The LCS Factor

[John]

In this post, I will address what you have written about our book, The Thread of Gold: God’s Purpose, the Cross, and Me.

Originally Posted by Hope

…. Jane Anderson wrote a book about the local church. The book began with an account of a humiliating experience she suffered. The date was 1977. I believe she and her husband had been associated with the local churches since at least 1968. I have found it more than interesting that she starts the story with this event. Any reader would have to assume this was more than an isolated event.

Don, I do not believe that any reader would have to assume that chapter one described more than an isolated event. Surely you don’t believe that you can read everyone’s mind. Hopefully, many readers would find chapter one interesting enough to read the rest of the book and find out more about the person and the event. I would recommend that you do so rather than engage in useless speculation.

Originally Posted by Hope

Later another humiliating experience is recounted which was suffered by a teenage girl. It has many similarities to her experience.

I can only speak from my experience. From 1965-1986, I cannot recall being in such a called gathering. I knew nothing of the one that occurred in Houston. I heard of some people in some places being called down publicly but never of a called meeting for the purpose of humiliating an individual or group of individuals. Yes, during Max Rapoport's time there were called elders gatherings for this purpose. Yes, there were such meetings after 1986. They were called and directed at specific leading brothers, but not at individual brothers or sisters or teenagers. When I complete my history, I will detail some of these. But I hope to first set a clear stage that this was not the way it always was and it was the great exception to the day to day church life….

…. How accurate are the accounts? I cannot say since I was not there in either case nor did I ever hear of the events until the forums. But I can say this kind of event was not what was going on! What about the 8-9 years before this infamous meeting?

…. The forum should not be a place where any may take a free shot and vent….

Don, your leaps of assumption are amazing to me. Regarding the meeting about Jane, if you knew nothing of the meeting, how can you claim to know the purpose of those who called the meeting?

I note that your question, “How accurate are the accounts?” includes questioning the accuracy of the opening account in our book. Let me assure you, it is as accurate as we could make it. How do I know? I was there and am a witness; you were not and are not.

The Thread of Gold is Jane’s personal testimony. It is her story of her life with Jesus. The backdrop is the Local Church. In chapter one, she told what happened to her. Don, why do apparently try to cast doubt on her account? Would you respect her testimony more if she could bring forward a Local Church leader to corroborate it?

You commented that you found Jane’s placement of the account in chapter one “more than interesting,” leaving the reader to wonder why you found it so. Then you say, “Later another humiliating experience is recounted which was suffered by a teenage girl. It has many similarities to her experience.” Are you implying that such accounts were the focal point of our book? Are you implying that she had some negative vendetta or had the need to “vent”? Don, please do not conjecture and write about the book before reading it. This is simply an expected common courtesy.

Since you have questioned the placement of chapter one, let me tell you why it is at the beginning. The book was originally written telling the events in her life sequentially. One of our reviewers suggested that this particular event, which was a turning point in Jane’s life, should be put at the beginning, as a matter of writing style. It was that simple and is a common way of presenting historical accounts.

Here is one of the things that I find interesting about chapter one: The leading elder in Houston was not present at that kangaroo court. It seems he was absent, just like you were from blessD’s and juliep’s inquisitions. Years later, he told us that he, too, like you, knew nothing about the meeting. My point is that I don’t believe anyone should assert that only their perspective and assessment of what happened in the Local Churches is the proper and authoritative one.

You write as if Jane failed to mention the eight or nine years prior to the 1977 event. If you had read our book, you would know that she covered these years in some detail. Please do not follow the example of a person on the Berean’s forum. He gave his opinions about the book and about Jane’s motivation for writing it. He later admitted that he hadn’t read the book!


A Plea for You to Read the Book

Here is a little history about our book (some of which is related on the book’s website). First of all, Jane did not want to publish anything but was encouraged to do so by others. She eventually became convinced, over a period of time, and by some providential occurrences, that the Lord did indeed want her to publish her testimony. She began reworking journals and notes that she had made over the years, but she lacked an editor. God provided one through a timely layoff, which is how I came to be on the project, being an editor and writer by profession. At that time, I felt that the Lord wanted me to dedicate my full time to the book, which turned out to be a period of nine months. Items in the book were researched and verified. The book went through a number of reviews by people who knew of the events as well as people who did not, people who were in the Local Church and people who were not. In fact, one of our reviewers was a non-Christian who later accepted Jesus. As the writer of our “Foreword” wrote, “This story is for everyone,” and I think that many would agree. In fact, if people are only looking for bad things about the Local Church, they may be disappointed. If, however, they are looking to know more about Jesus, I think that they will be thankful they read it. (As an aside, I could not in good conscience agree with the title of the book being The Thread of Gold if its main theme was simply to present the dark side of some church.)

Don, I would like to send you a complimentary copy of the book. Please send your mailing address to TheThreadOfGold@verizon.net, and we will put one in the mail to you. We offer the book for sale on our website, www.TheThreadofGold.com, to make it widely available; however, Jane has given away hundreds of free copies, so you would not be taking advantage in any way. The book is meant to be a service to the Lord and His body, not a money-making venture (which it is not). Her intent from the beginning was always to give it to those who could benefit from it.

Why not read a book by an ordinary person who was in the Local Church? You might even receive a blessing, as many have testified that they did, including a current and former Local Church elders. To me, based on all that has taken place on this thread, you may have some prejudice against Jane which has caused you to make assumptions about our book. At least take the time, if you have not, to read the book’s website. (From what you have written, it appears that you have not.) It has a “Feedback” tab that accesses many testimonies about the book. Some wrote that the book had no bitterness in it at all, and one of those people was in the Local Church. (By the way, Jane is no longer putting new feedback from readers on the book’s website.)

Don, in the interest of your credibility, I would think that you would want to read her book if for no other reason than to be well-informed on the subject about which you purport to write authoritatively. How can you consider to be writing a balanced history of the Local Church when you ignore a book that presents a perspective you do not have? As far as I know, there are only two ink-on-paper books that give testimonies from ones about their experiences while in the Local Church of Witness Lee: Speaking the Truth in Love and The Thread of Gold. Of course, you know John Ingalls; why not really get to know Jane as she presents her experiences of Jesus?

In addition to describing events that are more historical in nature, Jane also presents in the last three chapters how she was freed from the deceptive teachings of the Local Church. This part is written in an outline fashion and, in my opinion, is almost “worth its weight in gold.” I would consider this to be very worthwhile for any who were immersed, as we were, in the teachings of Witness Lee. For me, there are many golden nuggets in The Thread of Gold.

Don, in what I have written to you, I do not want to sound mean-spirited; I do, however, want to remain firm and truthful. If you have corrective facts about the events described in The Thread of Gold, we will be happy to receive them. If you have corrective facts related to the testimonies on this thread, we are ready to hear them as well. I hope that there will be no more speculation about our book or our motives until you have read it from cover to cover.

Your brother,
John Anderson