Shortly after I moved in the area leadership decided to make some changes. First, they decided to consolidate the three Queens branches into two. The branch coordinator that was "demoted" was our Way Home Coordinator, Eddie. At the same time they asked me to take over coordination of the Twig fellowship that met in our home. This was ostensibly to allow Eddie to devote more time to the Spanish language twig and to assist with the other two Spanish twigs in Queens. Eddie did not see things this way. Previous to these changes he was very proud of rattling off his titles: Way Home Coordinator, Twig Coordinator of two twigs, Spanish language Twig Area Coordinator, North Queens Branch Coordinator. He was especially proud that he had achieved this level of responsibility without being a Way Corps grad, or even an Advanced Class grad. Let's take a minute to look at the Advanced Class and the perceived hierarchy in The Way.
The Power for Abundant Living Class (PFAL) was in reality a series of classes. The Foundational Class, contained, as it name implies, the foundational teachings and principles taught in The Way. No one stuck around for long without taking the Foundational PFAL Class. The Intermediate Class focused on three of what was called "manifestations of the spirit". Chapter 12 of I Corinthians states that "the manifestation (singular) of the spirit"...consisted of: speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophesy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles, gifts of healing. Wierwille had a take on "the manifestations" (plural) that weren't necessarily supported by scripture. Speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, and prophesy were covered in the Intermediate Class. In order to be viewed as having moved past the newbie stage and to participate actively in Way International Twig Fellowship meetings, it was essential that one be able to speak in tongue, interpret and prophecy. There were what were called "advanced study classes" - "Witnessing and Undershepherding", "Dealing With the Adversary", "Christian Family and Sex" and a few others, but the Advanced Class was considered the pinnacle of learning for anyone not in the Way Corps. The Advanced Class was advertised as focusing on the remaining six manifestations: word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles, gifts of healing. In reality it talked a lot about devil spirits (demons) and devil possession. A graduate of the Advanced Class supposedly had been fully instructed on how to receive revelation from God, including detecting the presence of malign spirits.
In theory, someone who was an Advanced Class graduate was better qualified to lead than a non-grad, and a Way Corps grad, someone who had been through the Way's multi-year leadership training program, was most qualified of all. Practically, The Way had grown so quickly throughout the mid-seventies that it was not always possible for these requirements to be met. In the Way's early days, leaders rose up and those with charisma or other natural leadership ability took on responsibility without any outside input. Eventually Twig Leaders were appointed by the next higher level of leadership - they were usually someone who at least seemed to have some ability. This was both good and bad. Good, in that there was no constraint requiring certain benchmarks be reached before leading, bad in that totally unqualified people were put in charge. During this time in Queens, Brooklyn and the areas of Long island outside New York City, very few Twig Coordinators were Advanced Class grads and no Branch Coordinators were Way Corps grads. The Area Leader, who oversaw all the branches on Long Island, was only about halfway through his Way Corps training.
Eddie was someone who, likely because he was in the right place at the right time, had risen quickly through the ranks despite a lack of the accepted leadership signifiers. Just as quickly he had been stripped of most of his titles. Eddie was a proud man, every ounce a "macho" man with strong opinions. His anger and disappointment and losing his status within the organization would ripple through the rest of the year. Despite not having any "official" teaching regarding "discerning of spirits", Eddie fancied himself an expert on devil spirits. In fact he was obsessed with the subject and acted as if he saw them everywhere. I sometimes talk in my sleep. Shortly after I moved in, Eddie, from his bedroom down the hall from mine, heard some talking and came into the room to find me talking while apparently asleep. The next morning he told me and the other roommates about this, describing how he "just started to cast out devil sprits".
I think you can imagine how this would lead to problems.
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