(....to the best of our knowledge)
Following George Geftakys' excommunication from the Fullerton Assembly in January, 2003, many Assemblies disbanded, as members' eyes were opened to the hidden corruption and many dared to step out and attend other churches. In the USA the Assemblies that continued were divided in two camps for the first 12-18 months. The first group renounced George Geftakys, and in some cases made some efforts to change the meeting schedule and the accounting of finances. (It is largely unknown what happened to the overseas Assemblies, with the exception of Samuel Ochenjele's ministry in Nigeria. (Here is a complete list of Assembly locations and outreaches.)
The second group, consisting of the Assemblies in Riverside, Pasadena, San Francisco and Sacramento, remained strongly loyal to George Geftakys and did not accept his excommunication. The leaders consider the testimony of the women that were abused by George to be lies; that it is his word against theirs; that there was no proof; that these women were as guilty as he was before the Lord; that things were not handled spiritually. They believe that there needed to be 2 or 3 witnesses to the actual act in order for there to be an accusation against an elder. They likened it to the false accusations brought against priests in the Catholic church. These leaders continued to exercise tight control over the members. Essentially there was no change. George preached at Bible studies, gave Sunday stated ministry, and preached at least on seminar to these groups in 2005. Betty was invited to at least one bridal shower.
These two camps were quite distinct and separate at first. The lines have since blurred. On the one hand West LA was influenced to receive George back to the fellowship of the Lord's table. On the other hand, in 2007, for reasons unknown, Jim McAllister's Pasadena group severed ties with George. Also Mike Almanzor's group in Riverside no longer allowed George to give stated afternoon ministry. These decisions apparently had nothing to do with a change in their position on the validity of George's excommunication.
George left the Riverside group in mid 2007, taking about half the people with him to start a separate meeting in his home at Plymouth Village in Redlands, where he conducts weekly Bible studies and Sunday meetings.
Clickable Table of Contents
Recent Developments
Status of Existing Assemblies Remaining Loyal to George Geftakys
Status of Existing Assemblies that Renounced George Geftakys
Current Concerns
Related Articles
Complete list of past and present Assemblies and outreaches is available here
Recent Developments as of April 17, 2008
Dave Sable commented: "I'm betting it is that picture of George with the Masai warriors. He was proud of that because "most Masai warriors don't let their picture be taken, but they were willing to take them with me." It strengthened his argument about his impact in Africa because when he went on the safari, he saw the "big three" (Lion and two others). His guide kept saying, "Great is the God of Geftakys" because this was so unusual. Goes to show the massive impact his ministry had upon the contenent. **Roll Eyes** Tom and I have a bet he really got those pictures from a stand where you could pay $10 to get a picture taken with Masai warriors."
Status of Existing Assemblies Remaining Loyal to George Geftakys
It is assumed that the characteristics of these Assemblies under George Geftakys prior to Jan 19, 2003 are still in place in existing Assemblies. George's excommunication, the demise of most of the Assemblies, and the information on the websites are interpreted as the great persecution spoken of in Revelation when many will fall away. They discourage members from asking questions, talking among themselves about issues, talking with people who have left, or reading the websites. As of April, 2008, the following is the most current information we have on the two Assemblies that appear to remain loyal to George.
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Status of Existing Assemblies that Renounced George Geftakys
As with the Assemblies that remain loyal to George, "It is assumed that the characteristics of these Assemblies under George Geftakys prior to Jan 19, 2003 are still in place...They discourage members from asking questions, talking among themselves about issues, talking with people who have left, or reading the websites." It has been reported that some members do these things anyway, clandestinely. However, in our view, even though the actual level of control may be less than formerly in some of the groups, there seems to be little change in teaching and practice (or vision, as they would put it). Outreaches and communal training homes are still in existence. To our knowledge, none of the groups have openly and seriously addressed doctrinal issues, nor offered public apologies for perpetrating the controlling abusive Assembly system under George and Betty Geftakys.
On the positive side, most of these groups have made efforts to change, particularly regarding the number and length of meetings, and the accounting of finances. There is also recognition of other ministries. "Vandyke" on the Assembly bulletin board observes that not all existing Assemblies are the same, and there is a greater degree of openness in some of them than previously. In at least some cases, the Assemblies have warmly received visits from former Assembly members. Brian Tucker reports positive changes in the Charleston Assembly.
Annandale, VA
Champaign, IL
Charleston, IL
Chicago, ILFullerton, CA??
Goleta (Santa Barbara), CA
Pasadena, CA
Placentia, CA
Riverside, CA
West Los Angeles, CA
Beijing, China*
Changsha, China*
Eldoret, Kenya*
Hong Kong, China*
Indonesia
Kesses, Kenya*
Korogwe, Tanzania*
La Vesinet, France*
Makurdi, Nigeria
Manchester, England
Middleburg, Netherlands
Nanchang, China*
Nyaru, Kenya*
Olesa, Abrera, Cobrera, Spain*
Ottawa,Ontario, Canada
Otukpo, Nigeria
Paris, France**No information available
November, 2003, Becky W.: "When the facts change," said economist John Maynard Keynes when asked once about his shifting positions, "I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" I love this quote. When confronted with formerly covered up facts about the Assemblies and its real history, we all have choices to make. We can change our minds about our involvement in and support of it. To me, that's called "repentance".
"Or we can stick our heads in the sand--'Don't worry, be happy'. We can attack those who brought the facts to light. i.e. shoot that messenger. We can pretend we're made of teflon and were absolutely unaffected by the corruption, false teaching, and aberrant behavior of the unrepentant main leaders and their training, and the resulting effects in all of our lives.
"If we stay in an existing Assembly we can keep doors of fellowship open with those who leave, or we can tell ourselves and other members, 'Have nothing to do with those who leave.' You can even choose to actually say things like, 'They all had issues in their lives they were unwilling to face,' 'They speak evil,' 'Are you going to write about me on the web site?'
"We who leave can talk about it, or not. We can encourage others to talk about it, or we can reinforce the code of silence by discouraging discussion. We can learn from those out longer, and other Christians in many places, or we can say, 'God is sufficient for us, brother.' So many choices. I'm sure I've left out many more."
Click here to submit updated information on existing Assemblies.
(This material also appears in the Introduction to the Assemblies.)
George Geftakys is a still a concern.
George Geftakys has not admitted or repented of his immoral behavior,
nor of failing to stop his son's domestic violence. He is
beginning all over again with Bible studies and Sunday meetings in his home,
with a nucleus from the Riverside meeting.
This after being
disciplined by the elders of three churches and the majority of his own
Assemblies for immoral and unethical behavior. People are cautioned to
beware of his aberrant teaching, his bent for taking over other
ministries, his appeals for financial support for himself and his son
David, as well as other issues addressed elsewhere on this site.
Women are also cautioned against his romantic advances. His entre is to seek assistance in some way, such as organizing his library. This leads to spending a lot of time together, taking breaks to go for coffee, running errands together, etc. He begins to mention how God has spoken to him about her, and push for immoral intimacies. George's narcissism drives him to constantly seek sources of narcissistic supply, including the admiration and thralldom of women as well as men.
Continuing Assemblies are a concern.
Many, if not most, of the folks in the dozen or so Assemblies that continue to meet may be sincere. But abusive practices and teaching are still in place, as attested by a college student who came into the group several years after George's excommunication, and left a year and a half later. The leaders have not issued meaningful statements of repentance and most of the folks who have told their personal stories of abuse have not yet received meaningful apologies. A note of warning: Women and children are especially at risk, not primarily because the men will make immoral advances, but due to the misogynistic nature of the Assemblies.
These Assemblies are still conducting outreaches to recruit new members,, such as Bible studies on college campuses and concerts by Remedy Drive. Most of the groups continue to perpetrate milieu control by forbidding people to read this website or speak with former members. They are very secretive about their previous association with the Geftakys ministry and claim to be "just a gathering of Christians".
Other former Assembly Leaders are a concern.
We are also concerned about former Assembly leaders who are no longer in association with an existing Assembly, but who are becoming involved in other churches. Some of these people are still motivated by the elitist Assembly mindset, feeling that they know the Bible better and have greater vision of what the church should be than other Christians.
They are often well-received, because they appear to be very spiritual, model Christians, who are willing to take on responsibility in the church. Pastors concerned about the spiritual commitment of their congregations may be delighted with these new people and be inclined to put them in positions of influence as Bible study leaders, Sunday school teacher, and mentors.
But these are men who did not leave the Assembly because they discerned errors in the Assembly system. They left because of their shame and disgust overt the revelations of G. Geftakys' moral failure, or because their congregations dwindled. Some of them attempted to keep their Assemblies going, but were forced to step down by the members. Two examples are Omaha, NE, and the San Fernando Valley, CA. These men did not understand that their leadership was harmful.
Our
concern is that unless they have repudiated the abuses, humbly mended the
relationships they have left behind, and have corrected their doctrine of
salvation and the church, former Assembly leaders will bring into a new church the spiritual elitism
and performance-based "spirituality" of the Assembly.
A selection of articles related to these issues:
"Kristin" warns women about George Geftakys in the introduction to her article and in a letter to two Leading Brothers.
Chuck Miller appeals to the Assembly leadership with the question, "Have you considered the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ to unbelievers as well as other believers?"
Jack Hutchinson encourages people to ask questions of Assembly leadership.
See also "An Open Letter to Assembly Folks: Thesis section and Assembly Leaders section.
This account of Steve Irons' visit with Samuel the first week of October, 2003 explains the issues he has with the teaching we received in the Assemblies.
Mark Campbell describes the defense mechanisms used by an Assembly member to prevent honest evaluation of his or her involvement in an abusive system.
There are valuable lessons to be drawn from the history of early "Brethrenism".
Submit a comment for publication on this page, or contact us if you would like to talk or email with someone about the Assembly.
Copyright © 2003-2007 Margaret M. Irons
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