Over the last few days, I have had a couple of conversations with people who are very familiar with the environment around Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). They live in the community and have had contact with WOFF members over the years. Two events were gleened from these conversations.

     One person who is an ex-law enforcement employee with a municipality in Rutherford county shared this experience. During the build up to the “Inside Edition” expose’; a young Brazilian, who was a part of WOFF made contact with authorities and said he wanted to go home and was not being allowed. At the time of the contact, he DID NOT have his passport on him. Through a sequence of events,  another person in the community bought a return ticket to Brazil for this individual. Upon arrival at the airport with the young Brazil native; the group was met with six WOFF members attempting to surround and intimidate the young person into staying. The person telling me this had no reason to exaggerate or puff any of the details.

     Why would these events even take place? Why would WOFF attempt to keep someone in this country against their will? The rationalization may have been, “But, he said he wanted to “serve God”? In WOFF-land, to “serve God” is a thought stopping phrase with the underlying or understood meaning of being under the direction of Jane Whaley as she hears God for you and your life…

     Why even mention this story? Because I was involved in WOFF for many years during this time frame and after this event; I did not see anything to lead me to believe that the events would not be repeated in the same or similar circumstances. (Of course, that is just my opinion after being involved with WOFF for 16 years.)

     Another person told me this story during the last couple of weeks. The story began with explaining about the sad death of a young person in Rutherford county who was not a member of WOFF. After explaining their reason to be at the funeral, there was a pause. I held up my hand and finished her story by telling her that Jane and her entourage showed up acting like they were invited. There was a stunned look on this person’s face as if to say, How did you know? Simple to say I had been in so many services where a member would tell Jane that “so and so” had died. The reason to go would be discussed and then Jane would ask, “Who has it to go?” She would say if she planned on going or not and make sure the church sent a flower- usually a peace lilly.  If for some reason she did not “feel good” about a particular person going, she would ask them in front of everyone, why they “had it to go”? If she did not agree, she would tell them, ” No, I don’t feel good about that…” or some other phrase to let that person know they were not needed or wanted at the funeral being discussed. It is obvious that attending funerals of non-members in the county is an “outreach” for Jane Whaley.

     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 some good readers inside of WOFF. I know for sure..  🙂 

     (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. )