January 29, 2014- a survivor of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) posted the picture below and suddenly as if from every corner of time and space comments began flowing into his post. Can you understand why?
Continue reading This Picture Ignites Explosion on Facebook®
Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer wrote “Escape” (Copyright©2007 by Visionary Classics, LLC, published by Broadway Books, ISBN 978-0-7679-2756-7). We have reviewed this book previously in a guest post written by Lahna Morakis. Honestly, I have had a copy for a while, but had not picked it up until recently. From the back cover, “ESCAPE provides an astonishing look behind the tightly drawn curtains of the FLDS church (Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints), one of the most secretive religious groups in the United States. The story Carolyn Jessop tells is so weird and shocking that one hesitates to believe a sect like this, with 10,000 polygamous followers, could really exist in twenty-first-century America. But, Jessop’s courageous, heart-wrenching account is absolutely factual. This riveting book reminds us that truth can indeed be much, much stranger than fiction.” –Jon Krakauer, author of Under the Banner of Heaven, Into Thin Air, and Into the Wild.
This book follows my other reads on this religious cult. I have read books by Flora Jessop “Church of Lies”, Brent Jeffs, “Lost Boy” and Elisa Walls, “Stolen Innocence”. We have reviewed each of these books as well as made several comparisons to the practices of Warren Jeffs, leader of FLDS and Jane Whaley, leader of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF).
In “Escape”, Carolyn Jessop begins with her childhood memories in Salt Lake City, Utah. She tells of the influence of her Grandma and how this relationship shaped her outlook. “Listening to my grandmother talk, I felt like I was being rocked in a cradle of specialness. Grandma made me feel unique, but not in a traditional way. She taught me that I had been blessed by God with an opportunity to come into a family where the generations of women had sacrificed their feelings and given up things of this world to preserve the work of God and prove worthy of the celestial kingdom of God.” (page 19) With this book, as with the others, I will compare the memories and observations of the writers about their life in FLDS with my experience in WOFF.
As the months and years pass, there are memories of events from my time inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) that resurface. Some come back clear, others are more elusive and need some help to remember details of importance. This week, I was given a copy of the “Waiver and Release” that members of WOFF were required to sign if they intended to receive “prayer”. As far as I remember, these events took place AFTER the 1995 Inside Edition story. (We will reconnect with that resource video in a future post!) Just exactly when I signed this document I do not remember. If I was given a copy, I do not know where it is right now. If there were different versions, I am not aware. So, as far as I know, the version included in this post is the version I signed. If it is not, JC or someone else at WOFF could email me the one I signed. Certainly, there is a copy in the file being kept on me at WOFF.
Allow me some more disclosure type statements before we review the document and my opinions on it. I am not an attorney and my limited experience with contracts includes mainly those contracts and agreements that deal with money owed. I also have limited experience with rental contracts and lease agreements for houses and apartments. Over the years, I have signed other contracts as we all do in the course of living in the United States. However, I do not claim to be an expert on documents such as this “Waiver and Release”. This post will include my opinions, reflections and questions; lots of questions.
Some may ask why even bring this up? And in answer to that I will admit I do not know the specific events that triggered the requirement, but, we were told that some had left and “attacked”. (Yes, not a news flash…) We were told this would protect the church from others making false claims and future “attacks”. Again, we were also told NO ONE gets prayer or hands laid on them without signing the document. Also, I will say that like some other things, this document and the mention of it faded into the lost annals of WOFF history. Why it was not used any longer after a period of time, I do not know for certain. However, I will offer my opinions on that later in the post. Others who were in leadership could probably shed more light on the inner decisions about this waiver. This document came along before WOFF financed, supported and acquired their own in-house legal counsel.
Click here to view- WOFF Waiver and Release (Use your Back button in your browser to return to the post)
In 1995, Inside Edition aired two segments on Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale, NC. Bill O’Reilly actually was the announcer for the first segment! Inside Edition had acquired much of their information and footage from the Trinity Foundation (link- http://www.trinityfi.org ). The Trinity Foundation sent an undercover investigator inside WOFF. For now, we will review this video and the statements contained in it and compare them to what I was told and now remember from my time in WOFF.
Our last post included this statement made by the announcer, ““Outsiders seldom see the decidedly different way this secretive sect worships God…” That is an understatement- would you agree? The scene being shown is of a regular prayer service from that time that included small groups of folks sitting in circles around one person and praying for them. The announcer goes on in the same line of thought, “… regularly screaming to split the ears of devils…delivering this man and others from demons inside them so they can walk with God.” The next scene is shown from below, looking up into a member’s face as he received prayer. I recognize this man “getting prayer” and the one above him praying.
The announcer continues, “Until now, many of the members may have been kept in the dark about allegations of child abuse, sexual molestation and unlawful imprisonment and cult like mind control techniques.” As the announcer speaks these statements, footage of members going in and out of the church building is shown. One can recognize very clearly, Frank and Robin Webster going in the front door of the sanctuary along with others. The scene shifts to a view of Jane Whaley standing in a parking lot and speaking with Ray Farmer in the background. You can tell Jane is speaking, but, you cannot follow her words. The announcer continues, “Their leader is 55 year old Jane Whaley, a former school teacher with no formal theological training…”
Continue reading Investigation of WOFF – Inside Edition – 1995 (2)
In 1995, Inside Edition aired two segments on Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale, NC. Bill O’Reilly actually was the announcer for the first segment! Inside Edition had acquired much of their information and footage from the Trinity Foundation (link- http://www.trinityfi.org ). The Trinity Foundation sent an undercover investigator inside WOFF. If I remember correctly, his name was Pete Evans. Also, if my memory serves me right, the investigator had a camera in his glasses that would film the activities within the services. During this time, I lived in Greenville, SC and attended special meetings at WOFF.
This week I was able to secure a copy of the two segments that were aired in 1995. At some point in the future I hope to be able to provide access to these segments on this blog. But, for now, I will quote and comment on the content and my share memories from that time period. Before we proceed, I realize that many who are suffering under the hand of WOFFness were small children in 1995 or have joined the church since that time. If for no other reason, I hope to provide some back ground for those that were too young to realize what was happening and/or give some perspective to those who were unaware of these segments aired by Inside Edition. These are not the episodes that were aired about Lacy Wein. That material can be found on YouTube® – here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPpbmDDRm8M
The first Inside Edition segment, broadcast in February 1995, opens with scenes from a group prayer session. A voice is heard from within the church saying, “..in Jesus Name…” and the group begins the motions and sounds which all former member know were indicative of the blasting, loud prayer and deliverance sessions so common at WOFF. The announcer begins by saying, “They are raising the rafters in this church trying to scare the devil out of these kids with a bizarre form of prayer…but, is it spiritual healing or downright child abuse..?” Then a former member is shown saying, “I got hit so hard one time, I almost flew over the desk…” Next, a child psychologist is shown saying, “If you look at the kids faces, it is really quite fascinating, they’re dead.” About the time she says this you are shown images of a lady putting her fingers to the face of a child on each side of his mouth and pushing upward as if to create a smile. I recognized the child, his mother and the lady trying to force the child to smile. This gesture was to encourage the child to get his “happy face”. Right?
Continue reading Investigation of WOFF – Inside Edition – 1995 (1)
In order to understand this post, please take time to read part one. Also, before I share my thoughts on the similarities between Agape Bible Fellowship and WOFF, let me say that “Battle with the Devil” went on to explore other questions about heavy rock music, prison ministry and even “Hookers for Jesus”. None of which was quite as interesting as their piece on the deliverance at Agape Bible Fellowship in New York. The entire episode can be found searching “Battle with the Devil- ABC”.
There were so many thoughts in my mind about the two churches and the similarities in their practices that it is easier to start with the differences. Some of the differences will seem too small to mention, but, I want to be thorough. First, Pastor John Goguen had formal theological training. He may have left or modified some of those roots, but, he had the training nonetheless. Jane Whaley has no formal training as far as I know. Another obvious difference was that John is male and Jane is female. That statement stands for itself. Pastor Goguen dressed very casual, he even wore JEANS! Jane Whaley would not stand behind her pulpit to preach in casual dress- and never jeans. Another difference between Agape and WOFF was that the deliverance sessions did not start out in circles at Agape as it did at WOFF. Not every time did WOFF start their sessions in circles, but, most times that was true. Agape did not appear to have group leaders for the deliverance as it appeared only the Pastor led the prayer. At WOFF, there were deliverance group leaders who would lead the prayer and be the one to say what “devils were to be hit”. Higher level WOFF leadership or Jane herself would ultimately approve of the deliverance group leaders. The Agape congregation also appeared smaller than WOFF.
This next difference may not make some folks happy. But, in my 16 years of attending meetings at WOFF, I never saw someone directly praying over Jane Whaley for deliverance. She was seen in a group of select leaders joining with her to fight the devils attacking her, but, NEVER did anyone touch her hair to help cast devils out of her. There was a scene showing Pastor Goguen with hair ruffled, throwing-up into a brown paper bag. That did not happen while at WOFF. After all Jane has proclaimed “that sin (whatever it may be) does not affect her, since it is not in her”. Translation: she has reached a level of perfection that needs no deliverance or even open admission of or repentance from sin. A former member told me recently that in meetings he attended, Jane had proclaimed her perfection. That statement should stand by itself.
This past Wednesday, on ABC, there was a PrimeTime® show titled, “Battle with the Devil”. Here is the trailer which is about 5 minutes.
Earlier in the week, I had heard about the show previous to Wednesday from another former member of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The show was of particular interest because in the previews there was a lead piece about a church in New York that practiced “deliverance”. The preview showed members of the church wrenching and coughing up in brown paper bags. As a previous member of a WOFF and having been under the teachings of Jane Whaley, this was particularly interesting as I participated in similar activities while in Greenville at Grace and Truth (Word of Life) and while at WOFF. I shared the information about the show with yet another former member and they refused to watch saying that “there would be too many unpleasant memories”.
Even with my interest, I did not record the show. So, in commenting, I may have certain scenes out of order. The show started with material about Catholic exorcisms. There were clips from movies which I had not seen and interviews with Catholic priests that perform(ed) exorcisms. One lady was shown testifying as to her great relief as her demons left her body.
Next, there was an interview with Pastor John Goguen of Agape Bible Fellowship in East Aurora, NY. This interview was interspersed with different scenes from his church services showing people singing and praying. Then the announcer said that “fireworks” were about to begin as a man prepared paper towels and plastic bags for the last part to the service.
