I have only been contacted by family members via Facebook. Not only did these individuals raise their children in these dubious beliefs, but now they are raising their grand children with the same dogma.I guess it's the "gift that keeps giving." But you never know when your path will cross with another person of the community..talk about awkward. I'm sitting in the audience watching my son being inducted into the Honor Society of a major University when at the end of the event a voice from behind me says my name. I turn around and there is one of the Biancos...needless to say it was rather awkward..I mean what do you say after 30 years??...except that her father Jerry, was quite good to me and I often think of him as I do of Pastor Don. Another kind, good man. To me there were and are 2 groups of people involved with Shoresh..the good ones like Don,Jerry and I'm sure the list goes on, who were and are essentially good people who wanted to believe so badly that they were "special" to the point of a psychosis..delusional thinking..and then there were and are the power hungry, controlling ones no matter where they end up they will always be subjecting others to their emotional, mental and if the opportunity arises physical abuse. I think there will always be a scar that all of us will be living with for the rest of our days here on the planet. Thanks to all of you who share on this forum...it has been a cathartic experience reading and writing about the whole community, "Abensur" family experience.

I'm also a former family member, ex-hickmanite... geez, what do we call ourselves? oh, I know... people. normal people!
I left after 'sunday bloody sunday'. in my years in the community I was privy to a great many things. I had friends who were elders, warriors, princes, and some, were even part of the original 'inner circle'. I hung out at jack's house in massapequa, in small groups and sometimes just jack and I (and fawn). YET, I never saw! never had a hint. not till 'SBS'. oh sure, there was the gossip about jack and L.R., we all laughed it off. old news,"bs spread by old lutherans", "don't be ridiculous!" BUT, passing of the seed, beatings by elders, financial indiscretions... not a clue.
but then after leaving, we started to question everything. which IS something jack told us to do! i still can't figure out jack's mindset. was he crazy, a sociopath? he had it all, but he kept making up new stuff. of course he had a 'power trip', but when would he stop? i guess only w/ his death. the 'newer' stuff i've read about on this forum... fish people, aliens? a tsunami seems less of a fairy tale. he was a smart, charming guy, but geez jack, if you were homosexual, be homosexual. but teenage boys... that's molestation. using your authority like that is abusive. f-cking w/ our minds is one thing, but geez!
I wonder if gary coons has come up w/ new stuff, or are jack's teachings the new gospel.?

Yea, I too hung out at Hickman's alot. I always felt on the "outs" but my close friends were, sort of takin' under the wing(s) of Hickman and LR. They were invited over to Hickman's for dinner, up to Maine and other personal things that in the beginning I and and they were baffled as to why Hickman and LR had such an interest in them. I was always, left out, unless I either asked to go somewhere with them, or at times LR would turn to me and say, "Come along too." In fact I am almost positive I was "finally adopted" by mistake. Jack or "Abbs" announces at the end of a service in EM that a final adoption ceremony would take place like the next Sunday, and if you were on the "list" you'd be informed. So I'm helping break down all that stuff from the services in the EM gym, when my elder at the time casually walks up to me and says, "Oh yea, next week bring some juice, you know for the adoption." I'm stunned, everything I've lived for was going to happen. So, I walked up to my close friend who was already "finally adopted" and tell him what just happened.
He said in a condescending way, "Well, Abba will tell you if you're being finally adopted, but it sounds like you're gonna be.".So I wait several days to be told by "The Abbs" lol, and nothing. So I finally get the nerve to call my elder and directly ask him....he was very nice to me and said, "You mean Abba never spoke to you??" I tell him no, but you told me to come to the adoption ceremony. So he says,"I thought you were on my list? Let me find out and call you back." Talk about leaving you hangin' and I remember how I hung on every phone call I got over the next day or so (this was before cell phones too)...twisting in the wind I think they call it..Finally, the elder calls me and says, "Oh, yes Abba overlooked speaking with you, so come." What the hell is that?? Anyway, I went to the back field behind the EM building on that fateful day and ended up with some magic pixie dust (lol just kidding of course but you get my point) being sprinkled on me with the hug from Abba that sealed the deal. AND now my friend(s) who were in the "family" tell me, Ok, now you ready to hear the secrets of the Abensur family.....TBC I guess.

surfer54 - TBC?

I'm guessing TBC = To Be Continued.

TBC= To be continued.....

Writing this kind of stuff really jars the memory, you know. I've often thought, maybe we should have a reunion of sorts, like a HS re-union you know...of people who went on with their lives, sort of where is she/he now?Probably blow a lot of minds....here's a funny story. Spent the Sabbath over with Pastor Don and company during the 1978 World Series with the Yankees, when Bob G rigged something up (Put his hat near the On/Off switch of the TV) and prompted one of his kids to grab the hat off the TV..well the kid tried a few times, when wallah!!! she hits the On/Off button and the TV goes on!!! Just around the time the World Series was being broadcast...we laughed liked crazy, but watched the game just the same. No one else I think could have gotten away with something like that, but you have to say it was ingenious.
We even said the sacred blessing for watching the World series...Lol....that's just one of the more comical stories and then there are the darker ones...like when some elders would show up at one of the "special" people's houses to enforce one of Abba's edicts.....and then we wouldn't see that individual for some time months at a time.......
I used to wonder how Lou R felt when the Big Guy chose Gary C as his successor..I remember feeling for Lou, because Hickman really started treating him like a second class citizen....One thing for sure and I have no recent personal knowledge of this but Gary is no Jack Hickman when it comes to the charisma dept...who was it who said, "I knew Jack Kennedy Senator, and you're no Jack Kennedy."..Oh yea, Lloyd Benson to Dan Quayle during a VP debate....
Has anyone ever heard Gary speak?? Smuggle a tape out maybe??? Where and who has all that money????All the properties the cult owned, had to have added up to millions....anyone care to speculate?? or in the words of "Deep Throat"...follow the money. Boy you really want to send a current community member in a "tizzy" just bring up the money!!

I just found this forum a couple days ago. I read through all of it. I was born into this group, one of the "youth". I don't have a lot to say. Well, I do, but where do I start? What a fucked up mess. I guess I'm here trying to find others I can relate to. Some of what I've read on here sounds pretty far fetched. I have to say there's nothing militant or overtly aggressive about this group. Just a bunch of fat elitists who believe they're being righteous by hiding from the world. The stuff about rapes and beatings, while not new to me, is something I've heard about but never had any details on.

Can anyone add to &/or expound upon the current teachings, practices, prophecies, etc beyond that which has already been mentioned?

to -By Myself, - judging by your name, i assume you are out; or perhaps you just don't "drink the koolaid" anymore, but are still hanging around. when you say 'youth' in the community, that's a large span of ages. JH would tell us, we would always be 'the youth'; to be a grown-up meant you've stopped growing. so, at this point, anyone under 65 qualifies as 'youth'. you said : "Some of what I've read on here sounds pretty far fetched. I have to say there's nothing militant or overtly aggressive about this group." - not militant or overtly aggressive?; i suppose you could have said that about david koresh and his cult. maybe you weren't taught some of the things we were, eg: survival, military tactics, how to shoot an M16, or why you need a 6 inch blade on your knife. i don't know how much has changed, MAYBE they don't have a 'stockpile' in maine anymore; but not everyone knew about that either!
you are so correct when you say 'fucked up mess'. i'm just saying no story is too far fetched. i only know of 2 beatings, 30 yrs ago. but that's 2 too many.
you stated- " I don't have a lot to say. Well, I do, but where do I start?"- start here! this is a forum to 'air out' our shit, ask questions, and maybe help others. i'm glad you found the forum, welcome!