Charlene Lamy Edge Speaks about The Way International

March 4, 2025 As I write this, the United States and many other countries are in disarray to one degree or another due to Elon Musk's and Donald Trump's cavalier dismanteling of agencies in the Federal Government of the U.S., and due to other actions they've taken. The confusion, uncertainty, and outright fear that has been unleashed across the world is monumental and affects all of us. How do I feel? Upset...that's an understatement. I'm having flashbacks to a time of upheaval during 1984 - 1987 that I experienced at The Way International headquarters in New Knoxville, Ohio, where I was working as a biblical researcher. Victor Paul Wierwille (1916-1985), founding president of The Way, died in May, 1985, during my time at headquarters. His death ended his authoritarian power. Sort of. Before he died he passed along that power to a second president, a leader he'd trained to be loyal: L. Craig Martindale.  Martindale's power was challenged the following year, ...

February 22, 20025 The current Way organization still lauds the corrupt Victor Paul Wierwille as their founding "man of God."  About the Founder - Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille   That's enough for me to categorize the current organization as corrupt. Its roots, due to Victor Paul Wierwille's (VPW) corruption, are rotten. He stole nearly the entire book about the holy spirit from J. E. Stiles's book. He plagiarized other men's work like B. G. Leonard's class about the holy spirit, which VPW made into The Power for Abundant Living Class. He also "borrowed" from E. W. Bullinger's many works. Due to VPW's corruption, The Way's current "tree" cannot be any good no matter how "nice" any followers might be. Many of us had first-hand experience with the authoritarian, narcissistic, abusive, predatory (sexual and financial), and cavalier plagiarist named Victor Paul Wierwille. We know that he stole most of his teachings that ar...

Greetings, readers! It’s November and we’re celebrating another  Undertow  birthday. Eight years ago this month, New Wings Press, LLC published my memoir that you probably know about —   Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. What you may  not  know, is that not long after its publication, just before I gave a free presentation at Rollins College about my cult story, a local newspaper reporter interviewed me about the book. His article was published March 8, 2018. Here you go! Winter Park resident Charlene Edge escaped a fundamentalist cult | West Orange Times & Observer (orangeobserver.com) Undertow  is available in paperback and ebook at major booksellers. Indie bookstores and libraries can order it for you, too. Thanks for reading!

My own website blog posts about cults Did you know you can subscribe to my blog at https://charleneedge.com? You might be interested in my FREE posts about cults and Christian fundamentalism—especially The Way International.™  Where are they? Under the Blog link at the top of every page of my website. Click here . This is one I feel is especially helpful: The 3-D Cult Experience | Charlene L. Edge

  When Fundamentalism Hooked Me  by  Charlene L. Edge   Me during the weekend I got “born-again” at a Young Life Christian retreat in Ocean City, MD, November 1969 Some of you know about my former life as a Christian fundamentalist. It lasted seventeen years (1970-1987). I loved it. Until I did not. First, what do I mean by fundamentalism? The term applied to Christianity comes from a series of publications called  The Fundamentals  (1910-1915) which stated basic beliefs that  real  Christians must agree to, like the virgin birth of Jesus, miracles, Jesus’ resurrection, and biblical inerrancy. This post pertains to fundamentalism’s striking and often inflammatory tenant of biblical inerrancy. A Catholic youth But first, to understand how and when fundamentalism hooked me, let me tell you a bit about my upbringing. I grew up Christian, the Catholic kind. When I was a kid, my parents paid for me to attend St. Francis de Sales Catholic Scho...

The following is the Preface to  Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. By Charlene L. Edge In its heyday in the 1980s, The Way International was one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America, with about forty thousand followers worldwide. 1 Founded in 1942 by a self-proclaimed prophet, Victor Paul Wierwille (1916–1985), who marketed the group as a biblical research, teaching, and fellowship ministry, The Way still operates in the shadow of its dark history.  I knew Wierwille personally. As one of his biblical research assistants and ministry leaders, I am a witness to his charisma, as well as his abuse of power and manipulation of Scriptures to serve his own agenda. I discovered his sexual abuse of women and chronic plagiarism. Today, those underbelly facts are hidden, denied, or otherwise squelched. The years of Wierwille’s authoritarian reign and the chaos after his death provide the context of my story. In 1987, after...