When I first started this podcast, I reported on a secretive church located in the foothills in western North Carolina called the Word of Faith Fellowship.

The church, accused of being a cult, separates families—forcing them to break ties with non-believers.

A history of documented abuse

One teenager named Matthew Fenner pressed charges against five church ministers because he said they beat the gay demons out of him.
And that’s just the beginning. Several former members remember spending weeks and months in forced isolation. Some male congregants say they lived in a makeshift storage unit for over a year. Locals know them best for their signature style of prayer—blasting. As you can hear in this secret audio recording, blasting is a form of deliverance meant to cast out the devil.

It has been said that crying babies were often held down and yelled at until the devil released its grip on the child.

In 2018, I attended what many consider a cult

 

I’ve experienced blasting first hand. In 2018 Jane Whaley, the church’s leader, invited me to spend the day at the Word of Faith Fellowship. While interviewing her in her office, Jane Whaley looked me straight in the eyes, opened her mouth, and began shouting. It was terrifying. To this day, I still get chills.

Many say this church is a cult. However, their congregants say they’re simply misunderstood. Jane Whaley denies all abuse allegations. She once wrote to me and said, “No children have ever been abused in our church. It’s just the opposite. Everyone is greatly loved.”

She claims all the negative media attention is merely religious persecution.

Her supporters are quick to remind everyone that the Word of Faith Fellowship is a positive force in the community. For example, the church’s prison ministry allows inmates to visit their services.

They take pride in their racial diversity. And I can attest to that. There were members from Brazil, Sweden, Cuba, Germany—all across the globe. An impressive feat for a church located in a predominately white rural town in Western North Carolina.

It’s been 2 years since I finished my 11-part series on the Word of Faith Fellowship. Since then, listeners keep flooding my email inbox asking for an update. They want to know, have there been any new allegations of abuse? Have any of the church leaders faced any criminal charges? Is Jane Whaley still running the church?

Today, I plan to answer some of these questions.

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Today’s episode was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Logan Castrodale