(....to the best of our knowledge)
Following George Geftakys' excommunication from the Fullerton Assembly in January, 2003, many Assemblies disbanded, as members' eyes were opened to the hidden corruption and many dared to step out and attend other churches. In the USA the Assemblies that continued were divided in two camps for the first 12-18 months. The first group renounced George Geftakys, and in some cases made some efforts to change the meeting schedule and the accounting of finances. (It is largely unknown what happened to the overseas Assemblies, with the exception of Samuel Ochenjele's ministry in Nigeria. (Here is a complete list of Assembly locations and outreaches.)
The second group, consisting of the Assemblies in Riverside, Pasadena, San Francisco and Sacramento, remained strongly loyal to George Geftakys and did not accept his excommunication. The leaders consider the testimony of the women that were abused by George to be lies; that it is his word against theirs; that there was no proof; that these women were as guilty as he was before the Lord; that things were not handled spiritually. They believe that there needed to be 2 or 3 witnesses to the actual act in order for there to be an accusation against an elder. They likened it to the false accusations brought against priests in the Catholic church. These leaders continued to exercise tight control over the members. Essentially there was no change. George preached at Bible studies, gave Sunday stated ministry, and preached at least on seminar to these groups in 2005. Betty was invited to at least one bridal shower.
These two camps were quite distinct and separate at first. The lines have since blurred. On the one hand West LA was influenced to receive George back to the fellowship of the Lord's table. On the other hand, in 2007, for reasons unknown, Jim McAllister's Pasadena group severed ties with George. Also Mike Almanzor's group in Riverside no longer allowed George to give stated afternoon ministry. These decisions apparently had nothing to do with a change in their position on the validity of George's excommunication.
George left the Riverside group in mid 2007, taking about half the people with him to start a separate meeting in his home at Plymouth Village in Redlands, where he conducts weekly Bible studies and Sunday meetings.
Clickable Table of Contents
Recent Developments
Status of Existing Assemblies Remaining Loyal to George Geftakys
Status of Existing Assemblies that Renounced George Geftakys
Current Concerns
Related Articles
Complete list of past and present Assemblies and outreaches is available here
Recent Developments as of July 15, 2008
Brent's response: "Marcos is lying like only a Worker can lie. I have yet to talk with someone, or hear 2nd or 3rd hand about anyone who thinks he should keep the house and 'use it for God.' Yet, Marcos claims that "others" agree with him. Like who?
None of the people who were there when it was built agree he should keep it.The bottom line is that Marcos absconded with a house that he didn't pay for, and all of us who gave money for the construction are paying the price. We didn't buy Marcos a house. We bought a house for The Work. The Work is gone...sell the house."None of the "leaders" who lived in it, and served with him agree he should keep it.
None of the people who invested money think he should keep it.
Entreaty to Marcos and Marta: This has become a shameful scandal. For the sake of the name of Christ, please be entreated by your brothers in Christ. It is no longer just former Assembly members you must take into account, but the Christians you labored with in Cuernavaca as well.
There were differences from past weddings though: there were no headcoverings, and wine was served.
One sad testimony to how narrow-minded the groups still are: The groom’s brother (a former Assembly member) was told he was not invited to the wedding because of negative things he said about George and his followers over five years ago. Even though this man did all he could to reconcile with his own brother, the group still dictates the relationship. All the rest of the groom’s family (aunts, cousins, and grandparents) were in attendance regardless of their religious beliefs. Several who are church elders and pastors could not tolerate the message and left immediately after the service.
Of the 300 guests, about 80-90 were family and friends from outside the Assembly. The rest were Assembly folks - current and former members, of which many were children. Jim McAllister has 10 kids, Scott Testa 6, etc.
On June 28, 2008 Brent T. had a response to this.
Dave Sable commented: "I'm betting it is that picture of George with the Masai warriors. He was proud of that because "most Masai warriors don't let their picture be taken, but they were willing to take them with me." It strengthened his argument about his impact in Africa because when he went on the safari, he saw the "big three" (Lion and two others). His guide kept saying, "Great is the God of Geftakys" because this was so unusual. Goes to show the massive impact his ministry had upon the contenent. **Roll Eyes** Tom and I have a bet he really got those pictures from a stand where you could pay $10 to get a picture taken with Masai warriors."
Status of Existing Assemblies Remaining Loyal to George Geftakys
It is assumed that the characteristics of these Assemblies under George Geftakys prior to Jan 19, 2003 are still in place in existing Assemblies. They interpret George's excommunication, the demise of most of the Assemblies, and the information on the websites as the great persecution spoken of in Revelation when many will fall away. They discourage members from asking questions, talking among themselves about issues, talking with people who have left, or reading the websites. The following is the most current information we have as of April, 2008, on the two Assemblies that appear to remain loyal to George.
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Status of Existing Assemblies that Renounced George Geftakys
As with the Assemblies that remain loyal to George, "It is assumed that the characteristics of these Assemblies under George Geftakys prior to Jan 19, 2003 are still in place...They discourage members from asking questions, talking among themselves about issues, talking with people who have left, or reading the websites." It has been reported that some members do these things anyway, clandestinely. However, in our view, even though the actual level of control may be less than formerly in some of the groups, there seems to be little change in teaching and practice (or vision, as they would put it). Outreaches and communal training homes are still in existence. To our knowledge, none of the groups have openly and seriously addressed doctrinal issues, nor offered public apologies for perpetrating the controlling abusive Assembly system under George and Betty Geftakys.
On the positive side, most of these groups have made efforts to change, particularly regarding the number and length of meetings, and the accounting of finances. There is also recognition of other ministries. "Vandyke" on the Assembly bulletin board observes that not all existing Assemblies are the same, and there is a greater degree of openness in some of them than previously. In at least some cases, the Assemblies have warmly received visits from former Assembly members. Brian Tucker reports positive changes in the Charleston Assembly.
Annandale, VA
Champaign, IL
Charleston, IL
Chicago, ILFullerton, CA??
Goleta (Santa Barbara), CA
Pasadena, CA
Placentia, CA
Riverside, CA
West Los Angeles, CA
Beijing, China*
Changsha, China*
Eldoret, Kenya*
Hong Kong, China*
Indonesia
Kesses, Kenya*
Korogwe, Tanzania*
La Vesinet, France*
Makurdi, Nigeria
Manchester, England
Middleburg, Netherlands
Nanchang, China*
Nyaru, Kenya*
Olesa, Abrera, Cobrera, Spain*
Ottawa,Ontario, Canada
Otukpo, Nigeria
Paris, France**No information available
July 15, 2008 Readers ask, "Why were some assemblies shaken to the ground, while others were not as effected?" Here is the editorial 2 cents. I think the answer is that in order for GG's demise to have an effect, there had to be an influential person or two in an Assembly, or enough ordinary members, who were able to engage their critical thinking to break out of the mind control to the point of renouncing the system and leaving.
In the SFV and Omaha, on the other hand, the leaders wanted to carry on, but after a lot of public debate, the members all left, so the leaders gave up. Similar scenario in Annandale, but the Workers carried on with just themselves - 4 couples, of whom 2 have now left.
San Francisco and Placentia, Pasadena, Riverside and Sacramento are a different story. They all obviously have leaders who are ambitious to keep something going, to the point of hiding their past association with the Geftakys ministry, continuing the GG-style control over the members, and being willing to keep information from them by forbidding them to read this website.
Other groups most likely continue with one of GG's second lieutenants who really liked to "wear the pants" rising to the fore, or even someone who was on the sidelines under GG now seizing their opportunity to lead. A few groups seem continue for the sake of friendship and familiarity, and are not concerned to exercise critical thinking. These all have something to lose if they were to break out of the mind control and really look at things.
Probably a few groups continue without a strong leader solely because of the mind control - they truly believe the false teaching that other churches are worldly, that the only correct way to worship is the Assembly way, headcoverings are essential, etc.
The situation is probably more nuanced than I've described. The mixture of mind control (denial), ambition and the comfort of the familiar is murky from the outside. A visit to each Assembly might clear up the picture. Well, that's just my 2 cents. What do you think?
November, 2003, Becky W.: "When the facts change," said economist John Maynard Keynes when asked once about his shifting positions, "I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" I love this quote. When confronted with formerly covered up facts about the Assemblies and its real history, we all have choices to make. We can change our minds about our involvement in and support of it. To me, that's called "repentance".
"Or we can stick our heads in the sand--'Don't worry, be happy'. We can attack those who brought the facts to light. i.e. shoot that messenger. We can pretend we're made of teflon and were absolutely unaffected by the corruption, false teaching, and aberrant behavior of the unrepentant main leaders and their training, and the resulting effects in all of our lives.
"If we stay in an existing Assembly we can keep doors of fellowship open with those who leave, or we can tell ourselves and other members, 'Have nothing to do with those who leave.' You can even choose to actually say things like, 'They all had issues in their lives they were unwilling to face,' 'They speak evil,' 'Are you going to write about me on the website?'
"We who leave can talk about it, or not. We can encourage others to talk about it, or we can reinforce the code of silence by discouraging discussion. We can learn from those out longer, and other Christians in many places, or we can say, 'God is sufficient for us, brother.' So many choices. I'm sure I've left out many more."
Click here to submit updated information on existing Assemblies.
(This material also appears in the Introduction to the Assemblies.)
George Geftakys is a still a concern.
George Geftakys has not admitted or repented of his immoral behavior,
nor of failing to stop his son's domestic violence. He is
beginning all over again with Bible studies and Sunday meetings in his home,
with a nucleus from the Riverside meeting.
This after being
disciplined by the elders of three churches and the majority of his own
Assemblies for immoral and unethical behavior. People are cautioned to
beware of his aberrant teaching, his bent for taking over other
ministries, his appeals for financial support for himself and his son
David, as well as other issues addressed elsewhere on this site.
Women are also cautioned against his romantic advances. His entre is to seek assistance in some way, such as organizing his library. This leads to spending a lot of time together, taking breaks to go for coffee, running errands together, etc. He begins to mention how God has spoken to him about her, and push for immoral intimacies. George's narcissism drives him to constantly seek sources of narcissistic supply, including the admiration and thralldom of men as well as women.
Continuing Assemblies are a concern.
Many of the folks in the dozen or so Assemblies that continue to meet may be sincere. But abusive practices and teaching are still in place, as attested by a college student who came into the group several years after George's excommunication, and left a year and a half later. The leaders have not issued meaningful statements of repentance and most of the folks who have told their personal stories of abuse have not yet received meaningful apologies. A note of warning: Women and children are especially at risk, not primarily because the men will make immoral advances, but due to the misogynistic nature of the Assemblies.
These Assemblies are still conducting outreaches to recruit new members,, such as Bible studies on college campuses and concerts by Remedy Drive. Most of the groups continue to perpetrate milieu control by forbidding people to read this website or speak with former members. They are very secretive about their previous association with the Geftakys ministry and claim to be "just a gathering of Christians".
Other former Assembly Leaders are a concern.
There is also concern about former Assembly leaders who are no longer in association with an existing Assembly, but who are becoming involved in other churches. Some of them are still motivated by the elitist Assembly mindset, feeling that they know the Bible better and have greater vision of what the church should be than other Christians.
They are often well-received, because they appear to be very spiritual, model Christians who are willing to take on responsibility in the church. Pastors concerned about the spiritual commitment of their congregations may be delighted and be inclined to put them in positions of influence as Bible study leaders, Sunday school teachers or mentors.
But these are people who did not leave the Assembly because they discerned error or spiritual abuse. They left after the revelations of George and Betty Geftakys' moral failure. Some of the leaders attempted to keep their Assemblies going, but were forced to step down by the members or because their congregations dwindled. Two examples are Omaha, NE, and the San Fernando Valley, CA. They did not understand that their leadership was harmful.
Probably most former Assembly members are still quite confused about justification and sanctification. The great hymns they sang so often were contradicted in the ministry, leaving people with two conflicting sets of beliefs dancing in their heads like magnets with opposing poles.
Leaders were trained to imitate George Geftakys, who was a narcissistic sociopath disguised as a super-spiritual modern day apostle. Leaders under him may have character issues. Proverbs says, "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked." Those who gave way to George need to detox.
Our concern is that unless these men have
repudiated the abuses, humbly mended the relationships they have left
behind, and have corrected their doctrine of salvation and the church,
they will bring into a new church the spiritual elitism and
performance-based spirituality of the Assembly. A good test is whether
or not they recommend this website. Are they open about their Assembly
past with a new church? Do they freely admit problems, and seek
mentoring? Until they do, they are still stuck in the unhealthy Assembly
mindset.
A selection of articles related to these issues:
"Kristin" warns women about George Geftakys in the introduction to her article and in a letter to two Leading Brothers.
Chuck Miller appeals to the Assembly leadership with the question, "Have you considered the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ to unbelievers as well as other believers?"
Jack Hutchinson encourages people to ask questions of Assembly leadership.
See also "An Open Letter to Assembly Folks: Thesis section and Assembly Leaders section.
This account of Steve Irons' visit with Samuel the first week of October, 2003 explains the issues he has with the teaching we received in the Assemblies.
Mark Campbell describes the defense mechanisms used by an Assembly member to prevent honest evaluation of his or her involvement in an abusive system.
There are valuable lessons to be drawn from the history of early "Brethrenism".
Submit a comment for publication on this page, or contact us if you would like to talk or email with someone about the Assembly.
Copyright © 2003-2007 Margaret M. Irons
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