One memory that keeps coming back to me is of being in a worship service in CLW, North Hills, colloquially known as "The Valley" church. This was the term meant to disinguish this location from the other two Southern California churches founded by John Robert Stevens, Grace Chapel South Gate and Church of His Holy Presence Anaheim. It was one of those Sunday night services after a long
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Posted by: puddington Date: November 27, 2019 08:25AM Reep, I’m thinking about John on his deathbed. I imagine, in a moment of clarity, he looked around the room and saw only his groupies. People he had created by feeding them fairy tales. And other people that wanted his power. It must have dawned on him that these people didn’t REALLY love him. They just wanted something from him. Or they w
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Great information, Changedagain and Larry Bobo. I've just recently noticed renewed efforts by The Living Word to whitewash the online presence of info about JRS. Therefore, I recommend that when posting about his abuse and cult leader status, we write out his name. John Robert Stevens was a cult leader along with the worst of the worst.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Changedagain wrote: "The kicker came sometime after the painting project was completed, and I had yet to be paid (along with another worker, also a church member). At the end of a weeknight service Gary, from the pulpit, thanked my employer for "donating" his painting services to John. WTF? I talked to the employer after the service and he claimed no arrangement had been made to
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Sometimes I wonder if the info about cults should be taught in school. There are just too many evil people in this world. I'm just now coming to grips with what a horrible, disgusting person JRS was. Some days it still gets to me. Fifteen years after leaving. In the seventies, I was married to his nephew. I had an arranged marriage in 1971 and an arranged divorce in 1978. I was groomed and t
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Reveal wrote in part: "4.Command submission of every decision in people's lives to include dating, marriage, having children, where to live, what job to take, to go to University or not, etc. and if people decide not to submit these things, to at a minimum withdraw affection and ostracize them from their church family, or disparage their character, make a pariah out of them, gossip a
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi Onion, Nice to hear from you. Yes, so much water under the bridge. So many layers of damage. May we all find some closure and peace.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hmmm...along the same lines... What could TLWF do better? Gary should definitely bring more sermons with the theme "It's a new day". You can never get enough of that BS. (GAG) Signed, Susie Submissive (also GAG)
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Changed wrote: Question: Name something you have received by serving Christ in the Flesh Answer: PTSD Ding! Ding! Ding! You win. I think that we all got a hefty dose of that! Once I was filling out one of those 360° evaluations. Lol. At the very end it asked what TLWF could do better. I wrote about not understanding the Christmas truck. Why did we have to do that, it didn'tmake
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Posted by: Richard M. Date: February 21, 2019 But one thing I was sure about was the insidious scheme of creating what was known as the woman group of "intercessors," some five or six?, ostensibly protecting Stevens from "demons." For me, a joke of monumental proportion. While it might be embarrassing to some from revelations of the past, and with the truth confronted in t
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

And one more thing, to Ms. "Monitor" and Mr. Davison, I don't recall ever teaching either of you to treat some people better than others. You didn't learn that from me. Respect leaders, yes. But squash people who deserve to be heard by those leaders? Absolutely not.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Wow! You really do find and repost great observations, Changed. I like Reveal's takeaway from the time my husband received the anonymous letter. It was from someone claiming that it's their "job" to monitor this forum and report activity back to Gary and Kevin. And it was asking him to shut me up and keep me from posting here. Reveal said "If they spent even a fraction of
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

It was during the nineties at a conference that I got busted by the sound booth guys for unauthorized musical accompaniment with a shakere. It was a gourd instrument with a net of beads covering the outside. I had purchased it from a man calling himself Shakere Joe in Echo Park. Great fun!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Changed wrote: "The decision to leave was rooted in sanity--but the toxic culture we all were immersed in made it seem otherwise. It's refreshing to think our own thoughts, rather than the thoughts of those who seek to exploit our lives, and get a 'bad spirit' when they can no longer do so. The line is drawn. :)" Oh, yeah! I like that. This time, we draw the line o
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

JRS had many, many vices and was not a safe person to be around. But, try as I might, I just cannot picture him in a golf cart with guards running along beside. In a van being driven by a bodyguard, drink in hand and surrounded by adoring servants, yes. Golf cart, no. Lol.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Lilith wrote: Yeah, we should explain ourselves. The heads of the cult required very, very, very special treatment. It was annoying in the extreme especially when they were always banging on about the ground being level at the foot of the cross. Not from where we were sitting! Changedagain wrote: True Can't stand the sight of golf carts to this day! Let alone golf carts with secu
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Oh, Changed and Lilith. You guys made me LOL! : } For anyone reading this that doesn't understand the train of thought here, our friends are being facetious about the lifestyle of the TLWF cult leaders. Please see the newest the Living Word Cult video for context:
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Posted by: katnmouse91265 () Date: April 23, 2023 12:53PM I just watched the film by Macie Chadwick about her abuse in Grand Junction Colorado and I started shaking because I was there for awhile. I hope if she is here she will pm me because I often wondered why people were shipped shipped to GJ when they messed up in Shiloh. I need to know if my dad at any time was involved in any of this. H
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Katnmouse91265, I'm so glad that you mentioned the new YouTube video by @thewalkdoc. I hope that everyone will watch. Powerful.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Changed wrote: ANNOUNCEMENT: "O.K.---just letting everyone know there is no more room to post your sins on the crosses. Rick just posted his, and we're going to need to construct a few more. Also, the woman who wrote about making out with her boyfriend while her husband lay dying in another room never signed her name. No confessions without signatures!" What a spectacular id
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

changedagain Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- "Reep wrote: Then, he signed the apology letter: 'In Christ's Blood'" Did this mean that 'God in the Sky' forgave him for his role in covering up the abuse that went on for decades, much of it involving his wife's son, and then directed him to a "higher calling?"
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

On second thought, I will post a link to Gary Hargrave's "apology letter", but it also has a response from former TLWF member Caleb LaPlante. Here it is:
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Please excuse. I was still working on this post when I unknowingly clicked post. Oops! As I was saying, on October 25th, 2018, Shalom publically posted several letters that she had sent over the course of a few years to Gary & Marilyn Hargrave, asking for help. These had gone unanswered and ignored. She was blamed and harassed by underling shepherds for sexual molestation done to her. Gary
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Shalom posted her letters to shepherds of The Living Word Fellowship (which had gone unanswered and largely ignored) in a public Facebook post on October 25th of 2018. By November 1st of the same year, Gary Hargrave had posted an apology letter on the internet. This, after years of privately responding to these crimes by saying things like "eventually abuse happens in all churches".
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Here is the latest video interview from The Living Word Cult on YouTube: . These videos all aid in recognizing the disjointed havoc that many of us experienced for so many years. They also give insight into the differences in experience of the various generations. Thank you, Scott Barker! Two thumbs up!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Changed wrote: Someone 'gossiping:' "Hey, I heard Rick has been screwing around again, and there will probably be a 'special service' warning us not to gossip. When the hell are they going to do something about him, and leave us out of it?" #BanSpecialServices Aren't the shepherds and apostolic ministries told to protect the sheep from the wolves? Or ar
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Good posts from cultfree during the months leading up to Shalom's letters heard 'round the world. I remember when, about ten years prior, there was a lot of fur flying regarding Rick's impending third divorce and soon, his fourth marriage. It was getting to be beyond ridiculous in a very unfunny way. Everyone was called to a special service. Apostolic company members were lined up
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

This latest video brought up so many strong feelings for me. Charity's candor and composure are powerful. She mentioned being young and being groomed by leaders. Being sexualized by them. How confusing it was. How you become confused and think that something is wrong with you. I've definitely felt those same feelings as a teen and a young woman in The Walk back in the sixties and sevent
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Correction: Shalom's Letters: I Can't Be Silent Anymore.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Must see...Episode 2 of TLW Documentary. Shalom's Letters: I Can No Longer Be Silent.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families