Gothard headquarters downsizing, moving to Big Sandy

[nolongerlurking]

I wonder if BUB will show/talk about this move on their upcoming season? They didn't directly mention IBLP yet (that I've noticed), just called it a "ministry in Chicago." I bet Kelly gushes about M&B's new "season of life" :ew:

edited because riffles

[FloraKitty35]

For what it is worth the Congressman for Big Sandy is Louie Gohmert.

[Howl]

For what it is worth the Congressman for Big Sandy is Louie Gohmert.

Gohmert (Teavangelical) is probably already BFF with IBLP.

Anybody know how many warm bodies already live at the Big Sandy compound?

Gohmert also tried to sponsor a bill requiring anyone running for office to provide documentation proving US citizenship (copy of birth certificate), so hopped on the birther wagon.

Louie also hopped on the Jade Helm paranoia wagon. Jade Helm just ended, and I think was successful, because after the original brouhaha, everything died down.

Jade Helm was a military exercise to see if the military could "infiltrate" a community without being noticed. So, yeah. Totally successful apparently. There are no patriots being held in the basement of the Bastrop WalMart as far as we know.

He's Texas A & M undergrad and Baylor Law, so no excuse there.

[clueliss]

Actually - Baylor is Christian. I have cousins in Waco. My aunt referred to it as the Baptist College.

[CloakNDagger]

And all my ALERT people were telling me that they were "distanced" from the Gothard stuff... yeah right.

[HereticHick]

Actually - Baylor is Christian. I have cousins in Waco. My aunt referred to it as the Baptist College.

Some of my cousins who (rather unwillingly) attended Baylor call it "Jerusalem on the Brazos"

[CloakNDagger]

Some of my cousins who (rather unwillingly) attended Baylor call it "Jerusalem on the Brazos"

Waco is a very messed up town. Wish it wasn't in Texas.

[Howl]

Well yes, Baylor is as Baptist as can be, but A & M (a state college), where the formative college years were spent, is normal conservative. Rick Perry also attended A & M.

I guess I'm trying also to make a distinction between what counts these days as normal Baptist, and the lunatic fringe. I'd put Baylor in the normal Baptist category.

Also, would Big Sandy be a good place for the eldest Duggar boy to move to when he gets back from vacation bible school rehab? It is about a 5-hour drive from Tontitown to Big Sandy, so it is close to the mothership but not too close, i.e., close enough to drive over during a long weekend once a year, but not close enough to drop in.

Josh will be a new man when he gets out, so will be ready to be put on staff as a redemption story. This could be a reality at some point in the next year. Kinda like the Gothard come back strategy.

[Palimpsest]

And all my ALERT people were telling me that they were "distanced" from the Gothard stuff... yeah right.

Well, you didn't believe them, did you? ;)

I think it's true that ALERT has tried to hide minimize the Gothard connection in the past but the move rather puts an end to that. It's like Oak Brook College of Law has nothing to do with Gothard either. :roll:

I'm fascinated that the Staddons leaked the news of the move but there has been no official announcement from IBLP headquarters yet. Pecan is still mum on it too so far. I wonder why?

It isn't a surprise at all that IBLP is consolidating and moving from Oak Brook because it has been losing money for years. The glory days are certainly over. It is a surprise to me that they are apparently moving ahead so fast. I thought Gibbs III had been hired by the (ex)donors to keep an eye on financial transactions. He was still trying to get IBLP into mediation in June, IIRC. Perhaps something has happened on that.

[Rhetorica]

I'm fascinated that the Staddons leaked the news of the move but there has been no official announcement from IBLP headquarters yet. Pecan is still mum on it too so far. I wonder why?

This is what I've been wondering about too. I wonder if they're going to try to minimize the move--NBD; keep moving along; nothing to see here.

FWIW, in the process of looking for an official announcement, I found a blog post written a couple years ago by an Aussie visitor at HQ: alexandramlim.blogspot.com/2013/06/iblp-headquarters.html Of special interest in the post is a picture of Gothard's home. First time I've seen a pic of that.

[quiversR4hunting]

This is what I've been wondering about too. I wonder if they're going to try to minimize the move--NBD; keep moving along; nothing to see here.

FWIW, in the process of looking for an official announcement, I found a blog post written a couple years ago by an Aussie visitor at HQ: alexandramlim.blogspot.com/2013/06/iblp-headquarters.html

Of special interest in the post is a picture of Gothard's home. First time I've seen a pic of that.

Interesting, it looks like it's in an old neighborhood, not on grounds of an institute. (I've never seen the institute so I assume it has buildings further spaced.) Also from the accounts on recovering grace many of the survivor stories said they crossed the lawn and could see his house. I wonder if this is his boyhood home? I'm just guessing, I've never been in or around gothard's cult until FJ.

I thought the first pictured with the caption "8 Pine" was interesting. I am assuming this is confirming my suspicions there are houses on the grounds at HQ. I also thought it was interesting that she thought of her self as Anne of Green Gables or Laura Ingles. Do good IBLP followers read novels with such strong female protagonists?

[Cartmann99]

Gohmert (Teavangelical) is probably already BFF with IBLP.

Anybody know how many warm bodies already live at the Big Sandy compound?

Gohmert also tried to sponsor a bill requiring anyone running for office to provide documentation proving US citizenship (copy of birth certificate), so hopped on the birther wagon.

Louie also hopped on the Jade Helm paranoia wagon. Jade Helm just ended, and I think was successful, because after the original brouhaha, everything died down.

Jade Helm was a military exercise to see if the military could "infiltrate" a community without being noticed. So, yeah. Totally successful apparently. There are no patriots being held in the basement of the Bastrop WalMart as far as we know.

He's Texas A & M undergrad and Baylor Law, so no excuse there.

Louie Gohmert does provide an important function. He makes all the other nutbags look sane by comparison.

[nokidsmom]

Interesting, it looks like it's in an old neighborhood, not on grounds of an institute. (I've never seen the institute so I assume it has buildings further spaced.) Also from the accounts on recovering grace many of the survivor stories said they crossed the lawn and could see his house. I wonder if this is his boyhood home? I'm just guessing, I've never been in or around gothard's cult until FJ.

I thought the first pictured with the caption "8 Pine" was interesting. I am assuming this is confirming my suspicions there are houses on the grounds at HQ. I also thought it was interesting that she thought of her self as Anne of Green Gables or Laura Ingles. Do good IBLP followers read novels with such strong female protagonists?

I used to live in this neighborhood, it's full of old historic homes. His house looks pretty typical and I am figuring that yes, this is his boyhood home. Located approx 5 miles east of HQ.

Good chance I walked by this house many times.

[CloakNDagger]

Well, you didn't believe them, did you? ;)

Not when all of their actions are still so, well, Gothardish!

[quiversR4hunting]

Give me a little lead...So I googled the address to ATI and found it on Cheval Dr on another search it says that HQ is on Ogden. The large HQ building that is on Ogden has the driveway on Adams rd. (many of you I assume already had that info). One street North of Cheval is Pine Hill Ln. So a I assume in the blog post above she was staying in 8 Pine Hill, she just dropped the "hill" off her descripton. Behind HQ there is a road named Hunter Trail that starts at the back parking lot and leads up to Pine HIll Ln. Cheval Dr is between Pine Hill and HQ building. The houses at the end of Cheval back up to Hunter Trail rd. (map quest- satellite view)

There is one house for sale on Pine Hill for $650k - http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3-Pin ... 8585_zpid/ (It's decorated very nicely, I would love this home- the only thing missing is a soaking tub in the master bath. IMO) If ATI owns some (or all) of those homes, it will make some money or pay down chunks of debt.

From realtor.com here are profiles of a few of the homes on Pine Hill: http://www.realtor.com/propertyrecord-s ... source=web I have no idea if any of these homes look like the homes where the Wallers and Staddons live.

[SilverBeach]

Aw, there goes my chance for a Pecan and Pris sighting. I always thought Oakbrook was an odd location for a fundie HQ, it is a rich and exclusive area, the Oakbrook Mall has a Neiman Marcus. On the other hand, I'm glad to get the contamination out of the metro Chicago area. Buh-bye!

[ILoveJellybeans]

Sounds good. Seeing as they are downsizing hopefully ATI is on its way out...shame this doesn't mean freedom for the cult members, as they will just latch on to another cult leader who probably has skeletons in their closet (like they all do, and its usually sexual)

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

The Chicago area is very progressive, but the Western Suburbs have been home to several large and powerful conservative Christian organizations. The Evangelical Mission boards were once HQ'ed in that area but moved out west (Denver area I think.....) in the late 90's- early 2000's. Wheaton College (Home of the Billy Graham Center) and Tyndale publishing are still in the area.

[Cleopatra7]

Sounds good. Seeing as they are downsizing hopefully ATI is on its way out...shame this doesn't mean freedom for the cult members, as they will just latch on to another cult leader who probably has skeletons in their closet (like they all do, and its usually sexual)

If AT I does fold, I bet the remaining families will just attach themselves to other abusive IFB flavored "ministries." While AT I was a special brand of spiritual abuse, there will always be hucksters promising quick "biblical" solutions to life's problems.

[Howl]

If AT I does fold, I bet the remaining families will just attach themselves to other abusive IFB flavored "ministries." While AT I was a special brand of spiritual abuse, there will always be hucksters promising quick "biblical" solutions to life's problems.

Sadly true.

[formerlyfundie]

I live VERY close to the Nashville headquarters, just minutes away. We drove by there today and there is a for sale sign there too. Now, the facility is HUGE, and I don't know how much they own, the sign is still up (the iblp sign) for now. It's the same building Jana told the infamous jewelry box story in. The for sale sign wasn't there Sunday when we passed it though, so it's new.

[Phoenix]

I wonder if Gothard might be "sole proprietor" of all the ATI/IBLP assets? Catholic Archbishops are during the time they are in power in any given dioceses. If so Gothard could potentially pocket the major money that comes from the sale of the cult's real estate properties.

[artdecades]

I don't think that ATI will ever disappear or completely fold as long as Gothard is alive. He will always have a flock of some sort. Once he dies though...

[Toothfairy]

It can't get any better... The duggars go down, Josh goes down, Gothard goes down, now ATI. Sadly I think people currently in ATI don't have the skills to be on their own.

[Rhetorica]

I thought the first pictured with the caption "8 Pine" was interesting. I am assuming this is confirming my suspicions there are houses on the grounds at HQ. I also thought it was interesting that she thought of her self as Anne of Green Gables or Laura Ingles. Do good IBLP followers read novels with such strong female protagonists?

Oh, yes! They are favorites among that crowd. And Gilbert Blythe is the official teenage heart-throb. They would probably say your view (which I share) has just been tainted by feminism, but that these characters actually learn to be obedient and proper young ladies despite their rambunctiousness. I wish I could find the ex-fundie blog that described this obsession, but here is info on a homeschooling study guide for AofGG: 7sistershomeschool.com/products-page/curriculum-categories/study-guide-for-anne-of-green-gables/

Speaking from my own experience growing up in a repressive religious setting, I think we admired Anne's spunk because our own had all been beaten out of us. And the Little House books made us feel so technologically progressive. sigh.