Thanks for posting this, puddington.

Body of article below.

[www.kalonanews.com]

Quote


A Monday work session with the Kalona City Council and Shiloh directors brought up a potentially touchy situation.

Shiloh has a small cemetery and columbarium in the middle of its 200-acre property, which the city would like to see moved in order to proceed with the proposed voluntary annexation of the church property.

“It would be a detriment to any development to have it right in the middle,” Mayor Ken Herington said.

Currently, there are 16 full burials at the site, along with 23 urns, some of which are in the columbarium.

City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh explained that a state permit would be required to move any full burial, but not for urns.

“We would be much better served to take it off site,” Schlabaugh said.

Shiloh Director Steve Rich said that the families of the buried people should be contacted to discuss their wishes.

“I think this would have to be a joint project,” Herington added.

Schlabaugh suggested that the city and Shiloh partner with local funeral directors to come up with the best approach to contact the families.

“They know what to say in these situations,” Herington agreed.

Shiloh has another cemetery to the east of its property on Nutmeg Avenue.

Schlabaugh said that the city could work with the families to offer them a spot in that cemetery or in Sharon Hill Cemetery.

“We would work with what’s most appropriate with the families,” he said.

Schlabaugh also gave an update on legal matters of the proposed deal.

“The legal opinions are being reviewed,” he said. “Our attorney is comfortable where we’re at.”

He added that the city’s attorney has requested to review the memorandum of understanding that detailed Shiloh’s split with The Living Word Fellowship, its former parent organization.

Schlabaugh said he would like the City Council to consider at next week’s meeting having the attorney begin drawing up legal documents for the proposed voluntary annexation.

James Jennings, News Editor at The News, can be reached at news@kalonanews.com.

> A Monday work session with the Kalona City Council
> and Shiloh directors brought up a potentially
> touchy situation.

> Shiloh has a small cemetery and columbarium in the
> middle of its 200-acre property, which the city
> would like to see moved in order to proceed with
> the proposed voluntary annexation of the church
> property.

> “It would be a detriment to any development to
> have it right in the middle,” Mayor Ken Herington
> said.

The remains of loved ones are an obstacle to development.

> “We would be much better served to take it off
> site,” Schlabaugh said.

Off site--out of sight.

> Schlabaugh suggested that the city and Shiloh
> partner with local funeral directors to come up
> with the best approach to contact the families.
> “They know what to say in these situations,”

Yes. "Your loved ones are impeding development" would be a poor choice of words (IMO).

> “We would work with what’s most appropriate with
> the families,” he said.

Yes, for once, the families' wishes should be honored.


> James Jennings, News Editor at The News, can be
> reached at news@kalonanews.com.

> [/quote]

Quote

Posted by: changedagain ()
Date: August 08, 2019 09:14AM

The remains of loved ones are an obstacle to development.

Off site--out of sight.

Yes. "Your loved ones are impeding development" would be a poor choice of words (IMO).

Yes, for once, the families' wishes should be honored.

I remember at a Shiloh summer camp during the early nineties while presenting the new master plan, GH joked about how to move the remains of loved ones to the new cemetery location. He said that the architect was trying to be very careful in bringing up this delicate subject. GH said he laughed and told him,, "Oh. We thought we would just shoot them over the hill (or slide them down the hill)." Or something lovely like that. And all the people dutifully laughed.

It's not like they haven't known that this step was most likely inevitable for almost thirty years. They could have fixed it back then, when they still remembered how to contact the families. : (



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2019 02:22AM by Reepicheep.

Reep wrote:
I remember at a Shiloh summer camp during the early nineties while presenting the new master plan, GH joked about how to move the remains of loved ones to the new cemetery location. He said that the architect was trying to be very careful in bringing up this delicate subject. GH said he laughed and told him,, "Oh. We thought we would just shoot them over the hill (or slide them down the hill)." Or something lovely like that. And all the people dutifully laughed.

Dutifully laughed--that sounds about right. Of course, if someone joked about doing this with the remains of John or Marilyn, they would end up in fear for their life.

It's not like they haven't known that this step was most likely inevitable for almost thirty years. They could have fixed it back then, when they still remembered how to contact the families. : (

Given what some of these families have likely been through, their trust violated by Walk/TLWF leaders, they may not be in a cooperative mood. It probably is wise Shiloh & Kalona partner with funeral directors who "know what to say in these situations." It's a delicate situation, to say the least.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2019 06:08AM by changedagain.

A few posts that mention the two cemeteries:

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: lone.wolf
Date: December 15, 2018 09:10PM

Marilyn is indeed buried there. I was at the memorial service but haven't been back since to see it. I thought she was close to John's grave, but there have been so many changes to the "shrine" that it's unrecognizable to me anymore. I will add that at Shiloh, people are finally coming forward to say what a mistake it was to let Rick Holbrook have full control over the design of the cemetery. There is agreement that it's atrocious, and also discussion in the works of how they can revise it. It just sickens me how much money Rick had to play with, and no one to counter his decisions.

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: JesusJesusJesus
Date: December 15, 2018 11:00PM

Maybe she just doesn't have a marker yet. It's clear that the cemetery is still a work in progress. I was shocked, frankly, at how awkward and strange it was as well. Half shrine, half, um, performance site? It almost felt like a mini amphitheater or something. I can see Rick's influence now that you say it. I don't know what to think, except that it was very disjointed and bizarre - like something you'd find for Hitler's grave had Germany won instead of lost or something. (Maybe that's too harsh. I just couldn't hit upon a better analogy.)

I also took the time to read the special inscriptions that people had put on their stones over the years. Maybe that's another red flag people should look for in a church/cult- what gravestones say. "Until our faith is fulfilled" "Commissioned into death to pursue resurrection life" "Eternal life is not defeat. I free (names) to walk in fulfillment" "Prophet of God and friend of John Stevens" "One of our fathers and John's sons" "Intercessor for John" "Christ through a living vessel - speaks" "We are ending the cycle. See you then." I love exploring cemeteries and appreciate when people personalize their stones, but these just cry out "Walk Talk" and it made me very sad.

One stone had a section that had been cut out, leaving only, "XXXXXXXXX (name) was colonized to the church invisible XXXXXXXX (date) As per John's request XXXXXXX (chunk of stone cute out)" The original significance, presumably, was confounding enough, but it leaves an even more questionable impression without the missing piece. Another stone appeared to have had a word rubbed out, also. Makes me wonder if people were having regrets and changing them.

We had a family member who was asked to be moved to that section since this person had been such a support to John from the beginning. It caused some consternation and division among the family. I wonder, now, at why JRS needs so many people near him. I guess it's supposed to be an honor, but all I can think is that he had the expectation that people would be close enough to continue serving him slavishly in death like they did in life. Grrr...

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: lone.wolf
Date: December 16, 2018 10:20PM

Thank you for your description of the current status of the cemetery. You really touched on something regarding who was buried where. I remember over the years at Shiloh when someone would pass away, the family members had to ask permission to have them buried near JRS. There were families flat out denied, but they were granted permission for burial at the "other" cemetery. I believe the address for that is 1350 Nutmeg Ave in Kalona. It's completely separate, and about a 20 minute walk from where JRS and others are buried. I questioned the two locations once, and was told it was because of space issues. So the "other" cemetery was kind of like an overflow area. Whether or not that's really true, I don't know. But now the two locations are like night and day, where they both just used to be grassy areas without any walls or structures. What once used to be peaceful, now feels a lot like a design inspired by fascist ideology.

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: that little red flag
Date: December 17, 2018 06:58PM

My comments on the cemetery: it has to be one of the ugliest cemeteries I have ever seen. It looks like an abandoned construction sight from a lost city.

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: JesusJesusJesus ()
Date: December 17, 2018 09:58AM

Also - this is only the memorial cemetery - the one between Shiloh and Marilyn Farms, where John is buried. It was a cemetery before, of course, but looked nothing like this until recently, though I don't know when. There is another cemetery for non-elite members. (Non-founding? Non-JRS-linked? Don't know how politically correct to be...) That other cemetery is on Nutmeg Avenue. It's very low-key and simple but well maintained.

I think a lot of people will be thrilled to finally get their family members out of the Shiloh property. I am.

Onion Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think a lot of people will be thrilled to
> finally get their family members out of the Shiloh
> property. I am.

Yes

O N I O N :

Thank you for your continued diligence in peeling back the layers of the rotten fruit of TLW we once thought was so sweet. It is long past due for compost heap.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2019 10:32PM by kBOY.

Comments regarding the two cemeteries (new/elite and old/nonelite) from December of 2018:

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: lone.wolf
Date: December 16, 2018 12:10PM

Marilyn is indeed buried there. I was at the memorial service but haven't been back since to see it. I thought she was close to John's grave, but there have been so many changes to the "shrine" that it's unrecognizable to me anymore. I will add that at Shiloh, people are finally coming forward to say what a mistake it was to let Rick Holbrook have full control over the design of the cemetery. There is agreement that it's atrocious, and also discussion in the works of how they can revise it. It just sickens me how much money Rick had to play with, and no one to counter his decisions.


Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: JesusJesusJesus
Date: December 16, 2018 02:00PM

Maybe she just doesn't have a marker yet. It's clear that the cemetery is still a work in progress. I was shocked, frankly, at how awkward and strange it was as well. Half shrine, half, um, performance site? It almost felt like a mini amphitheater or something. I can see Rick's influence now that you say it. I don't know what to think, except that it was very disjointed and bizarre - like something you'd find for Hitler's grave had Germany won instead of lost or something. (Maybe that's too harsh. I just couldn't hit upon a better analogy.)

I also took the time to read the special inscriptions that people had put on their stones over the years. Maybe that's another red flag people should look for in a church/cult- what gravestones say. "Until our faith is fulfilled" "Commissioned into death to pursue resurrection life" "Eternal life is not defeat. I free (names) to walk in fulfillment" "Prophet of God and friend of John Stevens" "One of our fathers and John's sons" "Intercessor for John" "Christ through a living vessel - speaks" "We are ending the cycle. See you then." I love exploring cemeteries and appreciate when people personalize their stones, but these just cry out "Walk Talk" and it made me very sad.

One stone had a section that had been cut out, leaving only, "XXXXXXXXX (name) was colonized to the church invisible XXXXXXXX (date) As per John's request XXXXXXX (chunk of stone cute out)" The original significance, presumably, was confounding enough, but it leaves an even more questionable impression without the missing piece. Another stone appeared to have had a word rubbed out, also. Makes me wonder if people were having regrets and changing them.

We had a family member who was asked to be moved to that section since this person had been such a support to John from the beginning. It caused some consternation and division among the family. I wonder, now, at why JRS needs so many people near him. I guess it's supposed to be an honor, but all I can think is that he had the expectation that people would be close enough to continue serving him slavishly in death like they did in life. Grrr...


Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: lone.wolf ()
Date: December 16, 2018 10:20PM

Thank you for your description of the current status of the cemetery. You really touched on something regarding who was buried where. I remember over the years at Shiloh when someone would pass away, the family members had to ask permission to have them buried near JRS. There were families flat out denied, but they were granted permission for burial at the "other" cemetery. I believe the address for that is 1350 Nutmeg Ave in Kalona. It's completely separate, and about a 20 minute walk from where JRS and others are buried. I questioned the two locations once, and was told it was because of space issues. So the "other" cemetery was kind of like an overflow area. Whether or not that's really true, I don't know. But now the two locations are like night and day, where they both just used to be grassy areas without any walls or structures. What once used to be peaceful, now feels a lot like a design inspired by fascist ideology.

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: JesusJesusJesus
Date: December 17, 2018 09:58AM

Also - this is only the memorial cemetery - the one between Shiloh and Marilyn Farms, where John is buried. It was a cemetery before, of course, but looked nothing like this until recently, though I don't know when. There is another cemetery for non-elite members. (Non-founding? Non-JRS-linked? Don't know how politically correct to be...) That other cemetery is on Nutmeg Avenue. It's very low-key and simple but well maintained.

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: kBOY
Date: December 17, 2018 02:13PM

The last time I remember walking through the cemetery (early 2000's), there was nothing higher than the tallest blade of grass--after it was mowed. Now it looks like a walled-in mini-city, probably in a futile attempt to keep out the 'mixed-multitude'.

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: puddington
Date: December 16, 2018

Funny. I was just discussing the Shiloh cemetery with someone this morning. We were wondering what the master plan for it looked like since Rick took it over. Would it be like Disneyland? Would music be playing out of hidden speakers? Maybe it would have audio messages coming from the tombstones of key church figures.

Maybe a sky bucket ride over to top? Or a monorail running around the perimeter?


Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: that little red flag
Date: December 17, 2018 06:58PM

My comments on the cemetery: it has to be one of the ugliest cemeteries I have ever seen. It looks like an abandoned construction sight from a lost city.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2019 01:32AM by changedagain.

"One of the ugliest cemeteries I have ever seen. It looks like an abandoned construction site from a lost city. A MUST VISIT!!"
-TripAdvisor review