In November of 2002, Brent T., formerly a member of the assembly in San Luis Obispo, created the GeftakysAssembly.com website in order to expose George Geftakys' favoritism towards his son David in allowing him to remain in the ministry in San Luis Obispo even after being disciplined by the brothers in San Luis Obispo.
What follows in chronological order are the articles Brent published on his website calling the leadership in Fullerton (and Omaha) to repentance.
In March 2001, after he and his wife left the San Luis Obispo Assembly, but before beginning GA.com, Brent T. began to publish articles about the Assembly on the Rick Ross website. He posted What it is like to be fully committed to the Geftakys group, Rachel Geftakys' restraining order against David, and Crisis Brewing in Central California Assemblies. In January, 2002, someone who had recently left the SLO Assembly also posted a personal account about what was going on there.
March, 2002 - Why Are You Doing This? - Brent T. explains his purpose in publishing articles about the Geftakys Assembly on public websites.
April 23, 2002 - Excommunicated! - Brent T., a former member of 17 years from the Assembly in San Luis Obispo, is "excommunicated" in order to keep people from listening to his criticism of the Geftakys ministry.
Nov. 13, 2002 - Issues - Brent launches the GeftaksyAssembly.com website with the publication of Rachel (Geftakys) Steepleton's story and Rachel's restraining order against David Geftakys. It is clear that the physical abuse Rachel and her mother Judy suffered from David Geftakys was long standing, and that George and Betty knew about it for years. "But We Didn't Know" was published in response to this excuse being made by Assembly Leaders, making public notes of a conversation with Danny E., and a letter to George from a concerned Hispanic brother in Fullerton. Soon there was a section on the website called "The Issues" and the homepage looked like this. Brent also published an anonymous article entitled "George Geftakys' Spiritual Abuse" that had been written years earlier by Steve Irons (which Steve later revised and renamed "George Geftakys' Treatment of People"). And Day 19, Cultivating Community from Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life was included, with Brent's comments. At some point Brent published an article he wrote in October, Glasnost, Perestroika and the Assembly, a very intriguing treatment of the concept that when people in repressive regimes are given a tiny taste of freedom the system begins to crumble.
Nov. 16, 2002 - Brent posts an article on Finances in the Assembly.
Nov. 17, 2002 - Brent wrote a Brochure on the Assembly and George Geftakys and "My son just joined a strange church and I am worried about him. Who are these people?"
Nov. 20, 2002 - The Local Church Strategy for Evangelism - Brent finds it interesting that there is so much similarity between the culture of the Local Church and the culture of the Assembly.
Dec. 2, 2002 - Greg T. submitted a brief article on The Greatest Question in the Bible.
Dec. 4, 2002 - Brent posts an article submitted by John Malone of Omaha, Is There a Minimum Requirement for “Christ’s Church?” - Or - Am I Just In a Lodge?
Dec. 19, 2002 - False Apology by George Geftakys - Rachel Steepleton (Geftakys) raises concern over George's proposed apology to the assembly in San Luis Obispo.
Dec. 21, 2002 - Eyewitnesses to the Farce - An eyewitness account of the George's supposed apology on Dec. 21, 2002 to the assembly in San Luis Obispo.
Dec. 24, 2002 - On Acid? - Letters written by George Geftakys on Dec. 24, 2002 and later on Jan. 6, 2003 reveal how disconnected he was from reality.
Jan. 10, 2003 - Letter - Judy Geftakys talks about her relationship with Betty and presents the names of individuals who knew about David's physical abuse towards her.
Jan. 11, 2003 - Retirement or Repentance? - Brent comments on George's supposed retirement.
Jan. 13, 2003 - Rumors, Musings and Encouragement - Brent cautiously hopes that the workers and leading brothers in Fullerton will follow through on their discipline of George Geftakys.
Jan. 13, 2003 - Rachel G. and Brent T. post, On the Threshold of Opportunity? Or "Let's Keep This Thing Going!" Brent T. posts Rumors, Musings and Encouragement.
Jan. 16, 2003 - Outsider's Perspective - Critical mass is finally reached.
January 18, 2003 (Saturday) - Brent T. posts "Something to Consider Regarding Leaders", and "The Latest".
January 18, 2003 The leading brothers in San Luis Obispo write a letter announcing reconciliation with Brent and Suzie T.
Jan. 19, 2003 - Brent and Suzie T. write a letter of repentance to the SLO Assemblyfor an element of bitterness and sarcasm in certain articles on the website. Where Are All the Articles? - Brent announces their reconciliation to the brothers in San Luis Obispo and describes the happy day of fellowship they had together. One of the conditions of reconciliation was that Brent take down offensive articles from the website. Sunday! gives further details of the Saturday reconciliation in SLO, as well as the Sunday meeting that followed.
[These articles have since been reinstated by the present editors for the sake of presenting the complete story of the final weeks of the Geftakys ministry. This does not negate the fact that Brent T. fully repented of his sin and error in overstepping his calling to expose the darkness by becoming, in his words, "a cruel messenger, as opposed to an evangelist."]
Jan. 25, 2003 - Ray Dienzo wrote a letter stepping down from the leadership in SLO.
Jan. 27, 2003 - Brent posted a challenge to take a six-week break from attending any Assembly activities, to get away and seek the Lord. Lynda C. responded with a brief supportive article on why it should be six weeks.
Brent recommends four articles on this website to help folks understand the situation.
The excommunication of George Geftakys and repentance of elders and leading brothers
precipitated a call for repentance to the leadership in other places. The
next four stories from Chuck V., Judy Geftakys, Jon LeG., and Joyce
H. (along with Brent's unrelenting call to repentance) led to Mike Zach at
last surrendering his hopes of replacing George as his heir apparent.
Feb. 1, 2003 - "Who Are the Wolves?" - Brent warns that at three leaders who have "stepped down" are still moving behind the scenes to exert pressure on at least one of the groups on the west coast, to not read the letter of excommunication, and to continue listening to George's tapes!
Feb. 1, 2003 - Mike Zach's part in the division of the Miller family - Written by Chuck V., son-in-law to Chuck Miller, raises a long standing issue regarding Mike Zach's role in turning Chuck Miller's own children against him.
Feb. 2, 2003 - "Care-giving" - Judy Geftakys shows how Mike and Cheryl Zach's "play acting at counseling and care-giving" actually incited David to abuse her even more.
Feb. 5, 2003 - Brent calls out Timothy Geftakys (and Mike Zach).
Feb. 7, 2003 - Omaha Leadership Cover-up - Jon LeG. (whose family was close to the Millers) tells the story about Mike Zach's handling of their leaving the assembly. He appeals to Mike Zach (and brothers in Omaha) to put a stop to the cover-up.
Feb. 9, 2003 - Omaha Leadership Coercion and Manipulation - Joyce H. exposes the hidden agenda of the leadership in Omaha regarding her nursing businesses. "Even as I write this I am brought to tears again as I recall the hurt and rejection I felt from men that I once believed had a true spiritual love and concern for me, only to realize that this was not about me but about their own selfish interests and ambitions."
Feb. 10, 2003 - Encouraging Developments - Brent expresses cautious optimism about the repentance that is occurring throughout the assemblies.
Feb. 12, 2003 - Discouraging Developments - Brent responds to people's outrage towards him.
Feb. 13, 2003 - Principles To Employ When Dealing with Geftakys' Servants - Brent warns that the repentance on the part of some leaders may be their way of controlling the damage that has been done.
Feb. 13, 2003 - Recent Words From Mike Zach - Brent discusses Mike Zach's possible motive for encouraging the saints to stick together and maintain unity.
Feb. 14, 2003 - Corrections, Retractions, and Clarifications - Brent retracts and clarifies some statements he has made about certain individuals.
Feb. 16, 2003 - Recent Events in the Geftakys Assembly - Brent takes a look at what has happened in the past weeks. He is both encouraged and concerned about what remains of the Geftakys system.
Feb. 17, 2003 - Joyce Hines' Regret - Joyce H. regrets how that many times she was more concerned with upholding the ‘standard’ than in caring for the needs of individuals.
Feb. 18, 2003 - Testimonials of Appreciation - Testimonies of how people have been delivered from the Geftakys system and encouraged by what has happened.
Feb. 20, 2003 - Mike Zach Repents - Mike Zach's letter of repentance.
Feb. 27, 2003 - Bewitched and Deceived - Brent is stunned that people can be so bewitched and deceived as to allow George to continue spinning his webs of darkness.
Mar. 10, 2003 - Encouraging Developments From Omaha - Jon LeG. expresses his gratitude for the steps that Mike Zach (and others) have taken to make things right with him and his family.
Mar. 20, 2003 - Farewell - Brent T. retires from the website and looks back over the activities of past months. At this point the Irons took over ga.com and called the new site, "Assembly Reflections." Here is the last Featured Articles page from the old site; most of the links point to articles in the old format. Unless otherwise noted, Brent is the author. Here is what the first version of Assembly Reflections looked like.
January, 2004 - One Year Later - On the one year anniversary of the collapse (January, 2004) of the Geftakys ministry, Brent T. reflects on what he would have done differently.
After hearing of the collapse of the ministry, here are some heartfelt responses.
An ex-assemblyite honestly evaluates the Geftakys ministry.
Rob K. presents the Biblical principles of repentance.
Margaret Irons looks back on the early beginnings of George and Betty's Ministry.
Delila H. from Canada reaches out to the survivors of the Geftakys ministry. This article is her response upon reading about the collapse of the Geftakys ministry.
Chuck Miller writes an Appeal to the Assembly Leadership.
Dave V., who grew up in the assembly in Calgary, and his wife Jennifer went through a hard time when the Assembly broke up. They both loved the Lord and were very confused. Dave's father (a leading brother) saw a lot wrong with how they were conditioned in the assembly and helped them see why continuing to meet in the same way without rooting out the problems would have been dangerous. Dave came across an article that spoke to him about what the Lord has taught him since being out of the assembly in Calgary. The article talks about self-effort in the Christian life and how God wants the believer to rest. Dave is recommending the article to all those who went through the experience of the collapse of the Geftakys ministry. The article is entitled Living in the Rest of God by Malcolm Smith.
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