The most disturbing transition in my experience of TWI ('80-'87) was right after the reading of The Passing of A Patriarch, at the very beginning of the Fog Years.
I had been a twig coordinator in the Twin Cities and I had just worked like a dog to successfully put together and run a foundational PFAL class at the twig level. It had been years since a class had been run at anything lower than the branch level, and everybody... me, the branch coordinator and the limb coordinator... thought the branch was suffering for it. So they all helped me as much as they could, and running a class at the twig level was a very difficult thing to do. We had to bend over backwards to see to it that the new people got what they needed to take the class.
The Passing of a Patriarch was read on a Corps night in the spring of '86. Everybody in the Corps was talking about it, but few believers outside the Corps knew any details. They just knew that something bad was happening. Then, if I remember correctly, in the fall of '86, Martindale made some kind of announcement that the Ministry was in trouble because the believers who were running classes on the field had gotten TOO SLACK in screening people who could take the class, and TOO SLACK in enforcing all the picky, petty guidelines for running classes.
It was some months later before I found out about Martindale's adultery issues, but it was when he made the announcement about the Ministry being in trouble because of what was happening at the level of the twigs that I lost all confidence in his leadership.
I wasn't a commissioned officer in the Navy, but I had to study and exercise genuine leadership. I had qualified as a Third Class Petty Officer and exercised the duties of an Engine Room Supervisor. I had learned where responsibility lies in the chain of command.
When Martindale tried to shift responsibility for the Ministry's problems from the Trustees to the people on the field running classes, it was my first indication that Headquarters was living in a fantasy bubble, and the leaders with which Wierwille had saddled TWI when he retired were nothing more than a bunch of bumbling yes-men and yes-women.
It's easy enough to look at the outward things of TWI to discern transitions, but the real transitions that mattered were the changes that happened in the hearts of the Trustees.
When Martindale tried to shift responsibility for the Ministry's problems from the Trustees to the people on the field running classes, it was my first indication that Headquarters was living in a fantasy bubble, and the leaders with which Wierwille had saddled TWI when he retired were nothing more than a bunch of bumbling yes-men and yes-women.
At 1980 Corps Week......wierwille blamed the way corps for NOT stopping the rain. If the great "man of god" couldn't stop the rain
with his mighty believing, then why did he even think that the peon corps could do it? sarc/
The Way International is in the final stages of transitioning to "The Victor Paul Wierwille Memorial Museum." With each passing year, the mission statement of twi comes more clearly into focus: to preserve and promote the life, the quest and the legacy of Dr. Wierwille for all generations. Those who visit will find an exciting adventure in learning as they take the shuttle west on Wierwille Road as the old Wierwille Homestead comes into view.
Is this museum a literal according to usage or a figure of speech?
I noticed the VPW worship too but I stayed for years after that realization. Then there were the other way sheeple who loved to name-drop how they knew the "doctor". These were the ones that for some reason ended every reproof sermon with "..see?". Very strange days those were. I won't miss it...
Is this museum a literal according to usage or a figure of speech?
This VPW Memorial Museum is a figure of speech....SYMPERASMA: or, Concluding Summary.
In observation of twi's trajectory of decline and irrelevancy....and yet, obsessive/compulsive insistance to inject wierwille adulation into artwork, displays, books, portraits, stories, teachings, and a prominent statue in the Victor Paul Wierwille Prevailing Word Auditorium.... its a concluding summary of twi's endgame.
THAT is the "tour version" of the VPW Memorial Museum. You see, twi re-writes their history.......
...."While hundreds and hundreds of corps and clergy deserted him....in the end, Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille ran his course in life, faithful to the end.
And, now folks...on this tour, you are entering the Founders' Room of the auditorium where, we have displayed, notable men who were instrumental in (blah, blah, blah)......"
The Way International is in the final stages of transitioning to "The Victor Paul Wierwille Memorial Museum." With each passing year, the mission statement of twi comes more clearly into focus: to preserve and promote the life, the quest and the legacy of Dr. Wierwille for all generations. Those who visit will find an exciting adventure in learning as they take the shuttle west on Wierwille Road as the old Wierwille Homestead comes into view.
Many of us, especially corps, are already familiar with this tour. We've heard about the wierwille barn and the "upper room" loft where summer students slept. On Tuesday night, many of us attended "Aunt Sevilla's Twig" in New Knoxville and listened to her childhood memories and helping young victor. And, many have heard about the strip-bark used to erect the "House of His Healing Presence" and the serene and holy peace in the Way Woods. You see......this tour, and legacy of wierwille, has been in the making for decades.
As more way corps realize the cloak of idolatry wrapped around twi's shoulders.....the quicker this memorial museum will become evident. After all, aren't the sunday service teachings merely a formality rather than genuine inspiration of heralded scripture? Visitors come to walk in the Victor Paul Wierwille Prevailing Word Auditorium and embrace the legacy once more. The ushers smile, the bookstore sales personnel are ready to assist, the Wierwille statute is on prominent display.....and wierwille is immortalized.
.........snip
Is the Victor Paul Wierwille Memorial Museum more evident now?
In the past number of years, the final stages of transitioning to a "memorial museum" have been met:
The 68 Million has accrued, namely harvested and hoarded, to preserve the image and illusion of victor paul wierwille.
Another 230 corps have abandoned the mother-cult. Some going into business for themselves.....Phasing in a splinter
According to recent sources (March 2017 R&R letter).......programs, classes and ethical decency are gasping for air.
Rosalie, Donna and Marcia G can gaggle and giggle together......during their shopping sprees and fine dining.
In March 2019, Rosalie will celebrate her 80th birthday and years of retirement at this preservation society.
Outreach is no longer needed.......the money will accrue in banks/investments to keep the illusion moving.
Notice: Very little has changed since 1985 when wierwille left the building. The auditorium is an echo chamber.
Leadership of the past has been erased.......of Summervilles, Duncans, Reahards, Smiths, Standages, etc.
No displayed pictures to honor the thousands of lives who built the way international.
This VPW Memorial Museum is a testament to isolation, illusion, immersion and indoctrination.
Is the Victor Paul Wierwille Memorial Museum more evident now?
In the past number of years, the final stages of transitioning to a "memorial museum" have been met:
The 68 Million has accrued, namely harvested and hoarded, to preserve the image and illusion of victor paul wierwille.
Another 230 corps have abandoned the mother-cult. Some going into business for themselves.....Phasing in a splinter
According to recent sources (March 2017 R&R letter).......programs, classes and ethical decency are gasping for air.
Rosalie, Donna and Marcia G can gaggle and giggle together......during their shopping sprees and fine dining.
In March 2019, Rosalie will celebrate her 80th birthday and years of retirement at this preservation society.
Outreach is no longer needed.......the money will accrue in banks/investments to keep the illusion moving.
Notice: Very little has changed since 1985 when wierwille left the building. The auditorium is an echo chamber.
Leadership of the past has been erased.......of Summervilles, Duncans, Reahards, Smiths, Standages, etc.
No displayed pictures to honor the thousands of lives who built the way international.
This VPW Memorial Museum is a testament to isolation, illusion, immersion and indoctrination.
Your contributions are welcomed.
.
Seems like intentional downsizing is occurring. Cutting the membership will lighten the workload and reduce some overhead. Free of taxation they have a nice chunk of change to party on.
1970's......in the mid-70s, a twig leader was recognized. A majority of twigs were being led by non-corps leaders.
If you didn't like the twig you attended, then you simply attended another one to your liking. No problem. Simplicity.
I got involved with The Way Corporation in 1978 in NY - at that time there weren't even any BRANCH leaders who were Corps grads and the Area Leader (over all the branches on Long Island - 8 or 9 branches) was interim Corps. Even though we were still selling Wierwille's plagiarized class and suspect theology, there just weren't enough Way Corps to effectively execute top-down control from HQ; the first big Corps graduating class (6th) had just graduated. So there was at least the illusion of autonomy.
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Steve Lortz
The most disturbing transition in my experience of TWI ('80-'87) was right after the reading of The Passing of A Patriarch, at the very beginning of the Fog Years.
I had been a twig coordinator in the Twin Cities and I had just worked like a dog to successfully put together and run a foundational PFAL class at the twig level. It had been years since a class had been run at anything lower than the branch level, and everybody... me, the branch coordinator and the limb coordinator... thought the branch was suffering for it. So they all helped me as much as they could, and running a class at the twig level was a very difficult thing to do. We had to bend over backwards to see to it that the new people got what they needed to take the class.
The Passing of a Patriarch was read on a Corps night in the spring of '86. Everybody in the Corps was talking about it, but few believers outside the Corps knew any details. They just knew that something bad was happening. Then, if I remember correctly, in the fall of '86, Martindale made some kind of announcement that the Ministry was in trouble because the believers who were running classes on the field had gotten TOO SLACK in screening people who could take the class, and TOO SLACK in enforcing all the picky, petty guidelines for running classes.
It was some months later before I found out about Martindale's adultery issues, but it was when he made the announcement about the Ministry being in trouble because of what was happening at the level of the twigs that I lost all confidence in his leadership.
I wasn't a commissioned officer in the Navy, but I had to study and exercise genuine leadership. I had qualified as a Third Class Petty Officer and exercised the duties of an Engine Room Supervisor. I had learned where responsibility lies in the chain of command.
When Martindale tried to shift responsibility for the Ministry's problems from the Trustees to the people on the field running classes, it was my first indication that Headquarters was living in a fantasy bubble, and the leaders with which Wierwille had saddled TWI when he retired were nothing more than a bunch of bumbling yes-men and yes-women.
It's easy enough to look at the outward things of TWI to discern transitions, but the real transitions that mattered were the changes that happened in the hearts of the Trustees.
Love,
Steve
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skyrider
At 1980 Corps Week......wierwille blamed the way corps for NOT stopping the rain. If the great "man of god" couldn't stop the rain
with his mighty believing, then why did he even think that the peon corps could do it? sarc/
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waysider
I'm still here!
hahahahahahahahaha!
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waysider
"I'm still here!"...VPW
Remember that?....ROA
(I don't remember the year.)
O.K.....You're still here...Sooooo, stop the rain, yourself, moron.
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Thomas Loy Bumgarner
that was after a electric power failure. Everyone turn to your Sing Along The Way book and join me in singing "There shall be showers of Blessing"
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penworks
Is this museum a literal according to usage or a figure of speech?
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Calavicci
I noticed the VPW worship too but I stayed for years after that realization. Then there were the other way sheeple who loved to name-drop how they knew the "doctor". These were the ones that for some reason ended every reproof sermon with "..see?". Very strange days those were. I won't miss it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhj867TUpZY
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skyrider
This VPW Memorial Museum is a figure of speech....SYMPERASMA: or, Concluding Summary.
In observation of twi's trajectory of decline and irrelevancy....and yet, obsessive/compulsive insistance to inject wierwille adulation into artwork, displays, books, portraits, stories, teachings, and a prominent statue in the Victor Paul Wierwille Prevailing Word Auditorium.... its a concluding summary of twi's endgame.
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GeorgeStGeorge
That many left BEFORE Wierwille died?
George
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skyrider
George.....you're not paying attention.
THAT is the "tour version" of the VPW Memorial Museum. You see, twi re-writes their history.......
...."While hundreds and hundreds of corps and clergy deserted him....in the end, Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille ran his course in life, faithful to the end.
And, now folks...on this tour, you are entering the Founders' Room of the auditorium where, we have displayed, notable men who were instrumental in (blah, blah, blah)......"
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chockfull
Where they will have PFAL on playback loop. Just in case you haven't sat through it a mind-numbingly amount of times already.
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excathedra
i'm fine with that as long as their is a girl statue on her knees with him
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skyrider
Bump -- 7-year old thread
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is the Victor Paul Wierwille Memorial Museum more evident now?
In the past number of years, the final stages of transitioning to a "memorial museum" have been met:
Your contributions are welcomed.
.
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Infoabsorption
Seems like intentional downsizing is occurring. Cutting the membership will lighten the workload and reduce some overhead. Free of taxation they have a nice chunk of change to party on.
Edited by Infoabsorptiongoof
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annio
Still very beneficial for me to read these succinct stats, summaries, and crystalized critiques! Appreciate them and you all!!
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Oakspear
I got involved with The Way Corporation in 1978 in NY - at that time there weren't even any BRANCH leaders who were Corps grads and the Area Leader (over all the branches on Long Island - 8 or 9 branches) was interim Corps. Even though we were still selling Wierwille's plagiarized class and suspect theology, there just weren't enough Way Corps to effectively execute top-down control from HQ; the first big Corps graduating class (6th) had just graduated. So there was at least the illusion of autonomy.
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