Cogreg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1. When did "The Walk" or "Church of the Living
> Word" become "The Living Word Fellowship"? I don't
> recall that name. I was in this thing from late
> 1973 through about 1978, in southern and central
> California.
>
> 2. Is there any kind of count or census of people
> who have left The Walk/TLWF and what their paths
> have been since then? I am curious about how many
> ex-members still identify as Christians, how many
> became pagan or "new age", how many became
> atheists.
>
> 3. I had a friend who "blew out" of The Walk and
> had an extremely hard time of it. I moved to a
> different "body" (for college) and when I left, I
> had a very easy time of it, really. (This was
> thanks to the smarter, more enlightened outlooks
> of the leaders and members of my new local group.)
> How many people had an easy time leaving The
> Walk/TLWF?

“The Walk” was never an official name and “Church of the Living Word” was a name given to several different local churches, but most famously the one in Sepulveda that later became North Hills. The “Living Word Fellowship” was a legal association created after John Stevens death that all the churches affiliated with Stevens became a part of.

One may note that John Stevens, from the pulpit anyway, stated he was not a fan of labels or any kind of unifying name that outsiders might use to pigeonhole believers. He more or les acquiesced to the idea of The Walk and there was even a magazine with that name for a short period.

The Walk was also known as “this thing that God is doing” of “this thing.”

To my knowledge, there is no census of those who have left; however one could venture a guess that the number is in the thousands given the number of people who were members at its heyday and what remains. Some have eft feet first, and those likely have had the easiest time of it. Many others, some who post on this forum, are still sorting through the difficulties after many years, even decades.

As we enter the holiday season, it would be a wonderful time to re-establish family relationships. One of the first destructive things TLWF did was to break family ties. Calling G&M Mom and Dad is the most dishonoring thing we could have done to our natural parents. I would never advocate a relationship where parents have been physically or sexually abusive, but some have cut off contact for decades simply because of their involvement in TLWF. I know for me it was one of the first positive steps in my healing process. I did not realize how much my parents loved me and how much they had missed our relationship, as well as the relationship with their grandchildren. They had left TLWF 20 years prior to myself (My Dad was an associate pastor under Vere Thomas in Des Moines), and it always made our communication strained – especially when they would speak negatively about my involvement in TLWF attempting to help me. I was hearing their words of concern as attacks of Satan – actually quite funny now.

I remember the Navalesi’s (Joey, Gary, Johnnie, and Dena parents) telling me they had received the greatest gift possible – the restoration of their relationship with Olin and Dena. They treated me like family because of the role I had played. It was not that there was never communication, but we all know when family relationships are genuinely close or not. Perhaps parents have passed away by now, but there still are children and grandchildren that need family. It’s easy to demand consequences on those in TLWF that have harmed us without recognizing the hurt we have caused our natural families by our disconnection from them. Restoring family relationships can be a nice way of giving TLWF the finger.

Part of regaining our power is to do the right thing in spite of what others have done to us. We can’t control the action of others, but we can control our response to their actions. It is sad to see people still under the control of someone who has wronged them, and that person is not even alive anymore. Freedom comes when we are finally able to forgive. That doesn’t mean you have to call evil good or place yourself back in harm’s way. After all, perfect humans do not exist. Honoring father and mother is not dependent on them being honorable. It is dependent on us deciding to do it.

larry bobo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As we enter the holiday season, it would be a
> wonderful time to re-establish family
> relationships. One of the first destructive
> things TLWF did was to break family ties. Calling
> G&M Mom and Dad is the most dishonoring thing we
> could have done to our natural parents. I would
> never advocate a relationship where parents have
> been physically or sexually abusive, but some have
> cut off contact for decades simply because of
> their involvement in TLWF. I know for me it was
> one of the first positive steps in my healing
> process. I did not realize how much my parents
> loved me and how much they had missed our
> relationship, as well as the relationship with
> their grandchildren. They had left TLWF 20 years
> prior to myself (My Dad was an associate pastor
> under Vere Thomas in Des Moines), and it always
> made our communication strained – especially when
> they would speak negatively about my involvement
> in TLWF attempting to help me. I was hearing
> their words of concern as attacks of Satan –
> actually quite funny now.
>
> I remember the Navalesi’s (Joey, Gary, Johnnie,
> and Dena parents) telling me they had received the
> greatest gift possible – the restoration of their
> relationship with Olin and Dena. They treated me
> like family because of the role I had played. It
> was not that there was never communication, but we
> all know when family relationships are genuinely
> close or not. Perhaps parents have passed away by
> now, but there still are children and
> grandchildren that need family. It’s easy to
> demand consequences on those in TLWF that have
> harmed us without recognizing the hurt we have
> caused our natural families by our disconnection
> from them. Restoring family relationships can be
> a nice way of giving TLWF the finger.
>
> Part of regaining our power is to do the right
> thing in spite of what others have done to us. We
> can’t control the action of others, but we can
> control our response to their actions. It is sad
> to see people still under the control of someone
> who has wronged them, and that person is not even
> alive anymore. Freedom comes when we are finally
> able to forgive. That doesn’t mean you have to
> call evil good or place yourself back in harm’s
> way. After all, perfect humans do not exist.
> Honoring father and mother is not dependent on
> them being honorable. It is dependent on us
> deciding to do it.


Larry, Thanks for your post. It hit very close to home for me as my Mom (shes the one still "In") just contacted me. While I wouldn't say we have NO relationship it certainly is thin.
I don't even know where to begin re-establishing a relationship after 35 years of near non-communication. I have five great kids that my mother has seen perhaps three times in 24 years. Church always comes first for her.
Finding a place to start reconnecting may be difficult because she has literally made her life about nothing but TLW. Much work lies ahead for all of us but the path is bright and filled with hope and love.

LARRYBOBO & TMASON:


My heart breaks reading both of your accounts. The one similar dynamic is that both of you have/had parents who are/were also involved in TLW. That definitively adds an element to the equation.

I guess my wife and I were 'rebellious' regarding this matter as we never excluded ourselves from extended family activities. (I was a 35-year veteran and my wife put in 40 years.) Our son grew up with all of his cousins, and we attended all the Xmas' (oops), Thanksgivings, birthdays, graduations, etc. that we could schedule in. I guess our secret was to never ask permission.

There has never been an opportunity like we have now to make the ground HOLY by restoring RELATIONSHIP.

We will all be eagerly awaiting your GOOD NEWS.

kBOY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> LARRYBOBO & TMASON:
>
>
> My heart breaks reading both of your accounts.
> The one similar dynamic is that both of you
> have/had parents who are/were also involved in
> TLW. That definitively adds an element to the
> equation.
>
> I guess my wife and I were 'rebellious' regarding
> this matter as we never excluded ourselves from
> extended family activities. (I was a 35-year
> veteran and my wife put in 40 years.) Our son
> grew up with all of his cousins, and we attended
> all the Xmas' (oops), Thanksgivings, birthdays,
> graduations, etc. that we could schedule in. I
> guess our secret was to never ask permission.
>
> There has never been an opportunity like we have
> now to make the ground HOLY by restoring
> RELATIONSHIP.
>
> We will all be eagerly awaiting your GOOD NEWS.

God bless us... everyone...

Good watch on A&E (we use Sling, and this is an "on demand" series, so may not be available on regular TV): Cults and Extreme Belief.

This has several different episodes, and is very well done. We started watching the last two in the series first which basically involves a group of ex-cult members (most born into a cult) in a discussion with a moderator and a therapist. Lots of similarities!

In Santa Barbara, we called ourselves The Church of the Living Word. I did not realize that this was only a local or case-by-case name.

My mentor and friend "blew out" of the church and had an extremely rough time. He would have been shunned if he had tried to come back, but he didn't. The leaders spoke of him as walking in darkness and such nonsense.

I had a far easier time leaving. I moved to San Luis Obispo for college (go Mustangs!) and the body there was not sucked into the political, gossipy, wanna-be-most-holy ridiculousity that Santa Barbara had going on. People there were very cool; hey, if it's not working for you, that's absolutely fine, and you're still welcome to be friends, hang out with us at potlucks, whatever.

I left long before John Robert Stevens died, I think.

I guess I've been and am a quasi-atheist since leaving The Walk/Church of the Living Word. It puzzles me somewhat that so many people on this forum who have left the church have not taken the small step to look at the larger picture and re-think the whole religious-belief thing. On the other hand, I do think I understand, to an extent, the impulse or drive toward spirituality.

that little red flag - Thanks for recommending the A & E special "Cults and Extreme Beliefs". I watched the first three episodes (there are now 9) last night and it is an eye opener. For those who are not big readers, it's a great alternative. It does a great job of helping the viewer understand what a cult is, and then you can do the math and determine if you think TLWF is a cult or not. Even though I've read many books, the thing that stood out to me is the damage that was done to the victims. No matter what the cult, the wounds are the same and very easy to identify with.

The most posts and the views are increasing.
WINNING! LOL

652,249 VIEWS 7,548 POSTS

LARRYBOBO:


The entire cult-dynamic can be reduced to the convincing sales-pitch that apparently took place with the serpent in the garden.

From there, the tale just keeps being rewritten.