The Rest of the Story About "Word of Faith Fellowship" in Spindale, NC
By Steve Berman Published on March 3, 2017 • 2 Comments
https://stream.org/rest-story-news-m...h-spindale-nc/
The secular press is limited and unreliable in how it covers fringe groups with some of Christianity's trappings but little of its substance. Worse, the press often uses such fringe groups to tarnish Christians more broadly. That's why it's important to tell the whole story behind an Associated Press investigation of a congregation in a small North Carolina town, Word of Faith Fellowship....
...What Word of Faith Fellowship Is, and Isn't
Pastors Sam and Jane Whaley founded the church in 1979, before joining Kenneth Hagin's Rhema Ministries. I spoke with former member John Huddle, author of Locked in: My Imprisoned Years in a Destructive Cult, whom the AP interviewed twice. Huddle was a member of Word of Faith Fellowship from 2002 to 2008.
He said the Whaleys were "disfellowshipped" by Oklahoma-based Rhema in 1984 or 85 for some of their more controversial doctrines and practices. That's when they moved back to Spindale and restarted Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF).
Many of the original couples who moved from Tulsa are still in leadership. Pastors Gerald and Linda Southerland were familiar with the Whaleys from Hagin's ministry. In their Greenville, S.C., church, as they took up some of the Whaleys' "blasting" practices of shouting and casting out demons, their congregation dwindled.
WOFF has a detailed faith statement and describes itself as a "Protestant, Non-Denominational church," though it isn't part of organized denomination. The Whaleys have no ordination or licensing from any religious authority that Huddle is aware of. The church calls itself "Word of Faith" but it would be misleading to place it within that brand of Charismatic Christianity generally associated with the prosperity gospel.
In any case, we are known by our fruits, and the fruits of this group are far from the fruits of the Holy Spirit. AP writer Mitch Weiss called Word of Faith Fellowship a "sect." A more powerful word would be "cult."
A History of Controversy and Extreme Control
Word of Faith Fellowship and Jane Whaley have been under public scrutiny before. In 1995, the television show Inside Edition profiled the group — hosted by a much younger Bill O'Reilly — and laudably distinguished the group from mainstream Christianity. The video is still available on YouTube....
...The Story We Need to Tell
While Word of Faith Fellowship controls its members using its outward appearance as a church for camouflage, we must remember that the genuine Gospel, and the power of God, is fully able to redeem and rescue those inside dangerous and damaging groups. Leaving the group almost always causes a severe crisis of faith — an examination of everything the survivor believes. Only a genuine faith in God, and real, compassionate encounters with the Gospel, can rebuild that broken spirit....