Broken Faith: Inside One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

by Mitch Weiss, Holbrook Mohr

Overview

*An NPR Best Book of the Year*

A PopSugar Best True Crime Book of 2020

“I can’t imagine a more important book.”—Jeff Guinn, New York Times bestselling author

An explosive investigation into Word of Faith Fellowship, a secretive evangelical cult whose charismatic female leader is a master of manipulation

In 1979, a fiery preacher named Jane Whaley attracted a small group of followers with a promise that she could turn their lives around.

In the years since, Whaley’s following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. In their eyes she’s a prophet. And to disobey her means eternal damnation.

The control Whaley exerts is absolute: she decides what her followers study, where they work, whom they can marry—even when they can have sex.

Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr’s Broken Faith is a terrifying portrait of life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335266750
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	1,094,424
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mitch Weiss is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press and the coauthor of numerous books, most recently The Heart of Hell: The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima. He lives in South Carolina.


Holbrook Mohr is an award-winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press. He has covered natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, judicial bribery schemes, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and mass shootings. He lives in Mississippi.

Table of Contents

Quote 17

Introduction 19

Part 1 In the Beginning 21

Prologue: The Escape 23

1 Moving Day, September 19, 1993 27

2 Settling In 35

3 A Fox in the Flock 53

4 Busted 66

5 The Attack 78

6 The Investigation 92

7 Little House in the Country 107

Part 2 Children of the Damned 121

8 Doubting the Word 123

9 No Escape 131

10 The Five Boys 143

11 "Happy Are the Children" 152

12 Surrogate Parents 159

13 Money and Influence 166

14 Religious Freedom 180

15 "We Won. We Won!" 187

16 The "Slaves" 198

17 The Loneliest Day 216

Part 3 The Advocates 237

18 Saving Michael Lowry 239

19 A Little Help from His Friends 254

20 The Ruse 268

21 Matthew Fenner 284

22 Danielle's Salvation 299

23 The Wedding 309

24 The Fight for Justice 317

25 The Escape 328

26 Perseverance and Redemption 346

27 The Reunion 362

Epilogue 373

Acknowledgments 399

Glossary 401

Notes on Sources 403

Books 427

Newspapers 429

Editorial Reviews

"Broken Faith is a gripping, meticulously reported account of a cult leader's grip on a small southern community. It is also a prescient story of systemic abuse where the victims seek—and fail to find—justice from the very institutions that were meant to protect them." —Ethan Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Murder in The Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?


“A tour de force of investigative journalism and storytelling. This is the kind of book that inspires the next generation of journalists and reminds working reporters why they do the job.”—Kevin Maurer, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of No Easy Day


"In light of current events, I can't imagine a more important book than Broken Faith by outstanding investigative journalists Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr. Their chilling description of North Carolina's Word of Faith Fellowship and professed Christianity gone horribly awry is unsettlingly parallel to events involving Peoples Temple and its demagogic leader Jim Jones. Much credit is due to the courageous former Word of Faith members who share their shattering stories in Broken Faith. If you care at all about religious abuse and the destructive means by which charismatic leaders exert despotic control of their well-meaning followers' lives, read this book."—Jeff Guinn, New York Times bestselling author of Manson and The Road To Jonestown


“…Fascinating and deeply researched… Compelling in its evidence, this shocking narrative examines the bonds of family, the limits of endurance, and how far people will go to save their souls.” —Booklist STARRED review


“A compelling examination of a Christianist cabal whose crimes are evident but whose power seems, for the moment, unbreakable.”—Kirkus Reviews


“A fast-paced, harrowing exposé…transfixing.”—Publishers Weekly


A page-turner for any fans of the Wild Wild Country Netflix series… will leave a lasting impression on readers for years to come.”—PopSugar


“Those interested in cults and true crime will be enthralled by this account.”—Library Journal


“A harrowing picture of faith gone horribly astray…Broken Faith makes for compelling drama, with a vision of healing and renewal at the end.”—StarNews

From the Publisher