Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) was started by Jane Whaley and Sam Whaley. The Articles of Incorporation were signed in 1979. On their recently published website, under the tab listed as “Our Church” you see “Beliefs”. Select that and you will find some very interesting information. WOFF defines themselves as a “Protestant, Non-Denominational church with a Christian school (as defined in classical Christianity)”. Honestly, I missed the term “classical Christianity” in my first reading. Well, there is no doubt about the Protestant, Non-Denominational part. Certainly Jane Whaley reports to no central office and allows NO ONE to tell her how to run her church. As far as I can tell, WOFF discloses no financial records to any third parties for any reason. Yes, the term Non-denominational fits here.
When considering the term “classical Christianity”, I learned that my first impressions of the term were lacking. Upon searching on the term I found a source from Drew Theological School. This source appears to be a support school for the Methodist denomination. Since Jane Whaley admits to attending Methodist churches, then hopefully this source will be good. Certain parts of the article caught my attention.
What is “Classical Christianity”? Virginia Burrus, Professor of Early Church History
Drew Theological School
Here is the link to the full article… http://tiny.cc/ykkt9 .
“The term “classical Christianity” is of relatively recent coinage. Some Methodists, among others, currently use it to refer to the views of a select group of theologians who wrote during the late Roman Empire (that is, during the fourth and fifth centuries) and laid the groundwork for such enduring doctrinal formulations as the divine Trinity and the two-natured Christ.”
So far so good.. reading further, “The “Fathers” themselves did not agree with one another on every point.” This references the early “Church Fathers” not agreeing but, still moving forward as one. “The fact that a diversity of perspectives and interpretations can exist among those who adhere to “classical Christianity” should not surprise us.” One definition of classical Christianity means accepting those who may not fully agree on every point? In my opinion WOFF fails miserably on this point. My experience is that WOFF, more specifically, Jane Whaley: it is “her way or the highway”.