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Introductory Articles about the Geftakys Assemblies for newcomers to the website. Note: The Geftakys movement was entirely separate from the Plymouth Brethren, although they had common roots.
Assembly News and Concerns Current activities of Geftakys Assembly groups and individuals, last updated June 30, 2008.
Editor's "Post-Assembly Musings" blog - Latest post April 30.

What's New?

July 1 Anonymous has a guess about "saluting" the bride: "I think "salute your wife" was just a macho way to condescend to the woman, humorously allude to a military reference / definition of the man / woman relationship. Funny, I read a book about rape in colonial America. A reference describing the relationship between men and women went in the same manner, "It is the man's responsibility to attack the citadel and the woman's to guard it!" Because the man is now married to her she is his property, Now he can "salute" her because she belongs to him now! O.K. its just speculation. And another thing, in the Assembly there was a lot of this kind of "in good fun" jesting/condescending to women. The funny thing is the women played right long with it. Not so in other churches!

July 1 There is an anonymous comment on the Pasadena wedding.

July 1 Someone from outside the Assembly asks this question: "Could you post an explanation of 'salute your wife'? Was 'kiss your wife' considered too racy? If so, what was done at this point in the ceremony?" We have an guess, but what do you all think? Did you ever hear someone in leadership comment on this?

June 30 John Steinke, formerly from the Norfolk Assembly, has a reply to the questions Tom Maddux posted on the Assembly bulletin board

June 30 It has been reported from several sources that Dan Mattson-Bose is no longer with the Sacramento Assembly. Dan was a Leading Brother.

June 28 Brent T. has a response to the Assembly wedding. There is a link in his comments to an article he wrote over 5 years ago which has been buried for awhile, Glasnost, Perestroika and the Assembly.

June 28 On Saturday June 14th there was an Assembly wedding held in Pasadena. It was a marriage between a man from Pasadena and a woman from WLA. There were about 300 guests in attendance from the Assemblies in San Francisco, Sacramento, WLA, Pasadena and Riverside. The format was the same as always: long somber hymns, long preaching about the man and women’s relationship likened to Christ and the church, Jim McAllister saying, “You may salute your bride”.

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.

June 6 There is a new page of Excerpts from the Believers' Prayer Letter.

June 6 David Kirby, of House of Christian Love fame, has written an account of how the house became a growing center for Bible teaching and how it was taken over by George Geftakys.

June 6 "Torey" has written another poem, "Sunday Morning Five Years Later." Anyone else still experiencing "beliefs that bind"?

June 6 Dave Sable has a comment on Lee Irons' blog post, "Keswick Burnout".

June 3 There is an anonymous comment on Abuse in Families that begins to expose some of the abusive "child training" methods in the Assembly. Heartbreaking and all too true. Much more needs to be revealed on this subject.

June 2 Lee Irons has a recent blog post on Keswick Burnout. If you have been depressed lately over the quality of your spiritual life, you need to read this.

May 19 Gordon W. makes some good points about the "Example" article.

May 19 Joanna has a comment on the editor's comments on Amy's "Example" article.

May 18 Dave Sable has a response to Amy's "Example". We think Dave may be a bit too laid back. Read our comments....

May 17 Amy Cahill's friend in New York was thinking of attending a new church. Amy did some web investigation and found red flags. She wrote up her research as An Example of How to Critically Evaluate a Church. On the whole, it is very helpful; in a few areas we think she overreacted a bit due to her Assembly experience. What do you think?

May 5 Mark Campbell has a reply to the author of "Stranger Rape and Worse".

May 1 The author has a comment about posting her story of stranger rape.

May 1 Tech support where Steve works sent out an email alert today, "Fraudulent Grand Jury Summons Containing Malware". Snopes confirms this report.

April 23 Flora posted on the Assembly bulletin board a very instructive account in regard to the claim, still being made, that GG's excommunication had not been "not handled properly." She has given permission to post it here in the Final Weeks section, where it sheds light on GG's letter claiming that he had been "pre-judged by excommunication ... without accusers and witnesses", in which he does not even mention the sexual misconduct.

April 23 There is a new anonymous comment on the stranger rape article from someone who knows the author.

April 20 Most of the discussion on the assembly bulletin board about the stranger rape has be added to the article.

April 20 Gordon Wong writes the following: "Mark Driscoll is one of the best preachers in my book, and he gave a great lecture about the 'Emergent Church'...To all former assembly people, may God rekindle heart and remind you that you are a treasured child of the Most High God. God has a plan for you to impact this world...investigate, observe!

(Writers like Brian McClaren, and Rob Bell - which I have not investigated personally their theology, but if it's true what Mark Driscoll says is true, it's a dangerous theology with these two men.)

I know some Christians, frustrated by the lack of outreach and inflexibility in churches-- have embraced 'Emergent Theology', and I agree we as Christians must see the church become 'culturally relevant ' (what's going on in Facebook, why is there 10 million subscribers playing Warcraft, why are certain programs so popular and how do we reach out with what we see going around in the world?) HOWEVER, theology must be unchanging.

Mark Driscoll is highly respected by John Piper and other reformed theologians. His church is in the top fastest growing churches in the U.S.A in one of the most difficult churched areas in the country. He's also one of the biggest influences in my life besides John Piper. MUST LISTEN.

Driscoll defined Christianity in three camps:

Sectarianism and liberalism - changing doctrine/practice and theology. Some former assembly people could easily go to this and reject fundamentalism as in the case of the assembly. The Emergent Church with people like Brian McClaren and popular Rob Bell falls into this camp. I can see some former assembly people going to this camp because we were so far into the 'right' with fundementalism (add some sin into the mix also).

Fundamentalism - closed theology and practice. We don't change our theology nor do we change our style. Here's why the assembly cling so tight to hymn books, and rejecting the world. We rejected movies, television and culture. In the process, we formed a closed-system of ministry style that made us culturally irrelevant in outreach. We worshipped with acappella when the world's music is about about instruments. We dressed like we were in the 1960s with suits and dresses (and hard to tell us from JW's or Mormons in our dress) when the rest of the world was going more casual. Moreover, we even rejected the practice of other churches in our arrogance and pride. There was very little Christian literature outside any that George Geftakys endorsed.

Subversion - unchanging theology but changing practice (timely truth and timely method). This is where the church needs to be today. Driscoll cited how Paul cited the 'rock stars' and quoted the words of the day in Acts, and bridged the gap to the world around him, BUT brought it back to the truth of the cross. "In him we move and have our being." (LISTEN TO LINK)

April 20 Jack Hutchinson: "It comes as no surprise that George hasn't stopped. I guess Herbert came along after you left. He came to the US a couple of times, usually with Samuel (they came to SLO in 2000). Herbert didn't have the same swagger that Samuel did, he still had some appearance of 'innocence' about him....perhaps George was still drawing him into his delusion...but maybe I just didn't see what he was really like.

"John Piper came to SLO a couple of weekends ago, and gave a wonderful conference. It was the first 'seminar' I had attended since the Assembly. John Piper talks about the glory and supreme value of Christ, as did George. We need to value and enjoy Christ above EVERYTHING in life, and as we do, we will also enjoy life more fully, even in difficult circumstances. Of course, the spiritual power behind Piper and George are quite different. While Piper's ministry is all about making Christ look like the treasure He really is, George's 'ministry' is all about making himself look like the godly, apostolic preacher he never was. I was refreshed as I heard John Piper say that he fails God miserably every single day and that he has to repent just like everybody else. Now THAT was something George never said.

We really do need to see our lives as part of a larger context than simply how we get along in our daily lives. We can live our lives as part of a global enterprise of Divine origin. Our lives really do have profound, eternal significance, and thank God for humble men like John Piper who can communicate that perspective to us."

April 19 I Corinthians 13 in a Greek scholar's version is a blessing, and the antidote to the biggest problem in the Assemblies. (Hat tip: Suzanne at Better Bibles)

April 18 We have received a feedback email from author Dee Ann Miller, whose work we link to on this site: "Thanks much for your site. It has led a poor soul, who is suffering much, to me this morning. I am indeed grateful." We are glad the website has served in this capacity! Ms. Miller also requested attribution for her definition of collusion, and a better link to her material, which we are very happy to provide.

April 15 There is another reader's comment on 'Stranger Rape and Worse': "This story is a horrific example of the moral bankruptcy of the Assemblies. The Assemblies truly are misogynistic (hateful of women) good old boys clubs. Our society understands the need to protect women, evidenced by restraining orders, women’s shelters, marriage counseling, domestic violence counselors etc. In the Assembly, however, the natural compassion for a vulnerable set of people is replaced by the need to dominate and subjugate for the purpose of power, control and the repression of emotion." Read more»

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What's New 2007 December Archive - NOTE: Some of this material can be found only here in the archive. Not all "new" items have been filed and linked yet in the proper sections of the website.
Rachel's Story, Kristin's story, and a timeline chronicling the collapse of the Geftakys ministry can be found under Final Weeks.

If you would like to talk or email with someone about the Assembly, feel free to contact us.

The Assembly Bulletin Board is a separate entity from this website, having no connection other than a common background in George and Betty Geftakys' ministry. It is run by Brian Tucker, formerly of the Charleston Assembly in Illinois.