This article details some of the odd but absolute rules for those in relationships and married couples. I have included a few excerpts. The full report is here.
SPINDALE, N.C. (AP) — When it comes to relationships, marriage and sex, Word of Faith Fellowship members must follow strict and unusual rules — or risk severe punishment, former members say.
Some of the edicts:
— Congregants need permission from leader Jane Whaley and other ministers to get married, and it then can take months — or even a year — before the newlyweds are allowed to have sex.
— No one is allowed to date without permission, and most relationships and marriages are arranged by Whaley and ministers.
— On their wedding night, couples are permitted only a “godly peck on the cheek.” When they get in bed together, they must roll over and go to sleep.
— For all married couples, love-making is limited to 30 minutes, no foreplay is allowed, the lights must be turned off and only the missionary position is sanctioned.”
In my book, “Locked In”– I share some of the same odd practices. I detail many of the same rules as mentioned in the above article and the one following. I list 145 rules in my book. The list was never written down; you were expected to remember “by the Spirit of God.” Of course, when you forgot one, you were “in sin and out of God’s will” and subject to a rebuke or worse.
“Sect rules include no TV, movies or reading newpapers”
From the resource:
“— Followers are banned from celebrating birthdays and religious or secular holidays, including Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July.
— Congregants are prohibited from watching television and movies, reading newspapers, or eating in restaurants that play music or serve alcohol.
— Men and women must swim with shirts covering their upper bodies and cannot take the extra clothing off in public — not even in their own backyards.
— Men cannot grow beards.”
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