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A Very Dubious Policy


Pete
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In 1998-99, Robert Wilkinson as a Director of the Way in Great Britain Ltd (or as it was named then "Christian Counselling and Resources Ltd") made a loan of £100,000 pounds to "an associated charity in America" - name undisclosed. I wonder what this charity was? Funny that later on, when Robert relocated to the USA, he was welcomed with open arms by Vince Finnegan.

I also notice that in 1997-1998, Robert decided to pay himself a director's renumeration of £50,000.00 on top of expenses, and a salary to his wife Barbara of £22,000. Strange that the same year, the organisation had an income of just under £26,000 (excluding bank and building society interest). That seems like a strange way to run a business to me! I wonder if all the people who "abundantly shared" that year were aware of this?

I'd be interested to know if the loan was made to Vince Finnegan's organisation, if not, to whom. Was anyone else aware of these seemingly dubious financial transactions. Unfortunately Robert now apears to have "gone to ground", although I notice that Robert junior has his own facebook page.

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Huh, I liked Robert but thought Geer had stamped all over him. So RW set up this new clone, did he? Surprises me a bit, it's a rather un-Brit-like thing to do. But then .. shouldn't be surprised by anything the higher-ups did or still do.

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Huh, I liked Robert but thought Geer had stamped all over him. So RW set up this new clone, did he? Surprises me a bit, it's a rather un-Brit-like thing to do. But then .. shouldn't be surprised by anything the higher-ups did or still do.

Hi Twinky

It may be that Robert "bought in" to Vince's organisation by giving them the loan. I don't think Robert set up his own charity in the US. I think that the other charity that he "bought into" may have been VFs.

Excathedra

Yes, I think that Richard is Robert's son and lives in NY (not literally "Robert" junior as I stated before). He is the one that has the Facebook account. He looks the image of Robert. Seems like they looked after themselves OK, doesn't it?

Does anyone know the full story?

I remember Robert saying that CG had tried to impose changes to the WIGB (Way in GB) that would have caused the charities commission in the UK to close them down. He didn't elaborate what these changes were.

Meanwhile CG retaliated by suggesting that the devil was influencing what Robert and the WIGB were doing.

So CG branched off on his own and sliced off the majority of the income by taking others with him, including the majority of the European WC.

Then it looks like Robert did his own bail out and absconded to the US.

Both CG and RW are very astute individuals. They are both mentally sharp and you'd need to be on your toes with them. As to whether they are as talented when it comes to spiritual matters, who knows. However, if you want to credit them with being gifted individuals according to the senses, I wouldn't deny this.

An interesting story comes to mind that was recounted to me by one of the WC.

When CG was travelling in the UK he left his car parked up and was approached by a dubious character who offered to "look after" his car for a financial consideration. CG proposed an alternative deal: if he came back and found anything wrong with his car, he would break both the guys' legs. How's that for a deal. So you see, you have to be on your toes if you get involved. They didn't get where they are today (financially) by being "nice" to everyone.

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  • 4 months later...

Hi Twinky

It may be that Robert "bought in" to Vince's organisation by giving them the loan. I don't think Robert set up his own charity in the US. I think that the other charity that he "bought into" may have been VFs.

Excathedra

Yes, I think that Richard is Robert's son and lives in NY (not literally "Robert" junior as I stated before). He is the one that has the Facebook account. He looks the image of Robert. Seems like they looked after themselves OK, doesn't it?

Does anyone know the full story?

I remember Robert saying that CG had tried to impose changes to the WIGB (Way in GB) that would have caused the charities commission in the UK to close them down. He didn't elaborate what these changes were.

Meanwhile CG retaliated by suggesting that the devil was influencing what Robert and the WIGB were doing.

So CG branched off on his own and sliced off the majority of the income by taking others with him, including the majority of the European WC.

Then it looks like Robert did his own bail out and absconded to the US.

Both CG and RW are very astute individuals. They are both mentally sharp and you'd need to be on your toes with them. As to whether they are as talented when it comes to spiritual matters, who knows. However, if you want to credit them with being gifted individuals according to the senses, I wouldn't deny this.

An interesting story comes to mind that was recounted to me by one of the WC.

When CG was travelling in the UK he left his car parked up and was approached by a dubious character who offered to "look after" his car for a financial consideration. CG proposed an alternative deal: if he came back and found anything wrong with his car, he would break both the guys' legs. How's that for a deal. So you see, you have to be on your toes if you get involved. They didn't get where they are today (financially) by being "nice" to everyone.

Where is that exactly? Carrying his own pee bag around on a hose?

Living like a ho' off other's dollars?

The thing about people who are really mean though is that being mean will bring a person to boil and to do things others wouldn't - faster and more forcefully. Where one person might try to defend themselves a mean vindictive hateful person will just cut you and leave you to bleed out, without blinking. That's Geer.

But hey, watch he doesn't slosh his urine on you, yeah.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 6 years later...

Robert Wilkinson or the Reverend Robert Wilkinson as he was known then was based in the Macclesfield/Manchester area of the UK.  He was a very highly intelligent person who was good with words.  During the early 1980's he was driving a Ford Granada Coupe which at the time was a very expensive car.  Wilkinson was head of The Way International UK.  This organisation taught a class which was named Power For Abundant Living.  This class was a series of taped lectures which were presented by The Way's founder.  The groups members were encouraged to take this class, and were guaranteed many benefits which would be bestowed upon them.  Not all of the members who took the class saw it through to the end, the class cost £50.00 to take and was a lot of money in those days, and there were follow on classes which would also cost money.  Member of this group were not allowed to question the doctrines, if they did they were told that hey were being influenced by the devil.  The way's members were very manipulative, they would love-bomb their new recruits with kindness and affection, and if any of them were not able to take the class they were told that they were not allowed to have any  more contact with them,  so they would be cold shouldered and rejected. 

The way the organisation changed  manipulated and twisted the Biblical scriptures was very clever,  in fact so clever the groups members could convincingly prove that black was white.

It could take volumes to explain more things about this group, and there are many former members who give testimonies.

 

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7 hours ago, Pagan Warrior. said:

It could take volumes to explain more things about this group, and there are many former members who give testimonies.

Pagan Warrior - that is EXACTLY what we do here..  As no doubt you've read.

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Like all sects and cults The Way International as it was known then were always preoccupied with money.  As far as their P.F.A.L class was concerned what the members never revealed was that they had to get a minimum of class takers for their personal furtherance, and that was to join what was called the Way Corps which was based in the States.

The sad thing was that certain of the members were vulnerable and were bereft of any free thinking or minds of their own, in other words they were totally brainwashed with twisted Bible scriptures.  The Way members were so manipulative that they would convince their followers that if they wanted to leave the organisation they were being influenced by the devil.

The truth is that this organisation was devoid of all reality, and the members would believe their own doctrines which were way  off the path.

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Hello, PW.   I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Um, I meant, that if you hadn't read other people's posts here, that reading them now would be a nice surprise since we've broken down a lot of faulty twi practices, faulty twi doctrines, and so on.    We don't mind you posting here, but please read around as well.

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1 hour ago, Pagan Warrior. said:

 

 

[Ok, Pagan Warrior's experience seems to have been in the UK, which means his accounts are going to be from there. ]

"Like all sects and cults The Way International as it was known then were always preoccupied with money.  As far as their P.F.A.L class was concerned what the members never revealed was that they had to get a minimum of class takers for their personal furtherance, and that was to join what was called the Way Corps which was based in the States."

[Perhaps that's what happened in the UK.  In the US, vpw was preoccupied with money, but the way corps were not, as a whole.   While it was true that they always wanted the most people possible for a pfal class, in the US at least, it wasn't because they were getting "a taste of the gate" (keeping some of the enrollment fee).   In the beginning, before the tapes were widely distributed, small groups got an audio class and flip-charts, and large groups got the film class. 

Another issue was number of people committing to show up versus number of people who show up versus number of people who finished.  Like everywhere else, the number of commitments never matched the number of attendees.  I once did something completely unrelated, and 30 people said they'd DEFINITELY be there. Including myself, 10 people showed up. I got one last-minute cancellation, and one after-the-fact apology, and the rest said nothing.  So, yes, people can be unreliable.   On top of that was people who decided not to take pfal at the last minute, or stop taking it.  When I took it in the US, 8 people were "committed", as in, paid for it.  7 of us showed up to Session 1.  3 of us showed up to Session 12- myself, a coordinator's kid, and a different coordinator's wife.   But, in the US at least, I don't think people were trying to get bigger classes for personal gain.  Everyone I saw seemed to genuinely think the students would benefit from "the class" and volunteered homes, time, and so on with that in mind.  I've seen people give new Bibles to new students who didn't have one, or offer to pay the entire class fee just so someone they barely knew could take it.

But it would not surprise me if other countries' programs didn't have people who had to jump through more hoops and didn't have more to prove to twi's HQ.]//b]

 

"The sad thing was that certain of the members were vulnerable and were bereft of any free thinking or minds of their own, in other words they were totally brainwashed with twisted Bible scriptures.  The Way members were so manipulative that they would convince their followers that if they wanted to leave the organisation they were being influenced by the devil."

 

[Yes, official twi doctrine was that people who CONSIDERED leaving were under demonic influence, even though it wasn't written down anywhere.  It was widespread enough that it was common knowledge, and sprang from something vpw said in pfal class, where Eve's first error in the Garden was to listen, and her second error was to consider.  So, listening to things contrary to twi doctrine was considered equivalent, likewise considering contrary to twi doctrine....since vpw was pushing that pfal and twi doctrine were essentially given from God like the Bible.]

 

"The truth is that this organisation was devoid of all reality, and the members would believe their own doctrines which were way  off the path."

 

[Certainly, the higher in twi you got, the less it reflected reality, and a lot of people really believed what they were taught and/or were teaching.]

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1 hour ago, WordWolf said:

Hello, PW.   I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Um, I meant, that if you hadn't read other people's posts here, that reading them now would be a nice surprise since we've broken down a lot of faulty twi practices, faulty twi doctrines, and so on.    We don't mind you posting here, but please read around as well.

WordWolf basically I would like to say that my comments are those of an observer to record things and events as they were, not to be one-sided or vindictive.  I will be reading the contributions of others.

The Way International G.B. had a hugely American influence, and in the late 1970's early 1980's had a very large following in the U.K.  The Way International was never going to be accepted by the accepted circle of christian denominations, and there were many reasons for this.  All churches have a collection policy but they would never ever emotionally blackmail anyone to hand over money.  The truth is in any religion you do not have to pay to receive spiritual salvation, and you are free to come and go without any pressure.  Other churches and religious gatherings do not encourage their followers to alienate themselves from society.

The observations which I have recorded here hardly scraped the surface.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Pagan Warrior. said:

 

 

 

 

 

Pagan Warrior:

"WordWolf basically I would like to say that my comments are those of an observer to record things and events as they were, not to be one-sided or vindictive.  I will be reading the contributions of others."

[Cool.  We welcome people posting what they observed, in case it didn't sound like that's what I was thinking.  There's hundreds and hundreds of pages about twi, its doctrines, its practices, etc.]

PW:

"The Way International G.B. had a hugely American influence, and in the late 1970's early 1980's had a very large following in the U.K."

A "very large following in the UK" is news to me, but I wasn't there in the late 70s nor early 80s, so I wouldn't know.  The hugely American influence was because vpw was narcissistic and wanted everything HIS way, and that was impressed on the corps wherever they went.  So, it got inflicted on the UK that way.]

 

PW:

"  The Way International was never going to be accepted by the accepted circle of christian denominations, and there were many reasons for this."

[Now, THERE'S an understatement, if anything is.  ;) Being run by a plagiarizing rapist could have been one of the reasons, but there were so many reasons to choose from! ]

 

PW:

" All churches have a collection policy but they would never ever emotionally blackmail anyone to hand over money.  The truth is in any religion you do not have to pay to receive spiritual salvation, and you are free to come and go without any pressure.  Other churches and religious gatherings do not encourage their followers to alienate themselves from society."

 

[Few of us would consider religious organizations perfect, but we tend to agree they at least TRY to get there.  twi, on the other hand, was founded and run by a guy who wanted everyone's money, and to have them as slave labor and sex toys whenever it suited him.   Oh, and to massage his ego.  All of that suggests a different approach than most churches- which have goals very different from that.]

 

PW:

"The observations which I have recorded here hardly scraped the surface."

 

[They would hardly scratch the surface among what's been exposed here, too.  However, this is certainly the right place to shine a light on their dark deeds, and you're welcome to do so.

Enjoy your stay.  Have some tea if the coffee here isn't to your liking. :)   ]

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WordWolf, first of all I must thank you for the way you thoroughly read and analyse my comments, and this I may say makes it all worthwhile.

I have read some of your other comments and found them interesting and I will be giving you future feedback.  My observations of the Way International were some years back, but what really interested me were the actions of Robert Wilkinson.  Although I myself am not a religious person, I do feel that at the back of my mind that there may be a time when we could be accountable for our actions, and my personal on spiritual matters is that you speak to and treat others the same way in which you want be spoken to and treated yourself.

If I evaluate or categorize The Way International I see them as a typical deep south Bible Belt community who say and teach things which suit them, and after a while they become so indoctrinated with their misguided beliefs they are trapped into not knowing anything different.

At the end of the day it's all about free will, and when an ism or organisation like The Way International tries to take that away from an individual, then the alarm bells should start ringing.

 

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