On Wednesday, December 2nd; Deborah Leonard was arraigned in Chadwicks, NY on a plea deal concerning the death of her son Lucas and the severe beating of her other son, Christopher. She entered a guilty plea to first-degree assault in the death of Lucas, for which she will serve five years. She also entered guilty plea to second-degree assault in the beating of Christopher for which she will serve an additional two years. In exchange, she agrees to testify truthfully in any of the trials for the other eight defendants charged with 13 counts including murder, felony assault and gang assault. The list of defendants includes her husband, Bruce Leonard and daughter, Sarah Ferguson, as well as the Pastor of the church, Tiffanie Irwin.

Two very important statements were made by Deborah Leonard which gives great insight into the dynamics inside the Word of Life Christian Church (WOLCC) where the beatings took place. These two statements tell us about the power structure within the group as well as the penalties for breaking the rules or going against the expected behavior norms. The similarities between the church in New York and Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in Spindale, NC became more evident after Wednesday.

First, Mrs. Leonard said she was afraid and believed her son’s shift away from the church would get her in trouble with other members of the church, including the Pastor Tiffanie Irwin. Let’s examine this belief since it may seem out of order for those not familiar with groups such as WOLCC or WOFF. Mrs. Leonard said she may get in trouble for her son’s desire to leave. Just exactly what the “trouble” would have been was not made clear in reports on Wednesday. Allow me to explain how this occurs inside of WOFF and I believe the reactions would have been very similar.

From recent accounts conveyed to me, parents who have children who leave WOFF are openly encouraged to cut-off all contact with them and shun them completely. Recent reports coming out of WOFF tell of parents with children who have left – aggressively rebuking other parents who also have children who have left telling them our children have turned their back on God and we don’t talk to them, you must do the same! With Jane’s approval, members gang up on other members to pressure them to conform to the no contact policy. At that point, the victims of the aggression must make a choice; join their children and leave WOFF or stay inside the closed subculture which they may have been members of for many years. I believe this type of aggression and pressure would be similar inside of WOLCC.

The second fact which showed the absolute power of Pastor Irwin, with this statement- “Leonard said it was Irwin, whom she believed was a prophet due to statements Irwin made, who called the counseling session and was in charge of the proceedings.

District Attorney McNamara asked Mrs. Leonard this question,

“At any time if Pastor Tiffanie (Irwin) said stop, would this have stopped?” District Attorney Scott McNamara asked.

“Yes,” Leonard said.” (source Utica Observer Dispatch)

Deborah Leonard tells us what members of WOFF have lived for years. Pastor Tiffanie Irwin of WOLCC and Jane Whaley, leader of WOFF, both employ and enjoy the same absolute power over their members using the same fear-based dynamics to wield such power. Leonard tells the court that Pastor Irwin called the meeting on October 11th and she controlled the content and length of the meeting. In years past, Jane Whaley has called meetings and encounters to deal with straying members and she controlled each meeting either in person or via some form of communication with church leaders carrying out her bidding. It is critical to see the same level of power exists in each group. Yes, this is hard to fathom for those who have never lived through it, but it is real. Any perceived infraction of the intense loyalty required to Jane either by expressing a desire to leave or simply not obeying the “will of God” through her; brings the same level of abuse as has been testified to in accounts of survivors of WOLCC.

After reading the accounts of Deborah Leonard’s day in court, there is NO doubt in my mind that the intense fear-based controls used by Pastor Irwin could lead her members to beat a young man to death. The gang assault charges are fitting for this behavior. Once the young Leonard men were circled in the church sanctuary and their exit from the meeting hindered, their fate was sealed. They were subject to verbal, mental, emotional and physical abuse. Lucas lost his life in the same group which was supposed to love him. Christopher was severely beaten by those who in years past he loved and trusted. The sadness runs deep when considering these truths.

And so it is with some of the survivors of WOFF. Many have suffered verbal, mental, emotional and physical abuse. Who controls the levels of each abusive assault within WOFF? As with Pastor Irwin, so it is with Jane Whaley. Jane has absolute power and at any time, the emotional, verbal and physical beatings could be stopped by her. Selah.

In the Leonard case, each of the now nine defendants are being held with no bail. Several will reappear in court on December 7th. The sad story continues to unfold. The events playing out in New York merit watching for those in North Carolina.

Season of Changes is upon us. Will this be a cold winter in Spindale?

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Scripture references are Amplified Version unless otherwise noted. (Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation ) This is post number 553.