Jim McAllister is the Leading Brother in the Assembly in Pasadena, California. It has been confirmed that Pasadena also no longer "recognizes" G. Geftakys. It seems that initially, after his excommunication from Fullerton, Pasadena took a wait-and-see attitude. Apparently GG attempted to regain his authority but was not allowed to, and now has no welcome there. Pasadena is aware of the falling out with GG in Riverside. We have removed Pasadena and Riverside from the list of Assemblies that remain loyal to GG.
June 14, 2008: On Saturday June 14th
there was an Assembly wedding held in Pasadena. It was a marriage between
a man from Pasadena and a woman from WLA. There were about 300 guests in
attendance from the Assemblies in San Francisco, Sacramento, WLA,
Pasadena and Riverside. The format was the same as always: long somber
hymns, long preaching about the man and women’s relationship likened to
Christ and the church, Jim McAllister saying, “You may salute your
bride”.
There were differences from past weddings though: there were no
headcoverings, and wine was served.
One sad testimony to how narrow-minded the groups still are: The groom’s
brother (a former Assembly member) was told he was not invited to the
wedding because of negative things he said about George and his followers
over five years ago. Even though this man did all he could to reconcile
with his own brother, the group still dictates the relationship. All the
rest of the groom’s family (aunts, cousins, and grandparents) were in
attendance regardless of their religious beliefs. Several who are church
elders and pastors could not tolerate the message and left immediately
after the service.
Of the 300 guests, about 80-90 were family and friends from outside the Assembly. The rest were Assembly folks - current and former members, of which many were children. Jim McAllister has 10 kids, Scott Testa 6, etc.
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June 28, 2008 Brent T.:
I just read the recent account of the Pasadena wedding on June 14, 2008, and wanted to
make a few observations:
1.) The fact that the family walked out says quite a bit...especially if
wine was being served...
2.) Wine was served? At our wedding, we were strictly forbidden to serve
alcohol. Had we done so, we would not have been allowed to have an
Assembly Wedding.
3.) Keeping the above in mind, perhaps this wasn't an official assembly
wedding. There have been a few of those from time to time...in fact, the
last wedding I attended that occured in the assembly was a non-official
wedding...no head coverings. Other than that, it was pretty much the
same.
If this wasn't an "Assembly" wedding, that would explain the lack of headcoverings and
allowing wine.
However, if this was an official meeting, blessed by the ascending unto
Mount Zion, and the City of The Living God, the Heavenly
Jerusalem....and they served wine...it means one of two things:
The new leader likes to drink....and....
Small freedoms are being granted. Whenever small freedoms are allowed,
especially ones that were harshly condemned in the past, it is a sure
sign of more freedom coming in the future. Once people get a taste of
freedom, they develop a thirst. This thirst is what topples totalitarian
regimes overnight.
There could be another great exodus brewing if wine is allowed at
official Assembly meetings. I wrote a piece called
Glasnost,
Perestroika and The Assembly that talks about this sort of thing.
July 1, 2008, Anonymous: The
fact that the groom was complicit in the harsh treatment of his brother,
"You can't come to my wedding because... (weddings are an expression of
the divine drama?), tells me that the groom cares more about "the Saints
and the Assembly" than his own family. I am surprised that
the groom's family attended at all. What were the groom's parents
thinking? I would like to add that I am surprised at the attendance! I
was shocked that the Placentia and Fullerton saints weren't invited, and
waiting for a single, charismatic, megalomaniac leader to emerge!