It is remarkable for several reasons, not least of which is that this is today,  the cult’s most secret event – nobody is invited to attend this weekly 6am Sunday service unless they are a fully-established and credentialed member of the Exclusive Brethren.

It was not always so…

The Exclusive Brethren have changed radically from their early beginnings in Dublin, Ireland. The origins of the Plymouth Brethren are closely linked with one important spiritual event: Communion or, more coloquially known as ‘The Breaking of Bread’ or the ‘Lords Supper’.

Historically this was a simple service: here is an extract from a 19th century description of the weekly event. One fascinating observation is that in those days visitors were welcome to attend. There was even a place for them …

An extract from Unorthodox London (1874)

The Brethren have three principal places of meeting
in London, and to one of these, the Priory, 198,
Upper Street, Islington, I adjourned on a Sunday
morning at eleven o’clock, armed with a few of
the particulars above stated, and prepared to wit-
ness and report their exposition in public worship.
The room, which is a moderate-sized school, was filled
with a congregation of evident habitués, a very small
portion at the back being railed off “for those not in
communion.”

The service consisted principally of the
singing of a large number of hymns, without instru-
mental accompaniment of any kind, and the reading
of Scripture. There is nothing in the shape of pulpit
or reading-desk, nor any person occupying the posi-
tion of minister or president. There was, I suppose,
some preconcerted arrangement as to who should read,
pray, or give, out the hymn; but, to an outsider, it
appeared that any of the Brethren took part without
premeditation. Between each portion of the service
there was a long pause of several minutes, during
which the congregation sat with eyes closed, seemingly
engaged in private prayer.

The special object of the morning assembly was
“the breaking of bread.” This was done in the
most homely manner possible. A loaf of home—made
bread was placed, in common plates, on a table in the
centre of the room, divided into quarters, and passed
round the benches; each member helped himself or
herself to a portion, literally “breaking” it off the
quarter loaf. The wine was passed round in like
manner, in large common tumblers, the administra-
tion of each element being preceded by prayer. It
was a simple ceremony; but the idea could not fail to
strike one that its very homeliness made it a close
representation of the original supper in the long
upper room and the daily bread-breakings of Apostles.

After the Communion—as I suppose one may term
it-—followed another hymn, sung to the tune of ‘God
save the Queen.’ Whether this loyal melody was
designed to occupy anything like the position of our
Collect for the Queen I cannot say, but the effect was
slightly incongruous.

With this I imagined the proceedings would have closed,
as I had been told there would be no sermon; but a sort
of sermonette was introduced, it seemed — and, I believe,
really was – on the spur of the moment. It was delivered by a
very humble Brother indeed, in homely and not always
accurate English; but he displayed minute knowledge
of Scripture, and his sermon was intensely earnest—as
the whole service had been—consisting, I am sure, as
the preacher kept telling us, of “ thoughts that had been
pressing in upon his own soul.” The two concluding
prayers were offered by gentlemen of a very diiferent
mental calibre, and the congregation evidently num-
bered many persons of position and education. The
names of “ intending and accepted brethren ” were
then read, together with one who “sought restora-
tion”, and another who proposed to take to himself a
Sister; and so the proceedings terminated, without—-
as will be evident—anything having transpired to
inform one as to the special doctrines of the body.

Read the complete document in the peebs.net Archives

Over the years the Exclusive Brethren ‘Lord’s Supper’ has been altered so much it is virtually unrecognizable.

Today’s Lords Supper has a fixed format. First come the announcements (we have removed these from the recording for obvious reasons). Usually a random brother reads the announcements for the week, it’s a task carried out by someone that usually does not have another task within the assembly.

There is a period of several minutes between the giving of the announcements and the beginning of the service. In this recording it was 7 minutes. Following the wait, a brother goes to the table to give thanks for the loaf. He does not use the sound system so his first thanksgiving is a little hard to hear, but after that, the sound system clearly picks up every brother’s part, every sister giving out her number and the singing.

Remember, every individual is expected to take part in the Lord’s Supper. As soon as you can audibly voice a number, Exclusive Brethren mothers encourage their daughters to give out a hymn. The fathers coach the young boys at home as how to hold a microphone and what to say. There are  strict limits on what you can and cannot say at the Supper. Each segment of the time is highly regulated as to suitable words and participation.

Many ex-members remember the fear of going out of bounds and saying something unsuitable. The “Essential time” is not one remembered as one of liberty, more of making sure you crossed your t’s and dotted your i’s … and impressed everybody with what you knew about the rules and regulations of the Lord’s Supper. If you strayed, a faithful brother would likely seek you out  and help you with what these ‘great men have said’ so as to help you next time.

The early days of spiritual spontaneity have been replaced with yet more rules and regulations.

A Recording of the Exclusive Brethren Lord’s Supper:

 (This is an original recording and is uncut from the initial prayer. There is mostly silence as the emblems are passed around for the first 12 minutes or so.)

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Kim Kardashian and the Exclusive Brethren?

The chatter press has been full of the sudden divorce of the completely over-rated Reality TV star Kim Kardashian from her sports star husband Kris Humphries after 72 days of marriage following a lavish $10 million wedding.

There is absolutely nothing worth writing about in terms of the Kardashians, but a New Zealand writer has managed to achieve the amazing feat of associating the Exclusive Brethren cult with this equally strange woman.

How did she do that?

Catherine Woulfe, deputy editor for New Zealand’s Sunday magazine provides a 5 point worksheet for new Zealand politicians.

As far as we’re concerned, only one really matters:

4. Never overestimate your audience.

They are all kinds of stupid. You can do a really bad thing (say, schmooze with the Exclusive Brethren or earn squillions from your sham wedding) but just smile and say that you didn’t, and it’ll all be okay.

See: Politicians can learn from Kim Kardashian

Ouch! Does Catherine know the Exclusive Brethren or what?

The New Zealand public certainly does. The foray by the cult into the world of politics was the brainchild of the current leader, Bruce D. Hales. As Catherine says: ‘they are all kinds of stupid’ …

Sure sign of a cult: nonsensical rules.

The following 2008 letter from Bruce D. Hales and other Exclusive Brethren leaders regarding the restricted use of portable phones and computers has been published before on peebs.net:

but not like this!

We have been sent an audio extract from a May 2008 Exclusive Brethren Care Meeting where the letter is being read, as instructed, to the assembled brethren.

This post marks the first time since the 1970 Aberdeen tapes where peebs.net has been able to play audio from a real Exclusive Brethren meeting.

A Care Meeting is a monthly event, usually held on a Saturday, where general business matters and general assembly communications are dealt with.

Click image for larger view

Our source for the audio indicates that this is the first of several extracts that will be made available. Check our Twitter feed or Facebook page for announcements.

Neville McCallum experienced the full wrath of the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand during the notorious reign of James H Symington (cult leader through the 1970′s until his death in 1987). In Cast Outside The Camp, Neville and his wife Philippa recount how it felt to be pursued, interrogated and eventually cast-out of the Exclusive Brethren. They pull no punches in this often deep, always insightful and sinister human drama which is presented by peebs.net as a multi-part serialization.

Final Episode of: Cast Outside The Camp by Neville and Philippa McCallum (2008)

Aftermath - The Conclusion 

It is worth a pause here, to note the irrational and unintelligent action of all the EB’s present this night. Some of us ‘outs’ have been trying to penetrate this thinking during the ‘review’ process. In both our case and my Mother’s case (as T. Deck states), it was Jim Symington (Neche) who gave the killer blow which was obeyed with precision by our tormentors and the local brethren, but when our cases were reviewed, both cases were overturned and we were reinstated.

You would then have to conclude that JHS is also in error, but definitely not – the world leader can not be wrong even though his judgements are overturned. This fallacy stems from a MIND-BENDING statement made by leadership in NZ:

” No matter what the world leader does, it could not be wrong”

For any sane human to believe this obvious fallacy, shows the level of mind control they are capable of, as in another statement of brain washing:

“When the brethren are wrong they are still right”

I am convinced that the cultish indoctrination they have succumbed to during the last 40 years, has lowered their IQ levels.

The current position of our three priests, is that they follow, promote and worship a dictator who publicly (in ministry books) encourages the young folk to do what Moslems are taught to do to their unbelievers , i.e. to act in violence against those they perceive to be against them, and to spit on those that have been excommunicated. If, after the return of our priests in the ‘review’, they had shown in real life that their lives/fruits were in keeping with what came out of their mouths in confession, I would not be exposing these men by name. I have a right according to scripture – ‘by their fruits you will know them’ – I do know them, and I have no fear in exercising my Divinely given right.

These priests/leaders state that the current world leader has not sinned since holding power in the early 2000′s which puts him on the same level of infallibility as Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This heresy is believed and preached in unbridled devotion to the world leader.

I have a feeling that the Exclusive Brethren game is almost ‘up’. It is time to stop playing ‘ping-pong’, and withstand the leaders for at least three reasons:

1. The qualification for leadership is anti Christian.

In 2007 I spoke to Russell Davis (Palmerston North) and asked regarding the criteria for their leadership. I was shocked to hear him state the following –

“If anyone steps forward to lead in a Christian fellowship, the Lord must be supporting them”.

Embodied in this statement is the dominant error of the EB’s.

The scriptural basis for leadership is non existent, and their fellowship is not Christian. On Russell’s statement, it will only be the most forward, arrogant and proud type of person who pushes forward to lead; like the Hales family. Embodied in the scriptural criteria for leadership, are the humble, forgiving, meek, honest, disciplined etc. These folk are now silent.

2. To release the 1000′s of genuine folk (including our own family) from being  trapped in a serious mind control state so that they can make their own judgement calls on good and evil.

This one event would greatly reduce the carnage within the family unit, which in turn would help curb the level of children being sexually abused.

3. Prevent further damage to the testimony of the Christian Faith, and stop good people being taught to do bad things.

Other conservative type churches have been damaged by the public testimony of the Exclusives, to the point where I know of one Open Brethren hall having to change its name.

The treatment that Pip and I were subjected to, was not as serious and devastating as it was for many others. Our hearts go out to those folk who lost absolutely everything they possessed, and to those who even lost their hope in life.

Fortunately for us, we were never besotted over Jim Symington. The reason for this, was connected with his support for the Gestapo. These hit-men continually jammed the notion of his infallibility down our throats. It was said that even if their Fuhrer was given wrong information he could not give a wrong answer. I was not convinced, so set about putting His Majesty to the test. The religious crooks leading in NZ were well known – T. Deck, E. Malcolm, P. Malcolm, J. Hart, A. Smith, L. Simkin and plenty more. I decided that if Mr Infallible continued to promote these crooks, then he had to be a crook himself, and he was. Endangering my head with the king was not an experiment nor a risk, as a believer in Christ, it was my duty.

The hierarchical abuse started around 1959/60 with the introduction of extreme separation, when under the disguise of – providing a clean place/church for the Lord – we actually separated from our communities so that we – could commit evil. We also despised the Great Commission by tearing down the ‘Welcome to the Gospel’ signs so that we could turn inwards to create a micro-climate for the production of infidels. This was accelerated by the devious and arrogant Hales family of Sydney in 1965, and their use of private investigators to spy-hop on members, as they did in Nelson and other localities.

In my mind, it was about this time in 1965 with the intrusion of the Hales family that the Gestapo was born. Because the Hales’s influence was never properly repudiated, and because most of us only connect the Hales’ ‘System’ with commerce in the assembly, I will write a few lines on what I witnessed.

In 1965 the Hales brothers, John and W. Bruce (in their late 30s approx) suddenly burst onto the scene with a flamboyance that we had never seen before. There is an ‘out’ alive today who was present at a meeting with the Hales brothers and the ‘world leader’, J.T.jr. At this meeting J.T.jr, (W. Bruce’s Father-in-law), suggested that perhaps he should reconsider his ministry on the issue of extreme separation, due to the number of family divisions.

Both the Hales’ withstood this suggestion. Why? The Hales brothers realized the advantage of the manipulation that could be administered through extreme separation on anyone who did not obey leadership. This punishment tool (fear), would assist any leader with aspirations to control the fellowship through a dictatorship. The Hales’s rampage to create this dictatorship expressed itself in two specific ways.

1. They moved the focus of the fellowship away from a spiritual relationship with Christ, and replaced this with a drive for material wealth by introducing commerce into the assembly while interfering in hundreds of businesses, of which many were damaged as a result, including my family’s business. The power of their demands were so crushing that very few objected. In a display of unprecedented arrogance, they rolled the Brethren assemblies, country after country.

2. They both launched into a campaign of verbally abusing the brethren, both in the meetings and in private. No one had ever witnessed such abuse and sarcasm before. The loudest bellower was W. Bruce, but the most cruel and calculating of the two, was John. I witnessed his bitter, unjustified attacks on the brethren, many of whom were stunned into silence for a long time. I know of one person who was handled physically, by a raging W. Bruce. The people they were abusing, were members of the body of Christ. There were times when they ordered people out of the meetings, poor older folk, just because they did not have enough money to do what the Hales Bros wanted them to do. As these old folk walked out in shock, they were shouted at and ridiculed until they disappeared.

In my mind, I classify number 2, far worse than the commercial error. A prominent NZ lawyer who acted for the EB’s, and knew John Hales better than the brethren did, said of John:

“He is no church leader, he is driven by Lucifer”

In 1966, J.Taylor Jr, withstood the Hales ‘System’, with just five words, “No commerce in the assembly”. Both W. Bruce and John were excommunicated. Commerce in the meetings and their influence in private businesses stopped, but the cruelty and arrogance they had bred into the now younger War-Command, flourished.

I believe that the treatment Pip and I received during our time of being ‘shut-up’, was the result of the seeds sown by the Hales brothers back in 1965, and continues to this day.

One of the most prophetic utterances I have ever heard, relates to the ‘System’ days, and was voiced by Bob Sparrow of Wellington just as the ‘System’ crashed in 1966:

“Evil often casts a shadow before it, imagine the ‘system’ returning in a religious form!”

And so it did, in all its horror. Thousands of brethren who repudiated the ‘System’ in 1966 as wicked, now welcome it with open arms. Both the Hales brothers came back into the fellowship later. W. Bruce became an alcoholic and drove a taxi. John became ‘world leader’, divided families and led the EB’s to trust in the dollar before morality.

The foundation for this abusive system became full-blown at the Aberdeen incident, when J.Taylor jr was caught in bed with another man’s wife. Despite this exposure, any member who would not, and does not (today) worship J.Taylor jr as ‘pure and infallible’, is excommunicated. It is this wicked ideology of the ‘world leader’ as not having to be morally or ethically responsible to anyone, not even to God Himself, that provides a basis for the control and abuse of the body of the brethren. For many members that have and are asking questions, the abuse they suffered was not unlike the cruelty of the infamous Mafia.

Did God give us an opportunity to arrest the rapid decline within this fellowship? Yes He did. The turning point should have been the Aberdeen incident in 1970. The most responsible witness still living today, who was privy to 100% of the facts in 1970, presented a evil report to the New York assembly, which in turn bound all other assemblies around the world to follow this error, until the present day.

This person who held the key for either Honour or Disgrace for the Exclusive Brethren movement, chose Disgrace. He is J.Taylor 3rd. Is his name etched into one of those great millstones? Only God knows.

Religious corruption nurtured within the hierarchy has led, what was once a genuine evangelical church, to become a very wealthy club awash with alcohol. To highlight their reliance on alcohol to entertain their young folk, I will quote what I was told by a father of four. This would be the most callous statement that I have ever heard regarding so many fine, valuable young people. When questioned about the abuse of alcohol, he replied:

“Well, you know Nev, it is all the young folk have got to do.”

Many of us ‘outs’ hold our hands out in compassion, tolerance, forgiveness and love to our families and friends who continue to condemn us as evil enemies and strangers. Despite all of the above and the irreversible carnage wrought by the leaders, I do have some compassion for those who have fallen victim to more powerful dictators.

We ‘outs’ are accused of being attackers, bitter, headstrong etc. This is a lie, we are not. We just care about the safety of our family and friends. Because so many have been misled, injured and killed, I believe that near to a deep ocean somewhere, in the long grass, there are many great millstones ready with chains and collars attached – as scripture promises. God will not be mocked, especially as many of us ‘outs’ have turned the other cheek and offered friendship and hope, during the last 8 or more years.

With TRUTH, we will persevere with our warnings, and as scripture says: “what you have spoken in the ear in chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops” – so a few of us are searching for the highest housetop in the land, to expose the secrets of their chambers. In doing so we (‘outs’) have no fear of the hierarchy whatsoever and we owe them nothing. God removed this fear at the time of our being thrown outside the camp. True love has cast out this fear, leaving only our fear for the salvation of the body of the brethren.

Maybe God is saying again, as he said to the Pharaohs of Egypt, “Let my people go that they might serve Me”, or has He given them up to a “reprobate mind”?

IF there is to be a recovery and/or enlightenment within the Exclusive Brethren fellowship, it will be in God’s own time, and His alone. My following statement is void of any vindictiveness, i.e. any person that has taken a leadership role in priestly (so called) interrogations or in the enforcing of the false doctrines of ‘world-leaders’ over the flock, these leaders should never ever be trusted, until, in honest repentance they volunteer the same attitude that is quoted of King David on the cover page.

Until this time, there are three titles that should not be stated or connected with the Exclusive Brethren:

1. Christian.
2. Church.
3. Evangelical.

Much of the past cannot be recovered. Despite Pip and I speaking with our hearts and feet in 1981, by remaining separate from the EB culture, I still feel responsible for remaining silent for so long (when a member) while so many of my family and friends were ill treated. It does not sink in, until you are the victim.

I was never involved in priestly administration, but forever I will carry the burden of, the sin of silence. It was a little like those who, during the reign of Hitler, watched men women and children being dragged away to be gassed:

They came and took away my friends, – I did not object.
They came and took away many of my own family – I did not object.
They came and took away the weak and crippled – I did not object.
They came and took away my own Mother, I wept – I did not object.
Then they came and took us away – and no one objected.

I was being taught a life changing lesson.

It has been said, that evil increases rapidly when men remain silent, or do nothing. The body of the brethren have fallen silent, to their peril.

Matthew 13:25. “while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares”

When I did object, albeit late, I paid a heavy price, but this will not stop me from continuing to object.

Psalm of David –

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon
me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host
should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war
should rise against me, in this will I be confident. Deliver me
not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are
risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had
fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in
the land of the living.

If you forget all of the above pages, remember this:

In a family there were three brothers, two of whom were officiating priests, and the third, a real sinner. Early on a cold winters morning, the two priests were standing in front of the open fire relating the spiritual visions that they had encountered during the night. Both had had powerful visions, so when the sinful brother stumbled into the room rubbing his eyes from a hangover, and trying to get his fair share of the fire, his exclusively religious brothers told him of their visions while still warming themselves in front of the fire. Looking down on their brother of debauchery, they snidely asked –

Priests – “And what vision did you have during the night?”

Sinner – With a yawn, and freezing cold, he replied, “I had a horrible dream. I dreamt I was in Hell.”

Priests – “Well what did ‘Hell’ look like?”

Sinner – “I don’t know, I couldn’t see the FIRE FOR PRIESTS!”

Sadly, I fear, that without a strong focus and practise on the gospel of salvation, as a Christian foundation, ‘world leaders’ including Bruce Hales and his priests (so called) could be leading 1000′s of unconverted souls towards the, GATES OF HADES.

At the second coming of Christ (the rapture), whether we are taken or left, we all will be, priest’s included -

“Feeling our Positions”

SELAH

Read all published installments of the McCallum story.

Neville McCallum and his wife Philippa tell their often harrowing story of experiencing Exclusive Brethren Assembly discipline in a series of installments. Neville and Philippa live in New Zealand with their family.

If you would like to be alerted when another peebs.net  Personal Story  is published in the future, please subscribe to Peebs.Net » Personal Stories by email.

Order the Book! Neville and Philippa have self-published a book of their experiences. Use the form below to contact them direct in order to receive further information:
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An Invitation! If you have a Personal Story of Life in the Exclusive Brethren, please consider sending it to us here at peebs.net. This website reaches thousands of people every month and there is no better way of telling our story than by describing it in human terms. We like to publish via installment and would work with you to maximize the publication impact.

Neville McCallum experienced the full wrath of the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand during the notorious reign of James H Symington (cult leader through the 1970′s until his death in 1987). In Cast Outside The Camp, Neville and his wife Philippa recount how it felt to be pursued, interrogated and eventually cast-out of the Exclusive Brethren. They pull no punches in this often deep, always insightful and sinister human drama which is presented by peebs.net as a multi-part serialization.

A meeting to remember

Aftermath - The Monarch of the Glen 

This visit would have to be the most interesting, the most revealing dialogue I have ever had with a human being, other than perhaps with Tony McCorkell in 2007. To some degree this session has left the waters a little unsettled for the Blenheim hierarchy, due to the Monarch’s unintelligent exposure of the ‘world leader’, which means that there is unfinished business on this matter.

This visit took a year or more to organise. A meeting time would be set, but the Reverend Deck would become unwell etc etc. I made this visit conditional on one matter – that his wife Ann, accompanied him. There was a specific reason for this request –

1. The women (sisters) amongst the EB’s are always kept in the shadows, and have no say nor defence in any of the administrative matters. They just accept unchristian judgements while being subject to their husbands.

2. The women are not guilty for the human atrocities committed by their husbands.

3. The women do not generally treat us ‘outs’ with the same bitter attitudes of their husbands.

4. I had a plan to involve Ann in our discussions.

5. If I started to lose my cool, (wouldn’t be the first time in my life) I would achieve a quicker recovery time, in regaining coolness, if women were present.

6. If, there is to be a genuine recovery amongst the Exclusive Brethren, the only honest material left for God to work with, might just be in the older women.

Those to attend the meeting (at Norm Clifford’s home) were, Norm and Marion, John Fisher, Richard Beatson, Terry and Ann Deck.

I spoke to my brother-in-law Norm Clifford before leaving my home, to be told that Terry Deck had decided to leave Ann at home. After 40 years of being bitten by this diseased wolf, he had the audacity, in a ‘review’ situation, to bare his teeth at me again. This decision was not a good start for him, nor was I going to bow to it. I told Norm to send him home and bring her in. Norm returned to say that Ann was tired and was in her night attire. I said I will wait until she was ready and that I would not attend unless she was present.

When I was assured by Norm, that Terry had been sent on his way to honour our agreement, I went straight to Norm’s home and prepared myself for the meeting of the MONARCH, and his wife of course.

As he loomed tall and erect in the doorway, I suffered those horrid flashbacks of the past, this was the man alright, the cruellest man ever in the Blenheim fellowship. I shook the hands of the newly promoted War-Cabinet, embraced Ann, but decided not to shake hands with the Chief of the Gestapo until he convinced me that he could be trusted; for the first time in 40 years.

It may not profit anyone for me to detail the following 3 hours, it would also add several more chapters, but it was 3 hours that I will never forget, most of which I was shocked with.

My Christian upbringing had conditioned me for this visit, and I was prepared to forgive Terry, and endeavour to establish a Christian friendship which I had never been able to do, despite years of trying. In 1965 he became implicated in the chaos of the Hales’s attempt to seize world power off J. Taylor Jr, and as a result, was exported from Motueka to Blenheim. What was Motueka’s gain became Blenheim’s loss. Since that time, he had hung and quartered a number of fine people including a poor crippled man and his wife. He thus rose to Chief of the Gestapo in this area.

Tonight, whether he liked it or not, he would face up to a little of the damage he had caused during his 40 years of abuse and false doctrine. I was not overly concerned about the damage he had caused in my home, but rather what he had done to others.

From the many topics we covered this night, perhaps just 4 will be of interest. The first of these will be of interest to any ‘out’, but an embarrassment to any ‘in’.

Topic One:

THE MONARCH – clears his throat for action as afore times, but poor little me did NOT jump right out’a my chair this time! He had been my Mother’s priest when she was excommunicated for no justifiable reason. T. Deck must have thought that I was going to raise my bayonet at him for his part in this, so he went to some length to persuade me that he was not to blame.

As I did not trust him, I got him to repeat word for word what he had reported about my Mother to the alcoholic butcher in Neche. To my surprise everything he repeated was true, and well remembered after 25 years. I suddenly thought, if that is the case, then is he committing the unforgivable sin of laying the blame at the feet of his ‘Fuhrer’? If so, then this was the highest act of ‘treason’, a violation of allegiance to a sovereign power which always carried the Exclusive Brethren instant death penalty. I could not believe my ears. Because none of the High-Command present, had stepped forward to shield the ‘world leader’, I was a little perplexed as to where we were all heading; I decided to dig deeper.

I asked him if this was just his assessment of my Mother’s case, or had the local brethren come to the same judgement. He stated that the Blenheim assembly had come to this judgement and had reversed my Mother’s case, which meant that the blame had to be laid at the feet of the ‘world leader’. I remember feeling stunned by his admission, surely this is their moment of madness, no one since 1959 had ever blamed a ‘world leader’ without suffering a pack attack. I looked around at all present but they all looked like comatosed monks, blissfully supportive of his admission, not aware of the hole he had dug for them all. I commented that – “this is a very interesting situation”.

I think there is more mileage yet to be extracted from this admission.

Topic Two

When questioned about how he had coped with reviewing 40 years of preaching false doctrine, he said that he had considered two choices:

A . “just throw everything overboard, go into the world and forget it all;”

B. “if I had stood my ground amongst the brethren I would probably have made it / or won.”

Once again I could not believe what I was hearing. It was all about his status, which was void of morality. Here was this evil Nazi throwing his weight around again, while all the chubby well-to-do little monks continued to sit at ease in their seats. Knowing the nature of Norm, I fully expected this Nazi to be thrown out of Norm’s house, but not even an eyebrow twitched, so I thought maybe they were leaving it up to me! So I told this monster that if he ever went into battle against the brethren to seize control again, I would rejoin the fellowship and help them deal with him. Oh my, the irrepressible prestige and ego of a Monarch!

Topic Three

With all his ranting and chomping on the poor brethren for those 39 years, I asked him if he ever felt that the Lord had blessed him.

THE BLESSED – “Well, um yes, I do feel that the lord has blessed me
on some occasions.”

Right now I wished I could have borrowed the Lord’s eyes, because mine seemed to have been out of focus for decades, I didn’t notice him being blessed. The God I know does not bless bastards. Blessings can be private of course. He had an awfully extended stomach, which could have been copied from that fat butcher, maybe he felt it was a blessing to look like his master; but probably not, because this extended paunch was not a blessing when reaching quickly for that mic, in fact it caused him some grief. If the mic was where he could reach it, he couldn’t see it, but if the mic was where he could see it, he couldn’t reach it!

Whatever the nature of his blessings, maybe he would share one.

THE UNFOCUSED – “would you like to share a blessing with us?”

BLESSED ONE – “I had the great privilege of being in the presence of the ‘man of god’.”

Oh really, wonder what other insane blessings he’s swallowed ?

SEMI FOCUSED – “What other ‘blessings have you had?”

BLESSED TWO – “I was blessed to be in a private home with the ‘man of god’.”

Getting to sound like that parrot again isn’t it ! Ann has been sitting with her head bowed low since the minute she arrived, but now I could use her for one of the reasons I had invited her for.

FOCUSED – “Do you think you have been blessed with who is sitting beside you?”

Oops, the Monarch wasn’t expecting that one, how could a woman be a blessing to an Exclusive General, when they are only supposed to be seen and not heard? His head went through the motions that it went through when about to pick up the mic. He looked at her, looked away, looked around, back to her. This was repeated several times, because he was not sure what or who I meant

BLESSED THREE – “You mean my wife.”

N. McC – “Yes.”

More turnin’s and swayin’s, poor beggar had never thought of her this way. She cooked good meals and formed lovely babies.

BLESSED THREE – “Well yes I do.”

N.McC – “What about your children too?”

I was trying to expand his vision out beyond the range of one fake dictator in Neche, and bring reality right into his own home.

BLESSED THREE – “Yes I do.”

N.McC – “Do you feel it is a blessing for your children to have grandparent’s who they have contact with?”

BLESSED THREE – “Yes it is good for them.”

N.McC – “How do you feel after taking that blessing away from my children, from knowing their grandparents for 25 years?”

What is printed above was similar to what we spoke over, for about 3 hours.

As I mentioned in Round 2, I had the liberty to ask him what he had seen in the mirror when he returned home from his only visit to our home 25 years earlier – you guessed it, he had forgotten.

As with M. Hamilton and P. Fisher, T. Deck’s reactions to matters raised since the above meeting have shown him to be callous and without natural affection. Not the hallmark of a Christian.

Final Episode Next Week

Cast Outside The Camp conclusion: Cast Outside The Camp – The Conclusion

Read all published installments of the McCallum story.

Neville McCallum and his wife Philippa tell their often harrowing story of experiencing Exclusive Brethren Assembly discipline in a series of installments. Neville and Philippa live in New Zealand with their family. If you would like to be alerted when another installment is published in this series, please subscribe to Peebs.Net » Personal Stories by email for Cast Outside The Camp or any other Personal Story in the future.

Order the Book! Neville and Philippa have self-published a book of their experiences. Use the form below to contact them direct in order to receive further information:
[contact-form-7]

An Invitation! If you have a Personal Story of Life in the Exclusive Brethren, please consider sending it to us here at peebs.net. This website reaches thousands of people every month and there is no better way of telling our story than by describing it in human terms. We like to publish via installment and would work with you to maximize the publication impact.

Neville McCallum experienced the full wrath of the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand during the notorious reign of James H Symington (cult leader through the 1970′s until his death in 1987). In Cast Outside The Camp, Neville and his wife Philippa recount how it felt to be pursued, interrogated and eventually cast-out of the Exclusive Brethren. They pull no punches in this often deep, always insightful and sinister human drama which is presented by peebs.net as a multi-part serialization.

Aftermath - The Bruce Hales Review 

I promised earlier in this story, to explain why I have exposed some EB leaders and priests by name, after some returned in the ‘review’ (2004), to apologise for what they had done to us while we were ‘shut-up’. Here is why -

In or about 2003, the ‘world leader’, Bruce D. Hales decided to ‘review’ previous assembly judgements, right around the world, by decreeing that there was to be a ‘review’. This was orchestrated in view of getting us all back into the fellowship, then ‘shutting-us-up’ again within the fellowship so that we would never go public and expose the Holocaust that has been deceitfully buried by the leadership since 1965, of which Pip and I are victims. The ‘war- cabinet’ had contrived that if we came back into the fellowship, but then started to speak out, they could then threaten us with being ‘shut-up’ again, cast us into isolation from the fellowship, and who would ever want to go through that experience again.

The Gestapo had laid waste to so many families globally, that they had created a killing-field, of maimed, crippled, emotionally traumatized souls, which was starting to fester out into the public arena.

In the UK (2003 approx) an ex-member threatened to go public on BBC. This appears to have triggered the ‘review’ (so called), which involved B. Hales travelling to the UK in regard to this initial matter. Before the ‘review’ in 1999 approx, I took a risk that I had never taken before, I visited a member of the brethren for the first time in 20 years, and warned him and his wife of the dangers ahead regarding false teaching and lying. At this time I had not heard of the ‘review’. I refrain from going into further details about this devious ‘review’, as I could write many more chapters on my involvement with the new guard during this ‘review’ process from 2003 to this present day (2008).

The upper echelon of leadership today, is no different from the leadership of the 70s, other than their outward appearance. This change of appearance is easily detected by many ‘outs’ who do not have to ‘live and love a lie’.

Many, when excommunicated were told that they would go to Hell, but in the ‘review’ some, including my children, had been offered employment, cash handouts and alcohol to return. Maybe they imagined that we were lacking in these earthly items since leaving! I was disappointed not to be included in this offer. What they did offer me though, was a front seat position (first time ever, and, in my shorts?!), and, wait for it, the microphone !

The ‘review’, instead of assisting in the healing process of hundreds of divided families, only reopened and further deepened existing wounds. The damage globally is incalculable, as in this lies the repeat of psychological, and in particular, emotional abuse. Now in 2007-08, as the truth of this cult is being exposed by the media, there is a repeat of the same abuse against those of us who desire to tell the truth.

The contacts made during this ‘review’, between ‘in’ and ‘outs’, may yet be a powerful means through which to communicate, as this cult is brought to realize its error. What the hierarchy thought would further strengthen their position, might be the very means by which it is weakened, as ‘outs’, for the first time have been able to tell some members the truth. I believe that some of these members (not leaders) were genuine in their attempt to change things during the ‘review’. These members now secretly hold this truthful information in their minds and hopefully their hearts.

In 2004 (approx) Pip and I received a call to say that our tormenters would like to return to say sorry for past injustices. We agreed to meet them in our home (with their wives), one couple at a time. For the sake of time, I will only cover a few critical matters that exposes their fruits, showing whether these men are who they say they are.

MALCOLM HAMILTON

Terry Deck’s ‘armour-bearer’.

Malcolm seemed to be sincere in his desire to be forgiven for his actions against us, but two critical aspects were missing –

1, – the matters that he was involved in personally, were not gone over in any detail. It was just a broad-brush swipe, to swipe the 20 year old slate clean in one swish.

2, – there was no understanding of where the root of his evil had originated from; which was ‘world leadership’ of course.

In 1 above, it seemed to be more of a face-saving exercise, rather than facing the facts.

In 2 above, if one does not understand the root-cause of their problem, then we all know it will surface again, and it did in 2007.

During his visit I asked him a pointed question –

N. McC – “what was the single most powerful force that has driven you to do what you have done over the last 20 years”?

MALCOLM – “FEAR”.

I felt this answer was honest, and interesting, as fear always reigns in a dictatorship. I accepted his apology, but had grave doubts if he would go on to fully honour what he had said.

In 2007, I was asked by an ex-member (living out of Blenheim) to inquire into why, and which Exclusive Brethren member had stolen an item of his property from an auction market in Blenheim, and why no payment had been received for it. I spoke with the auctioneer, who confirmed the fears of the ex-member. The auctioneer named two EB’s that had attempted to interfere with these items, and finally the person who actually uplifted the items without paying for them. This person he named as Malcolm Hamilton. I thought now is my chance to see if Malcolm is actually the person he claims to be. I visited him (2007) once, and he promised to do what the ex-member (through myself) had asked him to do. He then proceeded to do nothing. After several months I visited him again and he promised to do the same as before. He then did nothing again. After several months I visited him again. He then denied what he had done, ordered me off his property and threatened to call the police.

When faced with a moral or ethical matter, he was doing what all good exclusives do, i.e. nothing, because in the past, most ‘outs’ who never got answers, have just walked away, or perhaps died, or committed suicide. In more recent times, things have changed somewhat, now we visit a little and hang around for the answers, and aren’t dying, yet, which is rather sad for them of course! I figured from this experience, that Malcolm was not the trustworthy person he pretended to be in our lounge, during the ‘review’ process.

—————————————————-

MERV JOHNSON

T. Deck’s replacement.

Merv and his family were forced to move out of their own district (some EB’s did not move and were cruelly excommunicated) of Karamea, and come to Blenheim about 8 years before we were ‘shut-up’. Merv never aspired to climb the political ladder, and was a basically honest person. In 1979/80, the Generals of Superior rank were running low. Malcolm Beatson had been cast to the dogs, as was the Dave Ivory family, John Beatson followed in the same fate, the Monarch had been kind of kicked out of my home on his first rampage, and poor Malcolm Hamilton had been caught having a row with Norm Clifford and was shoved in the cooler to cool down. There wasn’t anyone else left loyal enough to the Fuhrer to lead in battle, except the innocent, inexperienced cow-cocky from the West Coast bush. Merv was henceforth summoned for duty.

Prior to the ‘review’, sadly, Merv, his wife and son were tragically killed in a vehicle accident. I never saw him again, but one of the ‘review’ priests told me, that Merv had often raised the wrongness of the way we were treated, a concern that apparently never left him, because Don Scarlet (NZ leader) would not let him come clean.

———————————————————

PAUL FISHER

Merv’s wet nurse

We face each other for the first time since our ‘shut-up’ days. All my memories return as the head goes into it’s normal downwards curve. I get ready to catch him in case he nosedives into the carpet as before. He follows a similar course to that of M. Hamilton, in seeming to be sorry for his part in creating a Holocaust, but no specifics, just the broad-brush approach. I decided to check out which face he was wearing since I last saw him.

N. McC – “In returning to go over your past, what motivated you to do this, did some one suggest it would be a good idea, or is it because others are doing it, or is it because you have come to this judgement yourself”?

PAUL – “It’s because I have come to this myself. I have been going over your case for some time and have come to it personally that I needed to come and see you to go over this”.

Words flowing like milk and honey, but I was not convinced, as his words, sentences and clichés were almost identical to those of M. Hamilton’s, so I decided to change the subject for a while and then come back to this question after he had forgotten what he had said. About an hour later –

N. McC – “As for the honesty of this ‘review’, if Bruce Hales (current world leader) had said – for all those assembly judgements that are more than say, 15 years old (our case was 24 years old), do not review them because they are too old – what would you have done”?

With chin firmly on his chest –

PAUL – “I would have obeyed him”.

N. McC – “If you have come on your own personal conviction, why would you have changed your conviction, if Bruce Hales had not agreed with it”?

The ‘review’ was a deceitful sham as mentioned earlier; what Paul said confirmed that it was a band-wagon that he had jumped on, to avoid falling out of favour with Bruce Hales. He had not come on his own personal conviction at all. I also asked him the same question that I put to M. Hamilton –

N. McC – “What was the single most powerful force that has driven you to do what you have done over the last 20 years”?

PAUL – “FEAR”.

– same answer as Malcolm. Interesting?

After the visits of P. Fisher and M. Hamilton, I followed up with a visit to both of their homes on the following day, to try to get a broader picture on the underbelly of this ‘review’. I came away none the wiser, except for a comment made by Paul’s wife, Ruth. She stated – “it’s sad that we have all been a lot of clones”. An honest admission.

I think it is more sad though, after admitting you are a clone, to continue on being that same clone.

I accepted his apology, what else could I do. One thing I do know is that he did not come on his own personal conviction, which he thought he had duped me into believing, therefore he is not to be trusted until he does.

To Be Continued

Cast Outside The Camp next episode: Cast Outside The Camp – Aftermath – Monarch of the Glen

Read all published installments of the McCallum story.

Neville McCallum and his wife Philippa tell their often harrowing story of experiencing Exclusive Brethren Assembly discipline in a series of installments. Neville and Philippa live in New Zealand with their family. If you would like to be alerted when another installment is published in this series, please subscribe to Peebs.Net » Personal Stories by email for Cast Outside The Camp or any other Personal Story in the future.

Order the Book! Neville and Philippa have self-published a book of their experiences. Use the form below to contact them direct in order to receive further information:
[contact-form-7]

An Invitation! If you have a Personal Story of Life in the Exclusive Brethren, please consider sending it to us here at peebs.net. This website reaches thousands of people every month and there is no better way of telling our story than by describing it in human terms. We like to publish via installment and would work with you to maximize the publication impact.

Neville McCallum experienced the full wrath of the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand during the notorious reign of James H Symington (cult leader through the 1970′s until his death in 1987). In Cast Outside The Camp, Neville and his wife Philippa recount how it felt to be pursued, interrogated and eventually cast-out of the Exclusive Brethren. They pull no punches in this often deep, always insightful and sinister human drama which is presented by peebs.net as a multi-part serialization.

We build too many walls and not enough bridges

Aftermath - The Social Chains 

Going back to our apprehension about making decisions, what happens now, that Pip and I have to decide if our children eat their lunch at school, and 100 other matters that we had never had to think about? We had been good (most of the time) Exclusive Brethren, with the one-and-only decision to make, which was to unconditionally obey every dictate of the ‘world leader.’ There was, and is today, no other important decision to be made. Your head and every breath is spared or lost by this cultish behaviour. Due to the above, we were not well resourced to survive on the outside.

There were two situations that we feared –

1 – In 13 years of marriage, we had only entered the home of one person that was not an EB’s, a neighbours for the marriage of Charles and Diana on TV. We knew no one, and our children 11 & 8 years had no friends outside the EB’s. We had shunned everyone outside the EB fellowship as not fit for human friendship.

In 1959 my family, due to ‘world leadership’ rules, separated from all non brethren members (four  Christian families) of my mothers side of the family which turned strong family respect and love into bitterness and distrust, which we were totally responsible for. How would these families, neighbours etc react now, if after years of looking down on them, now we wanted to rebuild those friendships.

With trepidation, we slowly showed respect to our previous enemies, and to our surprise and to their great credit, they welcomed us back.

2 – What about those ex-members of the EB fellowship, that we had sat in judgement on, either supporting or not objecting to their unspeakable treatment and following fate, we had shown hate towards them, – three of Pip’s sisters and their families, two uncles and their families; my Mother, four cousins and their families, plus many other ex-members that we had grown up with. Would they respond as friends or foe?

We agonized for months over this predicament, but they also turned the other cheek and welcomed us into their families. One ex-member, Carolyn Robinson and her husband Grant, understanding our situation, welcomed us into their family circle and to their Christian fellowship.

Our confidence slowly returned, as did our trust in humanity and in the Christian faith. One of the most difficult traumas that we faced, was the struggle with bewilderment. At the time of excommunication, with all of our family and friends judging me to be wicked, rejected and hated, why could I not see my own faults. I still had no idea of having done anything illegal, ethically or morally wrong.

I can now understand the risk of a victim in my position, giving up in mental breakdown through bewilderment, or worse still, if having lost spouse and children as well, opting for suicide.

To Be Continued

The next installment of Cast Outside The Camp will be: Cast Outside The Camp – Aftermath – The Bruce Hales Review

Read all published installments of the McCallum story.

Neville McCallum and his wife Philippa tell their often harrowing story of experiencing Exclusive Brethren Assembly discipline in a series of installments. Neville and Philippa live in New Zealand with their family. If you would like to be alerted when another installment is published in this series, please subscribe to Peebs.Net » Personal Stories by email for Cast Outside The Camp or any other Personal Story in the future.

Order the Book! Neville and Philippa have self-published a book of their experiences. Use the form below to contact them direct in order to receive further information:
[contact-form-7]

An Invitation! If you have a Personal Story of Life in the Exclusive Brethren, please consider sending it to us here at peebs.net. This website reaches thousands of people every month and there is no better way of telling our story than by describing it in human terms. We like to publish via installment and would work with you to maximize the publication impact.

Neville McCallum experienced the full wrath of the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand during the notorious reign of James H Symington (cult leader through the 1970′s until his death in 1987). In Cast Outside The Camp, Neville and his wife Philippa recount how it felt to be pursued, interrogated and eventually cast-out of the Exclusive Brethren. They pull no punches in this often deep, always insightful and sinister human drama which is presented by peebs.net as a multi-part serialization.

Two men practice a Brethren in Christ "holy kiss". (Brethren in Christ Historical Library and Archives)

Aftermath

- The ‘Holy Kiss’ -

I cannot write about this odd behaviour without a shudder from head to foot. This order was given by J.T.jr (1968 approx) and no male was exempt. From memory, every man kissed every other man every day (or week, at the meeting room) for far too long, maybe a year or two. Once again, scripture was adulterated to accommodate the dictates of leaders. A holy kiss?? If all things holy are as pleasant as this experience was, then I might just choose all things unholy!

As no directions were given for the physical execution of this intimate performance, we did what all people do when left in the dark, work it out yourself. With all the bony noses, wet noses, slobbery lips and hairy ears that smacked me in the face every day, I for one learnt super quick, how to duck, roll, lean and sometimes clean miss, just to save my face being messed-up for the following meeting. When you’re faced with 30 or 40 oncoming male lips, desperate to please the Fuhrer, it is amazing how enthusiastic these lips became, and how different they all seem to be.

After 40 years, I can still remember who had the little, fine lined tight lips, normally of the skinny indoor type of person. Being kissed by these lips was like being kissed by oyster shell. The swollen fat lips of those who were over fed, came at you as if they were looking for something more to eat. The burly rough farmer and contractor, sporting lips with injuries and cracks from accidents and sunburn, it was like kissing an apple crumble. Then there were a few who never shaved properly, that was like burying your face in a mystic-mitt.

There was one brother, whose jaw, just before the kiss, seemed to go into a spasm of chompings, on nothing but fresh air. This act produced a quantity of white foam in each corner of his mouth which protruded out level with his checks, just ready to be plastered along the side of my face with any extra foam embedding itself in my ear hole, as he passed by. At the 6am meetings in the winter, it was the snotty drip on the nose that had to be navigated around. I remember going into the toilet to clean the odd drip off my face.

After we launched into our intimate kissing game, it became apparent (by practise) that the male body was not created for just kissing, without the support of an embrace or touch of some kind, for reasons of balance. As no direction had been given to permit us to hold or touch during these kissing orgies, we tried to perfect the art of kissing without touching. Due to all the differing body profiles, this took some trial and error.

If you, as the reader, think I am joking, then you put your money where your mouth is, and go and try kissing, skinnys, fatties, stiff necks, bent necks, heads always on the move, long bent noses, swaying alcoholics, snotty noses and worst of all, cross eyed gentlemen where you could not work out which side they were about to swing over to just before impact, because they never went where they were looking.

The problem with the fatties, was that just before the lip touch, bellies would collide, altering the predetermined course of ones lips, which often resulted in a landing not planned for. The head-swingers were also difficult to get a fix on, as just before fusion they would swing to port or starboard and leave you making love to their hairy ears, this was like kissing the outside of a coconut. Due to the frontal approach needed, and the caution to protect our frontal bits and pieces from inappropriate contact, feet had to also be navigated around to avoid collisions at ground level.

Because we dared not embrace each other, we had to be very close to each other to make lip contact. If endowed with long feet, then the length of these feet had to be allowed for during approach, otherwise just as you aimed for the kissing spot, if you stood on your partners toes your trajectory would rise so that you kissed him somewhat above the proffered spot. You might think this is a joke, but it was not. Try it !! Some stood with legs apart, some together, pigeon toes, flat foots. With the fatties you could not see their feet if you got too close, so a long range calculation had to be made during final approach. This whole affair was a navigational nightmare. I remember my Father-in-law (Neville Janson) complaining bitterly about having to kiss the fat arrogant dial of Wynn Buckland who he detested.

It was normal, just prior to each meeting for a good number of men to indulge heavily in the drinking of whiskey. By the time a non whiskey drinker had been kissed by a number of alcoholic’s, we were bordering on intoxication also. I remember trying to get a fix on one dear brother who was normally intoxicated on arrival, but with his swaying head I always missed the mark. It normally ended with a clanging of skulls, which I don’t think he ever felt. The suffering would have been bearable if the ladies had been included!

What was our filthy deranged leader J.Tjr trying to do, by ordering this unnatural union. Was it meant to gloss over or heal indifferences between us men? Well it didn’t.. I would have to front up to Terry Deck with nice wet lips and kiss this Himmler of the Gestapo on his evil face, just for him to stab me (and others) in the back as we walked away.

Was J.Tjr trying to turn us males into a raunchy band of homosexuals? Whatever the reason behind this bizarre directive, it proved nothing but idiotic and the practice was in the end dropped. I think some of our wives balked at kissing us after we had just been slobbered on by 20 male mouths.

To Be Continued

The next installment of Cast Outside The Camp will be: Cast Outside The Camp – Aftermath (Continued)

Read all published installments of the McCallum story.

Neville McCallum and his wife Philippa tell their often harrowing story of experiencing Exclusive Brethren Assembly discipline in a series of installments. Neville and Philippa live in New Zealand with their family. If you would like to be alerted when another installment is published in this series, please subscribe to Peebs.Net » Personal Stories by email for Cast Outside The Camp or any other Personal Story in the future.

Order the Book! Neville and Philippa have self-published a book of their experiences. Use the form below to contact them direct in order to receive further information:
[contact-form-7]

An Invitation! If you have a Personal Story of Life in the Exclusive Brethren, please consider sending it to us here at peebs.net. This website reaches thousands of people every month and there is no better way of telling our story than by describing it in human terms. We like to publish via installment and would work with you to maximize the publication impact.

Neville McCallum experienced the full wrath of the Exclusive Brethren in New Zealand during the notorious reign of James H Symington (cult leader through the 1970′s until his death in 1987). In Cast Outside The Camp, Neville and his wife Philippa recount how it felt to be pursued, interrogated and eventually cast-out of the Exclusive Brethren. They pull no punches in this often deep, always insightful and sinister human drama which is presented by peebs.net as a multi-part serialization.

The bewildering impact of Freedom

ROUND 15 (Part 2)

- Coping With Freedom -

We were the fourth generation of our families (McCallum and Janson) to be in the Exclusive Brethren fellowship, with our ancestors joining in the 1800’s.

Even though we had kind of re-grouped during our 3 year ordeal, now we were alone to stand or fall on every decision we made. This is when the going got tough.

Up until this day (in our generation timing), we had never been permitted to make any important decisions ourselves, as all decisions came through the ‘world leader’s’ ministry which every home globally received a copy each month.

For any non member, including our children today, the above statement is impossible to understand without me giving a foundation for it.

Here are just a few examples –

1. no holidays.
2. when reading the paper, stand up, to avoid becoming a news soak.
3. nothing to eat before attending the 6am Sunday meeting
4. no talking at the hall after the 6am meeting
5. women to wash their husbands feet
6. no Saturday or Sunday trading
7. if you go to the beach, do not go with another family
8. if out of town, or New Zealand, you had to be back for your Tuesday night meeting
9. ladies hair had to be long and worn down, despite age
10. vehicle plates with the numbers 666 had to be changed
11. no ties, short pants, dress hats or highly coloured clothes
12. no shaking of hands
13. not allowed to object to the drinking of hard liquor
14. no sport for children or adults
15. children not allowed to eat lunch at school
16. no motor bikes or sports cars
17. no boats or batches
18. no hunting, fishing, caravanning or camping
19. no eating at restaurants
20. could not move to another town or city
21. no birth control
22. no TV, video, radio, RT radio,
23. with ten meetings each week, one starting at 6am and two in Nelson, if you missed one meeting, except for sickness, there could be serious consequences
24. no watches or clocks in the meeting rooms
25. no eating, drinking or entering a house that was not a member’s
26. women encouraged to not wear underclothes or bras
27. no mirrors in the hall toilets
28. no beards or moustaches
29. during the meetings, families could not sit together. Men had to sit in groups separate from the women.
30. had to report to the hierarchy the slightest misdemeanour of any member, or you were punished for covering sin
31. all the men (lasted about a year or so) had to kiss each other daily (weekly maybe?)
32. could not bale anyone out of a serious financial debt situation, even your own family
33. no pets
34. all farmers had to abandon their farm homes and live within (approx) the town boundary.
35. no computers or fax machines
36. young women to be available for the carnal desires of the ‘world leader’ when he visited an area.
37. No staying in hotels, motels or camping grounds

Most of the above are ‘Do Nots’. To be fair I should mention two activities that had no limits night or day: that was making babies and drinking whiskey. Go for it as if there is no tomorrow! “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we WILL WANT MORE”!

I will stop now for three reasons –

1. I could go on and on all night.

2. You are probably getting the point, regarding our vulnerability in having to make our own decisions for the first times in our lives.

3. Any ‘Out’ could write a chapter on each of the above bizarre rules, but I thought I would write a few lines on number 31, because of its connotations:

31. The daily slobbery masculine holy kiss …

To Be Continued

The next installment of Cast Outside The Camp will be: Cast Outside The Camp – Aftermath – The ‘Holy Kiss’

Read all published installments of the McCallum story.

Neville McCallum and his wife Philippa tell their often harrowing story of experiencing Exclusive Brethren Assembly discipline in a series of installments. Neville and Philippa live in New Zealand with their family. If you would like to be alerted when another installment is published in this series, please subscribe to Peebs.Net » Personal Stories by email for Cast Outside The Camp or any other Personal Story in the future.

Order the Book! Neville and Philippa have self-published a book of their experiences. Use the form below to contact them direct in order to receive further information:
[contact-form-7]

An Invitation! If you have a Personal Story of Life in the Exclusive Brethren, please consider sending it to us here at peebs.net. This website reaches thousands of people every month and there is no better way of telling our story than by describing it in human terms. We like to publish via installment and would work with you to maximize the publication impact.

2 Year Anniversary for Breakout by David Tchappat

Two years ago this week, Australian David Tchappat launched his autobiographical Breakout: How I escaped from the Exclusive Brethren – and last weekend David married Rachel – they are currently on honeymoon.

A Double Congratulation is therefore due to a brave young man who managed to escape the clutches of the Exclusive Brethren, wrote the most recent story of what life was like in the secretive cult, used his media power to launch the book following his appearance in Australia’s ‘Big Brother’ TV show and doggedly rebuilt his life.

peebs.net has reached agreement with David and the publishers of Breakout to serialize a portion of his book. We are hoping that the limited serialization will raise interest in David’s story and help spread the truth regarding the Exclusive Brethren.

As part of the peebs.net coverage of this 2 year anniversary, we hope to arrange a live Webinar where David will answer questions over a live Internet video feed about his life in the cult, his escape and subsequent new life.  The Webinar is yet to be scheduled – it will be recorded and made available from this website for those who miss the live event. We will be providing members of the public an opportunity to submit questions for David Tchappat prior to the event.

Enter your email address below to be notified by email of when there is news of the Breakout serialization and forthcoming Webinar.