**** Announcement: Between the time this post was written in the early morning hours of 6/4/10 and 12:29PM on 6/4/10- “http://religiouscults of the south.blogspot.com was taken down. This was NOT at the direction of the author. We will update as soon as it is known why the blog was removed by the host.

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    On a daily basis, I use a service called Google Alerts®. This is a free service which searches for certain terms on the web. News articles or blogs posts are returned according to the time table set-up by the user. One term I search for is “religious cults”. That should be no surprise. Recently, through that search I was made aware of a blog titled- “Religious Cults in the South” found at this link – http://religiouscultsinthesouth.blogspot.com  The author is identified as “The Watcher”.

    There are many “cult survivor” blogs on the web and some make for very good reading. This one caught my eye as it mentioned The Church at Rock Hill. In times past, I have had reason to go to Rock Hill, SC and am familiar with the city. So, I emailed the author to learn more. What was revealed was shocking in many ways.

    The Watcher mentioned that the pastor of The Church at Rock Hill was Johnny Miller. Mr. Miller was introduced to “The Body of Christ” through the Rev. Lacey (Lacy) Hawkins. Rev. Hawkins’ spiritual roots are said to be from William Sowders. All of these names were new to me and I needed to do some research. “The Body of Christ” appears to be a loose knit spiritual grouping of churches in the US and several countries. Here is the link to The Church of Rock Hill’s website.. http://www.thechurchatrockhill.com/AboutUs.htm

    

     From their website, The Church at Rock Hill attributes the movement that they are a part of to William Sowders. Here are links that provide information about William Sowders (1879-1952). From the Freedom of Mind website: http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/g/gospel/    another link that has info about his background… http://www.gospelassemblyfree.com/gac/sowdersintro.html  

     A testimony from a former member of Rev Lacy Hawkins’ church in California, Carolyn Williams,  is listed here at Rick Ross’ website- http://www.rickross.com/reference/lacey_hawkins/lacey_hawkins2.html This testimony contains several things which reminded me of my time at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale, NC. Here are a few quotes from this testimony which I found very interesting:

– “The things that I lost, along with other members in the group was our right to privacy – to have one’s personal live and activities kept private. We were taught we were family and that there were “no secrets or private business” in the family. We had to seek counsel from the leadership for selecting a marriage partner, for pursuing a career or higher education. We had to have counsel with HAWKINS even before purchasing a car or home. We had to have his approval before leaving town on a vacation or job trip. He called it “having a covering.” In adherence to his counsel brought sure reprimand. We were told that submission and obedience on our part was required for our souls, that they were looking out for our souls.”

– “Usually I got a new roommate after a previous roommate married within the group. There were guidelines set by HAWKINS to follow as roommates. The number one rule was to only socialize within the group. General Assembly Church was our true spiritual family, so all other outsiders were a part of the world destined for damnation.”

– “We were discouraged from spending a lot of time with our own natural family. My family lived in Florida, so for me that was not difficult. We were to look out for each others as sisters and brothers. Many members occupied the same apartment complexes. Many worked for the same company, in the same department on the same shift.”

-Marriage or any intimate relationship outside of the group is forbidden. (termed “Damnable.”) Doing so would mean dis-fellowship.

     In another article about Rev. Hawkins, his church is referenced as a “Shepherding Group”. I was not surprised. The same methods of control testified to by the former member were the same as I experienced while at WOFF. So, it is the METHODS of religious mind control groups that are similar from group to group. This is a statement that I have repeated over and over on this blog, but still each case is a telling confirmation.

     So, in light of the roots of The Church of Rock Hill, there was no surprise to find this post on “Religious Cults of the South”… submitted by The Watcher…

“These are things I have noticed with The Church At Rock Hill

1) That members shun former members who have left the church.
2) That single members can only date and marry members of the church.
3) That members should not associate with people of the “outside world”
4) Heavy authoritarianism.
5) Deception.
6) Independent thought is discouraged.
7) Using guilt and fear as the number one tools to control and dominate followers.”

     The post is dated Wednesday, May 12, 2010. The comment attached to this post is apparently from one of Rev. Johnny Miller’s children. They tell why they left the church and what has happened since the departure. It is heart rendering, revealing and touching. You need to read it.

     By the above list, the members of WOFF, Jane Whaley and her leadership score a seven out of seven. Perfect score! WOFF duplicates the METHODS found at the Church of Rock Hill, not because they know each other or share exact doctrines or practices. In fact, after viewing the website for The Church of Rock Hill, WOFF seems stricter in the area of clothing and birthdays! Certainly hope The Church of Rock Hill never catches up to WOFF. Do you find any of this  shocking?

     Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. The author is not a licensed mental health professional and encourages those that need professional help to seek it. The intent of the material is to inform and be a resource. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. There are readers at WOFF. Comments are invited from all readers, including present or former members. Polls are not scientific and no private information is gathered.

    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. ) This is post number 121.