Category Archives: Books, Resources

Books, Resources for learning about religious cults

Books, Resources, Uncategorized

The Weekend in North Myrtle Beach, SC

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   This past weekend I visited my mother in North Myrtle Beach, SC. It was a weekend full of celebrations, meeting new friends and enjoying life. My Mom, Darlene Eichler has published a new book, “Satan’s Best Friend” (copyright ©2011 Darlene Eichler, Published by Bookstand Publishing, ISBN 978-1-589209-914-2). She held a book signing this past Saturday at her church, St Stephen’s Episcopal Church in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The book signing was in conjunction with a fund raiser for North Strand Helping Hand, a group that provides food to the needy of the surrounding area. In addition to selling books, the event raised around $500 for North Strand Helping Hand. This was great considering the time of year and competing events in town. I met several new people and spent time with friends made during previous visits. It was good to be among those interested in helping others.

    One man I spent time talking with was Curtis. He is 96 and a native from SC. He grew up on a mill village. His life’s work was in furniture manufacturing. Over the years, he has been in his words “blessed” beyond what he could imagine. He is retired and enjoys spending time with his friend, Alice. I have known Alice for some time now. She is always pleasant and cheerful. She is several years younger than Curtis, but they enjoy each other’s company, which counts for a lot. Curtis put together a short autobiography of sorts which I have read and enjoyed tremendously. He came from poverty and worked his way to a much better lifestyle. Here is a picture of the car Curtis drives- at 96!

Mercedes Curtis drives..
Curtis' Mercedes

  

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Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Signs of Abuse in a Church

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  In the previous post, we looked at the work of Dr. Steven Lambert. He gave some insight into the shepherding movement. We compared a few of his insights into what I witnessed at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) from 1992 until 2008. The resource material for that post can be found here: Chapter 2 of “Charismatic Captivation” by Steve Lambert, ThD. (Publisher: Real Truth Publications, ISBN 1-887915-00-1 / 308pp.) Chapter 2 can be found here: http://www.slm.org/pubs/samples/ccbook2.html . Again, by using material form Dr. Lambert’s website, I am not giving a blanket endorsement to all his work. I have not read all his work and caution each reader to judge for themselves what he writes.

   That being said, I did find an article from Dr. Lambert in which he lists signs of abuse within a church. This is the link to the article titled, “33 Signs of Spiritual Abuse”. I will quote several of these signs here and tell whether or not I found them to be in WOFF.  The article begins, “There are at least thirty-three readily identifiable signs of spiritual abuse, or hyper-authoritarianism, practiced by many Charismatic churches. Being able to readily identify the signs and symptoms of authoritarian abuse and psychological enslavement that is rampant among church groups today is absolutely essential for every believer in their quest to know and be personally related to the Great Shepherd, who is the Prince of Peace and the true “Guardian of our souls”.  Lambert implies that these abusive practices will hinder a person from knowing “the Great Shepherd”. I most wholeheartedly agree. It is not possible to review the entire text from Lambert here. I recommend each reader to review the article on their own by clicking the title above. We move on.

–  Apotheosis of the leadership — exalting them to God-like status in and over the group.  Well, have we covered that before on this blog? When I left WOFF, one of the thoughts that helped was seeing that the members were more afraid of Jane Whaley than God. So, is she “God-like”?

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Books, Resources, Uncategorized

Do WOFF Practices Reflect the Shepherding Movement?

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   For many reading this post the term “shepherding movement” will be new or unfamiliar. During May of 2008, while still inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), I had the thought to look up the term and find out more. As I did I could see that it appeared that what was going on at WOFF under the leadership of Jane Whaley looked a lot like the reported abuses during the shepherding movement of years ago. I kept the findings to myself for awhile until the first week of June of 2008. Two hours after telling my thoughts to LB, I was advised through her that Jane Whaley said I was “out of the church”. No, Jane did not call and find out what I had learned or why I thought the WOFF practices were like those of the shepherding movement of years gone by. Why did I not get asked? I am not certain.

   In the blog series which tells the events around my exit from WOFF, the scenario is explained in this post: What Thoughts Helped Me Leave WOFF – Part 3 – found here: https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=1841 . “Part 3” contains two links which explain in brief about the term – shepherding movement. The movement has also been referred to as the “Discipleship Movement”. Before I proceed, let me just acknowledge that my reading on this subject has not made me an expert. Any “expertise” of mine comes from living through my experiences at WOFF and comparing them in light of what the material shows and reports about the practices within the shepherding movement. When I have lived through it, I believe it gives me some right to comment on what I saw and observed. Also, I will be quoting from sources found on websites which contain more material than I can read right now. My quoting of the sources DOES NOT imply a blanket endorsement for all of the material found in these resources. Further reading from these quoted sources is a choice you must make on your own. I have read enough to feel comfortable quoting from the material.   

   As a very brief recap, there was a group of ministers in Florida called the Fort Lauderdale Five. This group included, Bob Mumford, Charles Simpson, Don Basham, Derrick Prince and Ern Baxter. Some sources add John Poole to the group. The founding events are reported differently in different sources. Let it be said that from some event, whether a moral failure or a perceived lack of accountability of the church members, this group set out to form a structure to help those who needed help in various ways.

    Continue reading Do WOFF Practices Reflect the Shepherding Movement? →

Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Cult Leader News, Uncategorized

Update on Black Hebrews Cult and More

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   In April of this year, we reported on a religious cult in Durham, NC. The group is called the “Black Hebrews” and their leader is Peter Lucas Moses, Jr. The original post is found here: “Search for Missing Members of Black Hebrews Cult in Durham, NC” resource link- https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=4018 . A few days ago, there was an update in the case. The title is:  “Seven Charged in Alleged Cult Murder of Woman, Child in North Carolina” the link is here- http://abcnews.go.com/US/charged-bodies-found-north-carolina-cult-murder-case/story?id=13811420

   A short quote:

By CHRISTINA NG and JESSICA HOPPER    June 10, 2011

“The leader of an alleged cult appeared in court today to answer charges in the deaths of a woman and child found buried in the backyard of a house in Durham, N.C. Six other people who police say are members of the alleged cult were also charged with murder.

Pete Lucas Moses, Jr., 27, is believed to be the leader of a cult called the “Black Hebrew Israelites,” ABC affiliate WTVD in Durham reported. He was charged with the murders of Antoinetta McKoy, 28, and 5-year-old Jadon Higganbothan. McKoy was reported missing in February and was last seen in December 2010. Higganbothan had been missing since October.”

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Books, Resources, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Survivors of NTCC Share Concerning Blind Zeal

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    Don and Angela Tumioli are survivors of the New Testament Christian Church (NTCC). We have mentioned their work and their blog in previous posts. (blog is here: http://ntccxerblog.blogspot.com/ )

As a comment to the post- “Not “If”, But “When”?”, Don and Angela wrote the following about blind zeal. The piece contained  honest observations and encouragement so, I have reprinted it for the foundation of this post. Don, Angela and I have been shocked at the similarities between their former group and Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). Here is their comment:   

 Submitted on 2011/06/06 at 12:59 am

“Just because you may be a part of a “non-denominational, Protestant church” as WOFF bills themselves, does not mean it requires blind zeal to be in that church.”

The similarities between the NTCC and WOFF are alarming. The blind zeal is definitely prevalent in our former church. Zeal was almost an understatement. We would raise our hands and work ourselves into a frenzy during many of the services. I’m not saying that the raising of hands is wrong but we really took zeal to a whole new level. Most of our members were young male soldiers in their teens and twenties that were already trained to follow orders and were motivated to be all that we could be. We opened our services in prayer which consisted of “holy hands being uplifted to God”. This would include a very loud offering of voices at maximum decibels in addition to the pastor’s amplified voice often enhanced by a sound system.

Then we would have our song service which many times would consist of singing loudly, clapping, dancing and sometimes running. I’ve seen folks doing somersaults around the altar on occasion. The preaching would usually be loud and in your face. Ultimatums would fly from the pulpit. The primary thrust was to create more tithe payers and to get folks to give more in offerings. There was an altar call that involved much pleading and the supposition that all non-members were lost. Those of us who worked the altars were taught to “make the people realize they are lost” so they could be saved. We were expected to hound them and be persistent to the point that many would walk out of service during the alter call. People were made to feel uncomfortable and uneasy. People that prayed were called brother or sister, but people who claimed salvation already were not called brother or sister. They must first receive NTCC style salvation. Some exceptions were made for tithe payers or givers.

There was definitely blind zeal in our former group. If we questioned anyone, we were rebellious. If we looked in our bibles to find references while the preacher was preaching we got blasted from the pulpit. If we did not act or think or live the way that we were expected, we were also castigated and demeaned. The only way to live a Christian life was to follow their non-biblical policies and doctrines with unwavering faith and blind zeal.

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Books, Resources, Thought Reform, Uncategorized

“Prophetic Charisma” by Len Oakes (5)

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     This is the fifth post in a series which will highlight insights found in the book by Dr. Len Oakes while comparing his observations and conclusions to my personal experience inside Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). This work by Len Oakes titled, “Prophetic Charisma” – The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities (copyright ©1997 by Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, ISBN 0-8156-2700-9) helps explain the different aspects of the personality of cult leaders. I have found that the material in this book helps me understand what I saw while in WOFF and the behaviors of Jane Whaley.

    In previous posts, we have covered several the traits Oakes lists that “broadly characterize the prophetic personality type.” (page 12) We ended the last post with the author’s description of the manipulativeness in people with these traits. Today, we begin with Oakes describing how “aloof” these leaders can be. “To the inner circle the prophet may be quite frank about some motives, but to the world beyond and to most of the followers he is aloof. (page16) Here, I must add that I was never in the “inner circle” at WOFF. I did not attend “leadership meetings” or take part in the meetings in Jane’s office before the services. My perspective is that of a regular member. I can attest that there was a caste system with some mystical requirements to move up in the system.  Nothing was ever put in writing that I saw as to how to become “leadership” within the group.  Moving down the ladder was obvious. You could express doubt as to the validity of anything Jane said or did and your status in the group was downgraded. You would be put “in discipleship” or “out of the church” until such time that Jane felt you had “repented” and “made things right”.

    “Prophets are self-contained and autonomous, seeming to need little to nothing from others… The prophet always holds himself slightly apart from others, revealing little of his true feelings and seeming to be something of a mystery even to his long-term followers. This may mean that he is unable to have close friendships… but it can also mean that he doesn’t take conflicts personally. Provided miscreants show contrition, and the cost of the conflict has not been too great, the leader can be very indulgent and forgiving. For he sees himself as above his charges in the way a lion tamer is above his beasts; they may turn on him from time to time in misguided rebellion, but he is not like them.” (page16)

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Books, Resources, Uncategorized, WOFF Updates

Blind Zeal in “Minimal Loss” Episode of Criminal Minds®

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    In October of 2008, an episode aired in the Criminal Minds® television series was called “Minimal Loss”. I did not see it then since I still did not own a television even though I came out of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in July of 2008. Not until August of 2009 did I purchase a television. Some teachings of WOFF and Jane Whaley were hard to measure against the reality of “new” freedoms. Change was hard to come by after 16 years. “Minimal Loss” depicts two of the shows main characters as they attempt an investigation into a religious cult. Yes, I know the whole premise was conjecture and very much “Hollywood”. However, after watching it a few times, I began to see it as a composite of several true aspects of religious cults of years past. A conversation with a cult expert over this question confirmed my thoughts as they agreed the show was a composite depiction of certain known characteristics of cults.

    In brief, the local authorities become suspicious after a phone call is made accusing one of the male leaders of inappropriate contact with underage females. That is not unlike Tony Alamo of Alamo Ministries, Warren Jeffs of FLDS or Michael Tessner of Strong City. All of whom we have written about before and last I checked each was serving prison time for convictions on these types of crimes. The religious cult in the show lives on a compound set in many ways similar to the one the Branch Davidians lived on in Waco, TX. There are weapons and explosives and the like used during the show. Two FBI agents from the BAU team go in undercover to assess the situation and interview the younger females. The whole plan blows up literally when a State leader orders a raid based on an ongoing weapons investigation he was leading. The raid goes bad and I will not go into a lot more detail of the sequence of events except to draw out some interesting content that pertains to the theme of this blog.

   Let me acknowledge here that I am sure I do not recognize all the similarities between the show content and other cults. Even after watching it four times, I see new things. I am also sure I am set to key in on certain things that relate to my experience in WOFF and under the teachings and directives of Jane Whaley. After the State raid goes bad, the BAU is called in to negotiate with the cult leader for the best ending possible. The title of the show comes from the strategy used. Minimal Loss is the chosen strategy otherwise known as the “trickle theory”. Moves are plotted to get one person released, then maybe one or two more and then more. If at any time the negotiations break down the team would go in the extract as many as possible recognizing they will not save everyone. Some will die and in this show some did as we will mention later.   

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