DYNASTY, wrought from

the Incredible Things he, all by himself, had done.

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Copenhagen,

In partial answer to your question, Luke Somerville is the son of John and Mary Wierwille Somerville, 26 years older now than he was at the time of the "prophecy." In 1982, I believe he was a youngster under the age of 12...10 sticks out in my mind, but I don't know why.

DogLover

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Man, Christian Cloud Abraham can write (in reference to the writing machine) .. his descriptions are easy to draw from.. even down to listening to PFAL a hundred times before being able to be old enough to take it.. and making friends with sugar cubes.. I include styrofoam cups of coffee and cookies dunked during break.. man I'd be eyeing those cookies all through the first half of service.. i remember the coffee cans full of cigarette butts too..

anywho.. it's interesting how we were brained into believing that the cross was ridiculous, that the holy spirit dove was quid pro quo for such.. how little jesus was actually mentioned as almost a supporting cast member, our house had so many paintings and photos with VPW and way propaganda there was no room for Jesus.. much like wierwille twisted theocracy.. MOG desired to be MIG.. reminds me of the makings of an Egyptian dynasty.. wonder if he wore Fu Man Chu fingernails in the motorcoach.. I also wonder if VP ever had in meetings in the grove.. with the great owl.. I dunno alot of things never sat well even then

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Vp said it for himself (in one of those closed door after meetings where special bits of "insight" came up) about the future of his ministry; about Luke, '. . . well kids, you know, . . . I went to the cookie jar. . . and. . . daddy showed me. . . Luke Somerville

. . . will become president of the ministry. . .'

It was at HQ, a corps week environment. LCM had been chosen, but not yet crowned. Lots of people were there. That's where I heard it. But it didn't hit the grapevine that I know of. I've never seen a video, or heard an audio of it.

At the time it just struck me as odd, him making such a definative comment, acting like an old testament prophet. Then Luke was

just a kid, what a thing for him to have to grow up with.

Imagine.........nearing the culmination of 40 years of "knowing-the-greatest-stuff" since the apostle paul left the scene of walking tall..........vic lays out "this grandson wierwille prophecy" to instill his narcisstic fantasies as parting revelation of his profound ministry..!!??!!

What a grand-scale moment to declare this "prophecy" to the gathering of wierwille-followers! Words from the summit of spiritual sensationalism had arrived..!!

And......would someone explain to me again why wierwille ran to geer, instead of luke, when the nearing of days was upon him???

Edited by skyrider
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Imagine.........nearing the culmination of 40 years of "knowing-the-greatest-stuff" since the apostle paul left the scene of walking tall..........vic lays out "this grandson wierwille prophecy" to instill his narcisstic fantasies as parting revelation of his profound ministry..!!??!!

What a grand-scale moment to declare this "prophecy" to the gathering of wierwille-followers! Words from the summit of spiritual sensationalism had arrived..!!

And......would someone explain to me again why wierwille ran to geer, instead of luke, when the nearing of days was upon him???

Apples and oranges.

The apples were vpw trying to make twi all about him (which worked), and to perpetuate

that by making it a dynasty of his blood descendants (which would have taken more work and time.)

He MIGHT have succeeded with that, but it would have taken time to set up and set in motion.

Instead, he made one statement by divine fiat, and expected everyone to get up and try to

make it work. It's the LAZY method of getting it done.

Then again, vpw's modus operandi seems to have ALWAYS been to cut corners,

and find the method to do something that involved the LEAST investments of time and energy

from him.

(Studied "Homiletics" and only PRETENDED he studied Bible languages, claimed history

was useless-but he never studied it, so that's convenient... got his Doctorate from an

unaccredited source and lied about its credentials...lied about taking courses at Moody that

he never took... plagiarized the classes and books of others and claimed he got the

information from God...)

As for the oranges....

In the case of him running to geer, vpw was ill AND made to feel superfluous.

(He'd treated others as disposable for decades, and he was reaping the result, since now HE

was the disposable one. Poetic justice.)

It USED to be ALL ABOUT HIM. He used to be the NEXUS for all things twi.

Now he was completely in the dark as to activity, and considered (by the powers-that-be)

to be unnecessary.

So, he wanted some emotional comfort. He wanted the blanket and warm milk and bedtime

story. He wanted to hear that he was the center of the universe. Luke couldn't give him

that. Two men had been THE best at that- lcm and cg. lcm was now one of the ones who

was pushing him out, so vpw went to the other to bask in the attention and adoration.

That was NOTHING to do with long-term plans, that was EVERYTHING to do with vpw

needing to feel special again. It worked so well that cg wrote "Passing of the Patriarch"

in response, which included a number of predictions that never came to pass,

and a number of current problems that were the results of his decisions for many years-

but now, mysteriously, had nothing to do with him and were completely the fault of

everyone else.

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Apples and oranges.

The apples were vpw trying to make twi all about him (which worked), and to perpetuate

that by making it a dynasty of his blood descendants (which would have taken more work and time.)

He MIGHT have succeeded with that, but it would have taken time to set up and set in motion.

Instead, he made one statement by divine fiat, and expected everyone to get up and try to

make it work. It's the LAZY method of getting it done.

Then again, vpw's modus operandi seems to have ALWAYS been to cut corners,

and find the method to do something that involved the LEAST investments of time and energy

from him.

(Studied "Homiletics" and only PRETENDED he studied Bible languages, claimed history

was useless-but he never studied it, so that's convenient... got his Doctorate from an

unaccredited source and lied about its credentials...lied about taking courses at Moody that

he never took... plagiarized the classes and books of others and claimed he got the

information from God...)

As for the oranges....

In the case of him running to geer, vpw was ill AND made to feel superfluous.

(He'd treated others as disposable for decades, and he was reaping the result, since now HE

was the disposable one. Poetic justice.)

It USED to be ALL ABOUT HIM. He used to be the NEXUS for all things twi.

Now he was completely in the dark as to activity, and considered (by the powers-that-be)

to be unnecessary.

So, he wanted some emotional comfort. He wanted the blanket and warm milk and bedtime

story. He wanted to hear that he was the center of the universe. Luke couldn't give him

that. Two men had been THE best at that- lcm and cg. lcm was now one of the ones who

was pushing him out, so vpw went to the other to bask in the attention and adoration.

That was NOTHING to do with long-term plans, that was EVERYTHING to do with vpw

needing to feel special again. It worked so well that cg wrote "Passing of the Patriarch"

in response, which included a number of predictions that never came to pass,

and a number of current problems that were the results of his decisions for many years-

but now, mysteriously, had nothing to do with him and were completely the fault of

everyone else.

Thanks WW.

I must admit.....my question was asked with tongue in cheek. :)

But yeah......I agree with your comments about vpw running to geer at that time. And, for geer to meticulously convey this "Patriarch -- His Final Testament"...........wierwille was on center stage AGAIN.

And then...........the bus driver drove away with HIS OWN BUS.

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Apples and oranges.

The apples were vpw trying to make twi all about him (which worked), and to perpetuate

that by making it a dynasty of his blood descendants (which would have taken more work and time.)

He MIGHT have succeeded with that, but it would have taken time to set up and set in motion.

Instead, he made one statement by divine fiat, and expected everyone to get up and try to

make it work. It's the LAZY method of getting it done.

Then again, vpw's modus operandi seems to have ALWAYS been to cut corners,

and find the method to do something that involved the LEAST investments of time and energy

from him.

(Studied "Homiletics" and only PRETENDED he studied Bible languages, claimed history

was useless-but he never studied it, so that's convenient... got his Doctorate from an

unaccredited source and lied about its credentials...lied about taking courses at Moody that

he never took... plagiarized the classes and books of others and claimed he got the

information from God...)

As for the oranges....

In the case of him running to geer, vpw was ill AND made to feel superfluous.

(He'd treated others as disposable for decades, and he was reaping the result, since now HE

was the disposable one. Poetic justice.)

It USED to be ALL ABOUT HIM. He used to be the NEXUS for all things twi.

Now he was completely in the dark as to activity, and considered (by the powers-that-be)

to be unnecessary.

So, he wanted some emotional comfort. He wanted the blanket and warm milk and bedtime

story. He wanted to hear that he was the center of the universe. Luke couldn't give him

that. Two men had been THE best at that- lcm and cg. lcm was now one of the ones who

was pushing him out, so vpw went to the other to bask in the attention and adoration.

That was NOTHING to do with long-term plans, that was EVERYTHING to do with vpw

needing to feel special again. It worked so well that cg wrote "Passing of the Patriarch"

in response, which included a number of predictions that never came to pass,

and a number of current problems that were the results of his decisions for many years-

but now, mysteriously, had nothing to do with him and were completely the fault of

everyone else.

:eusa_clap: Great post Word Wolf! Especially the last part! His ego was his own undoing.

...

And then...........the bus driver drove away with HIS OWN BUS.

:biglaugh: Love that, Skyrider! :biglaugh:

Edited by T-Bone
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From The Writing Machine (see post above)

The responsibility of the prophecy over me bears down on my conscience and I don’t want this burden—so I run. What kid wants a prophecy that you will “shed new light on your generation” looming over them their entire childhood, feeling there is something great they must live up to, but just wanting to be left alone. I am that kid.

Well maybe the prophecy came true - he is shedding new light on his generation. His writings are dispelling some of the myths and Wierwille-ology and indoctrination. Some of that new light is shed upon those of us who were Wayfers ignorant of the goings-on in the Family Corps.

The prophecy just is not quite coming out the way the prophet (??) expected it to. :biglaugh:

(edited for typo)

Edited by Twinky
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Well..........in terms of "keeping it in the family".....a wierwille dynasty, of sorts.....one could make the case that the wierwille-bloodline was ALREADY FLOWING in the twi system. H.E. Wierwille, or uncle harry........was the older brother of vic....and interwoven in much of the fabric of those early days since 1955....from owning a third of Dad Wierwille's 147-acre farm to appointee on the "trustee" level of twi.

p. 205 in mrs. w's book........."The first meeting of the Board of Directors after our return from the World Missionary Teaching and Training Tour was held on June 10, 1956. At this meeting the revised constitution and the revised bylaws of The Way were discussed in detail. Both were unanimously accepted as revised."

"The revisions in the constitution included the auditing of the books once a year, the necessity of notifying board members of a meeting ten days in advance, and the number of members required to be present at a board meeting in order to transact business."

"The Way Testimony of Belief was read, giving an outline of our learnng at that time."

"Dr. Wierwille was authorized upon a motion by Mr. Owens to officially appoint the Trustees for The Way, Inc. In actuality Ermal Owens and H.E. Wierwille had been carrying the responsibilities of Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer, respectively, for several years already."

"Dr. Wierwille reported that the formation of a branch of The Way of Florida was under way. This then would bring the number of branches of the summer of 1956 to a total of three in Ohio and two in Florida."

***NOTE #1.....H.E. Wierwille was appointed as a trustee of The Way in June of 1956.

***NOTE #2.....Not until August 1957 did vpw resign from his full-time pastorate in Van Wert.

And, back to the "wierwille-bloodline" comments.......Don Wierwille was installed as vice president in 1977. Again, vpw moves to "keep it in the family" upon the death of his brother, H.E.

So, perhaps............this "prophecy" on Luke being "heir to the throne" was ingrained into wierwille's world of rightful rulership over decades of dictatorship..???

:evildenk:

Edited by skyrider
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All about the "great one" Heck he was jesus paul and michael the arch all rolled up in one

Yeah we followed him..for years getting the bread crumbs off the table.......

His heritage/I like them but man talk about ego!!

A couple rungs above everyone...

As I said in another thread..Get a life get a job get something...

We saw first hand what his successor was...Do you really think somebody else would have done better?

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