Académique Documents
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Culture Documents
Shepherding/Discipleship
Theology and Practice of Absolute Obedience*
Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1985, pp. 235-245.
By Linda Blood
Cults are usually seen as alien
influences invading our culture with
attitudes foreign to its basic principles of
personal autonomy, tolerance, and the
integrity of the family. Recently,
however, concern has been expressed
by many people about a movement that
appears to be spreading through the
grassroots of American Christianity.
Although known by various titles, such
as Total Commitment, New Covenant,
and Discipleship/Submission, the most
common name for the movement is
Shepherding/Discipleship, or simply
Shepherding.
Its
superficial
reflection
of
the
"shepherding" concept embraced by
many fundamentalist denominations
makes the Shepherding/Discipleship
movement particularly controversial,
teaching
the
terrible
prospect
of
excommunication should they fail to
honor the lifetime covenant they had
made with their shepherds.
Obedience
The foundation of the Shepherding
doctrine is obedience, based on the
premise that Jesus commanded the
acceptance of salvation and required
that
his
disciples
obey
him
unquestioningly, thus setting the pattern
for all future conversions. Within the
movement, only the top elders, or
"apostles," are submitted directly to
Christ; all others, shepherds and sheep
alike, are submitted to elders of their
own. Declared one former sheep, "If
your shepherd tells you to do
something, and you know that it is
wrong, we [sic] were told to go ahead
and do it. God would honor your
obedience to this man. If one man at the
top....puts out an order, then his
sheep....clear down the line will
obey....the statement is made, "You've
got to be like a dumb sheep and follow
blindly."
Shepherds" "flocks" usually consist of
twelve sheep. Proselytizing proceeds on
a one-to-one basis, resulting in an
arithmetical conversion pattern as the
new disciples set out to convert others
in the same manner. However, many
groups discourage or forbid new
members from "witnessing" to others
until they are deemed "ready." Many
former members have strongly objected
to this practice, since they believe that
no one has the right to forbid them to
lead others to Christ
Tithing
An important element in both building
shepherding
congregations
and
maintaining control is the extensive
financial commitment required of the
sheep. Tithing is mandatory, and under
pressure from the elders it sometimes
becomes exorbitant (One man claimed
he was refused his request to have the
amount of his tithe reduced in order that
he might adequately feed his family.) In
addition, sheep usually invest a great
deal of time providing services for their
shepherds, and frequently buy them
presents. Some shepherds have been
accused of living in luxury at the
expense of their sheep. Some former
sheep argue that such exploitation is
encouraged by the double requirement
that the lamb submit their financial
statements to their elders and rely on
them for guidance in all decisions.
The result of these practices has been a
torrent of anguished testimony by both
former sheep and shepherds. There is
an especially poignant quality to their
stories, for in most cases these people
report that they were subjected to
torment not by exotic messianic
strangers but by friends, relatives,
children, spouses. They feel they were
betrayed by those whom they had most
reason to trust, in the name of their own
familiar religion.
The
cultic
strain
of
Shepherding/Discipleship appears to
have a particularly devastating effect on
families, not only by alienating members
from the family, but also by turning them
against each other within the family unit
itself Couples are expected to open the
intimate details of their marriage to
elders for "counsel" and criticism. One
couple commented, "If we hadn't gotten
out, we would now be separated. A
couple of friends from the same
group....are now divorced." Another
Healing
Although emphasis on faith healing,
sometimes called "positive confession,"
is not characteristic of all Shepherding
groups, it is quite common and is
sometimes
taken
to
dangerous
extremes. David and Nigal Oleson, of
Illinois, brought suit against Faith
Assembly, a Shepherding church whose
leader, the late Hobart Freeman, had
forbidden his congregation to seek
medical assistance. More than eighty
deaths within the group were attributed
to observance of this prohibition. Nigal,
enticed into the church by friends, soon
fell under the control of Freeman's
teachings and became alienated from
her family. When she refused prenatal
care and made plans to deliver her
expected child at home without medical
aid, her husband took action to remove
her from the group. Nigal's comment,
"Who, me, in a cult? That could never
happen to me!" echoes the reaction of
many of her fellow "disciples" to the
suggestion that such might indeed be
the case.
Recruitment
The recruitment phase of involvement in
Shepherding is characterized by the
same effusive "love-bombing" typical of
many cultic groups. "The group butters
up recruits by making them feel that
they will be important . . . they shower
you with affection. They want to hear
complaints and have people ask them
for favors," one source reported.
However, once the recruit has become
submitted, the tone often changes to
one of criticism, irritability, even abuse.
One shepherd reportedly threw a Bible
Infiltration
Some Shepherding groups have gained
notoriety
by
allegedly
infiltrating
unrelated congregations and either
siphoning off members or converting the
main body of the congregation and/or its
pastor. One former sheep said that her
group required some of its members to
attend both mainline and Shepherding
services, which gave the sheep the
illusion that they freely chose their
church affiliation. But they were also
encouraged to recruit members of the
unsuspecting host congregation for the
Shepherding group, and did so with
some success. Similarly, Shepherding
elders have nominally joined churches,
then proceeded to challenge the
pastors authority from within. Some
observers theorize that the ultimate aim
of the movement's leaders is to replace
the mainline churches with their own
"Kingdom Government" of Shepherding
congregations. Understandably, there is
considerable resistance to this alleged
plan from some of the target churches.
As the Shepherding movement grows conservative estimates of membership
in the United States alone start at
250,000, and the movement may
involve a million persons worldwide concern is being expressed not only by
former members, families, and those
who monitor cultic trends, but by many
mainline clergy as well. Although these
ministers
acknowledge
that
the
theological issues are complex and not
easily resolved, they are openly
dismayed by the suffering and abuses
they have witnessed in the new wave of
Shepherding groups. As one put it, "The
leaders of many of these groups
consciously foster an unhealthy form of
dependency, spiritually and otherwise,
by focusing on themes of submission
and obedience to those in authority."
(Part II)
Personal Accounts of
Excesses
What guidelines, as stated in their own
literature, must be followed by members
of Shepherding groups? What results
do these principles have in practice?
Maranatha
Campus
Ministries
International, considered a major
Shepherding
group,
publishes
a
Statement of Covenant, section V of
which deals with "Commitment to Godgiven Authority." Among its precepts are
the following: "I recognize the authority
of the elders as God has set them up in
the Body. I am willing to submit my life
unto them for exhortation, rebuke,
correction, instruction in doctrine, and
guidance."
According to former member Bob
Tedford of Kansas, this Covenant
summarizes the rules by which
members are expected to abide, even
though not all members are shown the
actual document, and some were told
not to use it when recruiting others.
(Tedford didn't see a copy until several
months after he had joined.)
Vulnerable Period
Tedford became acquainted with
Maranatha during a discouraging period
of unemployment. "Born-again" since
early teens, he had been reading the
Bible and wished to dedicate his life to
Christian goals. While listening to a
sidewalk preacher, he was handed a
ticket for a "change your life" seminar,
where he met a proselytizer whom he
described as a fast-talking Bible
"expert" Neither the ads for the seminar
nor
Tedford's
new-found
friend
mentioned at the time that the
sponsoring
organization
was
Maranatha.
According to Tedford, the group soon
had him convinced that he was a
"counterfeit
Christian."
As
they
explained it, there were three levels of
Christianity: outer, inner, and holy of
holies, the last being the exclusive
province of Maranatha members. They
were, they asserted, striving to become
true "first century" Christians; other
churches were merely "charlatans."
Tedford had been a member of several
Charismatic Christian organizations but
had been frustrated by their "laxness,"
and at first found Maranatha's high level
of commitment attractive. He says that
Political Ambitions
One of the most disturbing parts of
Tedford's testimony concerns the
political ambitions of his group, which
taught that the "true Christians" would
"take dominion" over the earth. He
frequently attended leadership training
seminars at Kansas State University.
These were very closed and secretive
and consisted of much shouting,
chanting, praying, and singing of
militaristic "taking over" songs. He
reports that at one meeting Maranatha
leader Bob Weiner talked about the
dawning of a "new age" and said that
the destiny of the United States was at
stake. Tedford said that members were
expected to infiltrate and take over
leadership positions in the student
government and journalism department
at the university.
Alienation
Tedford found that deceit was condoned
by the group so long as it was done for
someone's "own good." He was told that
he should not associate with his own
girlfriend, but that it would be right for
him to befriend another girl for the sole
purpose of converting her. He reports
that he "told off" a lot of his friends and
neighbors and exhorted them to come
to Maranatha meetings. His roommates
moved out and his family became
alarmed. By this time Tedford himself
was beginning to feel confusion and
doubt. He began to take a look at his
involvement from other perspectives,
seeking information and advice from
people outside the group. When he
stopped cooperating and began to
be
financially
(Part III)
Great Discord
Brethren
Among
Growth
Ministries,
moved
its
headquarters to the Gulf Coast
Covenant Church on the outskirts of
Mobile, Alabama. There it publishes
New Wine magazine, with a reported
circulation of between 75,000 and
100,000, and produces a quarter million
Shepherding
tapes
annually
for
worldwide
distribution.
The
San
Francisco Examiner states that it has
obtained a tape re-cording from the
early 1970"s of Mumford giving advice
to his pastors in Texas on how to obtain
followers: "Steal them out of your own
congregation. Meet them on the side
and begin to disciple them. Then you
put them back in there, and they start
making disciples. Very quietly. Actually
surreptitiously sneaky."
Mumford's organization soon began to
attract attention from other evangelical
and Pentecostal/Charismatic leaders. In
a letter to Mumford dated June 27,
1975, Christian Broadcasting Network
president Pat Robertson expressed his
concern about the teachings of
"discipleship-shepherding," which he
described as "an unnatural and
unscriptural domination of one man by
another." Robertson also complained
about pressure put on CBN to place
submitted individuals on its staff,
including one secretary he described as
a "hopeless cripple who could scarcely
type a letter without a long distance
telephone call to her shepherd," and
another who told a viewer who called
requesting support and prayer that she
could receive neither unless she was
"submitted" to someone.
Robertson also reported that a member
of his board of directors had expressed
"extreme alarm" upon observing that his
Christian friends "were being forced not
only to divulge the most confidential
details of their financial and family life,
but were being urged to turn their
resources either into the pockets of the
head "shepherds" in Fort Lauderdale or
into those of Charles Simpson in
Mobile." He proposed that a "council of
wise brethren" be convened to discuss
these and other concerns. Mumford
agreed, and the council took place in
Minneapolis in August 1975. According
to Christianity Today (April 4, 1980),
"some
doctrinal
excesses
were
apparently "confessed" by Mumford's
group"
before
the
assembled
representatives
of
mainstream
Charismatic
organizations.
This,
however, has failed to settle the
controversy, and the Shepherding
doctrine continues to receive criticism
Great
Discord
Brethren
Among