Remnant Fellowship 20: Popping Popcorn, Waiting for the Bewigged Tiger King....

[WorseThan1Thinks]

Nashville News Channel 5 had a segment on their morning news with Phil Williams regarding the documentary.  He interviewed Marina Zenovich (the director of the series).  

Among other things, Marina talks about how they've reached out to Gwen, leaders, etc for about the last 9 months and they would never respond.  All RF would release is this statement (they haven't even seen the documentary yet!)

So about 30-40% of Remnant's services are nothing but testimonies they want people to sit though and hear about how great RF is, but when testimonies come out about how awful RF is, then it's all absurd, defamatory and accusatory.  Yep, that's exactly how RF rolls.

 

And here's Phil's latest twitter post.

[ElleHouston]

In other news, that the best photo I have seen of Gwen in my whole 27 years of existence!! She's looks.....normal.

[quiversR4hunting]

Re: City Cafe

RF members owning a restaurant is like Sam on "Cheers" owning the bar. 3 course meal: 3 potato chips, diet coke and 1 petit four. This is how I imagine a gourmet meal - ala Gwen style - 

Honestly, the menu looks good. Good grief the ribeye is $42 (no size given) and 8oz sea bass is $34! They are closed Saturdays because what restaurant would want to be open on the busiest day of the week? (I know it is their sabbath but they make up their rules like "Who's Line is it Anyways", I was surprised they followed the sabbath rule.)

As good as the menu looks, that is a lot of money to blow to push food around on your plate and not eat it. I am guessing Gwen would tell them the meals should last a person at least 3 meals. 

[freefromthin]

Did anyone notice the comment on the video for News Channel 5? This person says that Gwen taught an excellent nutrition class at the University of Memphis years ago and that the documentary "continues to cover up with their pre-determined narrative".

 

Of course, they also go on to say that the Christmas day bombing in downtown Nashville was "related to forensics pertaining to fraudulent voting", whatever that means.

[livinginthelight]

Regarding church bailout money, my average-sized church did apply for and receive some money during the first round of funding. It didn't strike me as weird. Donations to the church had fallen off sharply, and there were salaries for pastors and office staff that needed to be paid. Our musicians (music director, instrumentalists) were suddenly completely out of work  and they were given a month or two of pay. Our lawn needed watering (the part that isn't drought-tolerant - we need a grass area for certain youth activities), and water is expensive in California. Utilities need paying on an ongoing basis. In addition, it is written in our budget to support certain missionaries who were depending on us.

The amount of our PPP loan/grant was less than 20% of our yearly budget. It carried us through the first few precarious months.

When it became clear that giving was (partially) rebounding, our leadership decided we didn't need the second round of funding.

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Elizabeth posted pictures on her Instagram from their latest cult party. I swear she’s dressing differently, doing her hair differently, and wearing her makeup differently since her mother and husband’s death. 

[ManyGoats]

3 hours ago, ElleHouston said:

In other news, that the best photo I have seen of Gwen in my whole 27 years of existence!! She's looks.....normal.

It's very telling that that's the photo they used. It shows awareness of how off-the-rails Gwen had gotten.

[WeirdHarold]

33 minutes ago, freefromthin said:

Of course, they also go on to say that the Christmas day bombing in downtown Nashville was "related to forensics pertaining to fraudulent voting", whatever that means.

Not a huge surprise.  Remember the 7 we're headed to a MAGA rally when they crashed.  I'm sure "stolen election" is often a topic of conversation at RF.

[Alisamer]

26 minutes ago, ManyGoats said:

It's very telling that that's the photo they used. It shows awareness of how off-the-rails Gwen had gotten.

I can imagine they were like "Oh crap! We gotta seem normal! Find a picture where she doesn't look like a dessicated corpse!" and ended up with a shot from 1993. 

[Howl]

5 hours ago, ElleHouston said:

In other news, that the best photo I have seen of Gwen in my whole 27 years of existence!! She's looks.....normal.

My thought exactly.  Normal.  They found an old photo where she doesn't look -- grotesque.  She looks, dare I say it, like a young-ish Hillary Clinton.  

[nelliebelle1197]

56 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

I can imagine they were like "Oh crap! We gotta seem normal! Find a picture where she doesn't look like a dessicated corpse!" and ended up with a shot from 1993. 

And she still looks a l'il cray cray behind the eyes.....

[Hane]

6 hours ago, Destiny said:

Why would a CHURCH need bailout money? That's way more rage inducing than the contracting business.

During my recent tenure as president of my UU congregation, we received a small PPP loan that covered the salary of our parttime office admin. We’re a small congregation (our building is a former farmhouse) with about 65 members and a half-time pastor we share with a sister church. Each of the two congregations pays our shared minister about $30K a year.

Also, welcome to @DanGryder and all the former RF members who are now posting. Dan, please do not feel bad about getting flagged with warnings—I’ve been a FJ member for a zillion years and have gotten dinged for accidentally “coloring outside the lines.” I assure you, it’s nothing personal. (Re your having had to verify your identity: Several years ago, a con artist joined our board and fleeced several of our members who believed her totally fictitious tale of woe. We’ve been *far* more cautious ever since.)

Edited September 28, 2021 by Hane

[hoipolloi]

Re: PPP loans & bailouts. Under the conditions of these programs, I generally have no problem with churches getting such funds since they do employ people. 

The bigger question we need to be asking is whether religious entities should continue receive the mega tax breaks they get on the local, state & federal levels.

ETA: What Hane said ^^^^

[JuneJuly]

Questions for ex-members (or anyone that might know)

Does anyone know of any groups/websites/forums for ex-members? 

What has been most helpful to you after leaving?

How are you dealing with your eating behaviors now?  I recently joined a 12 step group for eating/food problems, but getting to the step of turning things over to a higher power is very triggering! 

Anyway, it's very interesting and a relief to read others stories - I'm too embarrassed to discuss this stuff with anyone in "real" life. 

[freefromthin]

57 minutes ago, JuneJuly said:

Questions for ex-members (or anyone that might know)

Does anyone know of any groups/websites/forums for ex-members? 

What has been most helpful to you after leaving?

How are you dealing with your eating behaviors now?  I recently joined a 12 step group for eating/food problems, but getting to the step of turning things over to a higher power is very triggering! 

Anyway, it's very interesting and a relief to read others stories - I'm too embarrassed to discuss this stuff with anyone in "real" life. 

I am also VERY interested in any forums for ex-members. I was never a member but have had extensive involvement in WD and actually came close to joining RF on more than one occasion.

What helped me with my eating behaviors was listening to some of the voices in the intuitive eating space. Isabel Foxen Duke was the first, and then Caroline Dooner was one of the others who REALLY helped. I still struggle, but mostly because I have to keep tuning out all of the noise of diet culture. 

I initially came here after doing a search on Gwen Shamblin because I was desperate to find other people who had broken free from WD and RF. I know this is a snark board, but it has been VERY helpful for me. I've read through all 20 threads and it's been nice to know that I wasn't alone and that SOMEONE out there could relate to what I had experienced.

[BrokenWings270]

4 hours ago, WeirdHarold said:

Not a huge surprise.  Remember the 7 we're headed to a MAGA rally when they crashed.  I'm sure "stolen election" is often a topic of conversation at RF.

I've heard from a person who recently left, that pretty soon after the election Gwen did a recorded lecture based on election integrity and constitutional rights. It wasn't webcasted or broadcast so the only people who heard it, were those who attended it in person. The reason why it wasn't broadcast is supposedly because Joseph Langston didn't want "out of towners" to go down that rabbit hole with the fear that it would lose members as it was seen as a touchy subject. It wasn't ever put on their paid service either, the only way it would still be around would be on the church computers if they kept it or if someone attending it recorded it.

I'm curious about what all she said during that lecture.

[RFSurvivor_2]

21 minutes ago, BrokenWings270 said:

I've heard from a person who recently left, that pretty soon after the election Gwen did a recorded lecture based on election integrity and constitutional rights. It wasn't webcasted or broadcast so the only people who heard it, were those who attended it in person. The reason why it wasn't broadcast is supposedly because Joseph Langston didn't want "out of towners" to go down that rabbit hole with the fear that it would lose members as it was seen as a touchy subject. It wasn't ever put on their paid service either, the only way it would still be around would be on the church computers if they kept it or if someone attending it recorded it.

I'm curious about what all she said during that lecture.

I wonder if this was that infamous Wednesday evening service that took place in May. Boy did that ruffle some feathers (caused some families to leave the cult near immediately).

[freefromthin]

12 minutes ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

I wonder if this was that infamous Wednesday evening service that took place in May. Boy did that ruffle some feathers (caused some families to leave the cult near immediately).

Would this be the one where she allegedly said that racism didn't exist?

[ElleHouston]

43 minutes ago, freefromthin said:

Would this be the one where she allegedly said that racism didn't exist?

That happened that Wednesday before the plane crash. According to my sister, a lot of families left that evening. 

[ManyGoats]

7 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Elizabeth posted pictures on her Instagram from their latest cult party. I swear she’s dressing differently, doing her hair differently, and wearing her makeup differently since her mother and husband’s death. 

Would you mind elaborating on that? Her Instagram is private so I can't see for myself. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Just now, ManyGoats said:

Would you mind elaborating on that? Her Instagram is private so I can't see for myself. 

She’s doing this thing with her hair where it’s kind of up and curly. She normally wore her hair pin straight. And her clothing just looks much younger and more colorful. She seems to wear clothing I might see on a 21 year old. Like her big baggy jeans, a big brightly colored top. And I guess her makeup has been less pale for a year or so now. So I guess that’s not new. She used to look so pale and dead. Now her makeup is darker so she doesn’t look like a pale ghost. 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

There are older pictures of Elizabeth where she was slim, but healthy looking, normal make-up and short curly hair. I  think it's a tv show after she's had her 2nd or 3rd child.

She looks very normal in the old photos, like Gwen looked normal in 1993 before the skeletor look took hold.

[RFSurvivor_2]

33 minutes ago, freefromthin said:

Would this be the one where she allegedly said that racism didn't exist?

Correct.

57 minutes ago, ElleHouston said:

That happened that Wednesday before the plane crash. According to my sister, a lot of families left that evening. 

I was able to come across an audio recording and a few pictures of some…unsavory “informational” slides. Hopefully this information “magically” surfaces without it tracing to that specific individual.

[throwaway9988]

3 hours ago, BrokenWings270 said:

I've heard from a person who recently left, that pretty soon after the election Gwen did a recorded lecture based on election integrity and constitutional rights. It wasn't webcasted or broadcast so the only people who heard it, were those who attended it in person. The reason why it wasn't broadcast is supposedly because Joseph Langston didn't want "out of towners" to go down that rabbit hole with the fear that it would lose members as it was seen as a touchy subject. It wasn't ever put on their paid service either, the only way it would still be around would be on the church computers if they kept it or if someone attending it recorded it.

I'm curious about what all she said during that lecture.

 

3 hours ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

I wonder if this was that infamous Wednesday evening service that took place in May. Boy did that ruffle some feathers (caused some families to leave the cult near immediately).

 

2 hours ago, freefromthin said:

Would this be the one where she allegedly said that racism didn't exist?

 

2 hours ago, ElleHouston said:

That happened that Wednesday before the plane crash. According to my sister, a lot of families left that evening. 

We might only be getting part of the story through hearsay, but if this information is complete then it’s pretty pathetic that, amongst Remnant Fellowship leaders, only Joe Langsdon reportedly had enough common sense to realize that half of America doesn’t live in the bubble of disinformation, conspiracy theories, and white fragility that Gwen Shamblin Lara apparently embraced. My opinion of most of the RF leaders already couldn’t get any lower, but I had a bit of hope left for Eldon Gormson and maybe one or two others. But at least it’s a bit of a bright spot that so many of the local RF members walked out in response. Most of my own experience in RF was hearing a bunch of crap and bigotry coming from the pulpit and just having to sit there and take it and nod along with everyone else because for many years I didn’t have the resources or bravery to escape. 

Edited September 29, 2021 by throwaway9988

[Freedbygrace]

@JuneJuly responding to your questions for ex-members. 
1. I am not aware of regular groups/websites/forums for ex-members. There were two gatherings in the Brentwood area earlier this year that were good meetings. Hopefully there will be another soon. 
2. As far as helpful things it is good to talk to someone who understands what you have been through. Fortunately my wife and I, plus our now adult son, left RF at about the same time and can talk about our feelings. My wife has also rekindled friendships with some other women who left and that has been beneficial for her. 
3. We are still struggling with eating and have put on a lot of our lost weight but there is no guilt now. 
4. I understand your embarrassment to discuss RF. I did not tell anybody in our new church my history with RF until after the plane crash. I found they were not judgmental like I anticipated. I believe it will be easier after the documentary. 
5. The things I would like to tell every ex-RF member is to know how much God loves them. He is mot just waiting to zap you when you eat that one more bite. Instead He wants to give you a huge hug (as only someone who is Love can do) and rejoice over you with singing and dancing (see Zeph 3:17).

(I will pray for you. PM me if there is anything I can do to help.)