After giving an outline of my past experience in different churches, we ended the previous post with these thoughts, “The basis of my observations about (Word of Faith Fellowship) WOFF comes from the 16 years of being exposed to their teachings and practices. I will share the experiences I had and many of the WOFF practices. My personal observations and experiences are offered as evidence to the practices of WOFF, at least during my time in the group. Could my “experiences” and observations be dismissed as fantasy or lies? Sure, they could, but why would someone do that? What would be their purpose?”
In years previous to joining the church at Greenville, SC, I had been in three churches that would be considered non-denominational, Protestant, with traditional, evangelical doctrines, at least, as far as I knew. Before moving from Charleston to Greenville in March of 1992, I had no reason or evidence to think that this new church would be totally dissimilar to the non-denominational churches I had been a part of in the past. After all, each of the previous churches had its individual message or emphasis and personality, if you will. But, all had included the message of salvation through believing in Jesus as Savior, baptism and communion. Each of the others had taught about the Virgin birth and Heaven and Hell.
Prior to attending the first service in Greenville, I had listened to some sermon tapes of the Greenville pastors and liked what I heard. Since someone I knew and loved, trusted the pastors of this new church, I could easily go along and allow myself to trust them also. There was a connection from several years previous working in that relationship. The pastors and the church members soon took us in and showed us support and love like I had not encountered before. I knew very few folks in the Greenville area besides the new church family. The church and its activities would soon become a very big part of my life.
If it wasn’t the first service, it was the second; I encountered “loud prayer, “blasting” and soon thereafter-“deliverance”. Yes, it was different from what I had known before, but I had already put my trust in the pastors, so I asked questions and listened to the answers. Some of my questions may have been terse. But, as the whole package was considered, the love shown by the group, the “new” understanding that was coming, and the personal attention to get help with problems and the trust given to the pastors- there was really no changing or going back. At first glance, except for the new practices surrounding “prayer” which were strange to me, the church seemed mostly like other churches in the past. The church taught salvation through Jesus, Baptism in water, Holy Communion, the Virgin Birth as well as teachings about Heaven and Hell.
The Greenville Church had a “training center” which met in the mornings during those first few years. Later, I would find out that this “training center” mirrored the “Bible School” being taught at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale. As the months and years would pass, more and more of the material taught in Greenville would reflect the teachings of Jane Whaley and the Bible School at WOFF. I tailored my job choices around being present in the weekday mornings for the teachings and prayer. During these times, there were many sessions of prayer and teachings about various things. There would be a theme for a few sessions, then a switch to another subject. All of this was “as the Spirit led”.
A few months after being in Greenville, I was approached about my family moving in with the associate pastor and his wife. This seemed like a “natural progression” in this church. Other families had already moved in together and the benefits told were tremendous. You had someone close to “help you hear God and learn His ways”. That family was considerate and things seemed to go well. For sure, there were differences. Since it was their house, and they were in leadership, their views were predisposed to being right as they had been “walking in the ways of God – longer.”
The restraints on personal matters were an evolving thing. I remember this couple, at that time liked to watch old movies and Andy Griffith. I did not. They cajoled me into watching a few of them and it was awkward. They were supposed to be in leadership and I was the one not wanting to watch old movies. I viewed them as time wasters, not necessarily evil. Now, that family does not own a television, as far as I know. There may be one upstairs from them, I am not sure. They are very active, submitted WOFF members and live in the basement of the husband’s father’s home in the Rutherfordton area.
During this time was also when Jane and Sam visited this house in Greenville to see the Christmas tree! Yes, this was before Jane saw Christmas as evil. She and Sam came in and exclaimed, “Where did you get that tree?” They wanted one like it or similar. Shocking, huh? This was the time period when the holiday decorations were becoming less and less and the celebration was being toned down and would eventually phased out all together. This time came to a close when our family began to grow. I will share more on that another day.
So, living in “households” as they were called, was a new practice for me, but certainly not a new practice for certain churches or groups of Christians. I had read of Christians sharing homes before and never thought it was absolutely necessary to know God or His ways or normal. Is it a common practice at your church? Later, I would learn that it was a very common thing at WOFF and considered a way to help people “learn God’s ways”.
Some common questions you get when you tell people you live with another family are: Who owns the house? Did you eat together or separately? Did you share the kitchen and cook meals together? How did you handle groceries? Did your family share a bathroom with the other family? Did everyone get along?
From my experience here is what I observed. As far as ownership of the homes: a church member, whether one in Greenville or WOFF, owned the homes, most of the time. In later years, WOFF would buy homes near that church and also purchased doublewides and place them on land behind the church or along the street leading to the church. There are three large church-owned doublewides down below the hill behind the WOFF church. You cannot see them unless you are at the edge of the rear parking lot and able to look over the hill. From what I have heard, a family pays at least $250 a month to live in one. I do not know since I never lived in one, but suspect the family would pay for or reimburse the church for the utilities. I know the families living in church homes are expected to keep them clean and in good order. Maintenance is handled usually by the church. Each situation may be a little different, but this is what I had learned or heard during my time there. For single folks, the numbers may be different.
In the household I lived in during the Greenville years, we did eat together when it was practical. Well, when everyone was “in their place” and it was practical. If someone was sick or “having a hard time” or “in rebellion” or whatever ???, then you would eat with your own family and not together. So, there sometimes would be meals cooked jointly or one family would cook and the other would clean-up.
During the years at WOFF, in the six years in that household, we would eat together when it was practical and of course when “everyone was in their place” or not “in rebellion” or “on church discipline” or “out of the church” or sick or “having a hard time” or needing to be separated “in order to get ahold” or walking through some situation about sin on the phone with another minister…. So, many days, we ate with just our family as there were many situations that came up that required eating separately. How was it in other households? Very similar, from what I understand.
During a few Sunday night services, Jane would call up certain households and “walk through certain situations” in order to “find truth”. Many times, from these sessions would come new rules or “don’ts”. You had to pay attention so you could incorporate the new edicts into your personal and family life. Also, other households would be expected to confess and come forth if their household had similar issues, whatever that may be… Jane Whaley was the arbitrator and final judge on who had truth and what the new rules may be. Looking back, it was a whole big deal. Sometimes, it was evident that living in households with more than one family, was not “iron sharpening iron” as was portrayed, but “petty exposing petty” when it came to most things.
How did you handle groceries? In both of the households I lived in there was an agreed upon menu most weeks and the families pooled funds at an agreed upon rate to buy the things on the list. If you or someone in your family wanted something not on the list, sometimes you went and purchased that separately. This area was vague. Some houses did not allow private food stashes and others did; some ministers I saw had their own private food stashes in their closets. Was this their comfort food?
Did your family share a bathroom with another family? In both households I lived in, we did not have to share a bathroom with other families. Well, one family member while at WOFF did share a bathroom. When a person from the other family would not practice the proper bathroom hygiene (missed), it was always a MAJOR deal. In some households, I understand that different families regularly shared a bathroom. This could be fodder for any Sunday night service. There were certain bathroom hygiene rules and it was not all bad or useless.
Is there evidence? Maybe a better title should be- What is the evidence? There may be some teachings that would be reflected or similarly taught at WOFF and other non-denominational, Protestant, traditional, evangelical churches. However, are the teachings on loud prayer and living in shared households considered normal in most other churches? Do you in your church practice loud, blasting, deliverance prayer and do families in your church share houses on a regular basis?
From the previous post, “Is it possible that the beliefs and practices of WOFF include several traditional, evangelical doctrines in addition to other doctrines and practices that may not be found in similarly labeled churches?” It was my experience that life at WOFF was filled with various non-normal practices. In my opinion, no matter how hard Jane Whaley and her crew try to depict themselves as a normal, non-denominational Protestant church, my 16 years experience being under the teachings and living the WOFF-approved life, bear a completely different testimony. Do other survivors of this group agree or disagree? As has been mentioned in a previous post, are the WOFF practices – portable? Do former members take the WOFF-approved practices of loud prayer and households (as well as other practices) and find them readily accepted in other non-denominational, Protestant, traditional, evangelical churches? Please, let me know.
Thank you, for taking time to visit and read this blog. 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.
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(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. ) Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 180.