skyrider

Thanks djs. Just curious.........weren't Br@d & Chr1st1ne Th0rpe the Dayton branch coordinators a few years back..... before they resigned, bought a house, and started rebuilding their lives?? Perhaps.....they helped to expose the insanity of twi's no-debt, no-mortgage issue.....and took lots of people with them?? Note: When removed from twi payroll.....and realism kicks in, and the family bills mount up..... and lawsuits are settled out of court and brushed aside...... one is awakened to the gut-wrenching awareness that twi has a very dark side.

Answering with a question........why am I not surprised.

Wouldn't surprise me abit. I've run into ex-wayers like that..........bought into the religious droning of pfal and NEVER met vpw in person or attended events on twi property. And, the old green & black bumper stickers of "The Way" are a fixation to their car......and they've catalogued the sunday teaching tapes in meticulous fashion. They hole up in some deserted town in the middle of nowhere.......and think that they're "preserving the word" for the next generation. It's a zombie fanaticism and existence. And yes................the kids are infected with the same disease.

Just take DFAL.........lol :)

ROFLMAO.............thanx "the gripe of the day".........another THE category.

Yeah......."...twi driving away really good, decent, long-standing believers over the 'issues of the day.'" The mog's present spewth became a twisted, wrangled road to insanity. This insanity and micromanaging still prevails in twi.

Another.....Good On most occasions, I really like bless patrol. Not because I thought we were walking the grounds, keeping the devil spirits out and townies from vandalizing emporia campus......but because of the one-on-one time with other corps. Heck, it was a four-hour shift.....of peace and quiet. Besides, I could always "believe" to be assigned the shift with a good-looking girl. :) Another.....Bad Those late night fire drills......and red alerts.......and "emergency meetings." Another.....Ugly Seeing the corps coordinators and their hypocrisy. They'd dip in and out of meetings and expected us corps to sit 14 hours a day........teaching after teaching after teaching.

(((Belle)))) Brilliant post. Absolutely brilliant.

Linda. Yeah....the diversity at the rome city campus must have been awesome. The depth of experiences and exposure would sure bring alot to the table. Did lots of those in-rez corps teach or share in those morning/afternoon teachings to support themes or a main teaching series? And, the rome city location offered lots of diversity as well. Apple orchards, chicken/meat slaughtering area (??? whatever it was called), moat area, children's fellowship area, lots of acreage, other buildings, nearby lakes, etc. So many avenues of exposure and enjoyment. Imo, the emporia campus was so limited, so restrictive. Engulfed in a city environment and surrounded by the "townies"......and Iowa Beef company stench.......made for a confining situation. So many work schedules were filled with "busy work".........weeding flower beds, sweeping walks, dusting bannisters, forever chair stringing, and in-house generated food services duties (etc.) So very true. Twi's caste system of hierarchy and competitiveness gave rise to the initial stages of growth in the 70s and early 80s.........but in the end, it seems to be one of their major crumblingstones. Members in particular in the Body of Christ..??...with each joint supplying..?? Hardly.

So now......"snowstorm" doesn't mean an actual snowstorm....??? :unsure: For a man who spent his whole life searching for hand-in-glove scriptural accuracy, wierwille doesn't understand the basics of common language..?? Wowsers.....wierwille apologists to the bitter end.

Remember those Branch Household responsibilities? Didn't they rotate every couple of months, or so? It seemed like just about the time that we got the work organized and down pat, it was time to rotate. At Emporia, we had branch responsibilities like: ...1) Dining Room Setup................not my favorite, stringing chairs and all ...2) Top Floor Wierwille Setup.......more stringing chairs and loads of meetings, the worst ...3) Chapel Setup........................pews, I liked this one ...4) Kenyon.................................don't remember having this one ...5) Plurality Palace......................was never good in the clothing dept. ...6) Lost and Found......................nice and simple ...7) Snack Shop...........................popped lots of popcorn ...8) Ushering??.............................or was that included in the setup part? Besides our 4 hour work schedules [with work coordinators, assistants & group coordinators].......these branch duties had another set of coordinators over us. Uuuuuugh. And, most of the time it wasn't any big deal, unless you got the white-glove fanatic who wanted millimeter precision. Ooooh, the memories of being in-rez.

Thanks Linda.......the family corps sure had its own set of unique challenges and routine. With kids in tow, and homework and bedtime schedules.....amazing you guys kept up the pace. All of those comparisons of regular corps is more committed.....or visa versa......just stupid, carnal, mind games. Why the competitive judgements, anyways?? Who really cared? Sometimes, I thought it was an ego thing among campus coordinators, or something like that? You mentioned three topics that were very controversial in the corps experience: ....1) Christian Communications ---- upfront and personal.......public critiqued ....2) Lightbearers ---- I enjoyed my experiences, but not returning to campus :) ....3) L.E.A.D. ------ the testing ground of whether one graduated or not..!!

Hey Jonny.......appreciate you sharing some of your heart and thoughts about your brother, Miles. Kinda tough with the memories flooding back on this St. Paddy's Day, and all. Nothing quite like the loss of a special brother. Take care, my friend.

Welcome kierkegaard. Good post. Interesting, for sure. :)

rascal, I do remember hearing something to that effect......but I didn't hear it from the lips of wierwille. That red dawn mentality sure gained alot of steam for about 3-4 years there....with many gung-ho, military-type men. Some with survival skills longsuits became instant experts and helped with some afternoon fill-in-time teachings. Like so many things in twi, more hype than substance. Guess I was just out of the loop on this conspiracy theory stuff. I went along for the ride, but never really believed it was on the verge of happening.

The reverse is possible........when the trustees walked away in darkness. Things like.....legalism, mog-adulation, sex exploitation, abortions, advocating divorce, unaccountability, boundaries are crossed, etc. My mindset was to DO THE WORD and stand alongside twi.......but God vividly showed me that it was time to leave that outfit.

rhino.....as best I remember, that meeting was in May of 1986. Cgeer made a big deal that one year after vp's death people had ALREADY begun to neglect the memory of "the man of god." One thing that I remember hearing..........no one had put any flowers on vp's grave on the first anniversary of his buriel. POP....The Passing of a Patriarch was read to the clergy at this time.

Maybe the world was caving in during my inresidence years........and doktor wierwille was called to wake us from our deep spiritual slumber????? But........ Communist takeovers? Mal-paks.....more abundant living (in isolated areas) to keep "the word" alive? Food storage, grains, nutrition, a water supply, good boots???? None Dare Call It Conspiracy, Seed boys, Dog Soldiers, General Patton book review, survival living, Jonestown, Government cover-ups? Late night roll calls, In-corps twig preparations if someone storms the campus? Red Dawn movie shown to corps.......Red Dawn Mentality? :blink: :blink:

Since the subject of corps training makes for good conversation here at the Cafe......I thought some general categories might help. Of course, there could be other categories added......like Indifference.......but then, that would take away from the "play on words" of The good, the bad and the ugly. :) Certainly, every corps person had a different experience, different coordinators, different circumstances..... some corps gutted campuses and threw out statues before the twi curriculum year began, some were way builder types and went to gunnison for 4-6 month stints. Huge differences, varying discrepancies. And, I will attempt to speak for me, my experience......not making bland generalizations. The following are some of the things that come to mind. The Good Studies Related .....Learning biblical truths in some classes like OT History, Greek, figures of speech, orientalisms. .....The Christ-line geneology records, the gospel accounts of JC, his words & death & resurrection. .....The book of acts and the dynamic men and women who walked by the spirit. People Related .....Many good-hearted corps who went into the program to serve God a lifetime. .....Close friends, light-hearted moments, crazy times, plays & skits, jokes, etc. .....The experience and exposure to people from all walks of life and many countries. Principles Learned .....Truth is truth and will hold up to the scrutiny of intense study and inspection. .....Dark is dark.......and I'd rather SEE A SERMON than hear one any day. .....Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, the religious leaders of legalism. The Bad Wierwille Related .....Too much emphasis on wierwille, mogs, waytree structure, caste system, wierwille geneology. .....Head table adulation was ridiculous; serving the campus coordinators; the favortisms. .....In hindsight, I see the corps "training" as merely programming to fit the twi mold. Curriculum Related .....Always a group thing. Why couldn't we have some selection? Some choices? .....Teaching overload.....heck, corps were falling asleep day after day. .....Conspiracy theories, mal-paks, doomsday predictions, us versus them, uuuuugh!! Lose of Opportunity .....I expected SO MUCH MORE from the corps training. It was too regimented. .....I believe that those four years could have been put to MUCH BETTER use for God. .....I feel betrayed by wierwille & twi. They deceived & exploited my years of labor. The Ugly ** The scream-fests, the face-melts, the sex & raping of my corps sisters, the abortions. ** The idolotrous adulation of the "man of god of the universe." ** The isolation of corps from family, roots, relatives......damaged relationships for a lifetime. Okay, that's enough. PS (for the benefit of Belle ) If I had a category for [/i]Indifference, I think that I'd put the Kansas Hunter Safety class in there.

And......if God told vp that He would "teach him the word like it hadn't been known since the first century, if he would teach it to others"............why were so many of wierwille's "teachings" ALREADY being taught by other men's ministries? Men like BG Leonard, Kenyon, Bullinger, etc.

Yeah, socks........... "Way leaders were the nosiest damned people in the world..."

Johnny, Whatever. You're pulling that one statement out of context.....but I think you already know that. The numbers speak for themselves. Last I knew, there were 6 corps people from the 6th corps still actively standing with twi. How many started in the 6th corps? 350 or so?

Okay, Johnny.........let's keep it in context shall we. My first three months inresidence were rerun classes......so good, so far? And, other classes like the dale carnegie book was taught......and the jc is not g book was taught to us.......etc {i.e. other books were taught to us......like JCOP, JCOPS, etc.]. And, let me add.......jet-style packing really helped, mal-pack/conspiracy theories oh boy, dog training (or is that pavlov's conditioning?), none dare call it conspiracy, the 13th tribe, communist takeovers, etc........all of this stuff really helped me. Some corps were assigned to weed a flower bed.....for their 1/2 day work assignment. Others dusted banisters, or swept the foyers, etc. etc.............lots and lots of busy work. Now......"And, they assumed we were idiots or something. Like the gun training thing......blah, blah, blah," For me and some other guys who thought it was hokey (not everyone).....the hype of gun training didn't match the experience. And yes, I realized that others might get some learning from it...........but... TWO SHOTS?????? Of course, in a group of 500 people some might have a fear of holding a shotgun.......but I found the condescending attitude bordering on treating me like an idiot. That's all. Heck, they could have asked us to fill out a questionaire, got some background information or something?? NO, not in the corps......just herded us around and branch guys taking roll call. Sheeeesh. And, I can't tell you how many times I heard wierwille say...........YOU CORPS ARE LAZY, NONE OF YOU KNOW HOW TO THINK OR WORK. Is there an assumption there?? Absolutely. Wierwille treated the corps as a unit.....and treated us like we were 14 year olds. Sometimes we even got pizza. Whoopee. But, of course..........every corps experience was different, every corps coordinator handled things differently, the family corps was different than the emporia corps, etc. etc. etc. Hopefully, this helps clarify my post a little better.

Sorry Belle.....for the derail. Wierwille was not the topic of this thread........but craiggers learned this stuff from the founder of twi. Veepee was far more suble.....especially in public meetings, on itineraries, or at the rock of ages. But his venomous side was well-known to the corps, "his kids." Extreme verbal abuse within the house..........nice pleasantries, and a plastic smile, to the public. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide.

Yeah, shaz.......don't ever upstage "the father of answers." And, those three wierwille-rantings that I posted were the extreme ones with only corps/staff. I do remember the Bill W@rg@ one....as mentioned on this thread. But, in comparison, veepee's ranting towards Bill was rather minor compared to the three I noted. If the BRC wasn't setup perfectly one hour ahead of the sunday service, the brc setup coordinator was reamed a new one. If the sound checks were not done, coulter got yelled at. If it rained at corps week, the corps were yelled at for "not believing." Heck, I've shelved away so many memories that when I start thinking about it.....strong, public reproof sessions were part and parcel of corps/staff days. One time in the New Bremen Cultural Center, wierwille gave a ranting to a female way prod singer......he was upset with her. And, as he fumed, he told her to swing her hips more and throw her boobs around a little.... Wierwille was the showman and the show must go on. All supporting casts were immaterial to the man who demanded the spotlight.