Chapter 1 . . . . . The Dead Man Speaks
ExcerptChris Geer, the ex-bodyguard of Victor Paul Wierwille, shakes the foundations of the ministry by revealing that the "man of God" died deeply disappointed in the men he chose to replace him.
Chapter 2 . . . . . A Lot of Stuff, Kids
ExcerptAn overview of the rise and collapse of The Way, and why the death of a cult leader often means the death of the cult.
Chapter 3 . . . . . The Summer of Love
ExcerptA 16-year-old high school dropout who picked up a curvy hitchhiker, I take The Way's foundational class because I love the believers and they love me.
Chapter 4 . . . . . He Did It His Way
ExcerptThe early life of V.P. Wierwille, a charismatic and self-promoting preacher who founded a ministry that made him all-powerful, unquestioned, revered and rich.
Chapter 5 . . . . . First You Believe
ExcerptWhy I decided at 17, despite my unbelief, to swallow my doubts, believe and commit -- because "first you believe, then you see."
Chapter 6 . . . . . The Hippies Turn On
ExcerptRiding a tidal wave of generational discontent, Wierwille taps into a following beyond his dreams in the late 1960s, but his top followers soon revolt against his dictatorial tactics.
Chapter 7 . . . . . The Greatest Thing You Can Give
ExcerptSent to Massachusetts as a WOW ambassador, I become convinced that the more you give the more you receive, and decide to join the Way Corps and give my life.
Chapter 8 . . . . . The Teeth of God's Love
ExcerptConvinced that "the love of God doesn't work," Wierwille purges the doubters in the early 1970s and leads the ministry into a wilderness of armed paranoia and intense distrust of anything outside The Way.
Chapter 9 . . . . . Apprentice to a Tyrant
ExcerptFor my apprentice year in the Way Corps I live with a 250-pound bully who thinks he's a prophet, and makes it his mission to break me.
Chapter 10 . . . . Inside the Lockbox
ExcerptSex in The Way, as taught and practiced by V.P. Wierwille, Craig Martindale and other top leaders, in their own words and those of their ex-lovers.
Chapter 11 . . . . Way World
ExcerptIn residence in the Corps, questioning nothing, I learn how to shake hands, floss my teeth, climb cliffs and build a rain shelter in the woods with sticks and pine needles.
Chapter 12 . . . . The "Master Student"
ExcerptCraig Martindale never forgot who taught him the Word, but in his sex-addled "Athletes of the Spirit" debut as a dancer, he made a mockery of the Word and an idol of his own body.
Chapter 13 . . . . Mission To Nowhere
ExcerptSent to Arizona as leader of a WOW family, I'm blamed for the escape or dismissal of the other three, then moved to state headquarters and put in charge of cleaning the toilets and taking out the trash.
Chapter 14 . . . . The Death List
ExcerptA remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price: suicides, murders and other premature deaths in The Way.
Chapter 15 . . . . License to Sin
ExcerptIn my last year in the Corps the new leadership practically encourages promiscuity, and on a tour of Israel and a job as night security chief, opportunity abounds.
Chapter 16 . . . . Judgment Day
ExcerptChris Geer detonates his bombshell, "The Passing of a Patriarch," and as the ministry meltdown begins I escape to Los Angeles, find a wife, lose my faith and leave The Way.
Chapter 17 . . . . Purge, Mark and Avoid
ExcerptThree years after leaving I receive a letter of dismissal, and I infiltrate my old cult to find that Craig Martindale has turned it into a dictatorship ruled by hatred and fear.
Epilogue . . . . . I Do Not Believe
ExcerptFor years I dreamed I was back in The Way but unable to tell anyone I no longer believed. This book has become my way of saying it: "I do not believe."
Wayspeak: A Glossary
ExcerptOver 150 terms coined or given a unique meaning by The Way, from "abundant sharing" to "Zero Corps."
© Karl Kahler 1999