Quote:
Originally Posted by crakjak
I would hope that our UC brethren would not impose a theocracy on the total population. However, I have recently visited a community in Waco, TX that reflects a Mennonite type environment and it is "ruled" by some "apostolics." Further, there is a remnant of a group that V. Bean was associated with in Terrell, TX that has a similar rule over their people. So there is good evidence that it could be a very repressive context.
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Crackerjack,
I know a little about the group you are speaking about. Ironically enough they came out of Kenneth Phillips church I believe back in the late 1970's or early 1980's before I got there in March of 1983.
They are certainly a fringe element of Pentecost. Back around 1990 I worked (in Austin) with an elderly lady from church. She had told me about Howard Wheeler and his group. She said that she would occasionally run across some of the ladies in the grocery store and that they would pointedly ignore her, turn their head the other way, etc. I found that funny because this older lady was as "holiness" looking as you can get. no makeup, grey haired bun, plain clothing, etc. Of course it was not as plain as those ladies were though.
One day I was coming back from lunch and noticed that a workman who had been hired to do some work at my place of employment was bounding up the stairs ahead of me and heading into where my office was.
When he got to the top of the stairs he froze like a deer caught in car headlights. He stared frozen for many seconds then reluctantlly opened the door and went on in. Once in I saw what he had seen. This elderly lady! Once he made the decision to go in I think he knew he could not be rude so he did speak to her. Once he left she told me he was part of Howard Wheelers group she had been tellling me about. Once she said that it made sense why he had reacted the way he had. He was trying to figure out if he could avoid her.
I don't know what they evolved into but they were really wacky back then. They were big time into excommunicating people, public confessions at church, etc, etc.
When I heard about this "community" they started it did not surprise me. Unless they have changed a lot they think everyone visiting them including good conservative old time Pentecostals are going to bust hell wide open!!
Which just goes to show you (as Elder Epley has also pointed out) that everyone to someone is a liberal.
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