Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 75
Kristen Skedgell, a former member of The Way International, has written a book about
her fifteen years in the group during the 1970s and 1980s entitled Losing the Way: A
Memoir of Spiritual Longing, Manipulation, Abuse, and Escape. The 200-page memoir
characterizes The Way less as a Christian fundamentalist group than as a predatory cult, an
organization designed to prey on the lonely and spiritually thirsty. Skedgell documents her
experience, illustrating The Way‘s recruiting and maintenance methods — ―brainwashing‖ —
and how the late leader Victor Paul Wierwille manipulated her into a sexual relationship.
Now a Columbia University-educated social worker, Skedgell gives advice to families with
members in cults.
Kristen Skedgell, a former member of The Way International, has written a book about
her fifteen years in the group during the 1970s and 1980s entitled Losing the Way: A
Memoir of Spiritual Longing, Manipulation, Abuse, and Escape. The 200-page memoir
characterizes The Way less as a Christian fundamentalist group than as a predatory cult, an
organization designed to prey on the lonely and spiritually thirsty. Skedgell documents her
experience, illustrating The Way‘s recruiting and maintenance methods — ―brainwashing‖ —
and how the late leader Victor Paul Wierwille manipulated her into a sexual relationship.
Now a Columbia University-educated social worker, Skedgell gives advice to families with
members in cults.
