Tag Archives: WOFF

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

Why Go Back? Part 2

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     In a previous post, the question was raised- Why Go Back?- to WOFF. https://religiouscultsinfo.com/?p=2235

     Recently, I have had opportunity to speak with several former members of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) either directly or indirectly. These folks arrived and left the group in different time frames. All were present at some point during my 16 year association and membership in WOFF. Jane Whaley’s preaching emphasis may have been different for each one of them during their stay, but many of the same observations are present in their stories.

  In response to a recent post, I received an email from Jerry Cooper.  He has been mentioned previously in other posts, as he had two tours of duty at WOFF with a five year break in between. The second time he was in the group for one year. His testimony of why he went in, left and then returned is insightful and hopefully will help others. In his own words.. “In that journey I came upon WOFF during a crisis and turning point in my life. In my desperation I found a group of people (WOFF) who “appeared” to be seeking what I was seeking. I saw zeal and passion and experienced an emotional and fulfilling “God experience” that I jumped in all the way-bearing no resistance.”  

    I have found this a common thread in the testimonies of other former members including myself. When I joined the Greenville group in 1992 after a time of personal crisis, I was impressed with the “zeal” in the members to follow after and know God’s ways. Other former WOFF members have expressed the same thoughts; they came to WOFF to seek a deeper relationship with God and to be who He wanted them to be. “Fulfill the Call of God”…This would only make sense as many members have moved long distances to come and be a part of WOFF. There were/are several folks from other states and other nations. As many as 19 different nations have been represented in the congregation during my time there. Hunger for God is not contained only within one particular culture or national border. Though in time, I began to see that a zeal for God was not the only requirement to know God.

   Continue reading Why Go Back? Part 2 →

Behavior Control, Information control, Uncategorized, WOFF and Money Issues, WOFF Website

WOFF Contradictions – Part 3

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     We continue on with the contradictions that I witnessed at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). The previously stated qualifying statements continue here. These are my opinions. Some contradictions are obvious and some need to be explained.  

     The WOFF website contains very interesting information and pictures. Under the “Outreach” tab there is a header for “Political Outreach”. On this page there are several photos of current and former elected officials including former First Lady Laura Bush, former Congressman Charles Taylor, Lt. Governor Walter Dalton and North Carolina Senator Debbie Clary. All of this is very impressive. Another page in this grouping is titled “Our Purpose”…. This page explains the position of WOFF in reference to praying for and respecting civil authorities. The text goes on to explain the many activities that WOFF and its members have been involved in such as voter registrations, non-partisan forums, congressional prayer breakfasts, petitioning of state and national leaders.  

     The Articles of Incorporation for The Word of Faith Fellowship, Incorporated can be found at the following link.   http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/Filings.aspx?PItemId=4982905   This is public information on the North Carolina Secretary of State website.  Under Article X, it says that “No substantial part of the activities of Word of Faith Fellowship, Incorporated shall be the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation and The Word of Faith Fellowship, Incorporated shall not participate in or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) a political campaign”.  I encourage readers to read the entire document for context.

   Continue reading WOFF Contradictions – Part 3 →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Information control, Uncategorized

WOFF Contradictions – Part 2

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      As we continue with the contradictions witnessed at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), I will again state that I will not pretend to know each one or the depth of the contradictions or ironies that are present at WOFF. These statements are my opinions. Some contradictions are obvious and some need to be explained. While attending WOFF, I did not seek to understand or note these contradictions. If one happened across my path, I would excuse it or set it aside. Do the former members agree or disagree? Was I the only one who sought to keep as many as possible of the contradicting facts – in check?

     After all, dodging or hiding from “truth” can be a full-time job when you are inside such a controlling group as WOFF. Consider- does it take pages and pages of scripture references to validate a doctrine or practice? Is this an attempt to justify practices the Holy Spirit does not bear witness to, inside of other believers? Either a practice or doctrine serves the purpose of God or it does not? If that practice does not serve God’s purpose – what or whose purpose does it, serve?

    To WOFF members, the voice of truth could be coming as that little voice on the inside of your heart or as the blare of a fog horn resounding in circumstances and events too glaring to ignore! However the prompting comes concerning WOFF – listen. Do not spend years ignoring what seems obvious to some and hard to grasp for others. I denied the questions and spent years in the blinding fog bank, drifting in the group known as Word of Faith Fellowship.  

Continue reading WOFF Contradictions – Part 2 →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

WOFF Contradictions – Part 1

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     Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) is full of contradictions which lead to many ironic scenarios. During my time there, I did not see these contradictions or even look for them. People who “believe” in a philosophy or religion or set of ideas, may rarely take time to consider the whole picture or a possible alternative point of view. The desire to just believe is so strong. Why else are Christians called “Believers”? Seeking the full picture may jeopardize those beliefs and thus a believers “peace”. Or could reviewing the alternate views on a subject make your beliefs stronger?

     Even as I write this, I am willing to concede that I will not see every contradiction or every compromising anomaly that exists at WOFF. I did not live close to Jane Whaley to observe her everyday life. The picture I was allowed to see was what she allowed other “regular members” to see and observe. All that being said; I will write about the contradictions that I am aware of from my 16 year involvement with WOFF. Former members of WOFF are welcome to comment and add to the list as they remember contradictions they observed.

     Jane Whaley said from the podium a few years back – “I am not anyone’s savior.” At the time, I thought that was very admirable. I thought, at that time, she may have been feeling the “burden” of her load of “responsibility”.  However, let’s look at the way she functions inside the group. Since, she requires all decisions of any consequence to come through her; then she functions as the supreme authority and all knowing source of “truth”. In that light, she is the “savior” to those faithful WOFF members who trust in her every word. She functions as THE Voice of God to many at WOFF. She may say one thing, but from my view point and in my opinion, she acted as the “savior” to the faithful WOFF members. This sad contradiction is one on which the whole charade of WOFF revolves. Without this pivotal dynamic, the whole group would collapse and morph into some other form or disintegrate all together.

  Continue reading WOFF Contradictions – Part 1 →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

WOFF Redefines Ritual

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     In Janis Hutchinson’s book, “Out of the Cults and Into the Church” (copyright 1994 Kregel Resources), she mentions several things that persons who leave cults consider as “losses”. We have discussed a few of these losses in previous posts. The author spent over 30 years in Mormonism. After leaving that group, she has gone on to help many others in their transition out of a cult into the Christian church. After my time ended at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) in July 2008, I have found this book to be very helpful.

     In chapter 7, Ms. Hutchinson reviews the ex-cultist’s loss of ritual. She mentions that several cult groups have certain sacred ceremonies or rituals, sacred symbols; sacred space and even some have certain sacred architecture. Her experience of helping others has verified many common traits of cult groups. She writes “The physical motions (of the rituals) have two powerful purposes. First, to tie the sacred place, sacred space, sacred symbols and sacred architecture all into one neat bundle. Second, to confirm the authentic doctrines, beliefs, myths, pledges, or whatever goes to make up the cult’s beliefs.” (page 143) She writes that rituals are not just tools for cults. Rituals can be seen in many other parts of culture.  

    How does this information apply to my experience at WOFF? From the WOFF website under the tab labeled “Beliefs”, listed as #5, one can read that WOFF believes and practices certain Christian ordinances or rituals. They list Baptism and Communion which are widely practiced. They also list “Laying on of Hands”, “Repentance” and “The Government of God”. The question of why a group would list these last three is a subject of another post. For now, I will accept the first two as common in the Protestant Christian church.

    Continue reading WOFF Redefines Ritual →

Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

The Church at Rock Hill

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    **** Announcement: Between the time this post was written in the early morning hours of 6/4/10 and 12:29PM on 6/4/10- “http://religiouscults of the south.blogspot.com was taken down. This was NOT at the direction of the author. We will update as soon as it is known why the blog was removed by the host.

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    On a daily basis, I use a service called Google Alerts®. This is a free service which searches for certain terms on the web. News articles or blogs posts are returned according to the time table set-up by the user. One term I search for is “religious cults”. That should be no surprise. Recently, through that search I was made aware of a blog titled- “Religious Cults in the South” found at this link – http://religiouscultsinthesouth.blogspot.com  The author is identified as “The Watcher”.

    There are many “cult survivor” blogs on the web and some make for very good reading. This one caught my eye as it mentioned The Church at Rock Hill. In times past, I have had reason to go to Rock Hill, SC and am familiar with the city. So, I emailed the author to learn more. What was revealed was shocking in many ways.

    The Watcher mentioned that the pastor of The Church at Rock Hill was Johnny Miller. Mr. Miller was introduced to “The Body of Christ” through the Rev. Lacey (Lacy) Hawkins. Rev. Hawkins’ spiritual roots are said to be from William Sowders. All of these names were new to me and I needed to do some research. “The Body of Christ” appears to be a loose knit spiritual grouping of churches in the US and several countries. Here is the link to The Church of Rock Hill’s website.. http://www.thechurchatrockhill.com/AboutUs.htm

     Continue reading The Church at Rock Hill →

Behavior Control, Criteria for Cults, Uncategorized

New Identity- Dependent Relationships at WOFF- Part 7

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     Further consideration of the Word of Faith Fellowship ( WOFF) identity that members take on, in order to become and stay a member, reveals certain “dependent” traits. There are three main groups that all play their roles. At the top of the organizational pyramid is Jane Whaley. She is the supreme authority in charge of all. Next, coming down the structure is the “leadership” class. They get their ability to carry out Jane’s orders – from Jane. She keeps in touch with many folks through this leadership level of the structure. “If you are not willing to lay down your life and take hold of someone else, you will never fulfill your call- or be leadership in this church.” The last level of folks is what I call – “regular members”. They are the ones doing the field work. They hear from Jane or leadership what to do and then go do it. The regular members will tell you they are “learning to hear God’s voice” and “ministers in training”. If you ask how do you know? They will honestly have to say it was confirmed through Jane Whaley.

    A first glimpse into the WOFF identity, role and function may show that the regular members depend on Jane for all decisions. Certainly in religious cult mind control groups such as WOFF, the primary dependency consists of regular members’ being dependent on the supreme leader. This should not be a shock. But, also it must be noted that in the pyramid structure, those who are toward the top need those who are toward to bottom to support them! Without folks to lead, leadership and Jane Whaley would be without “subjects” to control. Also, without dependent subjects to tithe and give offerings, Jane Whaley would not be able to pay the church bills and get her “$600 a month” checks. She needs folks who continue to believe in her supremacy in order to keep paying the $20,000 a week needed to meet the church bills. (Sam first mentioned that figure in 2007 or early 2008) So, in reality, members need Jane and Jane needs willing members. It is co-dependency in a way. If folks just stopped believing in Jane as the great “Ya-Ya”**, then her importance in her own world would be in danger. 

** This was a pet name from one little girl for Grandma Jane. There was actually a wooden sign on Jane’s desk which said – “Ya-Ya”.

   Continue reading New Identity- Dependent Relationships at WOFF- Part 7 →