An Epilogue 

The following is a record of meetings which were held at Gartmore House, 17-19 November, 1987. Those present at the meetings were: Howard R. Allen, Ricardo T Caballero. Walter J. Cummins, Christopher C. Geer, Donna L. Martindale, L. Craig Martindale, Wolfgang Schneider, John W Townsend, Jr., Donald E. Wierwille, Robert A. Wilkinson.

Following the leaders' meetings for the European Country coordinators which were held in Bonn, West Germany, where my family and I were living, Robert Wilkinson, Wolfgang Schneider and I were together discussing the things of the Ministry. We had reached a point where we no longer knew how to conduct the affairs of the Ministry because it was impossible for us to move forward without knowing what the condition in the United States was going to dictate as far as our actions. As we were meeting on Monday, 9 November, 1987, I received a letter from Rev, Martindale, and on 9 November, in response to his letter, I invited him to sit down and talk. He responded that he would appreciate sitting down to talk and subsequently dates were set for us to be able to meet in Gartmore. He proposed bringing Donna, Walter and Howard in addition to himself.

When things reached this stage I rang Ricardo Caballero in Argentina and told him what was happening and asked him to please come and join us. He obtained the necessary visas, and we worked together on travel arrangements so that he and I would rendezvous in Rome, where I was scheduled to be visiting believers on 13, 14 and 15 November. He and I arrived in Gartmore on the evening of 15 November, which was Sunday night.

When Ricardo talked with Johnny Townsend, who was supposed to have been going to Argentina to visit him, to say that he would be going to Gartmore and would appreciate it if Johnny could wait until another time, Johnny and Don Wierwille both decided to come to Gartmore as well.

Wolfgang Schneider and Padraig and Sis Butterly met Craig and Donna Martindale, Howard Allen, Walter Cummins, Don Wierwille, and Johnny Townsend at the airport in Edinburgh and brought them to Gartmore where they arrived on the afternoon of Monday, 16 November. We greeted them and had gifts ready for them and had the conference facilities well decorated and set out to be a blessing for them.

We began meeting on Tuesday morning, 17 November, at 10:00 a.m. in the Conference Room. At our first meeting I read The Passing of a Patriarch once again in its entirety to them. I had thought that when I went to Rome I would review it, because I wanted to excerpt certain sections of it to be able to read, but I finally decided that rather than do that I would read the whole work to them.

I had prearranged that lunch would be at 1:30 p.m. to allow the Corps time to address all the envelopes for the Corps mailing which went out, as well as to permit us to have enough time for our meeting in the Conference Room that morning. When I finished the reading of The Passing of a Patriarch I stated that I had seen little or no appreciable improvement in the situation since the time that it was written, that it was just as relevant today, if not more so, than when it was written. I said that due to the fact that those of us who were assembled in the room needed to make some very long-overdue decisions, we simply needed to know -- since it was evident that they had not achieved an appreciable change -- were they planning to continue on as they were going or did they anticipate leaving.

I talked about how things were not according to normal protocol, but that Dr. Wierwille had said that his coming to talk with me was not normal protocol either. I admitted that I had failed to get through to them, especially Craig, just like Dr. Wierwille had said that he had.

I explained that the reason that we were publishing looks was because they were a survivable media, and that perhaps in another time God would raise someone up to handle His Word again, and that this was the best way that I could see to go.

I further stated that since the Board of Trustees had not responded nor returned to the Word of God; since the leadership household of the Ministry had not responded nor returned to the Word of God (May 1986); since The Way Corps, when they were exhorted to return to the Word of God, had rather embraced all the earthly devilishness that they had learned at the hands of the world and tried to destroy the Ministry (Corps Week 1986); that when I had addressed the clergy, that it was from that household that the most rampant devilishness yet had arisen (November 1986); and since that was the case, those of us who were responsible for portions of the operation of the Ministry needed to know in what direction we were going to carry ourselves, We simply wanted to know whether they were going to excuse themselves or continue along on the course that they had been going.

I told them that lunch was at 1:30 p.m. and that after lunch we would not have any other meeting scheduled in the afternoon until 7:00 in the evening. I asked Don, Craig and Howard if they would please take time and meet in the afternoon and then if they would please tell us what the results of their discussions were.

It was also at that time that I had the inspiration to ask for Rev. Cummins to come to Germany in order to read Juanita Carey's manuscript on the life of E.W. Bullinger, which was arranged at that point

The tone of the entire meeting was very friendly and cordial and we adjourned to go and eat

We got back together again in the evening at 7:00 and I opened by asking what the decision was that they had made. The first to respond was Craig, who rather heatedly wanted to know what I had meant, was I telling them to resign or what? I said no, I was not telling them to resign, that that was not my place, but that since it was evident that they had not yet made any appreciable change toward improving we needed to know what their intents were.

Rev. Martindale challenged me, thinking that he had been doing much better, and Don and Howard agreed with him. We discussed that for quite some time. I told them that my question was, what direction were they going, so that we could see what direction we should go as a result.

The great issue was, and still is, a return to God and His Word and re-establishing habits of trust in God and His Word.

I told Craig, Don and Howard again that I thought that they were the three best men on the face of the earth to do the jobs that God had called them to, but that they had not faced up to really moving the Word of God yet. I told them that I, in no way, was picking bones with them on any personal matters, but that my concern was over the integrity and accuracy of God's Word.

We talked about how there had been no great resurgence of the love for God and His Word in the Ministry, that their actions were prompted by wanting to appear better and wanting to DO rather than BELIEVE (John 6). We talked at great length about how they had reverted to something which approached a form of legalism, the intent being to do something in order to re-achieve spirituality rather than to believe God's Word to re-achieve spirituality and then subsequently produce the good works. There was a great deal of sharing from the Word. We talked about Jeremiah 7 (sacrifice versus obeying God's Word); Colossians 3 (doing, since we are risen with Christ); Samuel and Saul (rebellion as the sin of witchcraft); God's Word versus the word of man; Acts 15 (Peter knew Paul was right but he did not live up to it); John 8 (first believe then continue in God's Word to be a disciple). We talked about how good works were to be as an appreciation and as a result of what God had wrought for and in us and not to obtain that which He had already done and given to us. We talked about how their attitude still was not lovingly thankful and in the vein of, "We get to do" instead of, "We've got to do".

We talked about how there was not a joyful appreciation for what God has done, for and in us and how this was not any longer a Ministry of deliverance.

We talked about how there had not been a return to the sensitivity of listening to the Word of God, and Dr. Wierwille had said, which we read earlier that day in The Passing of a Patriarch, "When we lose the sensitivity of listening to that Word we will become a denomination."

We also talked about how Craig had not yet risen op to accept the responsibility as President. He was still willing to take the authority but not the responsibility. Whenever there were major portions of that responsibility that fell to him then he would sidestep them and claim that he was not able to handle them. By the time that he had felt himself capable of handling them the points in question were far past the point ot being handled effectively.

It came out that Don was still involved in thinking and acting as he had been previously (as far back as our conversations in 1984), and how Howard had never returned to a position of lovingly respecting the responsibility that Dr. Wierwille had given to him before God. I stated that since none of those men had fulfilled their responsibilities we needed to be aware of whether they were going to remove themselves or whether we should set other courses of direction for those of us who had responsibilities in the Ministry. They very clearly said that they were not going to change their course of direction, although they knew that they were presiding over the dismantling of the Ministry. Although they knew that the Ministry, in the direction that it was then going, would not exist as a spiritually viable entity within five to ten years, if that long, they were very content to continue going in the direction that they were going.

I told them that things had gone wrong from the top down, and that there would he a need for them to get put right at the top. Very few of our people had come to the place of appreciating what God has given us in this day and time, and very few believed that Dr. Wierwille was raised up by God. We talked about how flesh is flesh and how spirit is spirit. It is one of the hardest lessons to learn, but it is one of the most important (example of Miriam and Aaron vs. Moses, disciples vs. Jesus Christ, Paul's contemporaries.)

There was little question by them or anybody there that the Ministry was not really moving the Word, that they had never really responded and re-risen up to their responsibilities to see the Word of God move. At best they had tried to do what was absolutely necessary to appear like they were not wrong, but they had not yet returned to loving God with their whole hearts, souls, minds and strengths and doing anything that they could to try and move God's Word. They readily acknowledged that.

Don Wierwille talked about how the Ministry was becoming like the government and that they were already aware of the need to prepare to sell off the assets and release people from Staff in order to continue to allow themselves to live as they were living. It was clearly evident that they knew what they were doing; it was not being done out of ignorance on their behalf.

At one point I challenged them and asked, "If you continue to walk away from God, what is going to happen?" Craig responded, "God is going to come over here and work with you."

After hearing their response I told them that since that was the direction that they were going to go, then I thought it best if I informed them of the direction that we were going to go. Since there was not going to be a great resurgence of the Word of God in the Ministry, the best value for my life that I could see was if I continued to try and put the works of Dr. Wierwille into written form and to continue to rework the Advanced Class to the end that I could assemble a final copy, like Dr. Wierwille had asked me to do.

Because this was the direction that we felt would be the most productive for all concerned, we were forced into a position of holding The Way Corps programme in abeyance in Gartmore. We were planning to continue it for the coming year of 1988, and then following that year we would hold it in abeyance. (This was also what Argentina had decided independently of our talks and prior to the meetings of 17-19 November. Their plan7 at that time was to close their Way Corps in February of 1988.)

I reminded them that we had never sought to undercut or undermine their abilities to recover or the ability of the Ministry in the United States as a whole to recover.

I also told them that through it all God was the one getting a black eye, not any man. The adversary was trying to trick us into thinking that men were the ones who were getting black eyes, but it was not true.

Following that meeting, it was clear that we did not hold or adhere to the direction that they were going and that they did not want to change. They said that they had done as much as they felt they were going to do, and they did not dispute anything that any of us said in which we indicated that they had returned to good works in order to achieve spirituality, that they had not adhered to the Word of God, that they did not move the Word and that they were not promoting things that moved the Word. They readily acknowledged that the Ministry was terminating as a spiritually viable entity, and they seemed to accept all of those things as acceptable.

Since that was the case, and since we knew that we wanted to continue to attempt to move God's Word to the best of our abilities, I told them that I was going to begin working machinery so that I could come back to Gartmore and that we were going to do anything that we could to facilitate the move of the Word. We would continue work on the Advanced Class, on publishing Dr. Wierwille's works that had not yet been put into book form and would begin to make available tapes on a weekly basis.

In the final analysis we had laid it all out for them and they had said that we were right and in essence that it was fine with them that things under their responsibility were going in the direction that they were and that they fully intended to keep going in that direction. Their reaction to our plans which we had put before them was, "That's fine with us."

At that point, when we saw that there were two different directions and no possibility for true agreement, I suggested that maybe we have popcorn and watch a movie and fellowship, and that is what we did to round off the evening.

The following morning I went and fellowshipped at about 10:00 in the Family Room and we just chatted. Everybody was chatty; everybody was very friendly. We arranged to go and eat Indian food in the evening along with Padraig and Sis Butterly, Nikki Quinn and Cathy Capewell. (Robert and Wolfgang had left prior to the time that we went to eat.)

After we got back from the restaurant, Craig asked if the three of them (meaning Don, Craig and Howard) could talk with me, so we went and sat in the Conference Room. They basically asked would it be possible for us to carry on with the Corps, that they would hate to see us close the Corps and just write books. I pointed out that the Ministry had been set up for International Headquarters (the Root) to supply, and that those of us on the field were to be, in essence, redistribution agents and spiritual leaders, helping God's people in their spiritual walks. We were not set up on the field to be producing centers; we were redistribution points.

The work of the root is to dig out the food and feed the tree. Since they had obviously made the decision that that was not going to be the way that they were going to go, we were going to have to pick up the slack and do it, I told them that due to the declining quality, we were down in our Headquarters Sunday Night tape subscriptions from what was almost 200 not long ago to less than 35 of which over 20 were free. Furthermore, there was no guidance, help, input, etc. for the Corps being supplied.

This was also why we had had to close the WOW programme, because its inception, guidance, structure and impetus had originated from International Headquarters. It was carried out on the field, but with a lot of help, direction giving, assistance and growth from International. When that first ceased, and secondly was replaced by those who did everything in their power to destroy the Ministry, it became a major problem. We had, at one point, pulled it back out of the mud by many long, hard hours of work, but we could not supply the five to eight people and all the other support that would be involved to be the producing centre, since they would not supply what was necessary from International Headquarters.

I told them that the Headquarters Sunday Night tapes were not being subscribed to; people did not want them. Magazine subscriptions were falling. And yet, we have got to supply people's needs, which meant that we would like to start doing Sunday Night tapes from Gartmore. That would mean that I would not be simply teaching a fellowship for the Corps and our believers from the area, but I would be teaching a fellowship for tape distribution. There were no objections raised whatsoever to the idea of recording and distributing taped fellowships.

I told them about Juanita's book and that we were coming along and where we were, which we had mentioned previously, because I had already asked for Walter's assistance and it had been approved. And they said, in essence, "What is happening is you are becoming a producing centre and we are becoming a distribution centre." And, I said: "OK, but you have got all the machinery to be the producing centre, and you have got all the people, and you have got all the experience and all the know-how. We do not have any of that"

They asked about Juanita's book and whether it would be a "library book", and in what form it would be. I assured them that it was a readable book, not a scholar's tome, and that we were working to keep it affordable. But, Juanita lived in St. Marys, Ohio, and they had never even accepted any overtures on her behalf to get involved (except for Walter and a few others who did so on individual bases). They would not publish it. She had to come all the way here to have it published.

I told them I was doing it because it was a project that Dr. Wierwille was very deeply involved in and deeply concerned about, and if somebody did not get involved, then it was not going to come to fruition, and I was trying to tie up loose ends. If I spend the rest of my days tying up loose ends of his life, that is fine. I am happy doing that. I do not need to produce a lot of new stuff; I am very happy rounding out what God called him to do, since they had not done what God called them to do.

And, I told them again that I was planning to come back to Gartmore when I could work it out.

They asked me about whether they should close their Corps or not in the States, and I told them I did not know. I reiterated that we were closing our Corps in order to be able to move positively in the best means possible in light of their decisions not to move God's Word, and that it was not now possible for us to move positively while running a Corps, because we did not have the leadership to be able to fulfill all those responsibilities and that we wanted to move the Word. I told them that all decisions had to be made in light of God and His Word and the move of that Word. And, as they had declared that they were not interested in moving the Word, there was no profitable input that I could provide for them. I reminded them that unless they came back to the Word of God there was nothing.

Craig wanted to know about taking trips to teach and what would that do to Headquarters. I ended up by telling them that their personal presence would be a blessing, but that nothing would really move, at Headquarters or on the field, because they did not want it to.

We talked about translations, and I showed them how simple it would be to work translations. But I also told them that the true responsibility for translations rested primarily at the Trustee level, and restated that they were not willing to commit their lives to God's Word and that they did not want to oversee their areas of responsibility. Therefore, there was no way that they were going to see a return to sanity in translations, so we would have to do it from here or from some other location in the world, if God's people wanted it.

They asked me whether they could have another try. I basically said: "Fellows, you can have as many tries as you want. You would not be doing this if the Corps wanted the Word. You would not be doing this if the leaders wanted the Word or if the clergy wanted the Word of God more than the word of man, because God would have wrought something. But His people did not want Him; they have walked away from Him, so the least we can do is try and serve those who still love Him in some way, shape or form so that those who want to grow spiritually can have it available to them. And, if God should raise somebody up in a future generation, the materials will be available to that person, because it is not going to happen in our generation again unless people change their minds, and the only way that they can change their minds is if we teach the Word in the first place."

That is about where we ended that evening. Later I brought them all copies of A Study of the Book of Jonah.

May I say that there was, among those of us who were present (who are noted below), a deep feeling of shock as well as a feeling of tremendous loss. I believe that there was also a tremendous feeling of commitment to attempt to continue to move God's Word to the best of our abilities. WITNESSED and ATTESTED:

Ricardo T. Caballero

Walter J. Cummings

Christopher C. Geer

Wolfgang Schneider

John W. Townsend, Jr.

Robert A. Wilkinson

click on picture for full sized image of signatures 
at bottom of Epilogue document