Charlene Lamy Edge Speaks about The Way International

Greetings, readers. When someone asks me how long it took to write my memoir, Undertow , I say about ten years. That refers to the time between 2007 and 2017, after I retired early from my technical writing job in the software industry to write the book. But really, the journey from initial idea to publication took much longer. A timeline of the book's journey is included in my second book, From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life. It is in Appendix 1. Below, I've posted it here for those interested. Thanks for reading, Charlene Edge Note: I do not use AI products to write my blogs or books. Appendix 1 – Timeline for Writing & Self-Publishing Undertow The following shows what turned out to be the timeline for writing and self-publishing my memoir Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. New Wings Press, LLC. 2017. I did not plan this schedule ahead of time. It developed. In this chart, you’ll see mention...

Pictured is Charlene L. Edge at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. 2022. Photo by her husband, Dr. Hoyt L. Edge. Welcome to my blog about The Way International and related topics such as cults, Christian fundamentalism, and my memoir, Undertow , that describes my 17-year immersion in The Way as a leader and biblical researcher trained by the founder, Victor Paul Wierwille.  If you don't know, The Way was started about 75 years ago by Wierwille in Ohio. It is still in business as I write this on September 10, 2026. That fact distresses me beyond measure. If you want to know why, my memoir answers that question, and so do many posts on this blog. The Way's current website is:  The Way International - Biblical Research, Teaching, and Fellowship The content on this blog Many of the posts you find here I first published on my author website at https://charleneedge.com. This month I retired that website. With its disappearance from the internet went more than 400 posts I wrote...

Today is the 53rd anniversary of my graduation from The Way Corps leadership program, 1971-1973. I'm distressed beyond belief that The Way is still in business and continues to operate that program of undue influence and propaganda indoctrination.  If you've read my memoir, Undertow , you know that my 17-year experience in The Way eventually revealed itself as a career in a fundamentalist cult where I was psychologically manipulated and deceived by the cult leader, Victor Paul Wierwille, who turned out to be a deceitful plagiarist and abhorrent sexual predator. This time of the year reminds me of that "graduation" and the annual Way festival held in August called The Rock of Ages (ROA) that Wierwille used to gain more committed believers for his organization. In 1972, a film was made of that festival and included appearances of Way Corps members. I was one of them. In those days, The Way's founder, Victor Paul Wierwille, trained the Way Corps himself. I was in the...

Greetings, readers. I'm posting this important announcement especially for any of you who are cult survivors like me. The announcement is in the form of a letter from Dr. Janja Lalich encouraging us to participate in a confidential survey whose results will help to educate counselors. I took the survey myself and submitted it last week. I'm grateful to Dr. Lalich for the wonderful work she does and for her support of my cult memoir, Undertow. At the end of this post, you'll find her bio and the endorsement she wrote for my book. Note: The deadline for taking the survey is August 31, 2026. A letter from Janja Lalich, PhD Professor Emerita of Sociology Founder & CEO of Lalich Center on Cults and Coercion Hello, I’m writing to encourage all survivors of cults, coercion, and/or extremist groups to [click this link:]  please participate in this study . This survey research was formulated by Dr. Natalie Fabert, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University. Dr. Fabert...

  Greetings, readers! We're still celebrating ten years of Undertow's story in the world. Today, I send a million thanks to all the good, thoughtful, and intelligent people who read the manuscript back in 2016 and made time to craft their responses to the story. I'm honored by the careful attention they gave it, and for the instructive insights they shared. And I'm grateful to them because they took a risk: they stuck out their necks to help me promote this disturbing story of cult deception and abuse. If you care about my story and the sorts of people who found it worthwhile enough to blurb it, read on. But first... What I tell people about Undertow I wrote this book to educate, inspire, and heal others. Undertow is the only memoir by a former Way leader who was also a biblical researcher trained by The Way’s founder himself, Victor Paul Wierwille (1916-1985). I was committed to Wierwille's fundamentalist cult for seventeen years (1970-1987). Why do I say The Wa...