Tag Archives: WOFF

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Why Many Locals Do Not See the Mind Control at WOFF…

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     Why do many of the locals and those from outside the county who interact with WOFF members not see the religious mind control cult activities? Let’s address the folks who know WOFF members; maybe work with them or play sports with them… This is just the point: the outsiders are not SUPPOSED to see the mind control that is going on at WOFF!  You have to be an accepted member to have that kind of “love” shown to you! In order for a visitor to see the loud prayer or blasting;  Jane had to “have ahold of it”, so the person would hopefully not reject what they were seeing, hearing or feeling. I do not ever remember this being on the very first visit. Visitors would never see another member openly rebuked or blasted in the congregation. That is not to say Jane never got angry around new folks. But, it was all explained away as the “anger of God.”
    
     Those who don’t want to consider the evidence about WOFF may say these things to themselves. Cover up statements and questions…. Can’t we just all get along?     Members of WOFF dress so nice – all the time… The children seem so polite.    They have not done anything to hurt me…      My children are not affected….     They all seem so mannerly!  There is no perfect church…    I met Jane once at a funeral and she seemed so sweet…     If you have these thoughts or have heard them expressed by others.. Keep reading. Also, read some of the books on the Resource page and visit some of the links listed on the right side of the page. Read the confirming testimonies of those who exited before me. (here. http://www.rickross.com/groups/wordoffaith.html     
    
     WOFF members are polite and cordial and well mannered, so says a former policeman from the area. WOFFers were taught that outsiders were to be treated with the utmost respect. Jane Whaley’s reputation depends on it. The politeness and cordial manners can be a cover up for the doubts, hurts and confusion that resides in many WOFF members. The very premise and basis of relationship is skewed between members. Each member is “responsible” to watch out for others so they all can “serve God together”. An outsider would not see this because the control between members is just that- between Jane Whaley, leadership and members. Since the level of mind control is on a continuum, the strength of it ebbs and flows. Not all members would feel the same strength of the control at the same time, unless it came directly from the top- Jane Whaley. The idea that when you “sin”, you compromise the group’s (and Jane Whaley’s) reputation is a strong deterrent to allowing outsiders to see the control measures being used.  
   
      Remember, Rutherford county is Jane’s county! (see link-Your sin affects Me! http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=143  ..) Prospective members or those in civil authority are treated lovely. Former members are for the most part treated like dirt. (see link. http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=498  ..) Some former members who still exhibit the characteristics that Jane considers may bring them back into the fold;  she may go from nice, to enraged, to nice again, with these folks… looking for any place to get “back in their heart”!
    
Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

My Experience with Loud Prayer, Blasting and Deliverance-Part 6

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      This is the sixth post in a series on my personal experience with “loud prayer, blasting and deliverance” as practiced at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale, NC. WOFF was started by Jane and Sam Whaley about 1979. Jane began to teach loud prayer and deliverance to those at WOFF and others around the world. The first post in this series has two video links that show more about the prayer as practiced at WOFF.

     There is not enough room in this series to cover the full scope of my experiences during times of loud prayer at WOFF. The group behavior dynamics often intrigued me. Peer pressure and group-think  are powerful forces in shaping the decisions of any one particular individual. For example, this type of prayer seemed to have a special effect on children or youth that considered their purpose was to “pray for each other and make sure each one had a breakthrough”. The direction this would take could be varied. Often young men would be drawn into a “scrum” type pile in an effort to get one of their group a “breakthrough”. The person getting prayer was on the bottom of the pile. In these cases, a “breakthrough” could be an improved confession about themselves or God’s plan or His will in that person’s  life. It could mean a time of “blasting the heavens” with the friends in the group. A “breakthrough” could take many forms. It could be an improved attitude about Jane, WOFF leadership or other situations in that person’s life. Many times a person in leadership would be called over to confirm the breakthrough and permission to stop praying for that person.

     Continue reading My Experience with Loud Prayer, Blasting and Deliverance-Part 6 →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

My Experience with Loud Prayer, Blasting and Deliverance-Part 5

    This is the fifth post in a series about my personal experience and observations of loud prayer, blasting and deliverance. These observations are from the entire 16 year span of meetings in Greenville, SC and at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF).  The blasting and deliverance were the signature practices of WOFF during my years there. Please, read the previous posts in order to have a background understanding to this material.  

     At times, people would be grouped for “deliverance” prayer for a certain purpose. Children could be grouped to pray against rebellion, back-talking or unclean thoughts. Adults could be grouped to pray against fear of death, unclean thoughts, perversion. If you participated in Free Masons, Eastern Star, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Amway, witchcraft,  karate or martial arts of any type – you could be in a deliverance group for that. In order to set-up these groups, the chairs in the sanctuary may be stacked or moved to the side to make room for the deliverance circles. Most of the time leadership would take to the stage to oversee the groups and who was getting prayer for what. If someone in leadership needed prayer, then that group would include those who were “carrying that person’s life.”

     During the set-up for the prayer, there was the need to supply folks with paper products for coughing and nose blowing. Paper towels, facial tissue or toilet paper were the acceptable sources for this need. Some folks would prepare a stack of paper towels to hand out to the person getting prayer or to others in the group as needed. The set-up of the prayer groups could take several minutes.

     Some observations during these group prayer times. LOUD. I wore earplugs during the later years and could hear the prayer- just fine. I found tissue paper in the ears a lot less effective that ear plugs rated for at least 30 decibels of protection. I usually carried them with me when I was headed to church and having loud prayer was a possibility. 

    Continue reading My Experience with Loud Prayer, Blasting and Deliverance-Part 5 →

Behavior Control, FLDS, FLDS vs WOFF, Uncategorized

FLDS vs WOFF – Similarities-“The Pruning” – part 10

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     Stephen Singular in his book, “When Men Become Gods”( copyright 2008) quotes Warren Jeffs from September 10, 2002. Warren Jeffs was leading the morning devotional at Jeffs Academy in Hildale just two days after his father’s passing. During this time, Warren Jeffs was making “the transition from church leader to direct conduit to God.”  The words from Warren Jeffs:

   “This is a wonderful occasion. … The rules of every priesthood school is the will of the Prophet, the will of God to us through him…

      We were sent to this earth to learn who God is and how to become like him. Prophets have been sent who, through obedience, became like God… Let it be written in every mind and heart the call of our Prophet. Keep sweeter and sweeter. Live in the increase of the holy spirit of God and smile. This is how our Prophet knows you love him and you are with him. … You cannot be like the world and be with our Prophet. You must come out of the world and clean up your minds and your lives…. There is a pruning going on. We want to be perfected and step up, not cast off. And the Lord is about to clean house…            

     I say this rejoicing in God and the Godhead and our Prophet and all the Prophets, for you will learn this year about them, that you may know how to become like God.  (page 69)

     Singular goes on in his book and outlines the religious political posturing that Warren Jeffs performed to take over the FLDS. It is all very revealing of the calculated and planned steps needed for Warren to become the undisputed leader. He was becoming “God” to those members.

     Upon the first time reading this quote, it struck me that Warren Jeffs was promising something that he could not deliver. He was promising that the members of FLDS would become “like God” if they would “come out of the world and clean up your minds and your lives”… Of course, he set the guidelines and rules for coming out of the world and cleaning up your minds and lives. He would determine what sin was in the lives of the members.  He warns of a “pruning” and “the Lord is about to clean house…”  In reality, he was positioning himself as “God” as he would be the conduit that members would receive the Word of the Lord! He was not trying to help others walk more holy, he was maneuvering himself to be the supreme head of FLDS. When he performed the pruning and pushed out others that may contest or contend for his coveted position, then he would say it was the Lord who was doing the pruning. He positioned himself to be the voice of God to the members of FLDS. (see link here- http://www.fldstruth.org/administration.php?index=9 His picture still portrays him as the Prophet, though he is in jail!)

Continue reading FLDS vs WOFF – Similarities-“The Pruning” – part 10 →

Uncategorized, WOFF Updates

WOFF Member Runs for Clerk of Court- Update

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     Earlier, there was a post explaining that Ramona Hall, a long-time member of WOFF, is running for Clerk of Court for Rutherford County. The link is here…   http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=840 

     While writing this post, I must admit I did not check for current information. After posting, I learned that Ramona Hall is not now working for the Clerk’s office. She was not reappointed in 2008. Please, forgive any mistaken impressions that my ignorance may have given. After seeing a recent campaign sign for Ramona Hall, I knew this mistaken impression must be corrected.

     The main point of the previous post covered that fact that the voters of Rutherford county must feel comfortable with Ramona’s connection to WOFF and how this may affect her professional decision making during times of crisis. To what extent, if any will matters concerning WOFF members in the Clerk’s office be “checked out” with leadership or Jane Whaley herself? Do WOFF members really want this possibility? Could even WOFF member’s privacy be compromised? Members of WOFF must consider this possibility.

     Here is the high quality, campaign sign seen just off Highway 221 on a recent trip to Rutherford County.

High Quality Sign
Sign placed near Hwy 221

       Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. It could very well save their life. There are readers at WOFF. Comments are invited from present or former members.

     Look on the right side of any post for the option to subscribe by email for notifications or RSS feeds notifying of new postings. It is a great feature. Also, find more posts by selecting “Categories”.

      (Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. )

Uncategorized

Welcome New Readers

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     Welcome to new readers as well as returning readers. This post will provide some background to the author’s direction for this blog. It will also outline the features and how to retrieve previous posts.

     First, on the right hand side of the post you will notice the “About Author” page. This explains my background and how I came to begin this blog. After a total of 16 years being first in Greenville, SC, in a sister church; then 6 years of being a member ofWord of Faith Fellowship (WOFF); I left the group. The leaders were Jane and Sam Whaley. Jane runs the church. Jane Whaley grew up and still lives in Rutherford County, NC.

    These posts aim to be a fair account of my experience from the many services as well as the daily life in this strong religious mind control group. WOFF has about 400 members from many different countries and backgrounds. A small percentage actually are originally from Rutherford County. The group has been through many court battles over the years. Many of these cases have revolved around child custody cases.

     Several posts contain information about the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints(FLDS). Their former leader, Warren Jeffs has been jailed for charges stemming from performing underage marriages. We share information learned about the similarities of the control methods used in both FLDS and WOFF.

    As far as the layout of the blog, the right hand side of the page contains the most recent posts by title in descending date order. Next, there is a section listed for “Categories”. Here is where posts are grouped by subject with every post being listed as “Uncategorized”. Several posts may be listed in more than one category.

     Next is a listing showing dedicated page headers… The newest page is the “Faith Freedom Fund” page explaining that group and their purpose. Following this section, you will find the option to subscribe by email or RSS feed for updates sent to you when there are new posts. Please, read the Terms of Use page.

      Following down the page, there are Links to other sites that may be of interest. If you select a link and it needs updating, please, let us know. You may email the author from the “About the Author” page.

     The most recent comments made by readers are listed next. These are titled by the post where the comment was added. We do welcome genuine and sincere comments meant to help others or ask questions to help bring focus to the material in a post. Please, share with others what you find of interest in these posts. Thank you, for taking time to read and comment.

     To get started, here are links to four of our most popular posts.

    Handout for New WOFF Members   http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=888           

    The $50,000 Offering     http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=245 

    The Toilet Paper Revelation    http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=243

   FLDS vs WOFF- How People Who Leave Are Treated   http://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=498 

 (Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. )  

Here is picture to help remind us that we live in a great country!

We should cherish our freedoms...
God Bless America!
Behavior Control, Uncategorized

My Experience with Loud Prayer, Blasting and Deliverance-Part 4

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    This is the fourth post in a series about my experiences with “loud prayer”, “blasting” and “deliverance” while in Greenville, SC and later Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) at Spindale, NC. My entire time in this group spanned from 1992 to 2008. The amounts of loud prayer or deliverance varied as time went on.  During my last few years at WOFF, there were fewer extended prayer meetings than in the early years. The length of most meetings was shortened and we were told to “get the children home quickly to get them in bed”.  Seminar meetings were put on a more regular schedule as well as the number of meetings reduced. In the early seminars, there would be three meetings a day. In recent years, there were only two meetings a day during week long seminars. Most every seminar series of meetings ended with a “fellowship dinner”. This was not the case in the beginning.

      Jane Whaley and the members at WOFF may claim these posts are “persecution”. However, telling my personal experiences is not meant to hurt or wound.  I just desire to tell it like it was during my days in arguably one of the most controversial religious groups in western North Carolina. Since much of the time in my years at WOFF, there was limited access to the media, including newspapers; I did not realize the full scope of the controversy until I left and began to learn about things not shared with regular members. Not all members of WOFF know the full details of the many court cases originating from child custody disputes or other issues.

      As far as I remember being told, Jane Whaley began to practice deliverance in prayer groups before 1979(?) when she and her husband, Sam returned to Rutherford county from Tulsa, OK. If not in 1979 (?), I think it was soon there after that Jane and Sam departed from their relationship with Kenneth Hagin Ministries. The pivotal issue was deliverance and the question- “Can Christians have devils?”  Jane Whaley, Sam and their followers believed that deliverance was essential and Christians could have demons in them.  Sam Whaley had been a teacher at Rhema Bible School for Kenneth Hagin Ministries in Tulsa, OK.  He had traveled to many countries sharing the teachings of Rhema. This of course ended when WOFF was started.

     Continue reading My Experience with Loud Prayer, Blasting and Deliverance-Part 4 →