come = Ags 2 Ag Ba noe e $2.50 (US) PO bP ee: Schisiv in Ani Arbors %, Just Another Split? or Reform for the Charismatics?Schism in Ann Arbor: Just Another Split? or Reform for the Charismatics? by Thomas J. Nash “I almost feel like I'm in recovery. You know, I feel like I'm getting deprogrammed, or ed or recovered. Like veils are being taken off. I'm see- ing things in a way I haven't seen them before.” Ralph Martin Senior head coordinator of the Word of God covenant community Exuberant prayer and pride would characterize a typical meeting of the Word of God (WOG), the mother of all charismatic covenant comunities and the engine which has driven the Catholic Charis- matic Renewal for 20 years. But this meeting was much different. Members were crying tears of sorrow, not Joy. And instead of issuing a ministerial admonition to repent and be- lieve in the gospel, WOG leaders were cataloguing their own “abuse of authority” and asking the mem- bership for forgiveness. In the past, WOG leaders had told the organization's members that they were living the ideal Christian life, “a deeper walik.” as some mem- bers related it. “The Lord wants all his people to be part of a Christian community,” WOG co-founder Steve Clark once wrote in Knowing God's Will, “and until we are, we will not experience guidance with the sureness that the Lord has for us.” ‘Thomas J. Nash is ay cyyard-winning journalist, who received a me > nw ‘Missouri school of But at their December 1990 meeting, WOG lead- ers noted that their own wills and designs had sup- planted the Lord's in many ways since the commu- nity was founded in September 1970. They repented for fostering elitism, selective membership, secrecy, culture by at, social engineering, abusing pastoral authority, unhealthful models of marriage and fam- ily, the degradation of women, an enormous pres- sure to conform, and a “statement of commitment,” in which members pledged “our loyalty to all those who fight with us.” The pledge, which many WOG members took at the end of the Training Course, an intensive learning program implemented in the early 1980s, continued in increasingly militaristic tones: 2. We are ready for every sacrifice, even death, ithe Lord honors us by calling us to die for him or our brothers. 8. We are ready to serve until the Lord indicates that the war has been won. 4, We will be loyal to cur commanders, knowing that they are committed to defend and provide for cour homes and families. We will serve where they direct us and in the way they direct us. 5. We will keep our plans and movements hidden from the enemy and his agents. The list of sins aired at the December 1990 meeting sounded more like something a repentant cult leader might confess, not men “who have been given position and authority by the Lord,” as Clark. once described himself and his colleagues. “We feel that this combination of factors. . . really added up to an abuse of authority,” said WOG leader Ken Wilson, commenting on the enormous pressure to conform in the community, which the ‘Training Course instensified. “Each of those were powerful influences in themselves. Taken together, they provided a kind of momentum that was diff! Fidelity (June, 1991)ad cult even for very strong-willed, ‘I-think-my-own- thoughts’ people to counterbalance effectively.” “Do you hear what I'm saying,” said an emo- tional Wilson, raising his voice to summarize his thoughts about the Training Course and the abuses of the community in general. “We were wrong in supporting this. And we feel that we stand here before you in need of your forgiveness.” Ralph Martin, Word of God senior head coordi- nator and co-founder, concurs. “I think,” he told Fidelity, “we originally started with a very clear sense that we weren't supposed to be a church, that we were supposed to be a renewal group. . . . But we modeled that we were doing on the New ‘Testament Church, So I think we built in a contra- diction from the earliest days and attributed too much of the re- Even in the Word of God, the mood of repen- tance is far from unanimous, with about 300 of 1,500 adults splitting to make a new SOS commu- nity in Ann Arbor. In addition, the Word of God's actions have led to a split between Ralph Martin and the communtty's other co-founder, Steve Clark, ‘who fs the most influential man in the Sword of the Spirit and its Catholic branch, Christ the King Inter- national. “T.don't agree with a good part of what Ralph is saying these days.” sald Clark, who 1s not known for talking to the media, during interviews with Fidelity. “Right at the moment, tt looks as if we're head- ing in different directions,” said Martin of his long- time friend. “I think the issues here, and their im- pact on many, many people, are more important than any one re- sponsibility of the Church and the authority of lationship. And I regret that Steve and my- the Church to “I think a small group of self find our- a oe Se people basically took control Sera ara ee of the whole thing early on. issue, but that’s small group of - | how it ts.” people basically [We] took the place of the Lord ame peg hen tet Himself, in a certain kind of Fe gl carly on. And I Clark met at the was a part of that group,” sald Martin. And I way. Instead of trusting in the | Lord .. . [we] basically got into protecting our thing, our work, | University of Notre Dame in the early 1960s. think [we] took Both were the place of the in a way which led to excessive studying phi- Lord Himself, in 2 | losophy, Martin a certain kind of exercises of authority, control- | as an under- . Instead of ay duate id Trusting inthe ling people’s lives. ieee eg Lord and being docile to the Clark as a graduate stu- dent. And both Lord, ...[we]ba- sically got into protecting our thing, our work, ina way which led to excessive exercises of authority, controlling people's, lives.” “We interpreted {comunity life] in light of Catho- lic religious orders,” added Martin. “It was an over- monastic approach to things that I don’t think is really healthy.” The WOG's public repentance and reform fol- lowed what was basically a split from the Sword of the Spirit (SOS), the international charismatic orga- nization which’ Martin helped found in the carly 1980s, under the direct Jurisdiction of the SOS, which had 51 communities in late 1989. Fidelity (June, 1991) were interested in the Cursillo movement, in which exuberant, external praise of God is prominent. Both would later serve on the national secretariat of the Cursillo movement. Martin and Clark joined forces to bring about Church renewal, working together at Notre Dame, at the Newman Center at Michigan State University in East Lansing, and finally in helping promote the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which first made spiri- tual waves at Duquesne University and then Notre Dame in 1967. The centerpiece of the Charismatic Renewal has been and remains the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit’—a theological misnomer, yet a spiritu- ally genuine experience in which a participant prays to receive a greater experience of the Holy Spirit, For 25