Experts say this is a classic tactic employed by cults to maintain control; that members (and elders) are reprimanded in front of the rest of the congregation one day, and love-bombed the next. At the crux of those punishments is isolation from the group, with disfellowshipment being more severe. And they preach that they are representatives of God. Then you were put on "Friday night status" for a few months or years until they felt like you were buying into everything again. B) answered. Thats why the exes are now condemning practices they accepted while at Homestead Heritage and saying their treatment there amounted to spiritual abuse. tony trotter. The woman he was referring to in the Internet post, he says, was not the woman the church provided documentation on. They just havent found it yet. Another former member, Robin Engell, admits she once locked her 7-year-old child in a room for two weeks. A spokesperson for Child Protective Services said that every case is different, but using something other than your hand, leaving marks or bruises, or hitting in the face could constitute abuse. Welcome to our online showcase of unique, traditional, solid wood furniture. And I will never forget the first movie I saw, Spiderman. He met with Homestead Heritage leaders as well as some ex-members. (Arnn) cant tell a total charlatan.. You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. Thanks! The first posting about Homestead Heritage went up on April 7, 2005. Every accusation so far has been false, he says. A clue is in the leadership structure. While its true the document is not given to members nowadays, thats because the church no longer uses it. Report abuse. 64 reviews of Homestead Heritage "There is so much to see at Homestead Heritage, you should visit their website at www.homesteadheritage.com to get a good feel for all they offer. Because of that reaction, Morgan came to Waco to talk to people on both sides. George had been telling this man to turn himself in. But its possible, even probable, such a church exists, members stress. Thats why the articles remain on the Watchman Fellowship site, he said. Although Elders letter to church leaders criticizing Homestead Heritage was hurtful, that wasnt the reason the group wrote a formal response, members said. One former member, who asked to be identified only by her married name, Birkbeck, told me Ratliff was allowed to remain in the community for seven weeks after he admitted to elders his sex offenses against children. Theyre existing under enormous psychological pressure., In 2005, Roger Olson, a professor of theology at Baylor University, wrote a gushing piece about Homestead Heritage for Christianity Today, headed: Where Community is No Clich. The Observer has learned from a number of different sources of other cases of sexual abuse within Homestead Heritage. But it does believe the group deceives people and is spiritually abusive. It is a very long process in which they get extremely serious and make you say a whole bunch of vows and then they dunk you in a huge tank. He told me tonights broadcast is explosive stuff.. This public condemnation from the pulpit can escalate, he wrote, until the leaders are shouting and pounding the lectern. The concept isnt unique. They talk of secret meetings and secret documents. We at Homestead Heritage hold no ill will towards any of the former members who instigated and participated in this slanderous media attack against us (which has found two venues but is really one story with common sources). And I think thats why some people turned to child abuse. If he says take out the trash, you dont question it; if he says the sky is green, the sky is green; if he says he has to put his hand there, you have to let him. While there arent documents nonmembers are forbidden to see, the group generally doesnt load down visitors with a stack of books. Im going to hurt other people emotionally if I dont, she said. Ex-members are making the sensational claim because one characteristic of a cult is having a charismatic leader or group of leaders, members say. Ugh. I'm a former member of Homestead Heritage, a cult located in Waco, TX. I was planning on leaving the instant I turned 18. They have allowed their memories to become altered by Watchman Fellowships tainted information. A Texas Observer investigation has found allegations of child sex abuse involving at least six members of the Homestead Heritage community. And throughout, John said, all eyes were firmly fixed on Adams. That approach also ensures people know exactly what awaits them if they join Homestead Heritage, members say. Homestead prides itself on being an intentional Christian community valuing sustainability, agriculture, self-sufficiency and craftsmanship. In interviews with the Tribune-Herald, Homestead Heritage members repeatedly described the allegations of their critics and ex-members as incendiary, inflammatory or insidious. Members continually compared the claims to allegations made against persecuted groups, including Anabaptists, blacks and victims of the Salem witch trials. OK, apparently I had a lot of questions! Partners must notify. For after all, I am your daughter.. A number of former members the Observer spoke to said they believed Blair Adams sees himself as a messenger from God. Then hed berate somebody on the spot. They used to get pissed at me when I would climb the fence to fish this pond. Another charge leveled at the group to make it appear cultic, members say, is that leaders exercise authoritarian control. Its not fair to them and its not fair to us to have someone who comes in thinking they know and they dont know, Wheeler says. As for the invitation to meet with the broader group, Arnn says he didnt take Owen up on it because he felt it would prove a waste of time. Within a short period of time, the country went from awarding military honors to Jewish soldiers and lauding Jewish scholars to denigrating and destroying them, he says. I had plenty of privacy growing up. Heritage Acres Homestead Sticker HomesteadMoma (60) $2.50 FREE shipping Organic Onion Chive Live Plants SPRING PLANTING Bare Root Plants Herb Hardy to 30 Below Zero Cuisine Multiplying Perennial plus Self-Seeds AllButTheFarmSink (122) $3.00 Homestead Heritage Pottery/Ceramic/Signed Kelle/Vintage treasuresbyirma (85) $43.15 FREE shipping After a while they start making the Friday night meetings more similar to how they really are. In fact it took me a while of being out of there before I realized how cult like they are. Homestead Heritage Info "Whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light." Pages Home About This Blog Contact Recovery Resources HH In The Media Personal Stories Tuesday, November 9, 2021 More Lewd Behavior at Homestead Heritage A full year would go by before DeLong once more talked with Klingensmith about the abuse, court records show. Such people are generally shunned, at least partially, because theyre breaking a commitment to God to live out their Christian walk in the context of that specific body, members say. Doesnt it make you mad that your dad, who I believe is an honorable man, was made to shield for someone who does not have the courage to sign his own letter?. If you express interest in joining the elders have to talk to you which I guess is part of the vetting process. Homestead Heritage claims most criticisms amount to secular attacks on religious freedom, but all of the ex-members the Observer spoke to still consider themselves religious. Recently I had some major health issues and ended up at the hospital where I died and had to be revived. But the intent of discipline is not punitive. Due to an editing error, we incorrectly reported that Bill DeLong told police he continued sexually abusing a young girl after admitting his abuse to a church elder. D) I never once would have dreamed of calling it a cult, that was unheard of for members. . I remember Blair walking past where we were sitting and touching my dad on his shoulder, and my dad started trembling and then fell to the floor., After he left, Adam Alexander went to church for a few years but then stopped. But because of his knowledge about cults such as the Branch Davidians and his fear that Homestead Heritage, too, might be a cult, he held back from joining for about five years. Correction: In an earlier version of this story, we incorrectly reported a detail of the child sexual abuse at Homestead Heritage. He theorized founder Blair Adams wrote it. The extent to which that is true varies from family to family, but most regularly do things such as make their own soap. Heritage's Elder Rights Program focuses on the prevention, intervention, detection and reporting of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. After a while you are baptized into the church. The other elders are beneath him. What can we do? In 2007, the Waco Herald-Tribune ran a feature that voiced some of those concerns of spiritual abuse but after its publication, ex-members claimed the story didnt go nearly far enough. But stranger things have happened, he says. She finds it hard to date people and often worries about the children still living in the community of Elm Mott outside of Waco. My mother and I would go out there sometimes when driving through from Fort Worth between 2007-2010; it never occurred to us that it was a cult. Do you confess, Beechner quoted Adams as saying, that your baptism is a commitment to be discipled by men He has sent to teach you obedience to His commandments.. There are things I just cant forget.. Church policy, according to internal documents, states that religious matters within the community are not the proper province, of the corporate State and its investigative, police and judicial services. In fact, our investigation has exposed a litany of tragedy: families broken apart, child abuse and allegations of mind control, cover-ups and secrecy. Another accusation that troubles the group is that members dont lead the lifestyle they claim to. I didnt think about the effect this would have on a child, particularly one who was home-schooled and all he had was his family. It was so bad when he came out; he shook all the time. Whenever they quote our literature, member Nathan Tittley says, you really have to watch the ellipses.. That way, when theyre asked to prove their claims, they can throw up their hands and plead a secret conspiracy. Some Anabaptists, for example, practice familial shunning. While the church refused to answer questions about allegations of abuse, it did move aggressively to respond on its own terms, setting up a web page to rebut a story it hadnt seen (the site remained under construction as this story was going to press). At the family level, fathers are above wives and children. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Watchman Fellowship created an Internet discussion board about Homestead Heritage through F.A.C.T.Net. BTW: Joseph Ratliff, who "was convicted of five counts of sexual abuse, sexual assault, and indecency with an 8-year-old boy" has been released from prison and is back at Homestead Heritage, working at Brazos Walking Sticks. But rather than report DeLong to police, as required by law, that elder, George Klingensmith, decided to pray about it with him instead, according to both DeLong and Klingensmiths statements to officers. Yikes. In the end, the magazine opted to publish one of the critical letters, written by ex-member Bob Beechner, along with an editors note. Hey Reddit, I was raised in a religious cult located in Waco, TX for the first 16 years of my life. She told me she is considering counseling. The program is a cooperative partnership with Heritage, the Department of Human Services, law enforcement, health and human service providers and others in the community. On one hand, the Baylor University seminary professor wanted to let others know about a group he considers unique on the countrys religious landscape. And if a child is brave enough to tell, its going to take an awful lot of guts for anyone inside to do anything about it., One ex-member I spoke to, John (not his real name), said members of Homestead Heritage are repressed emotionally, spiritually, psychologically and sexually. A favorite target is any high-demand religious group, Wheeler says. For example, one person proficient in leather work has been experimenting with making footwear. Thats why a settlement was reached - not because the group had done anything wrong, they say. I pray to God and cry my tears. Others boil down to a he said/she said contest. Homestead Heritage is a 1,000 member congregation located on a 500-acre, gated commune north of Waco, where God and family come first. Day after day, half-truths and outright lies designed to poison people against the group have been posted on the Internet, he says. Three members have been convicted of sexually assaulting minors. Theologically it therefore is considered to be a cult of Christianity. But ever since all that I've changed in the sense that Im not angry at all at them but I do think it is important that people do what they can to spread the truth and make the world a better place. All I want is for you to love me. I smile on the outside though sometimes I am dying on the inside. However, Trimm came by his knowledge of Branch Davidian theology through legitimate study, Arnn said, and that knowledge is still sound. A few people have left over the years. Wow, my husband is a chef and he buys grits from there. His parents were teenagers when they joined the group, and his dad was a one-time leader. What started out at a lone complaint from a former member (who later decided it was too risky to continue providing me with information) evolved into a laborious quest to track down and authenticate allegations of abuse. he says. Photos, illustrations and other art may be available for syndication but must be confirmed. It was dealt with swiftly.. Its a work in progress, lifelong member Abraham Adams says. To that end, the group compiled information they say refutes some of the posts on the Internet discussion board and gave it to the Tribune-Herald. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story: This article was originally published by the, Articles cannot be rewritten, edited or changed beyond alignments with house style books. So basically not many people leave but a few have over the years. E) The were having a meeting and screaming at some kids and the kids were crying and I guess that was the last straw for my dad. But that doesnt protect it from others who might be stirred to act out of prejudice, Yarden says. How did you end up leaving/was it hard? But we incorrectly reported the timeline that DeLong gave to police. Hey Reddit, I was raised in a religious cult located in Waco, TX for the first 16 years of my life. Also a lot of people who leave get real addictions to hardcore porn. Wheeler and other followers are convinced the driving force behind the attack is Watchman Fellowship researcher Phillip Arnn. We were told sex was strictly for reproduction, she said. If the group really had something to hide, Wheeler says, why would it host so many public events? About one fourth of them live on the Brazos de Dios community property, and the remainder live on their own personal properties in the surrounding area. He described the food served in the caf as heavenly., I was given a copy of a letter sent to Christianity Today in response to Olsons piece by ex- member Bob Beechner, Katherines husband, of which the magazine chose to publish a very small extract. Anyone who honestly reads the groups literature or listens in earnest at meetings could not possibly come away with that idea, he says. Whats untrue is that there is some sort of caste system where people must reach the top level to be fully saved, they say. It was founded by Blair Adams, a tall, imposing, bearded man, and his wife Regina, who according to one former member, had broken away from a Pentecostal church in Austin a few years before. For nearly two decades, Homestead Heritage has cultivated the reputation of a quiet Christian community rooted in a picturesque stretch of Central Texas, its disciples devoted to a quaint if curious way of life. You didn't date. But my dad stayed strong and got out. What made your family leave the cult? Theyve literally called us just about every name in the book, Wheeler says. Crow also has an explanation for his comments about medical care. and pray about it. Others helped with the story but, because they still have family members inside the community, refused to speak publicly. Many were former members of the group. His attorney, Darren Obenoskey, told me what the church did or didnt know about his clients crimes never came up. That was basically the gist of every 8 hour long Sunday "meeting". The first posting about Homestead Heritage went up on April 7, 2005. The truth is that group needs are never placed over family needs. Promotional materials distributed by your outlet, including all social media work, must include cites for the Observer and our reporter. On occasion they do, members say. Attorney Jeff Blackburn, a crusader for the innocent, fought injustices across Texas in his improbable, utterly original, and often profane life. Well, because i had never really been allowed to watch TV I watched a completely unhealthy amount of television for a while lol. It began with Arnn individually contacting people who left the group. Contrary to Elders subsequent assertions, nothing in Homestead Heritages public response, issued in the form of a book, was confessed to a minister, the group says. It is the same group. They have gotten even Better at hiding abuse and Lying to cover it up. We raise a few Barred Rocks and Australorps because they are a nice meat-chicken that also happens to lay large brown eggs that are favorites at our house. 04/06/2021. But he still worries that others might not bother to investigate the group after hearing lies from ex-members. I had some substance abuse issues for a while because it was the first time I realized I could actually control the way I felt and I'd been depressed just about my entire life lol. All a member must do in such a scenario is explain the situation and the group will gladly understand, they say. However, when the father, Warren Owen, wrote a letter to Arnn laying out conditions under which a meeting could take place one of which was that the meeting include others from the group besides Owen Arnn never replied. When Roger Olson set out to write an article about Homestead Heritage, he had some reservations. In the case of Bill DeLong, the fact that George Klingensmith, the church elder, knew about his child sex abuse a year before DeLong turned himself in, meant he too may have committed a crime under Texas law. Wheeler reported the phone call to the McLennan County Sheriffs Office, but officers couldnt trace it. It had to be, because they were terrified of being berated by the elders. Whats really going on near Waco? The paperwork indicates her treatment included more than 25 visits to specialists, two major surgeries and other procedures and testing. Anyway after that we did have several weird instances of people following us and coming up to our house in the middle of the night but I can't really prove it was them and honestly I don't care. It would seem to me that most people would think that such a man is one of low character, even a coward. Contact; Hours & Location; Menu; Make A Reservation; I believe in God but I dont believe in religion, he told me. I wish you were proud but you are not. He chooses the elders; they choose the group leaders; the group leaders choose the members. Yes! Those steps were critical, Homestead Heritage followers say, because they allowed Arnn to convince ex-members that Homestead Heritage is a cult. Crow told her he wasnt imagining it, and she replied that she had forgiven her husband and that the Bible said if something is forgiven its forgotten. Homestead Heritage is an intentional community in rural Texas. In an email, one elder, Dan Lancaster, wrote of the groups concern that countering in a public media forum a laundry list of sour grapes accusations and distortions would, at best, simply lend credence to a characterization of our community that is misleading. Instead, Lancaster suggested meeting in person to talk completely off the record. The Observer asked for a telephone interview instead.