As we move on with the concept of “identity” for members of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), it would be helpful for me to share a typical week from my time in that group. Since I worked both for companies outside of the church and for a church-member owned company; two or three scenarios will be needed. These accounts will remain general as this forum is not suited for release of some private information. Even with the restraints, as a reader, you will learn the main points. I must also restate the idea that at WOFF none of this identity analysis or information would be accepted. Most every problem or issue had a “spiritual” cause. All matters were dealt with from that perspective.
Before moving to WOFF from Greenville, I worked at a credit union in Greenville, SC. I traveled back and forth working part-time. During the first few weeks, I kept this job and also began to work “part-time” for the growing property management company owned by a family in the church. That started by being called into Jane’s office. The owner of the company was there and Jane mentioned he wanted to offer me a job with his company. I was told to go pray about it and get back with him. Jane had given her approval for the owner to ask me about the job. A few days later, I took the job. I had no experience renting apartments.
The first few weeks, I would be helping folks renovate apartments. But, in a few weeks there would be other work for me to do. After a few weeks, I began renting apartments and collecting rent for the properties owned in Rutherford County. My job included answering four or five incoming lines which had been forwarded to my cell phone. There were between 50 and 60 calls on some days. This lasted for about two (?) months. I remember telling someone in leadership at the church that I just wanted to crawl up in a corner and cry. There was no let up with the calls at virtually any time of day and night, seven days a week. She said- “It is good for you. It will train you for the ministry.” Looking back, this was a totally insane set-up. However, I kept trying to perform the assigned tasks. During this time, the work at the SC credit union stopped and I took a part-time job with a credit union in a neighboring county in NC. That was October 2002. So, between both positions, I was putting in 50++ hours a week. Getting to bed before midnight was a rare blessing.
At first, there was excitement as the new position working among “God’s people”. There were several adjustments to working around WOFF members. Members were always “on guard to help you” and “point out where you missed it”. Then of course, that would be passed up the church structure to those who needed to know “how you were doing” and “where you were walking”. It all appeared so spiritual for a while. Looking back, it all served to mold folks and weed out any “sinful behaviors”.