"I left several years ago...Why then do I still feel so drawn to talk to all of you about my experiences."

I do too. "The Walk". It meant "The Walk" with God. My father is still in it, he still worships John Robert Stevens.

Interesting reading these posts and the ones on factnet. I left CLW in 1995, and the best thing that happened for me was having professional therapy starting in 2002. Through therapy, I was able to unload a great deal of anger.

Jon Paul, I'm willing to talk if you want. I understand the atheistic stance, and although I'm straight and married with kids, I know a few gay and lesbian folks. In fact, I have a friend who attended a gay Episcopalian church for a while.

Take care,

[/quote]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2015 12:11AM by rrmoderator.

Jon Paul..I will talk to you.. where are you from.. And what "Church' did you attend..

I was a member of "the Walk" from 1975-1984, and at Shiloh from 1978 to 1984. I also post on FactNet, which has a myriad of threads on this group. What I see out there is a world of pain, a certain amount of fear--both in former members, and the current members who dare to post--and a lot of sadness.

"shiloh-is-bad" I read your post which mentioned Al Bailey. I remember him and his wife very well from the Aurora church in Illinois, and later at Shiloh, notably when he cleaned a three-year-old barrel of rotten sauerkraut, having to take it out of doors, and even then having to wear a mask! You sign your name "Adam" -- were your parents in the Waukegan church, and later in Lafayette, Indiana?

By the way, I lived in Waco, TX until recently, and the Branch Davidian fiasco really happened 15 miles out of town! That group had been there for a very long time, and, every so often, would appear in the local newspaper regarding some dispute between George Rhoden (of the founding family) and Vernon Howells (aka David Koresh). Please do not tar the city of Waco with the shame of that horrid event. That said, I found the similarities of Howells' reasoning to be all too familiar, and the compound had an eerie resemblance to Shiloh. It is to JRS' credit that nothing like that happened there!

Why do we feel drawn to forums like this? It is this: we all have been wounded in the part of ourselves most precious to God -- our spiritual selves -- and to talk about it in a civil way is a means of healing. I have been very encouraged by what I have read, in private emails, and on that FactNet forum. We need to tell our stories. Bless you all.

After hours of reviewing the postings on this page and FactNet, I'm wondering if there is at least one legal case to be made, especially on behalf of those claiming to be sexually abused. Given the recent scandals of sexual abuse in the Catholic church, and given that the courts have held that statutes of limitations do not apply in those cases (I think), it seems right that justice be sought for those people. Also, it seems right that justice be sought for others who were coerced into doing things that cost them dearly, and where cogent arguments could be made that their free will was compromised. Unless some legal case is made, it seems likely that the current church leadership will continue to get away with injustice. Your reactions?

I was in from 1972-1994
I moved to No. Hollywood in 1979 to work at TLW and I was there until I left in 94' ( After I was gone a while, I had heard that I was officailly "SET OUT" ) hahaha....lucky me

I think it is amazing that many of us left so long ago and we are still looking around for some type of answers...

Or, maybe just looking for people we knew.

Walking away from the only friends I had was very difficult...
I would get great pleasure to find out that some or all of them have left as well.

Well... in response to Strange, I think I'll break the ice and see what comes of it. I'm more than happy to correspond in whatever manner it is useful for anyone.

Cheer



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2015 12:12AM by rrmoderator.

This is my first post . . . I am a former member of the CLW. (17 yo at the time) I attended from 1971 - 1975 at the Sepulveda Church and 1975 - 1976 at the Fresno Church. I have read all the posts and recognize most of the hurts as they are familiar to me. This is the first time I have heard from anyone who knew of the CLW since I left in '76. I think the best thing is to heal and move on since no real good can come from retribution. I had many friends at the CLW and feel like they are still family and a responsibility to help if I can. I now live in Washington State.
It seems many have survived CLW and some are still healing. I have agonized and prayed about all those years and found that perhaps in some ways it was a good thing. The "truer" a church is the more it is a target and vulnerable to being corrupted. My conclusion is that the church acted in the same manner as "rat poison" does. Rat poison is 98% pure and wholesome food and 2% deadly poison. Perhaps what doesnt kill us makes us stronger ? So perhaps if you are a survivor then you are both wiser and more mature in the faith now.

I would really like to hear from anyone / everyone on any topic of CLW.

Shiloh really was a slave camp. I was forced to work all day long in the blazing heat cutting rose bushes one summer. I fainted from exhaustian. Most summers were spent like this: wake up at 6am, take a 5 minute shower that is timed, go to breakfast, go "wait on the Lord" for an hour, go discuss waiting on the Lord, get your personal list of chores, do your chores from about 10am - 6pm. Eat dinner, go to church, sleep, wake up again. Some of the chores included:
1) weeding outdoors on the side of a pebble road that lead into the entrance of the church - and it was at least 90 + degrees -- or the humidity made it feel that way
2) weeding in the man-made lagoon where one year I was attacked by leeches when I sat in the sand
3) serving on the kitchen staff - the dish washing room was horrible because the dining room was already hot, but combined with the steam of the dish machine - it was 10 x worse!
4) scrubbing toilets and showers with a toothbrush
AND so forth....


It was misery. I can vouche for that! :(

You know that if Gary & Marilyn were not busy administering the Kingdom, they would be right out there with you: cutting the rose bushes, weeding in the lagoon, scrubbing the toilets with a tooth brush etc.
You sound like a whiner, who can't handle a little discipline.
Grow up!