The Way International
The Way International is a religious organization founded by
Victor Paul Wierwille. It claims an incorporation date of
1942, the year its founder,
Victor Paul Wierwille began his Vesper Chimes radio program, aka the Chimes Hour Youth Caravan. The Way International has produced extensive biblical research material dealing with Old Testament and New Testament languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic), numbers, figures of speech, apparent contradictions within the
Christian Bible, as well as astronomical and historical information. This group is
non-trinitarian and believes that Jesus is the Son of God, but not
God Himself. The Way describes itself as a
Christian group that teaches others how to operate the "9 manifestations of holy spirit". Critics charge that the beliefs of the group are not consistent with traditional Christian beliefs, and some accuse the group of being a
cult.
The Way currently considers itself to be a church, and the organization ordains
clergy and performs
weddings.
Wierwille was ordained by the
Evangelical and Reformed Church and took his first assignment in
Payne, Ohio. The Way counts its origin from 1942, with the first broadcast of the Vesper Chimes radio show. Victor Paul Wierwille remained president until 1982, when he chose
L. Craig Martindale as his replacement. When Wierwille died in 1985, a period of disagreement between organization leaders and followers as well as a decline in followership developed and lasted until the early 1990s. Craig Martindale remained president during this period.
A yearly gathering of Way followers in
New Knoxville, Ohio, known as "
The Rock of Ages Festival," was a popular Way event until 1995, when it was cancelled. Some regional groups (known as limbs) now hold annual meetings instead. According to Way Corps conferences, one reason for the termination of the festival was the suspected teenage on campus grounds
[GreaseSpot Cafe Way Corps Notes]. The following year, the one-year Word Over the World (WOW) missionary program was replaced by the four-month "Way Disciples" outreach program. Way Disciple outreach group 1 left after the Rock of Ages in September of 1995 and returned to New Knoxville on December 16. The second group followed the next January. Current groups are sent from the annual Anniversary meeting in October on six month assignments.
In 2000, Martindale's term as president was ended following allegations of sexual misconduct
and
Rosalie F. Rivenbark replaced him. A minor change in the structure of the
Board of Directors leadership body was introduced in October, 2005 at the Anniversary meeting. The new structure includes three vice presidents instead of the single vice president that was used previously.
Organization
The Way International's division of duties and geographical regions was originally based on the physical structure of a tree. While this is still generally the case, the tree structure is no longer used as rigorously as it once was.
The headquarters in
New Knoxville,
Ohio and the Way Corps training location in
Gunnison,
Colorado are considered "root" locations. Each country in which The Way International operates is called a "trunk". Each state in the United States is called a "limb" and each "limb" can contain a number of subdivisions called "branches". Finally, each "branch" consists of several household fellowships (which used to be called "twigs"). The term "leaf" was originally used to describe an individual follower, but was formally replaced during the
1990s with "follower" or "disciple".(The phrase "follower of The Way"appeared in brochures printed by the organization through most of the 1980s.)
The Way focuses on the household fellowship as the most basic organizational unit. These meetings are run in the home by volunteers who have completed the four biblical studies classes taught by The Way. These men and women are called "fellowship coordinators". Participants in household fellowship meetings are free to come as often as they please. The Way International has no official "membership" other than the Board of Directors and no attendance commitment is required.
Classes
The Way features a four-level series of classes that teach the beliefs and doctrine of the organization:
* "The Foundational Class on The Way of Abundance and Power"
* "The Intermediate Class on The Way of Abundance and Power"
* "Defeating the Adversary"
* "The Advanced Class on The Way of Abundance and Power"
The first three classes are taught in local areas a few times each year, but the Advanced Class is taught at the Way Headquarters every summer. To reach the Advanced class, one must have taken the Foundational and Intermediate classes twice, as well as "Defeating the Adversary."
After completing the Advanced class, a follower can enroll in the Way Corps Leadership Program, a full-time work/study program structured to produce leaders for the organization. The students travel to
Camp Gunnison, Colorado and learn to minister and teach. Upon completion of the four year course, they receive a non-
accredited degree in theology. The graduating Way Corps are then sent out to different states or countries to start fellowships.
Other classes offered include:
* "Living God's Word as a Family"
"Living God's Word as a Family" can only be taken after completion of "The Intermediate Class" but is not a prerequisite for "The Advanced Class"
Wierwille believed that Jesus Christ had no preincarnate existence except in the mind of God the Father. He taught that Jesus was a perfect sinless man but he was never God. In his book,
Jesus Christ is Not God, Wierwille explained:
"In other words, I am saying that Jesus Christ is not God, but the Son of God. They are not 'co-eternal, without beginning or end, and co-equal [as one and the same being].' Jesus Christ was not literally with God in the beginning; neither does he have all the assets of God".
Wierwille asserts that God and Jesus Christ are separate, independently-thinking entities who are literally father and son. He holds that Jesus Christ did not exist until God created a fertilized egg in Mary's womb and that he did not have any consciousness until she gave birth to him in Luke 2:7.
Regarding the Holy Spirit, Wierwille taught that there was a distinction between "The Holy Spirit" and "holy spirit". The former refers directly to God the Father while the latter refers to an emanation or power from God (a.k.a. "the
gift of holy spirit").
The Way also teaches that Jesus was raised on Saturday and that there were four people crucified with Him, not two. Additionally, only those born-again (
i.e., believers who lived after Pentecost) will be gathered together with Jesus Christ upon his return - everyone who died in the Old Testament, before the day of Pentecost, those not born-again and those living after the second coming of Jesus will be raised in the "Resurrection of the Just" or the "Resurrection of the Unjust". They also teach that the dead are not conscious and that anyone who does not "confess Jesus as Lord" will be raised again in either the "Resurrection of the Just" or the "Resurrection of the Unjust".
Speaking in tongues is taught as a free-will choice and as a beneficial part of a believer's daily walk. Furthermore, the Way teaches that speaking in tongues is the only true evidence of salvation.
The Way also teaches that once a person is saved, he cannot lose the spirit through any sinful acts since it is eternal life. A principle called "renewing your mind" is taught as a way for a person to discipline his thoughts and actions in alignment with the Bible, God's written Word.
Wierwille taught that God instituted immutable principles that can be appropriated and obeyed by Christians. God's principle of
Tithing requires that believers give 10% of their net income (which is owed to God, but given by the free-will choice of the Christian to their church of choice) and any additional voluntary donation (called "abundant sharing") to those who teach them the Word of God. An additional term, "plurality giving", was coined to refer to calculating the amount of money you need to live on, and giving all the rest as above the tithe. It would be the extreme end of "abundant sharing". Failure to follow the law of tithing can result in a violation of the reciprocal "law of prosperity" which can affect one's personal wealth and health (Watchman telephone interview with Way spokesman, Bill Green, October 11, 1996; Christian Research Journal, Fall 1988, p. 11).
L. Craig Martindale addressed this concern multiple times throughout his leadership term
[GreaseSpot Cafe Audio Files]. Martindale's wife, Donna, has also been recorded addressing a plane crash that killed the daughter of a Way member who had left the organization several years prior
["Ron Brown and Naomi Poling Warbasse", RealMedia format].
*
Power for Abundant Living by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
Receiving the Holy Spirit Today by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
The Bible Tells Me So by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
The Word's Way by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
The New Dynamic Church by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
God's Magnified Word by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
Christians Should Be Prosperous by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
Jesus Christ is Not God by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
Are the Dead Alive Now? by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
Jesus Christ, Our Passover edited by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
Jesus Christ, Our Promised Seed edited by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
Living Victoriously by Victor Paul Wierwille
*
The Way: Living in Love by Elena A. Whiteside
*
Born Again to Serve by Mrs Dorothea Wierwille
*
VP and Me by Loy Craig Martindale
*
The Rise and Expansion of the Christian Church in the First Century by Loy Craig Martindale
By 1988, following the 1982 retirement of Wierwille and his death in 1985, at least four splinter groups had formed from the main body of The Way:
*
The American Fellowship Services*
Christian Biblical Council*
Great Lakes Fellowship*
Pacific West FellowshipSome sources attribute the formation of splinter groups to specific actions taken by
L. Craig Martindale after his appointment to replace Wierwille, including the implementation of new rules and beliefs, while others cite the dissension among its leadership when Rev. Chris Geer initially read the authored 40,000 word document titled
"The Passing of the Patriarch" to the trustee leadership and Way headquarters staff. In the document, Geer claimed that Wierwille, during his final weeks, revealed observations, concerns and recommendations regarding the unbiblical direction of the Way ministry and the lack of biblical leadership by Martindale. The document was later read to the Way Corps who disseminated the information throughout the ministry.
The Way has been alleged to be a cult, in part due to allegations of
thought control starting in the 1970s. The group has been alleged to use fasting and "
love bombing"
to control its initiates. Although there are religious learning centers based at the Way International headquarters, there never been any proven cases of brainwashing. The Way has also been accused of
racism and
anti-Semitism in times past, due to references of controversial
Holocaust denial books
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century,
The Myth of the Six Million[{{cite book | last = Melton | first = J. Gordon | authorlink = J. Gordon Melton | year = 1996 | title = The Encyclopedia of American Religions | edition = 5th edition | publisher = Gale Research | location = Detroit: Michigan | id = ISBN 0810377144, as cited at http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/wayintl.html .] and
Arthur Koestler's
The Thirteenth Tribe, which does not promote Holocaust denial or anti-Semitism, but whose controversial thesis on the origins of modern Jews was adopted by some anti-Semites.
*Rev. Rosalie F. Rivenbark, President
*Rev. Vince McFadden, Vice President
*Rev. Roger Mittler, Vice President
*Rev. John Rupp, Vice President
*Rev. Jean-Yves De Lisle, Secretary-Treasurer
Founder and first President*
Victor Paul Wierwille (1942â€"1982)
Subsequent Presidents*
L. Craig Martindale (1982â€"2001)
*
Rosalie F. Rivenbark (2001â€"present)
Vice Presidents*Ermal L. Owens (??â€"1977)
*Donald Wierwille (1977â€"1997)
*
Rosalie F. Rivenbark (1997â€"2001)
*Harve J. Platig (2001â€"2005)
*Vince McFadden (2005â€"present)
*Roger Mitler (2005â€"present)
*John Rupp (2005â€"present)
Secretary-treasurers*
Harry Ernst Wierwille (??â€"1977)
*Howard R. Allen (1977â€"1997)
*
John R. Reynolds (1997â€"2002)
*Jean-Yves De Lisle (2002â€"present), previously translator and Outreach coordinator
*
The Way International - Official website
**
The Way International - 2006 Internet Articles
**
The Way International - 2005 Internet Articles
**
What is The Way?*
Profile by
Jeffrey K. Hadden*
Greasespot Cafe - Site maintained by ex-followers. Copies of a number of primary source documents available on this site.
**
Greasespot Cafe Forums - GreaseSpot Cafe discussion forums.
*
Christian Biblical Council*
Inside The Way International John P. Juedes', a Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor in California, database of letters and articles concerning The Way International
*
The Cult That Snapped - A Journey Into The Way International A history of The Way and an account of a former member's involvement from 1980 to 1987
Links to websites of ex-members :
*
http://www.believer.com/*
http://www.cffm.org/teachings/iop.shtml*
http://www.cortright.org/*
http://www.believerlinks.org/*
http://members.aol.com/Kriagel/index.html
