WINGS Note: This article on resistance to change was written by a long-serving WINGS admin. and originally published at https://mindmuser.wordpress.com/2024/10/06/why-the-fw-fellowship-struggles-to-change-for-the-good/
This article is of primary interest to current and former members of the church known as “The Truth”, “2×2’s, “The Fellowship” etc. There are various names because there is no official adoption of a name.
Readers who are familiar with this group will also be aware of the cataclysmic events of 2023. It started in March with the revelation that a senior, highly respected top leader was found (post mortem) to have engaged in a sordid secret life of sexual activity, some of it allegedly criminal. This rocked everyone who heard it, and led to a chain reaction of survivors of child sexual abuse and other abuses bravely stepping up to reveal a systemic problem of widespread abuse. As reports kept coming in, mostly to a newly formed group called Advocates for the Truth (AFTT) https://www.advocatesforthetruth.com/ headed up by ex members, one of whom is a professional investigator. The numbers of alleged perpetrators are staggering, considering the relatively small number base across the world (well under 100,000 today and shrinking quickly over the last 1 1/2 years). It is estimated that the rate of offenses in this group is significantly higher than other established church groups, and somewhere around 3-4X the rate of the Roman Catholic Church. There are many reasons why abuse is worse in this group but that is another large subject.
As an early board member in 2009 of a group called WINGS for Truth https://wingsfortruth.info/ which advocates for child protection standards as well as working to support survivors, educate, and raise awareness, I wasn’t shocked at these events and revelations. We already knew that this was a huge systemic problem and as a group, we put in countless hours to raise awareness and offer solutions. While I wasn’t shocked, I did register some surprise that the problem is somewhat bigger than what I expected.
Reports resulted in the fall of many leaders, some at the top of regions, others were senior well known leaders both in the ministry group and in the congregant group. Almost all alleged criminals and abusers were men, but there were a small number of women. Many of them were connected at the senior level, enough to raise suspicion that there was an active conspiracy to advance child sexual abuse (CSA), sexual abuse (SA) and other abuses. While it is doubtful that there was a formal sex ring but what is almost certain is that there was(is) a lot of “I won’t tell on you if you don’t tell on me”. Secrecy and cover-up is embedded in the culture of this group and this is normal practice everywhere at all levels. I won’t explain how I see the way this culture developed as it is out of the scope of this article, and it is a subject with a lot of detail. Needless to say, transparency and accountability is foreign to this group and strongly resisted.
Then, the media picked up on this. A couple of smaller media outlets produced articles. Then the BBC (UK) published a well written article on it with a case study and the credibility of the issue soared. Major stories by the CBC (Canada) came out and was on The National, their national TV broadcast. ABC (US) did a piece on it. There have been many other publications by the media in North America, New Zealand and Australia with more to come.
All of this resulted in the establishment of a US-wide FBI investigation with a call to receive reports. https://forms.fbi.gov/2×2 The FBI is taking reports from around the world and will share with their partners in other countries.
In 2023, we observed a wide variety of responses from the upper leadership. It was a spectrum from trying to evade the subject completely, to perfunctory response, to minimal effort to reform, to some very good work headed up by two top leaders in the US. The latter two were supported by professionals in developing child safety guidelines and some excellent work was the result. It was our hope that these two regions would lead the way to enacting child safety practices, from which other regions would follow. By December 2023, it was all rejected by the leadership everywhere in North America. The leadership then took a defensive posture of even more opaqueness than ever, presumably waiting for the storm to blow over and things could get back to the way they were. Somehow, in spite of all the light shone on this, the forces of darkness prevailed. How can that be?
The reasons why all the revelations and efforts to reform changed nothing and became even more regressive is related to two things: one is the patriarchal structure of the group, and the other is certain unique doctrines that are deeply held by most members.
Here is the organizational structure:
The Ministry:
Male overseer, male minister, female minister
The Laity:
Male elder, male deacon, male member, female member
Sexual abuse practices and crimes are vastly dominated by males, so such a deeply patriarchal system is inherently conducive to the perpetuation of these crimes. After I touch on the doctrinal issues, I will circle back to this structure and explain how the resistance to change actually works.
The main doctrinal item that is not only the root cause of many problems in this group but also the main factor in resistance to change is the “exclusivity doctrine”. That is, only people who meet and become approved by this ministry group are saved and will go to heaven. Most readers will recognize that a doctrine like this is a huge tool for potential abuse on members, but I want to explain how it is also a barrier to change. Among the most fervent believers in this group, mostly the ministry group and a large minority of the laity, will do almost anything to protect the delusion that they are the only saved people in the world and that the group must be protected at all costs. When this becomes the main priority of the core of the group, then virtues such as compassion, justice, truth, humility and others become at best secondary, and often discarded to protect the system and structure. Any change threatens the core belief so it is deeply resisted.
One other belief that causes resistance to reform is that this group started out in 1897 as a very loose, “spirit led” group with little organization and little interest in money. It is a fascinating history best recorded by the meticulous owner of this website: https://www.tellingthetruth.info/home/ “No organization, no money” became a deeply held tenet, and a matter of righteous pride. In spite of the fact that the group became more and more organized and more money oriented, the core believers today still adhere strongly that “we are not an organization like all the ‘false’ churches”. Any document, no matter how sound or professionally produced, is anathema to this core group as it smacks of organization to them and makes them too much like the “false” churches. It attacks their core beliefs.
Now back to the organization. The ministry and the laity have a sort of symbiotic relationship. The ministry approves the laity for admission to the fellowship and effectively, heaven. The laity in turn provides the accommodations and money for the ministry to do its activities. When the progressive members seeking child safety guidelines were rejected, it wasn’t a matter of the sole rejection by the ministry leadership. There is a significant hardcore of members and elders who rejected the efforts to keep children safe. Evidence suggests that they applied enormous pressure on the ministry group to reject reform. These members are the ones who, even if all the progressive members left, would keep the ministry in operation. So rejection became an existential matter for the ministry. Hence the rejection of changes that would help keep children safe.
The end result of this is that no changes are visible as far off into the future that we can project. The conditions for a high probability of abuse remain firmly in place, perhaps even worse than before.
My main hope now is that our efforts to educate and raise awareness will inform parents to be very vigilant and alert to grooming practices that so often lead to catastrophic abuses that destroy vulnerable children. Parents, please be informed and teach your children.
Bruce Murdoch
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The term “progressive” is broad, and may not be construed the same way in all countries. Are there more descriptive terms that could more completely define progressive, as used in this message?
Golly Junior – progressive the opposite of regressive. You think Bruce is on some campaign trail of popularity?
😂 Tis the season. Ideology has many tentacles.
I agree Junior. Ideology has many tenacles. And I think now many suction cups on each tentacle.
I have found if I pry up a wee little bit on a tiny edge of each suction cup, then voila!….the vacuum is voided. Pry, pry again….I keep telling myself. And try to not get slapped on the other side of my head with a suction cup from another tentacle.
If anyone wants to learn the difference between arms and tentacles of invertebrates, invertebrates being those animals that are cold blooded with no backbone, this is an interesting article I just read this morning during my meditation. https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2023/06/23/is-there-a-difference-between-arms-and-tentacles/
Golly. The day I cease to learn is the day I die…or conversely maybe the day I would, heaven forbid, join another organized religion and be told they will tell me everything I need to know. “Here, let us slap this tenetcle on you” they say. The forehead seems to be the flattest and most exposed place. I come from a lineage where the forehead extends a long ways back. I did not get that gene though. Hooray that I can tell people that having at least one, or two, of my father’s genes was a good thing.
OH; Mark, WHAT a mouthful said in such few words! AND those cold-blooded invertebrates are an amazing part of the food CHAIN for those with BACK BONE. YES, that means cold-blooded invertebrates are destroyed; no recognizable left-overs. BUT they as an element, of God’s creation, continue to procreate in abundance! AS do those with a SO-CALLED “spine” and no brain!
Don’t join another religion! That word is used very negatively in God’s Word. Just try to read and understand God’s very recorded Word as written; yes, by men who were guided by the very “Spirit of Christ” which was in them(1 Peter 1:11 or 2 Peter 1:21 as were moved by the Holy Spirit).
Make a time line for yourself, which will clarify how God so very wanted a people for himself, who He had created in His very own “image”. ((Include what God asked of each person; and note how that changed as man failed to do what God asked)) Just that Word ‘image’ has a much larger meaning in Hebrew that we need to understand to know God’s purpose in creating Humans. AND God still wants THAT; it is our responsibility to fully understand that purpose which is beyond our ability “BUT GOD” has recorded a full, complete enfolding for each of us.
THAT is our responsibility to learn and to know exactly what has been written by God, the Holy Spirit for us now; after the very Government of the Nation of Israel turned from our ‘triune God’ and God set His promises to and for them aside for awhile UNTIL….. Read slowly and carefully Romans 11: and why God blinded Israel; and to whom God turned (Ephesians 2:11-:13)during your meditations, today. OH, each word is so important. Keep-up your meditations and understanding.
Very interesting info on arms, tentacles and combinations thereof on some sea life. I was thinking of tentacles in a somewhat different context. More like “feelers”.
Some kinds of tentacles have both sensory and manipulatory functions.
as in this context
Like an aggressive carcinoma, realizability stretches out its tentacles to ever more remote fields: linear logic, complexity theory and rewrite theory have already been infected.
From the Cambridge English Corpus (https://www.cambridge.org/gb/cambridgeenglish/better-learning-insights/corpus)
Like an aggressive carcinoma, realizability stretches out its tentacles to ever more remote fields: linear logic, complexity theory and rewrite theory have already been infected.
(https://www.cambridge.org/gb/cambridgeenglish/better-learning-insights/corpus)
🙂 Gotcha! I think. Now that is something I can get my arms around. I can buy into that carcinogen. I smoke Pall Mall. Never thought to ask what others are smoking. Fight fire with fire as the old saying goes…or should I say…fight sensory and manipulatory functions with sensory and manipulatory functions as the new saying might go.
😂👍
True, it could be interpreted in various ways. It is meant to indicate the spectrum of regressive, status quo and progressive. Or, going backward, staying the same, and moving forward.
Open minded, forward thinking, aware. Not “heads stuck in the sand” type of people
I agree with you and I believe that as long as this remains a patriarchal organization, then the men will continue to abuse and exploit women and children. But do you think that this can ever change when patriarchy is baked-into the bible?
Thank you very much, Mr Murdoch, for this clear-eyed essay. I’m still continuing to hope and press for meaningful improvements in our group’s culture, but we need to face reality, too, as you’ve described.
@buckarooski, you make a good point, but an honest and informed reading of the Bible shows a lot less baked-in patriarchy than some people like to believe. None of Jesus’ recorded words or actions put women and children in a lower place than men, or put anyone “in authority” over anyone else. The hierarchy that we’ve allowed to develop in our fellowship, described in the essay above, is made and maintained by humans, and we’ve all witnessed the ugly and un-Christian fruit of it.
One very readable and easily available (for English speakers) book on this topic is “The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth” by Beth Allison Barr, a lifelong Christian (and wife of a Baptist pastor, and a professor of history at Baylor University in Texas. The central point of the book is: “Patriarchy may be a part of Christian history, but that doesn’t make it Christian. It just shows us [its] historical (and very human) roots …”
Excellent question buckarooski…..I think we should have all paid more attention to the children’s book ….the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker…………..
It depends a lot on how far on the fundamentalist scale a group resides. The more fundamental, more bible literalists they are….. those groups tend to have a lot more problems with abuse as they adopt a patriarchal model which leads to the exploitation of women.
More forward thinking groups tend to view the bible in a cultural context and less of a law book. Bible scholar Dr. Marcus Borg for instance easily overcomes those issues through the lens of cultural context, and deals with a lot of the hard-to-believe stories by framing them as allegories and metaphors.
Biblical literalists? Are you saying that those of us that believe the Bible is God’s Holy Word are more likely to exploit women?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
I left the 2×2 cult last year, but the Word of God is more real than ever as revealed to me by the Holy Spirit. Once people stop taking the Word of God literally, it becomes a book of old stories that people put little stock in and they pick the ones that fit the narrative they want to believe. I have seen too many people that have left the 2x2s now questioning God and trying to make God who they want him to be to fit into today’s liberal culture of living life without a desire to serve a loving and HOLY God.
Matthew 22: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
“Biblical literalists? Are you saying that those of us that believe the Bible is God’s Holy Word are more likely to exploit women?”
Let me be perfectly clear: yes! This is proven by data. And let me say your wording is right: “more likely”. That doesn’t mean you will exploit women, but the data says it is true. Sorry, not an attack on you, just the facts of the probabilities.
The core issue with 2x2s and other “religous” cults is there is little evidence of the Holy Spirit transforming lives and bringing forth fruit. Much of this stems from not acknowledging the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You are generalizing that all people that are bible literalists (believing the Bible is the Word of God) are on track to either exploit women or be in a group that exploits women. I would suggest trying out some healthy churches that believe the Bible is literal and see if you can discern the Holy Spirit transforming the lives of believers. I pray you and other 2x2s and ex 2x2s can be open to God revealing the fellowship he has in store for everyone of us.
It’s a spectrum of literalism to liberalism and a higher “probability” to offend and exploit the more literal they are. I don’t know how you could interpret what I said any other way. To further clarify the probability aspect. If a liberal interpretation group has a 3% rate of offense, a fundamentalist group may have a 5% rate of offense. Those numbers are for illustration only. If you want to delve into it, there are studies available that establish those tendencies of women exploitation and child sexual abuse. The literalists who are almost all in agreement with the male hierarchy and authority, are mostly benevolent and don’t consider themselves exploiters, although that is subject interpretation.
The doctrine of trinity isn’t going to make any of it the better or worse. There has been a huge movement away from church groups over the last few decades and you can be sure it is tied into the lack of the very efficacy that you promote, not the abundance of it. Attrition rates for most churches run at around 10-15% annually. If they were actually healthy, they would be expanding by that amount.
Or the attrition rates could also be due to people not wanting to believe and follow the Word. A healthy Bible based church doesn’t condone abortion, homosexuality, gender issues, infidelity, porn, and other sin and many people don’t want to hear about what the Word of God says about sin.
@SG, no need to debate the details of your list here, but another thing that might drive attrition is that it’s a response to some churches’ focus on judging and policing people’s personal circumstances and behavior. (I’m not talking about criminal behavior like sexual abuse, but personal issues like you mention above.) It’s exhausting, soulless, and un-Christian.
Bible-based churches say they seek to follow the scripture. Jesus, who is the whole purpose and fulfillment of what’s written in the Bible, gave us the greatest commandments, recorded in Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-31. Why not use our little time here on earth to focus on asking for God’s help to apply these to our own lives and spirits – a lifelong process – rather than arrogantly bludgeoning others with our subjective understanding of Bible literalism?
@SG – I believe in the triune God you speak of. Not that I know what the word triune means. But I certainly can parse the word together and figure it out. So how does the triune God, or any of those individuals put together in the aggregate or individually, have a blessèd chance of getting a word in edgewise if you stack the bible on top of them?
some of the “baked in patriarchy” occurred as a result of when in history the bible was originally translated. Some of it is a translation issue and some due to culture of the time.
Are we talking patriarchal like in Hebrews 13 ¶ Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever? Or is it Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you? Or perhaps it’s 22 ¶ And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.? I personally like the words of Peter because it is more like what I have experienced. 1 ¶ Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: I like the emphasis on the words he uses like us.
I suggest starting with God the Father and Christ the Son. Then follow the evidence.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
It is truly fascinating how this has all played out. I never would have expected such a complete failure to address this problem a few years ago. Also fascinating how so many are OK with this and will continue hosting workers (some of whom are essentially strangers), attending conventions, and otherwise participating.
Who would’ve thought that “God’s people” and the “true ministry” would respond in this way? Despite the terrible deeds and events that got us here, I’ll be forever grateful I was given a look behind the curtain at the inner workings of this group. Hopefully, any future “recruits” are able to find the info they need to keep themselves and their families safe.
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for writing the best piece of analysis on the CSA crisis in the fellowship that I’ve read in a long time.
It took a while for me to process your comment about members and elders applying enormous pressure on the workers to reject reform. But then I recalled this Wings post: https://wingsfortruth.info/2023/11/23/australian-overseer-pressured-to-drop-zero-tolerance-policy/. I also began to think about many Gen Z friends I know who are refusing to engage on the subject. Gen Z, who supposedly value direct communication and authenticity.
So it’s a combination of pressure from older friends to reject reform and indifference from the younger generation that is playing out.
Good analysis. This is a primarily a human failure problem, not a doctrinal problem.
More to come. I will write more when time permits.
To North America – your analysis of GenZ ….I wish GenZ would read it. Because ole dad there is losing weight and needs to keep putting more holes in his belt and what is the meaning of his tears and concern before them anyways? He has been a bit of a renegade and seemed like he didn’t care about much either – what seems to be his concern anyway? You likely don’t need to ask why I am concerned about GenZ.
I have been trying to weigh the balance of GenZ seeing something I don’t and that they are just somehow able to sluff off this matter as just normal business affair. I wonder if they have not really needed to be very brave in this brave new world. On the other hand, I think they cannot grasp the significance of what is going on. Going to meeting to them may just be somewhere to go and be with their friends and talk about good stuff for only an hour out of their day. Belonging to some social group is better to them then not belonging to one. Social groups are what they cut their teeth on. And a certain tough skin in a certain sense had to be cultured in these social groups for them to survive. How deep can a tough skin go?
So using your one word to describe my many, that I am sure an essay could be written on – the word ‘indifference’. Maybe GenZ has never been walked (another word for taught) the significance of that word. To all you Gen Z’ers out there in this church and elsewhere – I know I am generalizing. But sometimes through history, everyone got a tongue lashing at times in big unexpected events, even though a few in the number already got a vision of the score and had been writing songs that were never shared…because no one dared. If only GenZ would spend some more time in the History Channel…or pick up a history book. The here and now has a sneaky way about it.
Thank You, Bruce, for a very discouraging report from the very depths of disappointment and many, many unthankable deep, deep disparaging efforts and hours. AND, yet, you are unable to only caution for protection of our dear little ones. We realize, as you do THAT the grooming process IS very effective and blinding — even to those who are wanting and needed to protect their little ones. We are very, very sorrow; this is the result of ALL and EVERYONES deep, deep efforts to change and protect, without destroying the very cult, itself. We weep as we extend our hand and heart to each of you. Thank You!
Yes, the irresponsibility is deeply disappointing. As I wrote to our regional overseer about 10 days ago, “no safety action plan means no safety.” Of course the response was silence.
You are right about how devious the grooming process is. If I were to advise parents about it, I would suggest that they make a list of all the people they trust the most…….their child’s abuser, if there is one, will be one of them.
Excellently written and true!
Hi Mark,
Good observation about Gen Z and their social groups.
For young friends who live in areas with lots of other young (professing) people, professing is like belonging to a country club with a unique set of rules. Follow those rules without question and you will have a full social calendar every weekend. Start asking uncomfortable questions and you will just ruin the vibe.
Comparing current statistics versus the Catholics is a very narrow view. The broader perspective is that the Catholic church has committed innumerable crimes against humanity for many centuries. Christianity has always struggled to change for good and to do good. That is because the novel and fundamental message that Jesus preached was the threat of eternal indescribable torture levied against each and every human soul. Any lesser atrocity can be justified if it “saves” or even offers a slight possibility of “saving” a soul from the unending agony in hell that the father in the sky is sure to inflict. Whether preserving a predator brother worker to reach the “lost” or torturing a confession out of a “witch”, the Bible offers the perfect validation and always will. This kind of evil foundation cannot be repaired. It is inherent to the gospel of Christianity. Those with humanist instincts and distressed consciences are reduced to these very marginal changes that you mention. Picking a “non-exclusive” church, it must be elating to suddenly perceive that 2 billion other Christians, including your friends and neighbors, might not all be brutalized with molten sulfur and endless suffering. But you are really just starting the same spiritual crisis over in a larger box. God is still furiously angry and stoking the fire to torture two billion Muslims, about a billion Hindus and a smorgasbord of others. Eventually, if you are lucky enough to travel or live in a diverse area, you will develop connections and have to acknowledge their humanity. Overall, it is far better to use this crisis to examine the character and behavior of God and evaluate whether he is worthy of worship instead of trying to patch together something that feels comfortable but perpetuates our obviously flawed past beliefs.
good writing Panon.
I personally ran out of patches. Or should I say I ran out of garment to patch. There was really no garment left for me after being patched and repatched for about 1800 to 2024 years plus/minus. About 59.2 to 66.6 months in prophet speak. Plus/minus. I might be rounding the decimal a little much for some people’s comfort. I don’t care if no one buys it – because sucks to be them; I am not selling anything. Would you buy anything from that old of a man?
Maybe the clever sowers in the various and sundry forms of governance at this time can now figure out how to keep the hidden seems of the girdle together under pressure coming from some where – the ones that always seamed goodeth. I am a bit afrayed the supply chain is being taxed too heavily on the thread of the matter at this time. Amazing though what man has been able to push through the eye of the needle…or shoot through it as some may say out loud.
@Panon, I suspect that you didn’t need this crisis to develop your beliefs of God. Sounds like if you had lived in Jesus days, you would have run from him as fast as you could and been proud of it.
Can anyone tell me why this ministry is so very seriously exclusive meanwhile being so seriously inclusive at the same time?
Just thought I would ask. Just curious. I mean, there are some poisons that will neutralize each other; but got a hunch these two elements grow into something else in the lidded petri dish.