The Geftakys Assembly is a Bible-based movement that began in 1970 at the crest of the Jesus Movement, when George and Betty Geftakys left the Plymouth Brethren, who in their estimation had become worldly, to begin their own ministry. Their Assembly formula was initially a mix of Plymouth Brethren "church truth", early Keswick/Watchman Nee "higher life" concepts, and the youth and enthusiasm of the Jesus People. When the word "Assembly" is used on this website, it is in reference to the Geftakys movement only, not other Plymouth Brethren gatherings.
A host of small gatherings sprang up across the USA and abroad, compromised largely of students who were zealously recruited on many college campuses. George consolidated these groups under his authoritarian leadership, appointing loyal local leaders in every gathering. He called his ministry "the Work" and developed an elite corps of Workers to lead the movement. Within a few years cultic tendencies began to appear: increasing control from top-down leadership, isolation, skewed doctrine which injected an element of fear, communal living, separation from families of origin, vilification of those who left, etc.
It must be noted that not all Geftakys Assemblies and outreaches were exactly the same. This introduction describes most closely the Assemblies in the USA, Canada and Nigeria. New outreaches, and Assemblies in other countries may not be accurately represented here.
In January, 2003, George Geftakys was excommunicated from the Fullerton Assembly following revelations on this website of a decades-long cover-up of his son David's domestic violence, and his own immoral relations with several Assembly women. Most of the Assemblies disbanded that year, but a few still continue to meet. Some remain loyal to George, and some have renounced association with him.
To borrow a quote from Eugene Peterson in Working the Angles, "The sheer quantity of wreckage around us is appalling: wrecked bodies, wrecked marriages, wrecked careers, wrecked plans, wrecked families, wrecked alliances, wrecked friendships, wrecked prosperity. We avert our eyes. We try not to dwell on it. We whistle in the dark. We wake up in the morning hoping for health and love, justice and success, we build quick mental and emotional defenses against the inrush of bad news, and we try to keep our hopes up. And then some kind of crash or other puts us or someone we care about in a pile of wreckage....Are there any promises, any hopes that are exempt from the general carnage? It doesn't seem so." Peterson was not referring to the Assembly disaster, but the description is tragically apt. "Wrecked faith" can be added to the list.
Introduction to the Geftakys Assembly Movement
2003 Disbanding of the Geftakys Assembly Movement
Assembly Lifestyle
Problems with Assembly Teaching and Practice
Definition of an Abusive Group
Current Concerns
Challenges Facing Former Members - Help for friends and family of those who have left the Assemblies