Church of Wells Store/Catherine went back MERGED

[ladyamylynn]

Catherine Grove, now married to Ronnie Saltsman, had a baby on May 20th according to facebook. She'll never get out now. 

[nelliebelle1197]

Oh, wow. That is all I can say.

[frugaldreams]

Poor baby. Looks like this is the sort of childhood it can look forward to. Honestly, this is more than a little frightening.

http://belovedsistersofthechurchofwells.weebly.com/uploads/4/5/5/1/45517559/love_hard,_discipline_hard.pdf

[Howl]

Another young person lost to Church of Wells. This was on my local TV station, Nov 3, 2016: 

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Family fears son was targeted by cult in Downtown Austin 

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/family-fears-son-was-targeted-by-cult-in-downtown-austin/347514678

A Georgetown family is pleading for their son to return home after learning he left Austin with members of a church that many believe may be a cult in East Texas.  It all started on Halloween night when 27-year-old Jordan Reichenberger told his family he was going to Downtown Austin to preach the Bible.

It was something Jordan regularly did with the organization Jesus Crew, according to his brother, Ian Reichenberger.  "On Sunday he mentioned to my grandma 'Hey pray for me Monday night.’ She said ‘why?’ He said ‘Halloween, I'm going downtown for Jesus Crew,’” Ian explained.

Several days later, however, Ian got a text from his dad that would change his whole world.

"My dad texted me saying 'have you heard from Jordan?' And so I called him and I was like ‘he didn't come home last night?’ He said no, he didn't come home for two nights."

Panicked and fearing the worst, the family sprang into action, calling the Georgetown Police Department. Detectives were able to track his phone.

"His phone had pinged at 5:30 a.m. (Tuesday) outside of Dime Box, Texas,” said Ian. Dime Box is a city in East Texas about an hour outside of Austin.
At the same time, Ian and his family began looking for video from bars and restaurants in Downtown Austin to see if they could confirm that Jordan had made it to Sixth Street Monday night.

Thanks to Iron Cactus, they found Jordan on camera walking with another man after the bars closed.  "There he is with the man in plaid and this guy in a hood at 2:47 a.m,” Ian pointed out, saying his brother then walks off with the man in plaid.

East Sixth Street is an entertainment area in downtown Austin with numerous bars; on occasions like Halloween, it is thronged with people who like to party hearty.  Here's the link to  Jesus Crew, a street preaching ministry: http://www.jesuscrew.net/1.html

The family found videos online showing Jordan with a man in a plaid shirt preaching to someone in a clown costume.  

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After watching both videos, Ian called an expert with the Heidi Search Foundation in San Antonio. The foundation’s executive director Dottie Laster specializes in finding missing persons.

"When I explained to Dottie that my brother left with a man in a plaid shirt, she said 'oh no, that sounds like the Church of Wells,'” said Ian.

The Church of Wells in East Texas has made national headlines before. An Arkansas family claimed their daughter Catherine Grove was brainwashed by the church.  Many have accused the Church of Wells as operating like a cult. Often, their members are cut off from friends and family if they do not support the church’s teachings.

Jordan's family's fears were confirmed on Thursday when they finally heard from him.  According to Ian, Jordan told him over the phone that “I don't think it's my time to leave yet” when Ian pleaded with him to return home.

Jordan also sent a text to several people that read “Do not fear for me my friend. I have decided to follow Jesus and forsake all; please forgive any pain or grief I have caused you.”

Ian is praying that his brother hears their pleas and returns home.  "We love you, we miss you, we want you back Jordan."

The Sheriff in Wells, Texas checked on Jordan Thursday evening but told the family that because he is an adult and does not appear to be harmed, there is nothing they can do to forcibly bring him home.

 

[Howl]

There are now about 70 children growing up in this hot mess of a cult.  There is a fb page called Pray for the Children of the Church of Wells that's painful to read. 

Apparently there is mental and physical discipline going on that makes the Pearls seem like the nicest people ever, and, based on the large number of kids, militant fecundity.   Apparently, there is zip medical care for women and kids, and especially no pain relief during childbirth or for anything else, because suffering is purifying, right, even for kids. 

And did I mention extreme patriarchy? Here's a quote from  #churchofWells elder Sean Morris' plan for the subjection of all women (this links to an audio of the quote below)

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"It is so important that many women have humility toward their husbands, and a fear and subjection toward their husbands. You need to recognize that ALL men are your head, that is, the whole race in general, that God has given a purpose and creation for. But your direct 'head' and most primary authority is your husband. And, then, also like, from the husband being your 'head' then all the male race, but above the male race and your husband, would be the heads of the church, would be the rulers of the church, then up to God. And that would be the order of the authority."

Reading between the lines, there is domestic violence/discipline as well. 

A Church of Wells member was convicted of disorderly conduct on Dec. 12, 2016, for disrupting a Christmas parade (!) in Lufkin, TX in 2015.  The police were called because the Church of Wells people were running around "street preaching", pissing off adults, scaring children and being generally disruptive.  The police told them they could preach but not disrupt the parade; however, one church member couldn't contain himself and ended up being arrested.   Angelina County judge finds Church of Wells member guilty of disorderly conduct

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Clifton was heard yelling, "He doesn't want you to burn" and "it is an abomination," during pauses in the parade.  

Lufkin is deep East Texas and you can't swing a (metaphorical) cat without hitting a protestant/fundamentalist/evangelical church on every corner.  Screaming people implying the residents aren't saved, disrupting a parade and scaring children wouldn't be well received, to say the least. Apparently, Clifton was arrested partly for his own safety since people were getting that pissed off and it sounds like a few punches were thrown. 

In true cult fashion, Church of Wells thinks that continuing to love anyone not in the cult (like your parents, siblings, other relatives) is to make an idol of them and that connection must be broken, because we can't have idols in our lives, can we? 

Of course, there's a lot of screaming street preaching going on, but no caring for widows and orphans, feeding the hungry or providing shelter to those with none. Because Church of Wells is preaching the only real, true, biblical Christianity, I guess this other stuff isn't important, even though that was a critical aspect of Christ's message.  Cognitive dissonance much?

Looking at the Church of Wells website, there's a bit o' End Times bullshit starting to show up as well.  Depending, this could be very concerning. 

I'd be very, VERY interested to know who is working at what jobs to support this shit show, because somebody (males) has to be working and bringing in money, or maybe there is the church hierarchy of the original founders, and the peons work at job-type jobs to support them.  

A year or two ago, Church of Wells bought a large building with a house in Alto, TX, not too far from Wells but in a different county, but I can't get any current info about it. 

One last update.  There was an 18-year-old girl who went off to a 3-day Bible conference and got caught up by the Church of Wells people who were preaching outside the conference.  Her parents went to retrieve her ASAP, got her out and took her home to Houston.  Two Church of Wells people SHOWED UP AT THEIR HOUSE seeking to get her back to Wells.  They were caught on the household security camera.  Scary, scary people. 

And don't get me going on Israel Keyes, (serial killer, arsonist, rapist, burglar, bank robber) whose mother (Heidi Keyes) and several siblings are Church of Wells stalwarts.  Israel Keyes was finally apprehended in 2012 and committed suicide in jail.  Keyes family: Mormon, homeschooled, subsequently Christian Identity church on occasion and were friends with a family who had their own murder issues: Chevie Kehoe

ETA: One more source, not too well written, but useful: 

Discerning the Church of Wells has statements from previous members and other information.