Homestead Heritage and Rory Feek

[JermajestyDuggar]

Rory Feek’s adult daughters say he’s cut them off from their younger sister because of Homestead Heritage. They weren’t invited to his recent wedding filled with Homestead Heritage members. Does anyone have any experience with Homestead Heritage? 
 

https://people.com/rory-feek-responds-to-family-legal-threats-denies-claims-daughter-is-unsafe-cult-ties-8704913

[Queen Of Hearts]

I just came here to post something similar.  Sounds like a cult.  

[Columbia]

Never heard of it, but if you have to dedicate a whole page to criticism, and if your main response to criticism is "Y'all just bitter," probably there's something to the critiques.

Spoiler

 

[FiveAcres]

3 minutes ago, Columbia said:

Never heard of it, but if you have to dedicate a whole page to criticism, and if your main response to criticism is "Y'all just bitter," probably there's something to the critiques.

  Hide contents

 

I agree: that statement contains some masterclass gas-lighting.

Edited September 2 by FiveAcres

[yeahthatsme74]

I read the article earlier and got chills.  All I could think of was Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell. I hope there's nothing nefarious going on.

[JermajestyDuggar]

If you have always had a good relationship with your adult daughters until you join a “group” and then suddenly must shun them due to the way they live their lives, you are probably in a cult 🤷🏻‍♀️

[EmiSue]

Comparing commitment to your community to the commitment of a marriage and leaving said community with the pain of a divorce...yeah, that's a cult.

[Howl]

On 9/2/2024 at 11:50 AM, Columbia said:

Never heard of it, but if you have to dedicate a whole page to criticism, and if your main response to criticism is "Y'all just bitter," probably there's something to the critiques.

Almost every sentence in that text raises a red flag.  It's obvious that absolute conformity to rigid, extreme rules is a requirement for living there, and any sign of nonconformity means expulsion from the community.  Outside influences are simply not acceptable.  Wonder what his new wife is like and if she's a part of the problem. 

Also, Rory Feek sounds like a total a-hole.  This "I know I wasn't  the best father" B.S....  Sad for his daughter that she can't see her sisters, who are obviously devoted to her.  

[Bassett Lady]

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on Television. I don’t even cosplay one on the Internet. 
 

Do judges ever allow/require visitation in situations like this where the older sisters have had such a meaningful and sustained relationship with the child? 
 

In general, I think parents shouldn’t have the court dictating contact with anyone, but in a case like this where one parent has died and the adult sisters showed up in a parental manner for so many years of consistent and substantive care I think it prudent, especially because the child has special needs and the father is older. That child has a much higher probability of needing of a guardian and maintaining these bonds is clearly in the best interest of the child. 
 

Edited to add: If that “community” isn’t a cult it is at the very least a very high demand religion.

Edited September 3 by Bassett Lady

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

IMHO Rory Feek is an absolute freak asshat who seems, via the song he recorded with Joey, to believe in fundie use the rod punishment.  

Bible and a Belt

".......... One led us to heaven
And the other left a welt
But those were the days when kids were raised
With a Bible and a belt"

...........

"..........But now I'm grown with kids of my own and I know just how they felt
You know it seems to me that what the world still needs
Is a Bible and a belt"

..........

".............  With love they taught us lessons
But we feared them both the same
One led us to heaven
And the other hurt like hell
But those were the days when kids were raised
With a Bible and a belt"

 

[EmiSue]

My only knowledge of Rory Feek before this was his children's book "The Day God Made You." My aunt gave it to my daughter last year when she was baptized. It was a really sweet book until the last spread, where he talks about how God took the best parts of both parents and created the child from their love. My daughter was adopted internationally and we have no knowledge of her birth family. I am sure my aunt didn't read the whole book closely before giving it to us, so I didn't make a big deal and quietly donated it. But now that I think about it, how alienating for so many kids, not just mine. Not everyone has amazing parents who love each other. Not everyone is raised by their parents. It could have been a much more inclusive book if he'd just left that part out and focused on, you know, his original premise that God created children.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

37 minutes ago, EmiSue said:

My only knowledge of Rory Feek before this was his children's book "The Day God Made You." My aunt gave it to my daughter last year when she was baptized. It was a really sweet book until the last spread, where he talks about how God took the best parts of both parents and created the child from their love. My daughter was adopted internationally and we have no knowledge of her birth family. I am sure my aunt didn't read the whole book closely before giving it to us, so I didn't make a big deal and quietly donated it. But now that I think about it, how alienating for so many kids, not just mine. Not everyone has amazing parents who love each other. Not everyone is raised by their parents. It could have been a much more inclusive book if he'd just left that part out and focused on, you know, his original premise that God created children.

I looked at this book on Amazon, and the whole thing is creepy and not good imo. It says that God created you he knew everything that you would do and  would happen to you. For example. it says God knows what friends you will have and what schools you will attend. What happens if you don't have friends? What happens if the child is abused in any way? What happens if a parent dies like this mother? God knew this before it happened! It just seems odd. If your life is great, then I guess it's nice to think it's all set in motion already, but for people who don't live in fairy tale world, this is not comforting. 

[Giraffe]

I first heard of him around the time Joey died. He always creeped me out. 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

2 hours ago, Giraffe said:

He always creeped me out. 

This x 1 miilion

[apple1]

I have been somewhat following this distasteful and nauseating saga. My (huge) disclaimer is that everything of which I am aware is from various internet sources and I have zero firsthand or in-person information. Additionally, there are many others better at digging out internet information than I am.

That said, I was wondering how long it would take for FJ to begin a discussion. (This is a good thing). I expect that Rory is already reading what is on FJ - he seems quite internet-savvy.

The already divorced and apparently alienated-from-his-first-wife Rory met Joey somehow through Nashville music connections, and they sang together and won (?) a music competition called Can You Duet? about ten years ago.  There were two older daughters who apparently were raised being told that their mother did not want them of whom- and who state that they personally were abused as children, by Rory.

There were a number of musical recordings (that were IMO quite good) and I think that is mostly how a lot of people started following this story. They married. Joey's pregnancy seemed to happen fairly quickly. The pregnancy and homebirth attended by a midwife (whose background and level of professional education is unclear to me) resulted in the birth of their child who has Down's syndrome. Somewhere during the pregnancy and birth, it became apparent that Joey had cervical cancer and it was advanced. Joey passed away approximately 2 years after the marriage. It is unclear to what degree the cancer might have been survivable if professionally diagnosed by a physician. During this whole time they lived and worked a TN farm. The two older daughters were involved and a part of the young daughter's life at this time.

As years progressed, Rory continued to build that farm up and seems to have marketed it to the public as a place where people could, for paying a fee, attend seminars on homesteading. It seems that it existing as a working farm has been replaced by this newer purpose. The homesteading seminars appear to have produced much income. It appears that he paid off the mortgage/loan on the farm sometime within the past year. Along the way Rory developed an interest in a woman who was the non-professional "teacher" at the on-the-farm "one room school" where the youngest daughter, and a handful of other local children were being educated using what is now said to be homeschool curricular materials.

It's unclear to me exactly what the relationship with the Homestead Heritage (cult IMO) is. It seems to me that the farm is somehow involved. I have seen speculation that the TN farm may become another of the cult's locations. In the other direction I have a hard time seeing Rory surrender either personal control, or the farm property with its monetary value, to a group like that unless there is some existing situation in which Rory might become another leader for the group, and still have his financial assets and control.

Rory married the "teacher" within the past few weeks, on one of the cultic group's properties in Montana.

There is child abuse and child sexual abuse involved in that cultic group. (There are official charges, convictions, etc., not just someone saying maybe something...) The young daughter was in the "care" of members of this group during the honeymoon.

In the middle of everything, the two older daughters were able to re-establish a relationship with their biological mother. This apparently has not gone over well with Rory, and he apparently has denied them further interaction with their younger half-sister. The older daughters are IMO seriously trying to look out for the young girl's safety and interests, unsuccessfully.

This mess is playing out quite publicly and Rory has written a lengthy post on his blog that seems quite revealing - and certainly minimizes Joey's life and love for her daughter, as well as vilifying the older daughters. I now certainly wonder to what extent was Joey at least verbally and/or emotionally abused, and certainly controlled.

TLDR: I hope this helps if FJ is interested. Apologies for length and anything I have gotten wrong.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Rory declares he and his older daughters are at impasse and blames them for getting him "cancelled".  Here's the link.

[Ms. Squishels]

I remember reading about Joey passing away.  Never knew much about her or Rory, except they seemed to be aspiring country singers maybe, and they had the little daughter with Down’s Syndrome.  Then I happened to see that he remarried.  I actually thought that his new wife looked like she might be Mennonite maybe.  So that seemed to be very different from Joey.  Not that he was necessarily looking for someone like her.  I guess he found someone to love, which is fine.  I looked up his new wife and saw that she teaches this school.  In pictures that I saw from the school and homestead, she didn’t look so much like a Mennonite.  I think it was her hairstyle and glasses.  I guess I’m totally wrong, but I was thinking that he started the Homestead Herritage just because that’s what he’s interested in.  I thought maybe he had become more of a homesteader type after Joey died.  It made his choice of his new wife make a little more sense to me.  But I didn’t know that there are problems with it and now I have a new rabbit hole to go down.