16-A Corporate History Primer

 

 

Note: I am entering the "Grants Pass" period in my narrative; and the period when "the group"  became officially known as "the Assembly of the Body of Christ". It is easier to give the entire corporate history in a single post since the transformation happened over a period of many years. It will be much easier to follow the money side of the ABC church business all at once rather than trying to list the details in many different posts, representing many different eras.

This is an abbreviated history of the corporate structure of the Assembly of the Body of Christ (ABC) as it developed over a number of years. I have acquired as much information as I am able through public sources, and bits and pieces I heard from my father and others, but there are still bits of the story to which I will never have access due to the secrecy of the ABC leadership regarding money matters. The financial side of the ABC is deliberately shrouded by the leaders and my status as a son of the founder gives me no more insight into the daily workings than any other person not in a leadership role.  Some of this mystery is a result of the various power struggles over the years. Money is power after all, and there is considerable money, and power, in the tithe of the ABC. The tithe is used for the direct financial benefit of a very few and the manner of use of the tithe is not common knowledge.

Prior to 01/21/1982 the ABC; actually just called “the group” then; stood alone without any sort of legal structure. When persons would ask for proof of tithes paid my father instructed them it was  not scriptural to claim the tithe on your taxes and to do so would be "robbing God". This, he reasoned, is because the IRS would then be paying your tithe for you.  Thus...you have robbed God.  Certain persons became unhappy with this explanation and began to push for a legal structure that would allow them to claim their tithe as a deduction on their itemized tax return. But this would then mean “the group” would need to form a legal structure, acquire a name, and gain status as a legal non-profit. There was a great bit of consternation with many about forming "the group" into a non-profit corporation, and acquiring a name, but "the group" in Grants Pass eventually hired an attorney and, on 01/21/1982, "the group" in Grants Pass officially became a non-profit corporation named "The Assembly of the Body of Christ" . Rodney Graham, a man who was then in the group, was listed as registered agent. On 9/13/1982 my father, having now lost control of the ABC, countered this move with a California corporation he would control and named it "The Mexican Ministry of the Assembly of the Body of Christ".  The registered agent was Michelle Oslund, a woman in the group at the time. After my father's death Michelle left the ABC completely and joined with a group Yvonne started in Tijuana Mexico. This Mexican Ministry corporation in California was then  dissolved. 

In 1983, and well into 1984, the ABC went through the largest upheaval of its existence in both San Diego and Grants Pass. A separate corporation was formed in Colorado in August 1984 by Gilbert Larson and this finally removed all corporate control from the Grants Pass group. The Grants Pass corporation remained in existence just a short while longer and, on 7/24/1985 was dissolved. Three months later, in October 1985, my father had a massive heart attack in a Mexican restaurant in San Diego and died.

Since I had been disowned by my father in January 1984, and was ex-communicated from the church, I work from third party reports on some of the facts during these years. From reports of others I heard the torch of control was uncertain for quite some time. Ultimately, that torch passed to Gilbert Larson, who has now proclaimed himself to be an apostle since he founded a new group in Denver Colorado. David North, from what I heard, was one contender for control but he could not wrest control away. He was eventually named "the prophet", given a home to live in paid by for by the ABC, a salary, and partial control. 

David had been one of the predominant players in "The Mexican Ministry" while my father was alive but ultimately lost in the power chess game that ensued after my father's death.  Yvonne had attempted to maintain control but was unable. She then left to form her own church in Tijuana. I had no desire to take a leadership role in my father's church and would not have accepted it even if they offered. Those vying for power eventually pushed Yvonne out completely then took control of the entire estate, including things my father had once promised me as an inheritance. I instead received, in the mail, a toy gong that once belonged to my father. It was a gag gift I had given him when he was laid up in bed with a severe illness when I was fourteen. This came in a box from Yvonne with a note telling me this is what my father wanted me to have after his death. It was intended as an insult.

A little over five years later, on 3/11/91, two new corporations were formed in Washington state. The officers of both corporations were Gilbert Larson, Caralee Larson and James Shierman per the public record I obtained at the time.  Previously David North had shown as an officer. I am uncertain what led to the forming of these new corporations. The corporations are named  "Assembly of the Body of Christ" and "Assembly of the Body of Christ, Northwest Ministry". Click on "Additional Information" when following these links to view the officers. It is unclear why two separate corporations were formed instead of just one. Both were renewed when they are about to expire. In March of 2014 the "Assembly of the Body of Christ" corporation was allowed to expire and was merged with the corporation "The Assembly of the Body of Christ, Northwest Ministry". 

Note: I did discover in the corporate bylaws that if the "Assembly of the Body of Christ" corporation was ever dissolved, all assets were to be turned over to any other "Assembly of the Body of Christ" corporation. This would have then transferred all financial assets to the corporation Gilbert Larson created in Washington State. Take from that what you will but money is power.

After the death of James Shierman, the treasurer, the corporation was allowed to go into delinquency rather than expose the finances to another person. (Click pictures to enlarge)

I asked over the years, as an elder and faithful contributor, for an accounting of how the tithe money was spent. Each time my request for information was refused. Each time I was instructed I just needed to trust God the money was being spent correctly. I had seen how money was spent over the years, especially during the "Mexican Ministry" era. What I saw was certain individuals fulfilling their own desires with the money. I knew the system in place allowed no method of oversight and people were allowed to greatly abuse the money as leaders. Trust only comes with transparency and in the ABC there is no transparency.

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15-On to San Diego

 

I was at work at Sambo's restaurant when my dad called me from San Diego to inform me my great aunt Elsie had died and left me an inheritance. I barely knew her. I had seen her only on Thanksgiving or Christmas, perhaps five or six times, but in her will she had left me a good size trust fund to be used only for college. This was, to my dad, a "sign'  God wanted me to go to college. School's were cheaper in California he said. He counseled me that God wanted me to move to San Diego, as soon as possible. He said he would help me get settled, but that was yet another lie.

Neither myself, nor my wife, had ever been to Southern California. We were not sure we would even like it. Both born in the Pacific Northwest, southern California seemed like foreign territory, so we went first on vacation; see if it was to our liking; and, if it was, then we'd commit to a move. 

It took a couple months to prepare for this visit but we finally hit the road to San Diego. We drove straight through, except for one brief stop, for lunch, at a relatives' place near San Francisco. We arrived in San Diego dead tired, just in time for a meeting at Susan's house.  My eyes may have been open that evening, but my brain was definitely asleep.  I remember only my dad taught but I have no idea who was even there.

We spent less than a week in San Diego on this visit. We saw a few of the sights, including a jaunt north to Disneyland for a day, but the highlight of the trip for my wife was the beach at Coronado. She loved it more than Disneyland and this convinced her San Diego was the place she wanted to be.  I am not much of a "lay on the beach" person so I was not as thrilled about the beach as she was, but there definitely were a lot of other places to explore.

We returned to Klamath Falls. Shortly after the birth of our first child, I gave my notice at work; we loaded everything we owned in the car's trunk and set sail for San Diego.  This time, since we had our infant child with us, we did not drive straight through. We stopped just south of San Francisco for one night before continuing. Our daughter was born sick with some rather severe intestinal problems. Suffering chronic colic she was in constant pain from the condition. It made for a long drive with a continuously screaming infant in the back seat but we still arrived in San Diego in one piece. Only after the death of her son Cameron did we learn she carried a genetic mitochondrial defect and that was likely the source of her chronic colic as an infant.

On the vacation trip we had been introduced to Susan and a few others  but, this time, we were given the address of someone I had not yet met named David North. David,  and his wife, lived  in Imperial Beach;  just south of San Diego, and very close to the Mexican border. When we arrived at their apartment, the front door was wide open, inside were Navy guys laying all over the floor listening to music, talking, having fun and doing lots of eating.  Unlike most guys up north who had long hair; this was the 70s after all; these guys had neat and trim Navy haircuts. Everyone said "Hi', we were invited in with open arms and given something to eat.

David North was the brother of Jackie;  one of the original attendees at the Wilcrest apartment. She had introduced him to “the group”early on. David was in the Navy and these guys laying around the apartment were all friends he had introduced to "the group".  Everyone seemed  happy, the mood was mostly raucous, and the most prominent memory I have of that day was of a man named Gabriel who showed up with an enormous bag of figs. Not finding many takers for his figs he consumed nearly the whole bag by himself then became sick and had to leave the room. 

David North was on duty when we arrived but showed up later that evening. He seemed to me a nice guy, laid back and both he and his wife were tolerant of this gang of Navy guys just hanging around their house, relaxing, acting as if it were their own place. The David I knew then is not the David I know today.  He was a kind and gentle person then, very tolerant of others and had a quick smile. This would change. Years later, he would assume a leadership role in the ABC and was told his new name “given to him by God” was  "Face of Flint". This name was given to him  through “prophecy” by Andy Atwell; the "evangelist". I did not  regard the name given as a complimentary but it is however fitting.  The David I met on this first trip to San Diego was a man of  love, tolerance and was  seemingly very compassionate and humble. The David I know now, years later, is indeed stony faced and stony-hearted with little tolerance showing.   It is sad  this  man I once knew with a huge soft heart is now praised as having a hard face of flint. To me this only evidences the stone cold heart beneath.  If this was truly a prophecy of God by Andy, I do not believe it was meant to be complimentary as has been assumed.  A heart of mercy will always trump a stony face of judgment. The Pharisees of Jesus day were men with "faces of flint". This is not the example we should emulate.

So speak, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy triumphs over judgment.  James 2:12-13 

There was seldom a time when there was not at least one Navy guy lounging around David North's apartment; day or night.  The whole aura in San Diego seemed to be one of love and acceptance of each other's blemishes and wrinkles. I felt welcome at Dave and Cindy's house. We lived there for just a short while, on their living room floor, while I found work and a place to live.

Work was much more plentiful in San Diego than it was in the northwest. Finding a job took only about a week. My dad and Yvonne were still in San Diego when we arrived but,  soon after,  major trouble erupted up north. This was actually the same issues over tithe and autonomy that had been brewing under the surface since nearly the beginning. It had now erupted completely and was visible to all.  Even the “new babes” knew what was happening this time so my dad and Yvonne  left San Diego in  a rush and headed north and quell the problem.

I don't recall exactly how long they were gone. I believe it was about a month. When they returned, my dad had a letter he distributed to all the people in San Diego. He had already distributed this same letter in all the other areas on his way back down. It addressed the “problems up north", detailed the "disciplines" laid down and ordered the men “causing trouble”, and their wives and entire families, to be shunned as "rebellious".  Some, including myself,  also received a tape of that meeting.

There had been discipline in the group prior to this event but this new level of discipline; born as a result of that Bob Mumford meeting a couple years earlier; was a massive ex-communication of peoples. It would leave the subjects completely humiliated and devastated. This practice is in stark contrast to scripture (which the ABC contends they follow more closely than all others) which tells us we are to build each other up and show mercy.  A few who were not in  leadership positions were  "disciplined" rather than fully ex-communicated that day, but these people were still forbidden to take communion and were told they must sit in the back of the room and could not speak.

Paul, in the scripture, realized he had it within his nature and temperament to cause such destruction by weight of his authority so rather than visit Corinth personally he sent them a letter instead. At the end of his letter to the Corinthian church (a church with some huge issues) he wrote:

Now I pray to God that you do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that you may do that which is honorable, though we are as reprobate. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. And this we also pray for, even your perfecting. For this cause I write these things while absent, that I may not deal sharply when present, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up, and not for tearing down. 2 Corinthians 13:7-10 

The tape they gave me was ninety minutes long but still did not contain a recording of the entire meeting. It is my understanding the meeting ran about three hours, or more, but there was only one blank tape available so only the first half of the meeting was actually recorded.  Ninety minutes was plenty of tape to realize the room was full of puffed up egos on both sides of the issue. There was a great deal of shouting back and forth with little true communication. Nothing in that room was being done for anyone's edification. The meeting bore no good fruit and it should have never happened. I listened only to a small segment of the tape before turning it off.  It was not edifying to listen to and only brought me sadness. These were people I knew very well and had been good friends with for many years. Many years later I found that tape again, during a move, so I listened to the entire ninety minutes. It was mostly just incoherent shouting, bickering and arguing over what seemed like petty matters. The predominant issue on my dad's side was still the differing viewpoint over when a person receives the Spirit; going into the water or coming  out; and the main target of the inquiry, Gary, tried to acquiesce many times, saying it was a minor point to him and he did not wish to argue it. My dad refused to let it go and continued to bulldog the point for the entire ninety minutes of tape and presumably for the entire three hours of meeting. The real issue was still money and autonomy but this subject was still being pushed aside to argue out this minor point.

All the people involved in this latest scuffle I would never see again. This would be the first of many arguments that would rise and "the group" would split again and again after unbearable "disciplines" were placed.  Based on my own event, a person is now even considered  "eternally judged" and is now forbidden to even speak in their own defense.  This new twist ends any arguments, makes the accuser always right; at least in their own eyes; and nearly finishes the progression of conquering people completely. I find it interesting that the accepted Revelation teaching is that people will become a conquered people.

I found work within days of moving to San Diego with Aero-Pacific vending. It was a good job. My wife and I would settle into our own place, and everything went well at first. I had a few conversations with the bank that held my college trust fund, discovered it was not large enough to pay my tuition and books, plus living expenses for a guy who now had a family so decided full time college would have to wait. I took only one night class for one year (1975-76).  Unlike high school, college was enjoyable and this small taste of higher learning made me look forward to continuing my education.  

After living in San Diego a short time  a man named Robin, and his first wife,  felt "impressed by God"  that I, and my family, should move with he and his family to Phoenix Arizona and begin meetings there.  My job with the vending company was  requiring me to go to some rather obscene book stores to service the machines so I decided it was probably best to quit that job anyhow. I gave notice at work and our apartment then one month later moved to Phoenix Arizona. Robin, and his family, intended  to follow us a few weeks later but his wife was pregnant and, since Robin had been in the Navy when she became pregnant, she wanted to give birth in San Diego at the Naval hospital. This way there would be no cost for the delivery. We waited and two short weeks later received a call from Robin telling us the baby had died shortly after birth and the plans to move to Phoenix had changed...they were no longer coming.  We now found ourselves alone  in the middle of a hot Phoenix summer with a small child and a  car with no air conditioning.  Phoenix was not turning out to be the picnic we had expected so we decided, that night, we would not stay. We begged the apartment manager to let us out of our one-year lease then made plans to move at the end of the month. After the dreadful heat of Phoenix we missed the Northwest and so decided not to return to San Diego and instead headed north. We drove back to San Diego, made a brief stop to visit, then headed north to the Apex Airpark. On our route, we also made a brief stop in Beaverton Oregon at Gilbert Larson's house. We lingered in Beaverton briefly and I spent a few weeks working with his surveying firm. I had previously spent part of a summer working with Gil as "rod man" on a crew in Northern California but I still knew very little about surveying. We went north to Silverdale but did not end up staying long. My dad came back to the area, sat us down, told us we were wrong to have left San Diego, and said “God wanted us to return to San Diego”. We were of course, obedient and returned.

We returned in the spring of 1977. I enrolled in Southwestern College as a full-time student and declared my major as undecided. My unspoken goal was to attend Southwestern for two years then transfer to a four-year school and pursue a degree in Geology. My goal then was to work for the United  States Geological Survey. I would have continued on this path except, in my first semester, I enrolled in a Psychology class. The class was part of the requirements to receive a transfer certificate from Southwestern to a four-year school.  My dad quizzed me about the classes I had enrolled in. When I mentioned the psychology class he chastised me and demanded I drop the class. The reason given was that it would “teach me earthly wisdom" and “shake my faith in God”.  I had attended only one session of the class so I dropped it rather than fight my dad on the issue.  I then sought a major that did not require psychology and by necessity opted out of the transfer certificate.  I found only one path that did not require psychology and declared this new major. I have regretted not fighting my dad on this issue. It altered the career path I wanted and I truly do not think a few psychology classes would have shaken my faith in God. In fact it may have actually opened my eyes to the abusive manipulation of my father and his church. This is likely the real reason I was pressured to stay away from this class.

I continued at Southwestern College through Spring of 1978 when Proposition 13 closed the school. I was advised by the college there was a school in Hayward where I could finish my credits. The Hayward school would transfer these credits back to Southwestern for my degree.  I moved to Hayward but this school also ended up closing due to Prop 13. I called Southwestern and  they advised me I could attend an out-of-state school and they would still accept all the credits as their own and issue me a degree. I chose Rogue Community College in Grants Pass Oregon since I had known people in Grants Pass for years and loved the town. We gave notice on our apartment in Hayward after living there only one week and moved north to Grants Pass. 

Next, after a short "corporate history primer" I will cover my Grants Pass days and the turn of events that caused me to be ordered by my dad (who was now calling himself my "father in the Lord") to suddenly vacate Grants Pass and move back to San Diego. It would prove to be a very terrible decision to follow these instructions.

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