Recently, I came across a blog site that lists many resources for those who may suspect they are in a spiritual abuse situation and need answers. The blog title is – “Provender- A Clearinghouse of Sources on Spiritual Abuse and Cult-Like Practices in Churches”. This blog has very good information and also lists several other sites for sources and help. I have not reviewed the entire list or all the resources mentioned, but have been excited about the ones I have viewed. The post that first caught my attention was titled- “Are you covering for a spiritually abusive pastor?” It shows being written be the author of the blog and posted July 9, 2009. The resource link is found here: http://pureprovender.blogspot.com/2009/07/are-you-covering-for-spiritually.html

   For this post, I will quote several of the warning signs listed and compare them to my experience at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). Did I cover for an “spiritually abusive pastor”? If I did that- is it still going on today? Do members of WOFF cover Jane Whaley as she may be described in the following list? I will not be able to list every warning sign mentioned as the author lists 20 things to consider. But, we will take several and comment.

   From the post link above:

 1. You’ve noticed a pattern of people leaving the fellowship, but you hesitate to ask your pastor about it and don’t like to delve into the reasons behind the exits. – While at WOFF, we were instructed not to talk among ourselves about the ones that had left. Why? We might learn something. If you had a question or comment, you were required to go to Jane and ask her personally about the ones who had left. That requirement kept people from talking among themselves about the ones who left. Jane had that base covered- literally.

3. You excuse your pastor’s wrong behavior: He’s young (or he’s old), he doesn’t understand the people who are unhappy, he has a little trouble relating to people, he’ll grow out of it, I’m probably not seeing the whole picture, God will show him his weaknesses and he’ll handle things better soon, no pastor is perfect in every way, he’s such a good preacher that we can overlook the other parts of his calling. During my time at WOFF, if I had not “excused” the rude, unmannerly, angry, combative and otherwise haughty behaviors of Jane Whaley, I could not have stayed. So, yes, I am guilty of that one. I told LB, the same one from the post about the “Great Wall”; that I only stayed because of the teaching. By that point, many things were bothering me about WOFF life.

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