Others have written the stories of their Assembly experiences and I really do not have anything new to add to the big
picture of the Geftakys Assembly debacle. I write it two reasons:
1) as a closure of sorts to that part of life, and 2) to offer some perspectives that might benefit someone today.
Our past has definitely affected our present disposition. A dysfunctional
church environment does affect our spiritual outlook on life.
I was born again in 1982 after having heard the gospel from a
co-worker who was a Leading Brother in the local Geftakys Assembly.
From things he had told me, I was sold on the Assembly and George's spiritual headship
even before I was saved, so it naturally followed that, upon salvation,
I joined the Assembly in Ottawa.
At the time, I was separated from my husband, so I focused my efforts on my spiritual growth and commitment
to the group. I loved it, and was dedicated. In 1983 my husband and I
were reconciled, and in 1984 my husband was saved as well.
It was 1985 when things in the Ottawa Assembly really took a turn. We
started to discover that our commitment was not really what Geftakys
commitment ought to be. A few people started to "lose sight of the
heavenly vision" and leave. Soon after, we started a campus ministry and hooked a few
individuals to fellowship that way. We began the annual trek down
to the Mid-West seminar in Illinois, and some of the single saints even
began traveling
to Fullerton to catch an extra seminar.
In 1990 the Irons' left the Fullerton Assembly, and in following years, we
lost three of the first four members who had started the Ottawa
Assembly. The
rest of us renewed our own personal commitments to the "testimony to
Jesus," and life continued on. We were those who, like the
Israelites in the wilderness, camped around "the testimony" and focused
in on it. We were those who, like the Bereans, studied the Scriptures.
We were those who, like the early Christians, took no other name than
Christian.
One of the three who left even introduced us to Churches That Abuse
by Enroth. We brushed it off as the whinings of a
disgruntled former member. I, for one, did not even read the chapter
dedicated to the Geftakys ministry.
We were already very connected to the Nebraska Assemblies. The annual
President's Day weekend East Coast Conference connected us with the
Assemblies in
Annandale, Virginia, and Providence, Rhode Island. We were
tight, we were connected, and we were committed.
My circle of friends
consisted solely of Assembly folk. I did have tea with my neighbor a few times a year, but
she was pretty well the only outside contact. And of course, there was
the occasional outside contact with family members, and school teachers,
too. I was focused: "Preserve the testimony," whatever it took to do
so, and preserve "commitment to fellowship" at any cost.
I remember when I was told that Betty said leaving fellowship was akin
to leaving the Lord, and I actually thought she had uttered some deep
spiritual principle. Or when George would not acknowledge his first grandchild (born out of wedlock), and I attributed it to
his commitment to his testimony as a leader.
Or when Tim spoke of his
leanings towards believing in a sort of "superhuman" Christ, and we
excused him for having been influenced by his dad. If only I had done
the math....but for some reason my math skills were poor in those days.
We gave our leaders the benefit of many doubts, and we ourselves continued to promote the
system.
So in January 2003, when George was excommunicated, my faith and
commitment were not shaken. We had already experienced so much together.
We had already sacrificed so much to keep what we had. We re-affirmed
our commitment to support our local leaders and continued on.
For the sake of the testimony, we did not even read George's excommunication letter on Sunday, as most of the other Assemblies did. No, Ottawa read it to the "committed" group who come out to the following Tuesday evening prayer meeting.
It was at that prayer meeting that I learned of the Geftakys Assembly website and bulletin board. I was a staunch supporter of the Assembly, so I determined to see what all the fuss was about and started to read the bulletin board.
I was shocked, and posted a "rebuke"
which invoked quite a reaction. Initially, I posted anonymously, in an
effort to figure things out, thinking that BB posters might change
their minds about continuing Assemblies, but also with the
understanding that I might change mine.
What finally clinched it for me was the realization that God was not
even involved with the "Testimony to Jesus" à la Geftakys. Even as the
Pharisees invoked rebuke from the Lord for their false religious
system, the Assemblies connected with the Geftakys ministry had become
cult-like.
In a recent blog post Michael Spencer said, "On one comprehensive list of cultic characteristics as described by various sources, the following statements appeared in various descriptions of cults and cultic behavior:
Anyway, at the point I realized that God was not involved with the Assembly, I emailed a request to each leader to meet with them individually with myself and my husband present. My request was not to be granted unless I met with them collectively. It was not my intent to leave, but to discuss my point of view, hoping that we could work something out together as a group.
I was told by one that I could
leave if I wanted to, but the individual meeting was not going to
happen. My conviction was real, so I was left with no other choice than
to leave. Yes, I had had issues with Assembly folk, and they with me,
but that was not a reason to leave. I had no other friends other than
Assembly folk, but that was not a good enough reason to stay. It became
a matter of conscience and I could not compromise.
My husband started to get all sorts of pressure from the leaders and
most of the other members to get me to submit and support him and stand
with him in his decision to remain in fellowship. When he read the BB,
one brother was offended by my calling the Assembly a cult, and decided
to exclude me.
Others did not want to be around if I was going to be at
the Assembly campout. There were a few who were willing to "socialize"
with me, but when I did I was accused by a leader of telling people to
leave, which I had not done, although I should have. In a phone
conversation, a sister chewed me out for some of my BB posts. At that
point I determined that written communication with them would work
better until matters were 'settled'.
The stress got so great that my husband wanted to leave right away. I
strongly advised him to remain until he was sure why he was leaving. We,
as a family, had a lot of animated heated discussions at home, but I had
left the Assembly for good, friends or no friends. My husband did leave six months after I did.
In hindsight, the Assembly folk did me a favor because I was forced
into fitting into a new place of fellowship. I remember feeling repulsed
at the thought of having to go to a place of fellowship other than the
Assembly, but in July, 2003, I forced myself to go church hunting.
Some common problems many formers have are that they are looking for a "New Testament simplicity" church, the prayer meeting in many churches is either non-existent or very sparsely attended, and the pastors do not have time for frequent and immediate "counseling," as in the Assembly.
In Acts, the Bible records that the New Testament church was a growing one, and did not necessarily have three or four meetings a week. When I chose a church, I determined not to critically evaluate it by Assembly standards. If I did not understand why things were being done differently than I was used to in the Assembly, I inquired of the pastor.
It was difficult to connect with people, in a church with a large congregation on Sunday morning, so I joined a small group and started attending an Alpha class and the mid-week Women's Bible Study. Some differences I got used to, among others, are: