Alright guys. To my knowledge, none of you guys have ever heard of this group. They're called Word Of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) and they are a 'church' located in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. I use the term 'church' lightly as I was in and out of actual churches my whole life growing up. Everyone who lives in this town has heard of WOFF, and for good reason.
Now. For those of you that know nothing about Rutherfordton, it's a small, down home southern town. Exactly the sort of town that you would find in movies or a slice of life RP. Everyone knows everyone, southern hospitality runs deep, and we take high school football way to fucking seriously. But on the flipside, there's nothing to do here unless you want to climb a tree. There's churches and fast food places on just about every corner. We have a population of about five thousand people. The hospital is shitty, which is why most of us drive to Morganton, Shelby, or Asheville if we have the chance. Anyway - back to the cult.
So over the years, I have always heard whispers about WOFF. That they had their own little community, their own school, etc. To the best of my knowledge, all the rumors are true. I say this due to things that I have seen, witnessed and heard. Apparently there is a different part of this church located in Brazil, and they are said to follow the same practices. I don't know how true that is though, simply because I've never been to Brazil.
Let me go on to say that once you join this 'church' - you don't leave. They take your car, they make you quit your job, and if you have a family they separate the husbands, wives, and children all in separate houses. Husband and wives are allowed supervised visitation if they have 'behaved.' The parents can also earn supervised visitation with the kids and vice versa. It's been said that the most devoted members live in houses together. Men in one house, women in the other. They do have their own school, and the vast majority of children are forced to go to said school.
Anyone who has tried to leave has had suspicious things happen around their homes. Animals turn up dead. Cars vandalized. Houses vandalized. Suddenly they are fired from their jobs. Even murder. They take your car and they sell it. You are appointed a job, told what car to buy, and have to have whatever house you decide to buy be pre-approved. Just about anything you do here has to be approved before you do it. To some people, it's a good trade. Even though they make you get rid of all of your ties to the rest of the community, you get a well paying job, a decent car, and a decent house. All you have to do is obey all the 'rules.'
Now I know what you're thinking - 'why hasn't anything been done to stop them. sounds a little wack.' Multiple times the town has tried to stop them. But like I said - vandalism, murder, etc. No one really wants to go against these people. You know how people say that sometimes there's an elephant in the room? These people are the elephant of the whole fucking town. They're something everyone knows about, but dares not to speak about. Most of the higher up positions in this county are held by WOFF members. Policemen, judges, lawyers, doctors, nurses, car salesmen. They donate to schools, the court house, and other places so that they will have power. It's been said that they own about half the county. There was a sheriff named Dan Good. We here in Rutherfordton call him Damn No-Good. Punny, I know. We call him that because he literally did nothing as Sheriff. When the new Sheriff was elected, there were boxes and boxes full of reports filled against WOFF for abuse, rape, murder and kidnapping charges. As it turns out, he was a deacon in the WOFF 'church'.
For the next bit, I'll be talking about their abuse allegations. You can find all of this here. I'll be copying and pasting most of it to this thread, however.
I don't know much about this section as all of this was going on before or right when I was born. What I can tell you though is that the 'blasting' is friggin weird. Blasting is where they tie you to the prayer chair, scream prayers at you and most times, beat the ever living crap out of you. There are some videos on the internet of said blasting. One of these videos is the investigation video done by Inside Edition back in '95. There are some other videos, but none of them really show the screaming and yelling like this one does. That's because Jane Whaley - the leader - has since cracked down on cameras, pictures, etc inside the church because more and more allegations keep rising. The blasting still goes on. If you drive down to the church, people say you can hear the screaming from outside 'clear as a bell.' I've never been down by the church, but I've heard multiple phone recordings of some of my friends who had been in high school.
Again, the 2013 allegations is something I can't really speak that much about, as it happened when I was fairly young. I do remember their being a lot of talk about it, and the thing everyone seemed to agree on was that Mr. Lowry went back to WOFF because he couldn't find a job outside of the church, and the few places that he had chosen to live had been vandalized.
Something that I can shed some light on is the Mathew Fenner Case. I remember that it was all anyone wanted to talk about anywhere you went at the time - especially people who were my age at the time. Our whole lives we had heard our parents talk about this place, but we were finally getting to learn about it for ourselves.
Mr. Fenners grandfather was found with a GSW to the chest. The authorities ruled it as a suicide.
I don't think it was a suicide. You'll never convince me that it was. Why? Because the only gun they found was not registered to Mr. Rape. There was no gunshot residue on either of his hands. Anyone who knew Mr. Rape would tell you that he didn't even own a gun. There's also a lot of other shit that this 'church' has done, but if I was to list it, we would be here all day. One thing that I do know, however, was that there used to be a homeless shelter called Sisters In Christ. They helped people with diabetes, aids, recovering drug addicts, etc. It seemed to be a good thing for the community.
There was a young man who came from Word of Faith to Sisters In Christ for help. He needed food and shelter. Sisters in Christ was glad to help. I'm not sure of the exact time line, but a couple weeks later, Sisters in Christ announced that they were closing their doors. It's been shut down ever since, and no one knows what happened to the young gentleman who was seeking asylum.
I'm going to leave you guys with a list of Word Of Faith's 'Do's' and 'Don't's'. These are the rules for the 'church.'
These additional rules were also reported buy a local news station. Link.
If you have any questions, drop a comment in the thread and I'll do my best to answer it. If you're really curious, you can even try to do your own research. Hope y'all enjoyed this crazy shit.
Now. For those of you that know nothing about Rutherfordton, it's a small, down home southern town. Exactly the sort of town that you would find in movies or a slice of life RP. Everyone knows everyone, southern hospitality runs deep, and we take high school football way to fucking seriously. But on the flipside, there's nothing to do here unless you want to climb a tree. There's churches and fast food places on just about every corner. We have a population of about five thousand people. The hospital is shitty, which is why most of us drive to Morganton, Shelby, or Asheville if we have the chance. Anyway - back to the cult.
So over the years, I have always heard whispers about WOFF. That they had their own little community, their own school, etc. To the best of my knowledge, all the rumors are true. I say this due to things that I have seen, witnessed and heard. Apparently there is a different part of this church located in Brazil, and they are said to follow the same practices. I don't know how true that is though, simply because I've never been to Brazil.
Let me go on to say that once you join this 'church' - you don't leave. They take your car, they make you quit your job, and if you have a family they separate the husbands, wives, and children all in separate houses. Husband and wives are allowed supervised visitation if they have 'behaved.' The parents can also earn supervised visitation with the kids and vice versa. It's been said that the most devoted members live in houses together. Men in one house, women in the other. They do have their own school, and the vast majority of children are forced to go to said school.
Anyone who has tried to leave has had suspicious things happen around their homes. Animals turn up dead. Cars vandalized. Houses vandalized. Suddenly they are fired from their jobs. Even murder. They take your car and they sell it. You are appointed a job, told what car to buy, and have to have whatever house you decide to buy be pre-approved. Just about anything you do here has to be approved before you do it. To some people, it's a good trade. Even though they make you get rid of all of your ties to the rest of the community, you get a well paying job, a decent car, and a decent house. All you have to do is obey all the 'rules.'
Now I know what you're thinking - 'why hasn't anything been done to stop them. sounds a little wack.' Multiple times the town has tried to stop them. But like I said - vandalism, murder, etc. No one really wants to go against these people. You know how people say that sometimes there's an elephant in the room? These people are the elephant of the whole fucking town. They're something everyone knows about, but dares not to speak about. Most of the higher up positions in this county are held by WOFF members. Policemen, judges, lawyers, doctors, nurses, car salesmen. They donate to schools, the court house, and other places so that they will have power. It's been said that they own about half the county. There was a sheriff named Dan Good. We here in Rutherfordton call him Damn No-Good. Punny, I know. We call him that because he literally did nothing as Sheriff. When the new Sheriff was elected, there were boxes and boxes full of reports filled against WOFF for abuse, rape, murder and kidnapping charges. As it turns out, he was a deacon in the WOFF 'church'.
For the next bit, I'll be talking about their abuse allegations. You can find all of this here. I'll be copying and pasting most of it to this thread, however.
In 1995, Jane and Sam Whaley denied allegations made by several former members on the TV program Inside Edition. One former student said he had been beaten multiple times by church members to remove a "destructive spirit". Other former members described sitting in a "prayer chair" as former members walked around them shouting prayers.[11]
The church was investigated by the SBI in the 1990s for child abuse after more than forty former members told the Forest City Daily Courier and other news outlets what they believed had happened there. No charges resulted. In 2000, a woman testifying in a child custody case said her one-year-old son was subjected to "blasting", or standing in a circle and loudly praying, sometimes for hours, in order to drive out demons. She also said her son was beaten enough to cause bruises. Jane Whaley, asked about discipline at her church, said God wanted children to be beaten if that was necessary.[12] Whaley cited Acts 2:2 to justify disciplinary practices, members said.[13]
Jane Whaley was convicted of misdemeanor assault in 2004 as a result of an incident two years earlier where former member Lacy Wien described "blasting" by a group of members, followed by the assault by Whaley. Wien was suing the church for $2.5 million in a separate case.[14] After five years of appeals, the conviction was overturned.[2]
I don't know much about this section as all of this was going on before or right when I was born. What I can tell you though is that the 'blasting' is friggin weird. Blasting is where they tie you to the prayer chair, scream prayers at you and most times, beat the ever living crap out of you. There are some videos on the internet of said blasting. One of these videos is the investigation video done by Inside Edition back in '95. There are some other videos, but none of them really show the screaming and yelling like this one does. That's because Jane Whaley - the leader - has since cracked down on cameras, pictures, etc inside the church because more and more allegations keep rising. The blasting still goes on. If you drive down to the church, people say you can hear the screaming from outside 'clear as a bell.' I've never been down by the church, but I've heard multiple phone recordings of some of my friends who had been in high school.
Another former member, Michael Lowry, claimed to have been beaten and held prisoner in 2011 to drive out gay demons.[15] Lowry testified before a grand jury but in 2013 he rejoined the church, recanting his allegations. Lowry later left the church again and has said he stands by his earlier statements.[5] However, one gay couple who attended the church after hearing what happened to Lowry said, "They didn't judge us; they didn't ostracize us. It was truly a wonderful experience."[2]
Former member Jamey Anderson said he joined the church at age 4. Many former members described his treatment as some of the harshest anyone suffered. Anderson said he was frequently sent to a storage area called the green room, and one former member said he was "brutally paddled" after incidents where other children told on him for the most minor offenses in school. Anderson said when his grandfather died he was not allowed to attend the funeral and left out of the obituary. He also said he was forced to work, and that in 2002, he and four other boys were punished by being put in a room by themselves to watch Whaley on video during school, and restricted to his home outside of school. He said after leaving the church, family members who remained members cut off contact. Whaley's attorney denied the allegations and said other members supported Whaley.[13] Anderson's mother and grandmother have stated Jamey was not abused but "they have always deeply loved Jamey" even though he is "spreading lies to paint a horrible picture about his loving family."[16]
Again, the 2013 allegations is something I can't really speak that much about, as it happened when I was fairly young. I do remember their being a lot of talk about it, and the thing everyone seemed to agree on was that Mr. Lowry went back to WOFF because he couldn't find a job outside of the church, and the few places that he had chosen to live had been vandalized.
An Associated Press investigation included interviews with 43 former members, who told stories of physical abuse resulting in injuries which were not treated, families being separated, and males being held prisoner in a former storage building for as long as a year. Former members described being afraid to leave the church or even oppose Whaley for fear of public reprimand or worse. Children at the church's school were beaten for minor offenses, former members said, even by the other children. The investigation also included numerous documents, and recordings of Whaley made without her knowledge. Whaley denied abuse took place and defended certain practices as being protected by the First Amendment. She refused to be interviewed for the AP investigation, instead accusing former members of lying.[17]
Something that I can shed some light on is the Mathew Fenner Case. I remember that it was all anyone wanted to talk about anywhere you went at the time - especially people who were my age at the time. Our whole lives we had heard our parents talk about this place, but we were finally getting to learn about it for ourselves.
In 2017, Matthew Fenner testified that, after he and his family joined the church in 2010, he witnessed members being shouted at for hours to remove demons. In January 2013, Fenner,[3] was allegedly beaten for two hours "to break me free of the homosexual 'demons'", he said in a police affidavit.[18] He said he escaped to the home of his grandparents, who reported the incident to law enforcement. Fenner tried and failed to get law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to pursue the case. Because Fenner persevered, five church members were indicted in December 2014 and charged with kidnapping and assault.[3] Fenner and his girlfriend at the time of the alleged incident, Danielle Cordes testified in the trial. Observers have noted that there are “important differences in Fenner’s and Cordes’s recollections and telling of key events.”[19]
In May 2017, Brooke Covington, with whom Fenner lived before his escape, became the first Word of Faith member to go on trial. Because the jury foreman shared documents that were not supposed to be made public, Superior Court Judge Gary Gavenus declared a mistrial and a new trial was scheduled for September 11, 2017.[3] As of October 2017, Covington's trial had not taken place but it would still be in Rutherford County. Four other related cases were moved to Buncombe County. Robert Walker was scheduled to appear in court in October but his case and those of Sarah Anderson, Adam Bartley, and Justin Covington were moved to January 2018.[20]
A month later on June 19, 2017, Matthew Fenner's grandfather Robert Marvin Rape was found dead in his yard from a gun shot wound to the chest. With the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's assistance, District Attorney Ted Bell determined the death was a suicide.[21]
Mr. Fenners grandfather was found with a GSW to the chest. The authorities ruled it as a suicide.
I don't think it was a suicide. You'll never convince me that it was. Why? Because the only gun they found was not registered to Mr. Rape. There was no gunshot residue on either of his hands. Anyone who knew Mr. Rape would tell you that he didn't even own a gun. There's also a lot of other shit that this 'church' has done, but if I was to list it, we would be here all day. One thing that I do know, however, was that there used to be a homeless shelter called Sisters In Christ. They helped people with diabetes, aids, recovering drug addicts, etc. It seemed to be a good thing for the community.
There was a young man who came from Word of Faith to Sisters In Christ for help. He needed food and shelter. Sisters in Christ was glad to help. I'm not sure of the exact time line, but a couple weeks later, Sisters in Christ announced that they were closing their doors. It's been shut down ever since, and no one knows what happened to the young gentleman who was seeking asylum.
I'm going to leave you guys with a list of Word Of Faith's 'Do's' and 'Don't's'. These are the rules for the 'church.'
These additional rules were also reported buy a local news station. Link.
If you have any questions, drop a comment in the thread and I'll do my best to answer it. If you're really curious, you can even try to do your own research. Hope y'all enjoyed this crazy shit.
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