Amen

Does THAT STUDIO still exist?

This was TLWF's response to the current crisis as posted on TheLivingWord.Org.

I submit it qualifies as treacle.

treacle
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
n.
1. Cloying speech or sentiment. (Perhaps extend that to a pile of crap covered in British blak molasses).
2. ...
3. A medicinal compound formerly used as an antidote for poison.
(formerly because it was found to be ineffective so it is no longer useful.)

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The Response of Living Word Fellowship to the Allegations of Sexual Misconduct by a Member of our Leadership

We take seriously any reports of mistreatment of our staff, congregation or visitors within the Living Word Fellowship of churches, and we strongly condemn sexual harassment and misconduct of any kind. Such damaging activity should never take place, period, let alone in any church location, and yet we have received credible reports of such inappropriate behavior. As leaders of a fellowship, we recognize that any such occurrence without a strong and immediate response could produce a systemic problem within our church culture, so leadership practices must be addressed.

As a result, we are heartbroken over this, and we deeply apologize to anyone who has been hurt by a member of our pastoral team and by leaders who knew you were hurt but did not properly respond to inappropriate behavior.

We know that no apology can truly make up for such hurts, and that’s why we are taking decisive action. We have already removed leaders who have been involved in misconduct or did not call out or sufficiently address such issues.

In particular, Rick Holbrook is no longer involved in any aspect of leadership or involvement with The Living Word Fellowship, and he will not be allowed back as either a minister, leader, or member of a congregation of The Living Word Fellowship. We are also taking a deep, critical look at our leadership organization—in both structure and specific personnel—and we are taking steps toward necessary changes.

Know that we are taking this very seriously, and we are emboldened that this is the Lord’s church—He will hold us accountable if we do not address these issues. Therefore, our first response is deep repentance and prayerfully seeking the Lord. We are also engaging outside professional advisors to investigate how such situations were allowed to occur and provide us with direction to change the culture that permitted this, and to develop safeguards to prevent misconduct and abuse from occurring ever again.

In addition, we are reaching out to those negatively impacted by this behavior, to offer our apologies as well as counseling with outside professionals.

We believe that as damaging and hurtful as these revelations have been to our fellowship, this has caused us to take a serious look at our policies, procedures, and leadership culture. As a result, we believe this is a new day for The Living Word Fellowship, and our greatest priority now is to help all who have been hurt and see the power of God bring healing and restoration.


[www.thelivingword.org]

TLWF:
"Such damaging activity should never take place, period, let alone in any church location, and yet we have received credible reports of such inappropriate behavior for literally decades without doing a damn thing about it."

I took the liberty of adding the words in italics to make a bit more truthful.

Ohman?, I’m not sure what will happen to THAT STUDIO. But I suspect Rick already grabbed all the good gear and microphones before his resignation.

Glad you liked my post changed again :)

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> kbyrne Wrote:
>
> > I have a wait-and-see approach to what will
> happen
> > next at CLW. For the sake of the people there,
> I
> > hope there's a genuine change.
>
> Me too. However, I'm certain that Gary won't do
> anything meaningful unless he feels he has no
> choice. He lacks any semblance of integrity, so my
> assumption (based on his long history of power
> trips) is that he will first look out for himself,
> and only do what is right if he fears legal
> consequences. I never underestimate his cunning,
> so don't put much weight on the appearance of
> change. Maybe that's why I go by this
> username...to bring attention at how many
> 'changes' took place through the years in TLWF,
> that were in reality only cosmetic. Anyway, this
> recent post on Shalom's FB captures my disgust
> with hoping for good things to happen through bad
> actors:
>
> Justine:
> Will everyone please stop saying they are shocked
> to find out the extent to which Rick abused the
> congregants of TLWF? Everyone knew he was a creep!
> People made jokes about his serial affairs all the
> time. Everyone knew he was only head of TLW
> because he was Marilyn's son. Has anyone even seen
> him open a bible? Now is not the time to feign
> naivety. We ALL participated within a culture that
> enabled abusers like Rick Holbrook and Gary A
> Hargrave.

puddington Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ohman?, I’m not sure what will happen to THAT
> STUDIO. But I suspect Rick already grabbed all
> the good gear and microphones before his
> resignation.

Yes, first things first. I think that was one of the Covey principles.

Well, I have some updates to post. Some good, some bad.

Yes, TLW is taking credit for starting this investigation and uncovering Rick's abuses.

Yes, leadership has stepped down and supposedly APCO is being dissolved.

But the underlying problem is still there, and the people are going to rebuild on "The Word". They still defend it, mainly focused solely on Rick and the coverup. They aren't willing to look at the bigger picture.

Posts on TLW group on FB break my heart. These people are spinning PR moves to help protect the school, defending "the word".

I understand more how deeply ingrained the "brainwashing" of these good people is. It is going to take a flood of information about EVERYTHING to maybe, just maybe, open some eyes. I don't know where to go from here or how to help my spouse through all of this. It saddens me.

The more things change, the more they are staying the same.

THAT STUDIO hasn't been in commercial operation for years, as far as my knowledge (which is 7 year old knowledge). It was used here and there for small freelance projects with various people, but I imagine the reason why it became closed down was it was too much of a risk to have outsiders coming into TLW. I was second engineer under Rick for several years in the early 2000's and it was an EXTREMELY abusive work environment. The worst i've ever been in. (and i work in the film industry now!!) Fortunately I was a teenage boy and wasn't subject to sexual abuse by Rick and unfortunately I never saw anything egregious myself. I'm still unpacking and I think i blocked out a lot of memories so Im trying to get it back.

Unapologetic Apologetic Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, I have some updates to post. Some good, some
> bad.
>
> Yes, TLW is taking credit for starting this
> investigation and uncovering Rick's abuses.
>
> Yes, leadership has stepped down and supposedly
> APCO is being dissolved.
>
> But the underlying problem is still there, and the
> people are going to rebuild on "The Word". They
> still defend it, mainly focused solely on Rick and
> the coverup. They aren't willing to look at the
> bigger picture.
>
> Posts on TLW group on FB break my heart. These
> people are spinning PR moves to help protect the
> school, defending "the word".
>
> I understand more how deeply ingrained the
> "brainwashing" of these good people is. It is
> going to take a flood of information about
> EVERYTHING to maybe, just maybe, open some eyes. I
> don't know where to go from here or how to help my
> spouse through all of this. It saddens me.
>
> The more things change, the more they are staying
> the same.


You mean the very same "Word" that entrapped every single one of us and created the condition for abuse to take place? The "word" that created the false hierarchy? The "Word" that created a cult? John Stevens is the one responsible for Gary and Marilyn and their tyrannical rule. Things went totally crazy once Marilyn announced that Martha must die. How better to get rid of the wife so she can become the queen? It's all so sick. None of what we were taught should be a part of anything going forward no matter how people want to cling to it. It was the vehicle of destruction. It was what Gary plagiarized over and over and over--adding sick variations on the theme. I threw all cds, tapes, this weeks, and books into the trash bin. It would have been illegal to burn them or I would have. So they are rotting in a landfill somewhere--good riddance. I, for one, will not participate in anything that has remnants of that or people who still think it is God's word--it isn't. The bible is according to historical christianity---and it is a complete work. There are no extra advanced revelations. God doesn't give new words. He isn't crazy. Do we really think he would allow a few select humans to have that responsibility? I don't think so.

That doesn't mean there weren't things that were preached that were true and lovely--but it was always laced with mind traps. Not everything in the walk was bad as proven by the people coming forward. Thank God they found reason and courage to say---No more.