Its the only group he has ever encountered that blends Pentecostal and Anabaptist beliefs. Skip to main content. But the alleged victims refused to speak publicly, and the details of their stories couldn't be independently confirmed." 8b. Posted by stripesfordays. They tell anyone on the outside theres a plurality of elders but in a regular church, those elders are chosen by the members. Today, with the help of friends, Sandy is recovering in a Texas city away from Homestead Heritage. The group first tried community living at a ranch in Colorado, but eventually settled on a 500-acre farm in McLennan County, near Waco. Homestead Heritage leaders learned of the site three days after it was launched. A child is defined as anyone under the age of 18. Ex-Homesteader Jeremy Crow told me if anyone in the community sinned, they couldnt be forgiven unless they confessed to a leader. Theologically it therefore is considered to be a cult of Christianity. He refers to a constitution the group produced in the late 1980s as a secret document meant only for the eyes of candidates for their highest level of membership. As another former member told me, Who will believe a child over somebody else in the fellowship? Shop eBooks and audiobooks at Rakuten Kobo. At end of two weeks, he had taken pencils and drilled holes in the wall. The groups rules may be different or more voluminous than those of other groups, but theyre based on the identity Homestead Heritage has chosen for itself. After a while you are baptized into the church. 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. Do you think free access to journalism like this is important? 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 We have reposted it following a recent report on Homestead Heritage by WFAA in Dallas. Some Anabaptists, for example, practice familial shunning. He and the rest of the elders recently tried to get even more money by taking all the members' private businesses and making them part of the church so they would get a tax break but that's when the county stepped in and said no. 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. We would hope that local and state authorities would begin to understand that the long-standing allegations of child endangerment need to be more carefully considered.. Homestead Heritage (Waco) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go PDF Media. At least 20 people who were critical of the article contacted the magazine, says deputy managing editor Timothy Morgan. Because of all the crazy things that go on in the world, (people) are a little suspicious, Wheeler says. I'm done now! You didn't date. The Bible says youre allowed to discipline children, but everything was magnified with Blair, she said. I'm not really sure what drew my parents into joining but they come across as a "counterculture" community and my parents were (and still are) very into growing food and animals and living off the land as much as possible. Prince William County Executive Chris Shorter proposed major pay increases for county employees and a 5.3-cent real estate tax reduction Tuesday night, all part of his $1.61 billion budget proposal . At first my mom wasn't going to leave and they were going to have to get a divorce and stuff but luckily she got out as well after a bit. A favorite target is any high-demand religious group, Wheeler says. Publications, Forms and Documents. It was to set the record straight, especially for those outside the group to whom Elder had given his epistle. Also, it is illegal in the state of Texas not to turn someone in instantly if they admit to abusing someone and I don't understand why nobody arrested the people at homestead. But my parents didnt have a clue. But dig a little below the surface, and the idyllic veneer of this place begins to peel and crumble. However, the group doesnt believe in salvation as a phenomenon that happens at just one moment in time. Cult, abuse: these words define a popular community located in Waco, Tx, known to most as Homestead Heritage, with perhaps a thousand or more faithful members. Open letter to President Jacob Zuma concerning Zimbabwe But it does mean people cannot continually commit unrepented sin and enter heaven. There has to be authority, but its not authoritarian, Wheeler says. She cites the example of Heavens Gate, the UFO religion founded by Marshall Applewhite in which 39 members committed suicide in 1997. Exes talk of people being disciplined for eating chocolate, wearing cowboy boots or rolling up shirt sleeves. The man told Wheeler that soon the whole world would know Homestead Heritage was the next cult in Waco and that the news media would become involved. I was told the leadership was trying to get him counseling and help before they turned him in because they didnt want him to go to jail., Bill DeLongs son Andrew, then an employee of Brazos Walking Sticks, a company affiliated with Homestead Heritage, pleaded guilty to four offenses of child sexual assault, waiving his right to a jury trial and his right to appeal. I remember how much I liked these meetings because whenever "visitors" are there, they are super friendly and everyone just seems so damn happy lol. Their storyline as a whole presents a blatantly false and misleading characterization of our non-violent, peace-loving Christian community.. But stranger things have happened, he says. . 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. That's why I wish they knew that there are other options that are so much better. A clue is in the leadership structure. This tasting is in partnership . But that doesnt protect it from others who might be stirred to act out of prejudice, Yarden says. I lived in chalk bluff when I was younger. Members believe they would have prevailed in court, too, after Elder brought legal action against them. Lt. Clay Perry of the McLennan County Sheriffs office told the Observer that officers decided not to pursue a prosecution against Klingensmith. Church leaders follow the biblical pattern of first going to someone in private about the offense. My children could have grandparents., One particularly poignant reminder of just how devastating the impact of leaving a closed religious group like Homestead Heritage can have on an individual can be found in an excerpt from an open letter one ex-member wrote to her mother and father who are still in the group. Somehow we ended up in a scuffle and he took my thumb and started bending it into my arm so I kicked him in the knee and punched him. 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. They lived it to the core. 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. You dont question it., Most members of Homestead Heritage are so closed off from the outside world, ex-members say, that its exceedingly difficult for anyone to alert the authorities if they suspect wrongdoing. Its not clear when or if the abuse ended. Cult Education Institute :: Group Information Archives Photos, illustrations and other art may be available for syndication but must be confirmed. You murder their reputation and cause people to fear them, Yarden says. At the family level, fathers are above wives and children. Then only if they decide you can be forgiven can you be forgiven, he said. Are there any things you were taught in the cult that are hard for you to remember are false? People would dance in the aisles and speak in tongues. 2021 The Texas Observer. It was seen as lustful. Many families obtain 80 to 90 percent of their food that way, they say. Crow, who left the group seven years ago, said young men growing up in the community are made to suppress their desires and sex drive. Four members, I discovered, had been convicted of sexually assaulting minors, but I uncovered further allegations of sexual abuse of children that had never been reported to authorities. The motivation behind that attack, members say, is to make Homestead Heritage seem as if it deceptively recruits members, further fitting the mold of a cult. Anyone who honestly reads the groups literature or listens in earnest at meetings could not possibly come away with that idea, he says. When you work these cases, you need all the help you can get as far as testimony is concerned, he said. Furthermore, the Observer has allegedly "learned from a number of different sources of other cases of sexual abuse within Homestead Heritage. Was there any special criteria involved with working at the cafe or the various buildings during public hours? "A Texas Observer investigation has found allegations of child sex abuse involving at least six members of the Homestead Heritage community. In fact, one of their members from the Arizona branch ended up torching her house and burning herself and her kids in it. Every accusation so far has been false, he says. When my dad said he was leaving they started coming over to our house for hours a day for over a week, calling threats of hell and generally scaring the shit out of me. The same is true for exes who claim their childrens schooling suffered because of group responsibilities, members say. 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. A Texas Observer investigation has found allegations of child sex abuse involving at least six members of the Homestead Heritage community. (Arnn) cant tell a total charlatan.. I loved that and I became quite a loner. Yikes. They let me do this and didnt have enough concern to take him away, she said. Services are held every Friday night and Sunday, but for its members and they currently number about 1,000 Homestead Heritage is a way of life. Attorney Jeff Blackburn, a crusader for the innocent, fought injustices across Texas in his improbable, utterly original, and often profane life. The only reason critics make claims of secrecy, Wheeler says, is to give credence to allegations that people would otherwise dismiss as ludicrous. Theyre well known in this city of 125,000 along the Brazos River as harmless religious folk devoted to an earlier, simpler way of life. The editors note explained to Christianity Today readers that Beechners thoughts had been echoed by others and that Homestead Heritage elders deny the charges of coercion, abusive discipline or teaching non-biblical doctrine. It then encouraged readers to contact both Homestead Heritage and Watchman Fellowship for more information. Most of the accusations were written by ex-member Jeremy Crow. Some have nuggets of truth to them, but thats as far as it goes. But the truth is Homestead Heritage does not fit that mold, they say. The Town has declared parking bans for the purpose of snow removal on Monday, March 6 and Tuesday, March 7 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. along the following maintenance routes (weather dependent): March 6: Cimarron Boulevard from 32nd Street to Cimarron Drive. To back up its claim the document is not secret, Homestead Heritage presented the Tribune-Herald with affidavits from nearly 50 people who say it was read and that copies were distributed during a meeting in Colorado in 1988. . Interestingly, John said the children in the congregation would actually look forward to Sunday meetings an intense drama they couldnt watch on TV or listen to on the radio because both were banned. Our family made it out although it was very difficult to leave. Trying to think of a question to ask, I guess is there anything you miss from that time in your life? The group practices nonviolence. For after all, I am your daughter.. Waco, United States Contact Suggest edits to improve what we show. We could be a family again. Some involve matters of ministerial confidentiality. WFAAs investigation is believed to have found further evidence of abuse what Shipp describes as compelling personal testimony and physical documentation that Elders of Homestead either knew or should have known that children were being sexually and physically abused within the community., In his entire career, Shipp says hes never had to work so hard to corroborate allegations of an important story. Through the years, he says he has learned when something might be gained from meeting with group leaders and when it wont. Homestead Heritage, sexual abuse, lewdness. Hey Reddit, I was raised in a religious cult located in Waco, TX for the first 16 years of my life. Others dont want to admit they freely made a decision to join a group they later ended up disagreeing with, he says. And I think thats why some people turned to child abuse. Whenever they quote our literature, member Nathan Tittley says, you really have to watch the ellipses.. Wheeler reported the phone call to the McLennan County Sheriffs Office, but officers couldnt trace it. Did you ever have moments where you knew that it was a cult? Rather, Homestead Heritage teaches that every member receives a piece of it. Clinton Elder is a perfect example of how ex-members have tried to blame Homestead Heritage rather than deal with personal failure, members say. Then hed berate somebody on the spot. The whole realm of pleasure, which God gave us is held suspect in so many ways by Homestead Heritage., Jeremy Crow, 35, joined Homestead along with his parents when he was 8 years old. Repairs launched at local landmark | Mt. Airy News Thank you for doing this! Some still have a novice period before confirmation. Thats not to say nonmembers never come to Sunday meetings. 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. Theyd talk about different implements to use that wouldnt leave marks., Once he got too old for beatings, John said he had to endure being berated by the elders for two or three hours at a time. This was no isolated incident. Pasture-raised beef, fresh breads, award-winning local cheese, and house-made sauces and condiments; these are a few of the things that help make Cafe Homestead one of Waco's most-loved restaurants since 1994. Professor Olson ignored repeated requests to talk to me for this story. Why? Wheeler says. He intends to plead guilty, according to the McLennan County DAs office. Basically, did you see or hear anything that corroborates that? I really didn't care bc it was good fishing. The Branch Davidians and their apocalyptic saga here made people realize how dangerous aberrant groups can be, they say. 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. DeLong then told the officer that sometime around March 2003, he sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl, according to his statement. It began with Arnn individually contacting people who left the group. What was your impression of him? More importantly, though, Homestead Heritage wants its beliefs to be imparted in a more personal manner. Easter Brothers Hometown Festival planned | Mt. Airy News The McLennan County Sheriffs office wouldnt release details of the cases against Bill DeLong, Andrew DeLong or Joseph Ratliff, even though they are part of the public record. The Shrinking actor talks mental health, being queer, and why the Lone Star State is the perfect home for his new play Silver Foxes. 388 Halbert Lane, Waco, TX 76705 (254) 754-9604. The group especially noted the persecution of Jews throughout history, saying one of the weapons used against Jews was wild claims of a secret conspiracy to take over the world. The church also created an online petitionasking former members to sign a statement that said although they were no longer associated with Homestead Heritage, the church ministry would never tolerate, much less promote, make exception for, or cover up the heinous crime of sexual abuse of children. The petition said any publication associating the ministry with such behaviors is defamatory. As former member Katherine Beechner said, I dont know of any other church that puts out a book that trains its members how to answer questions from visitors. This public condemnation from the pulpit can escalate, he wrote, until the leaders are shouting and pounding the lectern. WFAA Weighs In on Homestead Heritage With a Two-Part Investigation . Such an inquiry would be the minimum to be extended to a friend nation who South Africa shares a common heritage ( Ubuntu). 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. Thats the abbreviation for a group called the Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, which says its purpose is to promote independent investigation and public debate and dialog on cult and mind-control issues.. He did everything he could shy of getting involved., In his statement to police(warning: graphic material), DeLong said he also told his wife, Carolyn, about his crimes a year before he gave himself up and that the couple just prayed and cried over what happened for a long time. The officer asked him if his wife ever told him to turn himself in and he said they just prayed and were hoping something would change.. Many are trying to rid themselves of the discomfort of sin that forced them to leave the group, Wheeler says. Thanks! 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. The maximum output recorded for a . Gary Green and Arthur Brown Jr. are set to be killed next week by the State of Texas. The story served as an introduction to the church to anyone outside Texas. Yes! Get our latest in-depth reporting straight to your inbox. Consequently, they have begun eyeing any group outside the mainstream. If you still express interest and the elders feel like you are into the "vision" (basically you are more likely to agree with them) you can start visiting regularly on Friday nights. Anyway, I've got some time and I'm more than open to any questions you have, as long as they don't identify me! I'm glad you made it out hope The best for you and your family. They reject the idea of once saved, always saved.. Rooted in Oneness Pentecostalism, it denies the doctrine of the Trinity and teaches an anti-grace message denying salvation by grace alone. Its literature stresses simplicity, sustainability, self-sufficiency, cooperation, service and quality craftmanship. But if that doesnt work, the church takes a series of increasingly severe steps. But we incorrectly reported the timeline that DeLong gave to police. After a while they start making the Friday night meetings more similar to how they really are. How did you end up leaving/was it hard? Idk all I know is it really is an awful place and I am so glad to be out of there. Unusual to a huge degree, yes. 'By God's Design': Homestead Heritage a small-farm success story Basically you are agreeing to serve them as representatives of God and that you are going to hell if you break away from them. This follows Februarys Texas Observer story, Heritage of Abuse in which I exposed accusations of child abuse, beatings and cover-ups leveled at the group. Those steps were critical, Homestead Heritage followers say, because they allowed Arnn to convince ex-members that Homestead Heritage is a cult. Requiring members to adhere to group patterns is no different than a football coach requiring players to meet certain standards of conduct, Wheeler says. As for one of the things they are mentioning in the article, recently a member turned himself in for having sex with his 13 year old daughter. Members still go to local stores for some needs. When he was 12, he said a then-member of the church beat him for breaking the door of a trailer. A chief task with any prospective member is communicating not only what the group believes but how that plays out in the context of community life, they say. Held in members homes and attended by about 100 people, their size allows visitors to get to know the group more easily, they say. The other elders are beneath him. At the crux of those punishments is isolation from the group, with disfellowshipment being more severe. 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. So glad you were able to escape! That was basically the gist of every 8 hour long Sunday "meeting". 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. The second link mentions there are allegations of child abuse. He was the greatest thing that ever lived. A total of 4.03 inches was logged, which is 0.31 inches or 8.3% above normal for the first month of the year for Mount Airy, which averages 3.72 inches. End result: Homestead Heritage became a scapegoat for ex-members. Its literature stresses simplicity, sustainability, self-sufficiency, cooperation, service and quality craftmanship. Thats all just a lie, Wheeler says. Hey, I meant to ask you this earlieris your username a reference to Monty Python?? She's really thinking "this worldly woman is wearing pants instead of a dress, she is going to hell.". Ex-members are making the sensational claim because one characteristic of a cult is having a charismatic leader or group of leaders, members say. And that took a very long time. And if part of that is letting people know what I personally saw and experienced then I'm more than happy to do that. It would go on and on like this. It was, he said, an intense mix of Pentecostal preacher with fire-and-brimstone judgment. John said his father was a leader one minute and demoted the next. An attorney I spoke to said one defense to a charge of assault can be force necessary to discipline a child. To make matters more complicated, when a religious community is involved, the state is reluctant to interfere. Thousands of area residents flock to the group's property near Chalk Bluff each year to attend holiday fairs or school field trips. In his statement to police, Klingensmith conceded that DeLong had informed him of the abuse a year earlier. On occasion they do, members say.