Church of Wells Store/Catherine went back MERGED

[antwan]

Antwan, Waco and Jonestown both went through my mind. There's just 1 way this will all end, and not all those babies will see adulthood. :(

I know. It's absolutely sickening and heart wrenching. They're talking about being martyrs, for crying out loud. "Better to die" or whatever similar wording was used. WHY did she go back? (I know, brainwashed, but I can't get past the why.) Did you see her in that video on their web page? Her answer was CLASSIC cult babble. She's not Catherine but she IS Catherine. What the...???? And then lowering her head into her lap and crying when asked about her family. And the cult's explanation for that. This is soooo freaking disturbing. :evil:

[goldbu]

I have now watched the entire video. Very disturbing.

I am even more disturbed for the children that are growing up in that mess.

I attempted to watch this. It's just too slow, painful, and sad. It makes me sick that these guys have this kind of control over their "church."

[antwan]

Catherine made a video explaining why she went home and why she returned (speaking only after a "church leader" gives the cult lead-in speech).

The leader actually says...

"Ever since we met Catherine 2 years ago, she has not been of eloquent speech, and she has been just as you'll see her on the video, today,...as far as...her ability to utter words in a cohesive, complete, thorough, and quick manner before individuals looking on. So I'm asking for patience from the viewer, and just so you know...in this testimony, she will bear witness of being held against her will by her parents, being forcefully restrained, for..from her...her rights as a citizen, from her religious liberties, you will hear of her being involuntarily committed into a psyche ward,...thereafter being examined, screened, uh, by psychiatry,...found completely free from any mental illness,...given the approval of one of the most prestigious hospitals in the United States, verifying that she is of normal psychiatric assessment, without any mental illness...you'll hear how the FBI got involved and examined her under the accusations of her parents..."

You get the point. This religious zealot actually gives testimony that Catherine basically seems lucid, simple, unable to rub two words together coherently, then in the same breath proverbially washes the Church of Wells' hands from having any such impact on her. This is so pathetically sad. (Oh, and the video is about 50 minutes long.)

http://5newsonline.com/2015/04/16/video ... as-church/

p.s. and if you want to hear some seriously patriarchial wedding vows, track down Ryan and Joy Ringnald's wedding video. She stares up at him like a 10 year old little girl, I kid you not, while he "thees" and "thous" his way into the marriage. She then fires up with how he is her headship and she was created to submit to him as his help meet, blah blah blah.

[mrs]

I am at the 12 minute mark. Catherine seems to be very dazed and removed in the video. I have a hard time believing the "elder's" betrayal of Catherine at the beginning. Catherine seems to be a very educated person. According to the Lufkin Daily News she

quit her nursing job and drop out of college right before finishing her second degree to move from Arkansas to Wells

(http://lufkindailynews.com/opinion/edit ... f887a.html . Also you can read the article here without a subscription http://faith.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=40 )

Could anyone offer any incite on Catherine's body language or perhaps anything about her health? I know it is just a video but I can't get past how odd and unusually it is. Obviously, this is all speculation.

ETA: to add information

[apple1]

I am at the 12 minute mark. Catherine seems to be very dazed and removed in the video. I have a hard time believing the "elder's" betrayal of Catherine at the beginning. Catherine seems to be a very educated person. According to the Lufkin Daily News she

(http://lufkindailynews.com/opinion/edit ... f887a.html . Also you can read the article here without a subscription http://faith.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=40 )

Could anyone offer any incite on Catherine's body language or perhaps anything about her health? I know it is just a video but I can't get past how odd and unusually it is. Obviously, this is all speculation.

ETA: to add information

It is my understanding that Catherine was in process of, or possibly had completed, getting training to be a CNA (nursing assistant) to care for people in long-term care facilities. I have seen some documentation in that direction. The Lufkin News incorrectly reported that she was a nurse, I believe.

Anyway-

The video has many stops and starts (if you watch for that). It is unclear to me how much of what Catherine is saying is hers and how much she may be repeating. It is also unclear to me how much of this very unusual manner of communication is caused by what. Unsure? Needing to please? If so, please who? Why? Is this how she is all the time now? I have way more questions than answers.

The view of the video (IMO carefully) does not allow her arms to be seen, I would suspect because she is so thin. The front of her dress is completely flat. There are online pictures from before she went to Wells, and while she was never large, she was not physically like she is now.

In the video, she makes a statement to the effect that the psychiatrist at the hospital released her because she was found to be in good mental health. (I have NO specific information about Catherine). However - inpatient (or overnight) psych admission ordinarily ONLY happens if the individual is believed to be at risk for physical danger to oneself (suicide) or physical danger to others. The lack of or release from psych admission only indicates that the person is believed to not be at risk for these behaviors. It is NOT a statement about the individual mental/emotional/social health in any other way, nor is it a statement that counseling or psychiatric evaluation and/or care is not needed.

ETA: I cannot believe that Catherine, all on her own without at least input from the CoW "elders", chose to use the word CONTENTIOUS repeatedly to describe her mother.

[jerkit]

She did look very thin in the video. I wonder if COW is using food rationing to manipulate members.

[mrs]

Thanks for the correction Apple! I didn't notice the thinness until you posted about it. I still haven't made it through the whole video. But she does mention a close family member has a mental illness.

[ladyamylynn]

She did look very thin in the video. I wonder if COW is using food rationing to manipulate members.

I wondered that too when she asked the Sheriff for Dairy Queen after he picked her up.

[apple1]

More information/ correction - Before going to Wells, Catherine actually had been in nursing school. Also - if I understand correctly - had a college degree in Spanish.

[Monica Joan]

That video was painful to watch. Catherine looked absolutely brainwashed and confused.

[antwan]

Thanks for the correction Apple! I didn't notice the thinness until you posted about it. I still haven't made it through the whole video. But she does mention a close family member has a mental illness.

The sister, Amy, adds another element of "Hmmm?" to the whole story. In 2013, she stated in an interview (see link below) that she supported Catherine's desire to remain with the CoW, and she gives the reason why (enter another twist in the story, -controlling parents.) Allegedly, the parents gained guardianship of Amy because of her "mental illness", but Amy describes it as a brain injury. Lots of unclear details in this sad, sad saga, BUT...one thing is certain. The level of isolation being brought to bear on Catherine by the CoW screams "CULT!" to me. And yes, she is so very lethargic in this video that it's troubling. And all the cuts in the roll of it speak coaching and control to me. And SO agree on the overuse of "contentious." Morris, himself, states that she has difficulty uttering words and forming sentences, yet she is able to boldly label them (repeatedly) as contentious? :shrug:

ETA link:

http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/new ... 36e51.html

P.S. Do you think the church's cult leaders elders are scanning our posts for fanatical fodder?

[antwan]

A childhood friend of Catherine Groves speaks out. Take note of Catherine's eyes in the old photos, and then how she looked in the recent Wells video (depressed, downcast, even maybe under some influence, whether it be sleep deprived, pharmaceutical, etc.)

http://5newsonline.com/2015/04/20/cathe ... ed-to-you/

[ladyamylynn]

Sean and Preethi Morris, of the Church Cult of Wells, had a baby girl named Ebenee Hephzibah on April 24th. Poor little thing, to be born into such insanity.

[Want More Babies]

http://www.ktre.com/story/29007361/the- ... ial-report

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[Want More Babies]

I know it was posted on the old Church of Wells page but brought it over here. I wonder if her parents could have taken her to a "deprogrammer?" I am glad to see that at least one person is trying to find answers (Caleb Bearnes of KTRE).

Alto, TX is a very small town too. I wonder if Church of Wells is trying to branch out? I also notice that they are staying out of Angelina County. I wonder if law enforcement would not be as kind to them there? Small town, East Texas politics can be INTERESTING.

[apple1]

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22510&start=60

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Apparently she's engaged to a church member named Ronnie Saltsman. You can see their engagement photos if you search for him on facebook. Looks like they were engaged in January-- from what I've read about this group, I'd bet the marriage wasn't exactly her idea, and she decided to attempt an escape rather than go through with it. Also it looks like other church members had VERY brief engagements, like 2-3 weeks before the wedding. I'm curious to know what happened in those two months before she made a break for it.

[luv2laugh]

This group is really creepy. They sound like a cult? Have they ever been discussed here before this thread? I am surprised.

[mrs]

Yup.

viewtopic.php?f=269&t=13765&p=701562&hilit=Church+of+wells+911#p701562

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=26448&p=981673&hilit=Church+of+wells#p981673

[Howl]

Preethi David seems to have been appointed head of the Ministry of Truth at CoW and spends a lot of time posting the most cheerful and uplifting verses from scripture:

Jeremiah 13:15-18

Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.

Jeremiah 4:19-22

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

And so forth.

A commenter is giving constructive criticism on the disruption incident at Lakewood Church.

Only God knows the heart of Joel Osteen. You, nor anyone at the Church of Wells, is God nor are you like the Prophets & Judges of the Old Testament.

Also nowhere in the Bible are believers instructed to publicly heckle - rather we are warned numerous times that we are not the judge. Each person will one day stand before The Judge and will be responsible for our own actions.

Irresponsible behaviors such as criminal trespassing & confrontational attacks may be viewed as just as destructive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And Preethi is having none of it, or actually, Preethi quotes Jacob Gardner:

I do not say that we even recognize Lakewood as a church, or Osteen as a minister of Christ, but because they confer upon themselves such titles, we have been obliged to decry their sins. Let this much suffice for those who understand not what legitimizes such an act of righteous judgment.

There is a LOT of convoluted reasoning at CoW, with scripture interpreted through the lens of their distorted worldview.

The (relatively) good news is that Ronnie Saltsman's fb page still shows his status as 'engaged' so at least they haven't gotten married.

[ladyamylynn]

Preethi now has a page up for her bloviating. belovedsistersofthechurchofwells.weebly.com

It's about as uninteresting as you might imagine. She's a real piece of work.

[ladyamylynn]

According to Preethi's dad's facebook, it looks like they married poor Catherine off. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10200625215908162 The bride looks so happy.

[mrs]

According to Preethi's dad's facebook, it looks like they married poor Catherine off. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10200625215908162 The bride looks so happy.

Ughhh, this makes the whole situation even more complicated. I wonder if her family will speak out about her marriage?

[DGayle]

She looks overwhelmed and on the verge of breaking out in tears. That cult needs to be forcefully disbanded.

[mirele]

She looks overwhelmed and on the verge of breaking out in tears. That cult needs to be forcefully disbanded.

If the government doesn't see Scientology's Sea Org as slave labor, they're not going to disband the Church at Wells.