And yet there are those who are still enamored with his facade, despite all the revealing facts that have been brought to light, against all logic and reason.
When I worked on twi staff back in the late 70s / early 80s.......the first staff meeting I attended was handled by wierwille and company wherein each staffer was given a list of HQ STAFF REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES. It was strongly suggested that we abide within this framework AND refer back to it often.
One strict requirement: No moonlighting while on twi staff.
No staffer was allowed to engage in a second job for financial gain.......after all, you were working on a NEED BASIS, and twi was meeting that need (example: "see rhoda"). If a staffer worked at Fleet Services (the auto shop), then he was NOT permitted to work on another's car. If a builder, a carpenter......no pounding nails at another staffer's home for $$. If you had chickens.....you could not SELL the eggs.
Yet, throughout twi history.....VPW IS MOONLIGHTING ON ANOTHER CHURCH'S DIME.
In 1942.....vpw's first pastorate in Payne, OH.......Claims that Vesper Chimes was the start of twi.
In 1953.....vpw on Van Wert Church payroll..........Taught BG's class (aka first pfal class) in church basement.
In 1955,56....vpw travels to England, India, etc.....Still on the Van Wert payroll.
June 1956.....meets with "twi board of trustees".....STILL on the Van Wert payroll.
THEN......in 1957, according to mrs. w's book......vpw submits his resignation from the van wert church. Thus, from 1941-1957....16 YEARS....wierwille was on the church's dime. And, since twi equates its beginnings in 1942 with vesper chimes, that's 15 years of moonlighting.
If twi were HONEST........The Way, Inc. began in 1957.
Just another ethical/moral/spiritual issue to add to wierwille's deceptive past.
Hey Skyrider,
I get the impression you were on TWI staff for at least a few years. I can't imagine how tough the transition must have been to a job/career afterward. What's happening for you these days along those lines, if you don't mind me asking? If you do mind, then please disregard my inquiry.
When I got to FLO in 1975, the rule was that we had 2 weeks to find a job.
Not just any job, but one that was at least 40 hours a week and fit into the FLO schedule that included a 5 or 5:30am fellowship,
group dinner at 6pm, evening work detail and 10pm night twig.(Plus all the prep work that went into all that, such as getting up early to get breakfast ready for the house before AM twig or cooking dinner for 6 people and transporting it to limb for 6pm dinner.)
Two part time jobs was not an acceptable option.
Night shift was not possible.(With the exception of one person who had "connections", but I won't go there.)
We were in the middle of Podunk,USA. There really just weren't that many jobs out there. In fact, there wasn't even a temporary service anywhere nearer than the main city which was 20 miles away.
Well, the two week rule got flexed, for sure.
People with special skills and abilities were really the ones who were at a loss.
We had to take virtually any kind of job that was offered as long as it fit the schedule.
Then, to make matters worse, we were supposed to use those jobs to witness and promote Piffle.
If the job didn't offer much opportunity to do that, you were supposed to find a new one.
I look back and can't believe I was ever naive enough to fall for any of this.
Wow waysider, those restrictions sound so unreal today; yet at the time they got accepted for "normal" . . . what was we thinkin?
With disney so close by, you could've had a decent job source, if you'd had more flexibility at fellowlaborers.
About the moonlighting while on staff, what skyider described was typical too.
I worked at hq for a long, long time. When I decided it was time for me to move on (and the move I wanted to make did not agree with my given assignment) I felt that I needed some extra money to help to with moving across country.
I spoke with Don Wier***le about covering my moving expenses. I thought I should take on an extra job for them. That was, of course against policy. He told me I couldn't do it.
What we worked out is this: I asked him to assure me that, if I followed his request; that God would meet my need for doing so; he chuckled a little. saying he couldn't promise me that God would do that. I agreed! so that's why shouldn't he instead approve my request to moonlight? well, he did. My idea of moonlighting was to do some work on the homes of some other longterm staff people. At the end of the day this was good for all of us. . . some things got done on their homes that truly needed attention, things that they had no doubt put off in order to work at twi. They got helped, I got helped, twi wasn't hurt that I ever heard of. So for my last six months at hq, I put in all of my unused vacation time, and lots of weekends and evenings doing that.
I guess that this paragraph in the chapter ended on a happier note. Hope this doen't dampen the folly of that twi policy.
I get the impression you were on TWI staff for at least a few years. I can't imagine how tough the transition must have been to a job/career afterward. What's happening for you these days along those lines, if you don't mind me asking? If you do mind, then please disregard my inquiry.
Yeah, Rocky......."tough" would be one way to describe it. Twi has NO IDEA how they sabotage one's career path with their corps indoctrination, their self-serving demands and policies........OR MAYBE THEY DO.
Yeah Sky-Why did they have any right to tell us what we could do with our spare time. Why didn't we tell them to shove it then?
VP was all show and not much action. He would proclaim how he got up at 4am every morning. No wonder he slept during the day while we were working our tails off to bring in the money that we had no right to touch.
Great thread. Reveal the dumb stuff we were dragged through and maybe some of the poor souls still iin will wake up.
Yeah, Rocky......."tough" would be one way to describe it. Twi has NO IDEA how they sabotage one's career path with their corps indoctrination, their self-serving demands and policies........OR MAYBE THEY DO.
...Why did they have any right to tell us what we could do with our spare time. Why didn't we tell them to shove it then?
Because, for some odd reason, TWI hierarchy and "leadership" believed that, if we participated in any of their programs, they owned the rights to our lives.
Depending on the degree of our acceptance of indoctrination into Wierwille's belief system, they pretty much did. And they acted like it.
That attitude spread even to the Twig / Household fellowship level, although it wasn't as prevalent or obvious when I first started attending in 1971. I have no idea of what it's like now, but judging from the testimonies of persons on this forum, it rose to an insane level in the 80's and 90's.
Why didn't we tell them to shove it?
Because many of us accepted:
Way dogma as it was presented in the PFAL class,
That God taught the Word to "Dr." Wierwille as it had not been known since the 1st century (and that Mr. Wierwille had a legitimate, accredited doctorate),
That what Wierwille taught to us was the best-researched Word of God available anywhere,
That the "Ministry" was the Word and the Word was the "Ministry", and that disobeying or disregarding TWI's edicts was tantamount to disobeying God (a la the original sin in Genesis). That you would be, for all intents and purposed, returning to "the world". Which is ruled by Satan.
To tell Way-appointed "leadership" to "shove it" would be like saying, "I now serve the devil". Hyperbole? Perhaps. But, as you examine your sojourn with TWI, can you say you never felt that way about someone who "left the Way"? Or didn't feel that way when you were considering your own exit. Or don't still feel that way now at times?
Again, that was to the extent we bought into it. There were many people who didn't, and some of them we hold dear in our hearts for their love, empathy, and willingness to serve God no matter what were the circumstances.
(and for the record, I bought into it lock, stock, but not quite barrel. The last 20-some years have been eye-opening and humbling.)
That the "Ministry" was the Word and the Word was the "Ministry", and that disobeying or disregarding TWI's edicts was tantamount to disobeying God (a la the original sin in Genesis). That you would be, for all intents and purposed, returning to "the world". Which is ruled by Satan.
Nice post, Kevlar.
That familiar cliche in twi......"The Word is the ministry and the ministry is the Word"......is synonymous with *we-are-always-right* because we have dr. wierwille's "word." Having "it"......is "having it ALL."
I'm inclined to think that narcisstic wierwille felt VERY COMPELLED TO PRODUCE......knowing that Dad Wierwille had spent plenty of money on his education. And, back in those days.......church leaders held admirable respect in the community and wielded much authoritarian rule. Yeah......that's the ticket.
Even at his first pastorate, in 1941......wierwille was discouraged and ready to quit. But amazingly.....at his newly renovated office, he prayed that God would show him THE WORD like it hadn't been known since the first century....... and the "pitch-black snowstorm" went down in twi history.
Seemingly, the "cross-breeding" (from here, from there) of "the word"......and wierwille's masterful presentation, all hepped on it.......had & has mesmerized the faithful. Wierwille's ministry is synonymous with 'HAVING THE WORD' just like dozens of his contemporaries.
In twi's little cornfield in the middle of nowhere.........they cling to their version of "the ark of the covenant."
And, inside that "ark"........the pfal series and a bottle of drambuie, touched by the lips of wierwille.
Yeah Sky-Why did they have any right to tell us what we could do with our spare time. Why didn't we tell them to shove it then?
VP was all show and not much action. He would proclaim how he got up at 4am every morning. No wonder he slept during the day while we were working our tails off to bring in the money that we had no right to touch.
Great thread. Reveal the dumb stuff we were dragged through and maybe some of the poor souls still iin will wake up.
polar bear......yeah, even our 'spare time' was monitored. Talk about a controlling environment.......and, of course the new corps grads twi assigned them to ON GROUNDS HOUSING.....to keep an eye on them. Yuk.
During wierwille's time......many of us thought we were on the cutting edge of 'taking the word over the world'.....now, I can't imagine what it would be like to be around twi's hq.
Just gotta know "when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em".......guess some are playing a s-l-o-w hand.
Yeah my question about what gave them the right etc. is me speaking in the present tense.
What happened in the past was a different storey.
Yes they did demand all our time.
In fact those who were working full time as I did for a while had to and still have to submit daily schedules of exactly what you will be doing with your time.
Because, for some odd reason, TWI hierarchy and "leadership" believed that, if we participated in any of their programs, they owned the rights to our lives.
Depending on the degree of our acceptance of indoctrination into Wierwille's belief system, they pretty much did. And they acted like it.
That attitude spread even to the Twig / Household fellowship level, although it wasn't as prevalent or obvious when I first started attending in 1971. I have no idea of what it's like now, but judging from the testimonies of persons on this forum, it rose to an insane level in the 80's and 90's.
Worth repeating.
True, the control grew to insane levels in the 90's, but the seed had been planted, the groove had been cut long before.
It's not that big a jump to letting someone micromanage your life once you've accepted that they've got all the answers.
Thanks Oakspear. The longer I'm out of the Way, the more amazed I am how much control I let them have over my life. Examining the reasons is both facinating and sobering.
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waysider
And yet there are those who are still enamored with his facade, despite all the revealing facts that have been brought to light, against all logic and reason.
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cheranne
My wow brother 9th corp couldn't get a job anywhere and the only job that he could get was fulltime at night at a
psychiatric hospital,the limb leader made an exception for him.
Another guy could not find a job either except driving a moving truck(out of state at that)and he also
made an exception.
I know they weren't staff but they really weren't suppose to do that either.
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Rocky
Hey Skyrider,
I get the impression you were on TWI staff for at least a few years. I can't imagine how tough the transition must have been to a job/career afterward. What's happening for you these days along those lines, if you don't mind me asking? If you do mind, then please disregard my inquiry.
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waysider
When I got to FLO in 1975, the rule was that we had 2 weeks to find a job.
Not just any job, but one that was at least 40 hours a week and fit into the FLO schedule that included a 5 or 5:30am fellowship,
group dinner at 6pm, evening work detail and 10pm night twig.(Plus all the prep work that went into all that, such as getting up early to get breakfast ready for the house before AM twig or cooking dinner for 6 people and transporting it to limb for 6pm dinner.)
Two part time jobs was not an acceptable option.
Night shift was not possible.(With the exception of one person who had "connections", but I won't go there.)
We were in the middle of Podunk,USA. There really just weren't that many jobs out there. In fact, there wasn't even a temporary service anywhere nearer than the main city which was 20 miles away.
Well, the two week rule got flexed, for sure.
People with special skills and abilities were really the ones who were at a loss.
We had to take virtually any kind of job that was offered as long as it fit the schedule.
Then, to make matters worse, we were supposed to use those jobs to witness and promote Piffle.
If the job didn't offer much opportunity to do that, you were supposed to find a new one.
I look back and can't believe I was ever naive enough to fall for any of this.
But, obviously, I must have been.
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wing
Wow waysider, those restrictions sound so unreal today; yet at the time they got accepted for "normal" . . . what was we thinkin?
With disney so close by, you could've had a decent job source, if you'd had more flexibility at fellowlaborers.
About the moonlighting while on staff, what skyider described was typical too.
I worked at hq for a long, long time. When I decided it was time for me to move on (and the move I wanted to make did not agree with my given assignment) I felt that I needed some extra money to help to with moving across country.
I spoke with Don Wier***le about covering my moving expenses. I thought I should take on an extra job for them. That was, of course against policy. He told me I couldn't do it.
What we worked out is this: I asked him to assure me that, if I followed his request; that God would meet my need for doing so; he chuckled a little. saying he couldn't promise me that God would do that. I agreed! so that's why shouldn't he instead approve my request to moonlight? well, he did. My idea of moonlighting was to do some work on the homes of some other longterm staff people. At the end of the day this was good for all of us. . . some things got done on their homes that truly needed attention, things that they had no doubt put off in order to work at twi. They got helped, I got helped, twi wasn't hurt that I ever heard of. So for my last six months at hq, I put in all of my unused vacation time, and lots of weekends and evenings doing that.
I guess that this paragraph in the chapter ended on a happier note. Hope this doen't dampen the folly of that twi policy.
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waysider
Hi, Wing
Sounds like reason managed to trump insanity in your situation.
I probably should have mentioned that the the Fellow Laborer program I was involved with was in Ohio.
No Disney anywhere nearby, but plenty of "living in fantasy world".
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skyrider
Yeah, Rocky......."tough" would be one way to describe it. Twi has NO IDEA how they sabotage one's career path with their corps indoctrination, their self-serving demands and policies........OR MAYBE THEY DO.
I'll pm you.
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wing
Great humor! I dunno why I thought florida? maybe that FLO subliminally got me....
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polar bear
Yeah Sky-Why did they have any right to tell us what we could do with our spare time. Why didn't we tell them to shove it then?
VP was all show and not much action. He would proclaim how he got up at 4am every morning. No wonder he slept during the day while we were working our tails off to bring in the money that we had no right to touch.
Great thread. Reveal the dumb stuff we were dragged through and maybe some of the poor souls still iin will wake up.
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Rocky
Yeah, I look forward to hearing from you.
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Kevlar2000
Because, for some odd reason, TWI hierarchy and "leadership" believed that, if we participated in any of their programs, they owned the rights to our lives.
Depending on the degree of our acceptance of indoctrination into Wierwille's belief system, they pretty much did. And they acted like it.
That attitude spread even to the Twig / Household fellowship level, although it wasn't as prevalent or obvious when I first started attending in 1971. I have no idea of what it's like now, but judging from the testimonies of persons on this forum, it rose to an insane level in the 80's and 90's.
Why didn't we tell them to shove it?
Because many of us accepted:
Way dogma as it was presented in the PFAL class,
That God taught the Word to "Dr." Wierwille as it had not been known since the 1st century (and that Mr. Wierwille had a legitimate, accredited doctorate),
That what Wierwille taught to us was the best-researched Word of God available anywhere,
That the "Ministry" was the Word and the Word was the "Ministry", and that disobeying or disregarding TWI's edicts was tantamount to disobeying God (a la the original sin in Genesis). That you would be, for all intents and purposed, returning to "the world". Which is ruled by Satan.
To tell Way-appointed "leadership" to "shove it" would be like saying, "I now serve the devil". Hyperbole? Perhaps. But, as you examine your sojourn with TWI, can you say you never felt that way about someone who "left the Way"? Or didn't feel that way when you were considering your own exit. Or don't still feel that way now at times?
Again, that was to the extent we bought into it. There were many people who didn't, and some of them we hold dear in our hearts for their love, empathy, and willingness to serve God no matter what were the circumstances.
(and for the record, I bought into it lock, stock, but not quite barrel. The last 20-some years have been eye-opening and humbling.)
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skyrider
Nice post, Kevlar.
That familiar cliche in twi......"The Word is the ministry and the ministry is the Word"......is synonymous with *we-are-always-right* because we have dr. wierwille's "word." Having "it"......is "having it ALL."
I'm inclined to think that narcisstic wierwille felt VERY COMPELLED TO PRODUCE......knowing that Dad Wierwille had spent plenty of money on his education. And, back in those days.......church leaders held admirable respect in the community and wielded much authoritarian rule. Yeah......that's the ticket.
Even at his first pastorate, in 1941......wierwille was discouraged and ready to quit. But amazingly.....at his newly renovated office, he prayed that God would show him THE WORD like it hadn't been known since the first century....... and the "pitch-black snowstorm" went down in twi history.
Seemingly, the "cross-breeding" (from here, from there) of "the word"......and wierwille's masterful presentation, all hepped on it.......had & has mesmerized the faithful. Wierwille's ministry is synonymous with 'HAVING THE WORD' just like dozens of his contemporaries.
In twi's little cornfield in the middle of nowhere.........they cling to their version of "the ark of the covenant."
And, inside that "ark"........the pfal series and a bottle of drambuie, touched by the lips of wierwille.
<_<
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skyrider
polar bear......yeah, even our 'spare time' was monitored. Talk about a controlling environment.......and, of course the new corps grads twi assigned them to ON GROUNDS HOUSING.....to keep an eye on them. Yuk.
During wierwille's time......many of us thought we were on the cutting edge of 'taking the word over the world'.....now, I can't imagine what it would be like to be around twi's hq.
Just gotta know "when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em".......guess some are playing a s-l-o-w hand.
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polar bear
Yeah my question about what gave them the right etc. is me speaking in the present tense.
What happened in the past was a different storey.
Yes they did demand all our time.
In fact those who were working full time as I did for a while had to and still have to submit daily schedules of exactly what you will be doing with your time.
Talk about control.
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Oakspear
True, the control grew to insane levels in the 90's, but the seed had been planted, the groove had been cut long before.
It's not that big a jump to letting someone micromanage your life once you've accepted that they've got all the answers.
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Kevlar2000
Thanks Oakspear. The longer I'm out of the Way, the more amazed I am how much control I let them have over my life. Examining the reasons is both facinating and sobering.
----------------------------------------------------
Since the topic is TWI staff and moonlighting: Is there anyone here who did moonlight and got away with it (even if it was only for a while)?
If you got "caught", how bad did they make it for you?
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