Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 15, No. 2, 1998, page 26
what our personal ministry was going to be. Winnie, who got us introduced to all this, was
coming under fire because she rebelled against the group‘s controls over her domestic and
family affairs. They labeled her a ―rebellious spirit,‖ and resolved that her rebellious spirit
would be broken. This situation caused incredible conflict within her family, because the
leaders enlisted her husband and her son in the effort to break her spirit. They had bought
into the authority structure of the group and were taking their directives from Stevens, his
apostles, and the apostolic company under them, who were controlling the family‘s affairs.
Let me give you a practical example. The director, a member of The Walk who instructed
us to become a New Testament church, would go into Winnie‘s bedroom, put a chair up
against the door, and make all kinds of long-distance phone calls. When Winnie got the
phone bill in her mailbox, she would understandably be rather upset that she was being
charged for all these phone calls that she didn‘t make. But the leaders reframed her
understandable anger into a ―rebellious attitude,‖ into a spiritual rebellion issue, and came
down real hard on her.
Another friend was accused of committing witchcraft. Without any evidence to substantiate
this accusation, the leaders within our local group believed the accusation without
examining the matter. I was torn personally because the charges didn‘t fit what I knew of
this person‘s background. There was no evidence for the accusation, and he denied it.
Let me give one more instructive example. A couple I was friendly with said they wanted to
become engaged. ―Dana,‖ I said, ―you need to submit this to the elders. You need to
submit this to the apostles.‖ So on their trip to Reynoldsburg, they did that. By the time I
got there a day later, Mike and Dana were separated. I looked at Dana and she was in a
daze. I asked, ―Dana, what happened? I thought you two were planning to get engaged to
be married.‖ ―No, the apostles broke the bonds of the relationship. And they used Matthew
16:19: ‗Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.‘‖ That was the end of their relationship. They
never got back together again romantically, even after they left the group. And I was
responsible for having them submit to that process. When I look at it now, I gave them bad
advice and submitted them to the control of somebody who was not qualified. But, as I said
earlier, in this group, the rebellious spirit will be broken.
The authoritarianism was so strong that the personal crisis within Winnie got to the point
that she ended up committing suicide. That act had a defining impact on me and on our
local group. It was the precipitating factor that broke up the whole group in the Philadelphia
area. And I had debates within myself and with other close friends, including Winnie before
her death. She felt strongly that I should not go to California for further Walk training
because she feared I would undergo the same personality change she and her son went
through as a result of their trips to California. But I had growing conflicts within myself
about troubling contradictions in the group‘s teachings and practices.
Leaving
After Winnie died, I went to California because I felt I had to see if my doubts were indeed
justified. When I got to California, I was deeply troubled by the members‘ lack of emotion
about Winnie‘s death. Even her son showed no emotion about the loss that I could detect.
The grieving was lacking. I remember talking to the son‘s girlfriend, and she and I were
deeply troubled by his lack of emotion. I couldn‘t understand it in mind-control terms at the
time, but I was deeply troubled and disturbed by the lack of emotion. It shook me to the
core of my being.
This experience had a tremendous impact on me later on. After I returned to the
Philadelphia area, I had friends who were being approached by other groups such as the
Forever Family, which is now the Church of Bible Understanding. The Children of God were
what our personal ministry was going to be. Winnie, who got us introduced to all this, was
coming under fire because she rebelled against the group‘s controls over her domestic and
family affairs. They labeled her a ―rebellious spirit,‖ and resolved that her rebellious spirit
would be broken. This situation caused incredible conflict within her family, because the
leaders enlisted her husband and her son in the effort to break her spirit. They had bought
into the authority structure of the group and were taking their directives from Stevens, his
apostles, and the apostolic company under them, who were controlling the family‘s affairs.
Let me give you a practical example. The director, a member of The Walk who instructed
us to become a New Testament church, would go into Winnie‘s bedroom, put a chair up
against the door, and make all kinds of long-distance phone calls. When Winnie got the
phone bill in her mailbox, she would understandably be rather upset that she was being
charged for all these phone calls that she didn‘t make. But the leaders reframed her
understandable anger into a ―rebellious attitude,‖ into a spiritual rebellion issue, and came
down real hard on her.
Another friend was accused of committing witchcraft. Without any evidence to substantiate
this accusation, the leaders within our local group believed the accusation without
examining the matter. I was torn personally because the charges didn‘t fit what I knew of
this person‘s background. There was no evidence for the accusation, and he denied it.
Let me give one more instructive example. A couple I was friendly with said they wanted to
become engaged. ―Dana,‖ I said, ―you need to submit this to the elders. You need to
submit this to the apostles.‖ So on their trip to Reynoldsburg, they did that. By the time I
got there a day later, Mike and Dana were separated. I looked at Dana and she was in a
daze. I asked, ―Dana, what happened? I thought you two were planning to get engaged to
be married.‖ ―No, the apostles broke the bonds of the relationship. And they used Matthew
16:19: ‗Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.‘‖ That was the end of their relationship. They
never got back together again romantically, even after they left the group. And I was
responsible for having them submit to that process. When I look at it now, I gave them bad
advice and submitted them to the control of somebody who was not qualified. But, as I said
earlier, in this group, the rebellious spirit will be broken.
The authoritarianism was so strong that the personal crisis within Winnie got to the point
that she ended up committing suicide. That act had a defining impact on me and on our
local group. It was the precipitating factor that broke up the whole group in the Philadelphia
area. And I had debates within myself and with other close friends, including Winnie before
her death. She felt strongly that I should not go to California for further Walk training
because she feared I would undergo the same personality change she and her son went
through as a result of their trips to California. But I had growing conflicts within myself
about troubling contradictions in the group‘s teachings and practices.
Leaving
After Winnie died, I went to California because I felt I had to see if my doubts were indeed
justified. When I got to California, I was deeply troubled by the members‘ lack of emotion
about Winnie‘s death. Even her son showed no emotion about the loss that I could detect.
The grieving was lacking. I remember talking to the son‘s girlfriend, and she and I were
deeply troubled by his lack of emotion. I couldn‘t understand it in mind-control terms at the
time, but I was deeply troubled and disturbed by the lack of emotion. It shook me to the
core of my being.
This experience had a tremendous impact on me later on. After I returned to the
Philadelphia area, I had friends who were being approached by other groups such as the
Forever Family, which is now the Church of Bible Understanding. The Children of God were
