Gretchen’s Story – Readers’ Comments
Comments from Readers December 2004, Bob Franzese, an AK from Omaha: “I would like to commend Gretchen W. on herContinue Reading
Author: Editor
Margaret Irons and her husband Steve and three children were in the Fullerton Geftakys Assembly for twenty years. We left in March, 1990. We are still recovering and learning in Orange County, CA.
Gretchen’s Story – Conclusion
We now know the Assembly is a cult Wellspring Retreat has characterized it as a T.A.C.O. — a Totalist AberrantContinue Reading
Gretchen’s Story – Part 9
Dispensing of Existence The group’s totalist environment emphasizes that the members are part of an elite or special group. OutsidersContinue Reading
Gretchen’s Story – Part 8
Doctrine Over Person As members rewrite their own personal history or ignore it, they are simultaneously taught to interpret realityContinue Reading
Gretchen’s Story – Part 7
Loading the Language The group’s language serves the purpose of constructing their thinking and shutting down critical thinking abilities. “Groupspeak”Continue Reading
Gretchen’s Story – Part 6
Sacred Science The teachings of the group are viewed as the ultimate, unquestionable truth. The leader of the group isContinue Reading
Gretchen’s Story – Part 5
Confession Past and present behavior, and undesirable feelings are to be confessed. However, the information gained about you can beContinue Reading
Gretchen’s Story – Part 4
Demand for Purity Unreasonable rules and unreachable standards are imposed upon the members. The critical, shaming essence of the cultContinue Reading
Gretchen’s Story – Part 3
Mystical Manipulation Definition: The group attributes supernatural influences where none are present: attributing an accident to a member who leftContinue Reading
The Cult of the Narcissist
A narcissistic leader shapes the character of the group….
Gretchen’s Story – Part 2
Nancy would spend hours with me on the phone, teaching me the “right way to think”.
Gretchen’s Story – Part 1
My name is Gretchen W. This is my story. It was originally posted in 2005 on the High-Demand Church site.
George Geftakys has died…
George Geftakys slipped into a coma on August 11, 2014, and died at 6:15 p.m. He was buried in a privateContinue Reading
My Theological House
Sandy Blank went through the big doctrinal changes in the Worldwide Church of God, became thoroughly disillusioned, and walked out.Continue Reading
God’s love letter….
Here is the message of God’s love in paraphrased words from scripture in a six minute video. Be blessed! OrContinue Reading
“What is God’s Will?….”
“How can I know what God wants me to do?” Ask this question, and often the answer you’ll get is,Continue Reading
Childhood conversion….
In all the discussion about child-rearing methods, one aspect that hasn’t received much attention is how the issue relates toContinue Reading
Does discipline really produce godly character…?
I was talking with someone who visited the Assembly once in 1992 with her husband and children. Once, mind you.Continue Reading
“The Happy Room”
Just finished reading The Happy Room by Catherine Palmer, a fictionalized account of growing up as a missionary kid inContinue Reading
“Spiritual power”….
A Christian cult uses the term “spiritual power” to motivate people to have daily devotions, and manipulate them into wanting to become “power centers of divine authority” over others in the hierarchical system.
