In several posts, we have looked at terms used by Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). One of those posts is found here…. https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=101 . We have discussed the purpose and the effects of these terms. Jane Whaley is the leader and she took time to define the use and meaning of many different terms. In most cases thsee terms were defined to mean what she wanted. During the development of this blog, I have created several terms to describe what I experienced during my time at WOFF. For this post we will discuss the term “WOFFness”. What does it mean? What does it include? Are WOFF members aware of the effects of the term? Could they not even be aware that they live in WOFFness? What do others outside of WOFF see and know about WOFFness? Do outsiders appreciate WOFFness in every situation?
First, let’s discuss the feeling and thoughts of being a WOFF member that are directly included in the meaning of the term. As a reminder, I was under the influence of the teachings of Jane Whaley either directly or indirectly for 16 years. Does that qualify me to give meaning to the term WOFFness? In my opinion, yes, the time inside gives me the experience needed to shape and define the term. While inside WOFF, there were many emotions, thoughts and experiences that were noteworthy. The attitude of WOFF members was one that no one else in Christianity had the revelation, the understanding, and the holiness that was conveyed on those living at WOFF. Conveyed? Yes, conveyed by listening to, obeying and living around Jane Whaley. Key to living at WOFF was the belief that Jane Whaley was the key to living for God, knowing God, understanding God and ultimately making it to heaven. If you were out of favor with Jane, you were out of favor with God. If you were in favor with Jane, you were tight with God.
It sounds absurd when put in those terms, But, I challenge any one inside or outside to dispute those statements. Why is this crucial to WOFFness? Because, if you are to understand WOFFness, you must first understand where WOFFness originates and that is with Jane. Jane originates shapes and moderates the attitudes that are crucial for those inside WOFF. The first attitude and belief is fear of Jane. WOFFness is built on that. Jane promotes fear of her power as the foundation and undisputable requirement for all members in order to remain at WOFF. That fear of a person replaces the fear of God. In many ways, the fear of Jane is disguised as the fear of God. But, who on the outside is really fooled?
Members of WOFF fear Jane. By allowing this fear to modify their judgment and behavior, they exude WOFFness. It has a mind numbing effect on all faithful WOFF members. So, what makes perfect sense to a member of WOFF may make no sense to someone on the outside. WOFF members make decisions to allow Jane to monitor or change their decisions and that is WOFFness. It is not hidden from those on the outside and fully accepted by those on the inside. What is a key indicator of this? When a WOFF member thinks or says the following phrase, “I am not sure Jane will be happy with that.” We said it a lot and thought it even more than we were willing to say it. Some will dispute, but honestly, which present or former member has not had that thought? While in WOFF, I heard it said many times and thought it myself. It may have been disguised with by the questions- “Do you have that locked under authority?” I suspect that is the reason when decisions had/have to be made- cell phones light up in an attempt to find Jane. Yes, being on the cell phone a lot, getting approval to do something is a sign of WOFFness. Why? Because there is the fear of doing the wrong thing, which would be made clear as Jane would always determine when something you did was wrong.
While at WOFF, the dress was heavily regulated. If you doubt it, look at their website. That is evidence of WOFFness. Why? Because all dress is Jane approved or you go home and change. Now, for those inside of WOFF, that makes total sense. Does that make sense for those outside of WOFF? What is one of the first signs of change when a new person comes into WOFFness? They are dressed in Jane approved clothing. Which former member will dispute that one? I dressed in WOFFness or WOFF approved clothes. No, I did not have finest of WOFFness, but it was adequate to keep me from drawing Jane’s attention or that of leadership. I still have many of the WOFF clothes in my closet.
This also brings up another point. Jane is a good clothes shopper. She gets deals for the regular folks and sometimes gets deals for herself. Good deals are called “God’s price”. That was the euphemism used in that instance. Jane will praise God for good deals on clothes, jewelry and other items. Why? Because she believes when she finds good deals, she interprets this as God’s favor. This attitude filters down to regular members, who then do the same. This is another part of WOFFness. As Sam says; “If you are not being blessed of God, then, what is wrong with you?” Who lives around WOFFers and has not seen this attitude? I know since I had that thinking. While in WOFF, we did not see the haughtiness this promoted in our pride of how we looked. This was especially true when others would comment on the dress of the children. These compliments from outsiders served to validate the whole process in the eyes of many WOFFers, especially Jane. Let’s not forget, finding WOFF clothes at God’s price made for a good shopping trip that could be a part of the Sunday morning sermon or testimony service. That made complete sense while in WOFF. How many services were filled with praise reports of Jane’s shopping trips? Can they be counted? Does this make sense for those outside of WOFF? After all, “getting blessed” in this way was a main part of the WOFF gospel. We sure heard this “gospel” over and over.
WOFFness includes WOFF terms and WOFF-talk. It should be obvious, but I wanted to mention it. Why? Because when I left, I had to make a special effort not to talk WOFFness since it was not understood by non-WOFFers. When I first came out, I would think in WOFF and translate it before it came out of my mouth. Usually, it worked. When I would slip with a WOFF-term, a few of my friends would politely ask me what I meant by a certain phrase. At first, I would give the WOFF meaning. Later, I just corrected the word and did not give the WOFF meaning. Doing so only proved to remind me of WOFF days.
So, while if WOFF, we feared in WOFFness (Jane), we dressed in WOFFness, we spoke WOFFness, we thought in WOFFness. We also related to other members and our children in WOFFness. How? While in WOFF, I had the thinking that it was okay to censor books or just forbid them- from children. As WOFF parents, we protected our children from the world at any cost. It has eased some in the last few years and I suspect it will keep easing. But, in the early years, no TV, no children’s books, no toys not approved by Jane, no “worldly” activities. There was no pretending or games that relied on pretending. Even today, it is preached to the children that they should not give over to the spirit of competition. That is a tough one to monitor and is very subjective. While in WOFF, we did not realize the long term effects of intensely sheltering our children. Why? Because we had no means to think for ourselves and ask these kinds of questions. Living in WOFFness did not give us the means for critical thinking skills, especially in the area of our children. Why? Jane controlled the parenting decisions in many, if not most areas. As WOFF members, allowing her to do so made so much sense. She was the Apostle or Prophet or Pastor or whoever she said she was at the time. I suspect that in certain younger age groups, Jane’s control in this area is getting greater since she is involved heavily in the rearing of her grandson. That allows her to “help” other parents with children in that age group. Does this make sense? After all, when the Prophet of God, Jane comes to help you with your child, who dares refuse? It is evidence of WOFFness for sure.
While in WOFF, the definition of worldly was a vague and elusive one. Some in leadership had a more open definition. I found out after I left that some leadership had worldly boats and jet skis. Why? Why was that okay for them and not regular members? Here come those questions again. Part of WOFFness is keeping these types of questions to yourself. Is that good? It made sense while in WOFF because that was a way to keep out of trouble. Asking simple questions could get you a trip to Jane’s office real quick for “help”.
WOFFness was present in the marriage relationships. How? If your spouse said anything negative about Jane or happenings in the church, you were expected to report them. If you or your spouse did unapproved things in the privacy of your home, you were expected to “get them help” and report them to someone in leadership. This was done many times without telling the spouse first. See, this makes total sense to a WOFF member. Does it make sense to you? This part of WOFFness is true with the children also. They are required to report their parents to leadership for any non-approved activities or anything that “just does not feel right”. Many times, this part of WOFFness is played out in the hallway by Jane’s office before a service. People line the hallway with their reports on others. This was/is a vital part of WOFFness.
WOFFness was present in relationships between other members as well as families. How? If a member did or said anything negative about Jane or happenings in the church, you were expected to report them, also. If you did not, then you were guilty of the same thing and it was in you. This could be as simple as someone not following household approved bathroom hygiene to not making their bed in the morning or not reading their Bible at night. “Getting someone help” protected you from the same scrutiny and kept you out of hot water. See, this makes total sense to a WOFF member. (usually) Does this make sense to you? Does this sound like a healthy emotionally balanced place to live where you can trust everyone with your most inward thoughts and feelings?
This was all a part of WOFFness. As WOFF members, these characteristics of WOFFness are the means to relate to each other inside the group. The whole system has evolved step by step, decision by decision from Jane Whaley. Any part of a WOFF member’s lifestyle that goes away from Jane approved guidelines is subject to change. In fact, any part of WOFFness that IS Jane approved is subject to change — by Jane. Does this sound like a stable place to live? Can you see the foundation of fear in the meaning of WOFFness? Is it a fear of God or a fear of a god? In one sense, it seemed that if we just had enough rules, we could keep the world, the devil and sin out and live forever in our own closed WOFF world. From what outsiders can see about WOFF- does this thinking seem likely to exist in Jane’s world of WOFF? To the degree that this quest is “accomplished”, even if only in the thinking of Jane and WOFFers, signifies the fallacy and sham of the whole WOFF system. More rules to promote right behavior does not keep the devil out. That thinking and corresponding behavior just signifies he is already deeply embedded in the world of WOFF.
We will post more about WOFFness in near future. There is more to discuss about the deception of WOFFness on WOFFers and its attempt to deceive those on the outside. Is everyone on the outside of WOFF in love with WOFFness and all that goes with it?
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 214.