Thank you for your devotion to this forum, Changedagain. You are the principal reason that I managed to find my way out. We have battled the forces of evil cult leaders and their minions. The day that Shalom publicly posted her letters on Facebook was the day the trolls vanished off of this forum. Weird, huh? They were threatening us so that we would be afraid to expose them. When it went public, BOOM! Thank you, my friend.

Thank you, as well, dear moderator. I'm sure that you have also faced intimidation and threats from cult leaders. You have always been fair and provided a safe space for people to have discussions and chimed in with help and information.

I will be back occasionally to post updates that I hear about. I hope that Changedagain will also do the same. All the best.

Hello. My name is Gina and I have queatuons about this cult. My mother was raised in it and I was as well but only until I was about 7 years old. My mom began a relationship with her partner who was a woman at the time. They met when they were both in the youth program. My mother's partner was Jeanette McDonald. She was Scott McDonald's sister. They got together and were ex-communicated from the "church" because of their gay relationship. That would have been about 1980. So I do remember JRS but we were gone before he died.

My mom's mom was supposedly influential (at least at that time.) Her name was Doris Winchester and became Doris Webster when she married Jim Webster in 1976. My mom's funeral/memorial was at the Church of the Living Word in 1997.

So, I am just curious how much of what I was taught as far as spiritual beliefs were part of the cult and what might have been my mom's ideas. I am skeptical of her beliefs and stories because she turned out to have paranoid schizophrenia but it didn't really get bad until about 1988 or 89. I have a few stories to tell if anyone is interested and a lot of questions if someone is willing to discuss it with me I'd be grateful. Thank you!

Hi Gina,
I am a former member of The Living Word Fellowship. I was part of the church in North Hills, CA starting in 1967. I know all of the people you mentioned, and would be happy to talk to you here. Welcome!

Hi! Thanks for replying! Did you know my mom Debbie? Im just going to ask random questions as I think of them.

She told me that JRS could talk to the Menehunes and that they guarded the spiritual flow between Japan and Hawaii. She also said that when he would walk through stores things would fall off of the shelves. Were those actually things people believed?
Did Mike McDonald leave? If so, when?

I'll be back with more questions. Those are the only ones I can remember at this moment.

I thought of another one. Did they call the special people who were going to go to "The Kingdom og God" "sons of God" and the other people "sons of man"?

Hi Gina!

I did know your mom, but not well. I knew Doris and your mom's brother a little better, probably from being around them more in later years. My mom was friends with Doris, too.

I do remember that JRS talked about the people in our church as God's chosen people
and as those who are part of God's kingdom and will help bring his kingdom to earth. You definitely got the impression that The Living Word and its people were more special than "old order Christians" (JRS' term).

I also remember that JRS believed that the menehunes talked to him and protected him. I was told that his widow, Marilyn, said that the menehunes were guarding JRS' grave after he died. I also remember something about the spiritual flow. As for things falling off of shelves when he walked through the stores, I don't doubt that he said that, but it doesn't ring a bell.

I will send you a private message through this site, also. I'm so glad that you found us!

I just had another thought about JRS and things falling off of shelves when he walked through stores... well, he did drink an awful lot. It wasn't until much later that I realized that he was actually an alcoholic. So, maybe that was how he made things fall off of shelves. He probably bumped into things a lot. Lol.

I didn’t laugh out loud but reading your post made my day, made me smile

It is Thanksgiving 2025 and it’s a good time to stop and look back at posts in this forum. I am so grateful to all of you that have spoken up here. You have saved me from years of torment and pain. I will not try to name all of you. The list would be vast. Thank you, thank you, thank you.