puddington Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe we could organize a rally with signs and
> stand outside the CLW church in North Hills. We
> could demand transparency on where the assets
> went.
>
> Then again, maybe not. : )


Ha--yeah, maybe not.
I'll just assume it went into Marilyn Trust Fund and was used for Kingdom purposes.

puddington Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe we could organize a rally with signs and
> stand outside the CLW church in North Hills. We
> could demand transparency on where the assets
> went.
>
> Then again, maybe not. : )


Get Gary to hold a town meeting.

TheJewel Wrote:

> Get Gary to hold a town meeting.

Yes--he could start if off this way:
'Sit Down, Shut Up and Listen.'

rond Wrote:

> Wouldn't it have been better just to divorce
> honestly? Part of the reason I left TLW was to
> escape all the twisting of words, though I really
> believe there are still good, decent people in
> TLW.

Yes

Re: TLW finances.

I've read a lot posts and have been doing some soul searching and some internet searching. Coming to terms that I was in a cult, it's not an easy thing. I saw there were others that struggled with that as well. I read something online from "Cult Awareness and Information Center" titled "The Walk of John Robert Stevens." And I found the following very interesting.

"Martha Stevens, who was married to Apostle Stevens for 40 years, filed for divorce in 1979. During the proceedings, she revealed that Stevens' holdings could amount to $40 million. A California newspaper then launched an investigation of the Church of the Living Word, and learned that it had conducted a Nevada silver mine fraud that allegedly cheated members of the cult out of at least $500,000. Stevens also possessed an extensive art collection and $29,000 in silver bars, and hired an attorney for the divorce suit, paying him $10,000 plus $125 per hour. Martha claims, 'My husband has total control of the church and its funds, and total access to all church finances. He is, in essence, the church himself.'"

Gee, I wish I would have known this when I working year after year in Shiloh for $80 a month. I might have asked for a raise!

The divorce legal fees. According to John, his lawyer sarcastically told John to take a love offering. Wonder how much Martha got. John said she wanted the california houses. Woodrow Nichols book on the Walk said (p.125) btw 73-77 affiliated churches grew 53-101. Assume 50 new churches gave the apostle $1000-$2000 a month. That's $500,000 -one million over one year. 100 churches= 1-2 million a year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2017 03:19AM by NickleandDimed.

Following the $$$?
How lucrative was it? Well let's objectively look at the #'s as we know them.

At the peak there were well over 100 congregations, in several countries - check the location index at the back of a "This Week" around 1979... This is s a certainty.

Yes, churches came in a wide variety of sizes and levels of wealth. It's hard to say if the $$ amounted to millions, but easily several hundreds of thousands per year... every year... from at least 1975 to 1983. (in those days $million was really a $million!) That's the money Martha was after.

I helped keep the books at an outlying local church. It was a larger group, we owned our own building, had paid staff, paid ministries etc. Nobody got rich, but do I remember some specifics about tithes and LW Inc.

First thing you need to understand is that these funds were tax free. Also, the LW organization was split up geographically. Each church congregation was expected to fund their own operations. (ie you paid for your own minister)

Tithes from outlying churches would have been deposited directly to LW Inc. I later came to understand that basically meant JRS and Blix etc.

Support for com-central was voluntary, but there was an expectation that local churches would send a monthly contribution.

Our church's monthly payments to LW Inc. varied based on monthly tithe income and our local operating expenses.

In our heyday, our church's payments to LW Inc. easily topped $5,000 month. That was a lot of money in those days. Com-central special fund raising requests generated $10k or even $25k., giving until it hurts... Special fund raising took place 2 - 3x per year.

I remember we had to keep careful records of $$ sent to Cali. Funds had to be kept separate because we were registered as an independent charitable org. separate from LWF. There were tax rules about the % of remittances that could be spent outside the local organization. We once purchased electronic equipment for Cali. and shipped it to them to avoid the tax conflicts - funny the things you remember...

I remember hearing about tensions resulting from "Timothy's" who were not tied to (ie paid for by) local congregations - and "who was going to pay for them" (if you remember, no-one in authority ever actually worked for a living) I remember a period where JRS asked that we pick up the salary for individuals at a Com-central "for a season". We were glad when that "season" was over.

One of the first phone calls to us from Marilyn after John's death was to insist that our monthly tithes had to be increased... no pressure but...

Shortly afterward we heard that Marilyn had initiated a legal effort to take over title of our local church real estate. Her efforts were only thwarted because JRS only had one vote on the board of the local church corp. I remember being told this set-up was partly to prevent Martha from ever having access... the irony of it all.

kbyrne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Re: TLW finances.
>
> I've read a lot posts and have been doing some
> soul searching and some internet searching.
> Coming to terms that I was in a cult, it's not an
> easy thing. I saw there were others that struggled
> with that as well. I read something online from
> "Cult Awareness and Information Center" titled
> "The Walk of John Robert Stevens." And I found
> the following very interesting.
>
> "Martha Stevens, who was married to Apostle
> Stevens for 40 years, filed for divorce in 1979.
> During the proceedings, she revealed that Stevens'
> holdings could amount to $40 million. A California
> newspaper then launched an investigation of the
> Church of the Living Word, and learned that it had
> conducted a Nevada silver mine fraud that
> allegedly cheated members of the cult out of at
> least $500,000. Stevens also possessed an
> extensive art collection and $29,000 in silver
> bars, and hired an attorney for the divorce suit,
> paying him $10,000 plus $125 per hour. Martha
> claims, 'My husband has total control of the
> church and its funds, and total access to all
> church finances. He is, in essence, the church
> himself.'"
>
> Gee, I wish I would have known this when I working
> year after year in Shiloh for $80 a month. I might
> have asked for a raise!


Yep, Martha wanted half. What the hell does that tell you. John as I remember didn't live lavishly. If he had an extensive art collection, my bet would be that they were given to him. He used to run me ragged just trying to go to all the services he attended. I was just sad he died so soon because he was supposed to start teaching in Grace Chapel again.

2016 great post and valuable info. Yes it is funny what you remember. I don't think Martha got all the 5 or 6 homes JRS owned in Calif. But I do recall JRS mentioning his concern that she might get the home in Northridge. I think it would have been the communal home for married couples. It wasn't a mansion but large. Also interesting to me and smart that your church had a board and local corp. I'm thinking not all churches fared as well after M took over. I also recall that JRS's divorce lawyer was a kind of Hollywood celeb having represented Lee Marvin in his palimony divorce. A love offering to pay for JRS's divorce.....luv it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2017 09:21AM by lily rose.

I recall that divorce attorney coming around the LW building during JRS's divorce in the late 70's. I think his name was Marvin Michelson.