CESNUR Presentations

CESNUR Presentations

By Mama

We want to let you know that Peter and I attended the CESNUR 2009 International Conference—Center for Studies on New Religions—which is an international network of scholars working in the field of new religious movements. This year the conference was held at City Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Over the past few years, the Lord has been giving me some advance notice through prophecy that I was going to be traveling more—not only seeing the Family, but also appearing before the general public. This appearance at CESNUR is the first step in the fulfillment of what the Lord has said about speaking before the “general public.”

This was my first time ever to speak to a group outside the Family. Peter and I spoke at an open session, where we both gave presentations. There were close to 50 people in attendance. This was followed by a brief question and answer session, and then a dinner/reception for a select group of 14 academics.

This whole adventure was a big step of faith for me, as I haven’t done much public speaking in my life—other than at a few meetings at summits, as well as on our trip to India and my earlier trip to Guatemala. However, despite my lack of practice and natural skills, the Lord did many miracles for me, helping me to remember facts and figures that are otherwise hard for me to recall. He anointed me to be able to say what I needed to in an organized and precise way.

At CESNUR, Peter gave a presentation about the change journey and the changes that we’re undergoing as a Family. I spoke after Peter. Following is the text of our presentations.

It’s not new information, as we’re sharing our thinking and the Lord’s direction with you as the change program develops. However, the way that our presentations are worded is a little bit different, due to the audience we were addressing, and we thought that they might be of interest to you. Besides knowing what we presented, it can serve as a concise review of some of what we’ve been sharing with you via the various recent Letters, and it might also provide you with ideas for how you can explain the Offensive and the process of change that we’re undergoing as a Family with non-Family members, friends, and relatives.

We love you!

 

Peter’s CESNUR 2009 Presentation

—Peter Amsterdam

Maria and I are very thankful for the opportunity to speak to you today about the Family, and we’d like to express our gratitude to CESNUR and other such organizations for promoting and defending the religious freedom that is so vital for religious organizations such as ours. We greatly appreciate the help you’ve given over the years and it has made a difference, I’m sure not just for us, but for many other organizations like ours.

I had the opportunity to meet with a gathering of scholars during the CESNUR conference in Waco, Texas, in 2004. At that time, I explained organizational and restructuring changes that were underway. Many of those changes have substantiated since then, placing the Family in a position to undertake an even more ambitious program for its future.

Innovation and change have been hallmarks of the Family since its inception. Under the tutelage of our founder, David Berg, the Family evolved from a group of born-again youth to a highly organized society and culture that has withstood the test of 40 years.

Since David’s passing 15 years ago, the Family has continued to experience a high degree of change, both in pragmatic and theological realms. Maria and I don’t foresee this trend changing in the future.

The Family today is at a very pivotal point in its history. Our aim is to foster innovation and progress, with three objectives:

1) Expansion of membership.

2) Modernization: to ensure that the Family’s message and methods are contemporary and will accommodate expansion, while preserving the spiritual integrity of the Family.

3) Professionalization: introducing greater methodology and structure to maximize effectiveness and productivity in our mission of evangelization.

We will present a brief analysis of:

1) Structural changes that have occurred in the past five years.

2) Strategies that are in motion to achieve the Family’s current objectives.

3) The challenges the Family presently faces, as well as modifications we are considering in order to address the challenges of the future.

STRUCTURAL CHANGES OF THE PAST FIVE YEARS

First, I’ll explain some of the structural changes that have occurred in the past five years. Due to time restraints, I’ll only touch on them lightly.

In 2004, we launched a reorganization program that encompassed every level of Family structure, from the communal Home level to upper leadership.

Membership categories

The membership categories at that time were reorganized into a five-tier structure, making further allowance for categories of lesser commitment and participation. Overall, this has been successful.

In brief, the membership categories are:

—Family Discipleship (FD): The highest commitment category, organized communally.

—Missionary Membership (MM): Tithing members who witness and support the Family’s work, many also choosing to manifest a high degree of personal commitment.

—Fellow Membership (FM): Tithing members with a voluntary level of commitment and participation.

—Active Membership (AM): Members who participate in evangelization, adhere to Family doctrines, and fellowship with our communities.

—General Membership (GM): Members who associate or collaborate with the Family.

The expansion of our membership structure has allowed individuals to have greater flexibility and autonomy in choosing their level of commitment. It has resulted in a steady growth rate in the lower-commitment membership circles.

Home governance structure

Next I will touch on the highlights of the changes introduced in Family discipleship communal homes.

The governance structure for Family communities, known as “Homes,” was reorganized, and the concept of “collective accountability” was introduced.

To ensure democratic governance, steering councils were also introduced. The steering council is an oversight committee elected by the Family community from among its members. The steering council’s responsibilities are divided into two broad realms: management and shepherding.

The other governance body in the Home is the “Home council,” which is a body comprising all the community’s voting members. Voting members are those 16 years of age and older. The Home council has ultimate authority to make decisions for the community. The steering council is collectively responsible to implement the democratic will of the Home council.

The new governance structure provided a framework for Homes to become more autonomous and operate more democratically. As a result, upper-level leadership’s involvement in Home matters was further diminished.

A challenge that we have faced in implementing this structure is achieving the important balance that is needed between personal autonomy and the ability of the community to succeed as an entity.

Board structure

With regard to the internal equilibrium of our movement, the board structure, which was established in 2002, has served to foster stability, as well as to provide targeted assistance and quality resources for Family members.

We divided the various facets of our organization’s mission and internal affairs into six boards.

The six boards are:

—Children and Parenting

—Education

—Youth

—Church Growth and Outreach

—Communication and Community Relations

—Coaching and Shepherding

Boards operate at national, regional, and international levels. The regional boards include representation from the national boards, and the chairpersons of the regional boards sit on the international boards.

A main objective of the board structure was to generate growth, ideas, and initiatives, and to build a broader base of leadership involving more grassroots participation. The board structure has been overwhelmingly successful in fostering growth and advancement in the diverse pillars of Family life. It has also opened up positions of responsibility and leadership for many Family members.

Now I would like to explain a little about the leadership structure that is currently in place. As a point of interest, for the most part, the Family’s management and leadership structures are set up so that ascending levels of leadership include representation from the preceding leadership tier.

Regional leadership

At the regional level, the oversight of the Family is divided into 12 regions. Each region is guided by a regional council. The regional council comprises the regional shepherds, and the chairpersons of the six regional boards.

The regional shepherds are executive leadership, appointed by World Services leadership to oversee the administrational affairs, and the ministerial and mission work of their regions. The regional shepherds report directly to World Services, which is supervised by Maria and me.

The regional council is responsible to facilitate and monitor their region’s general direction, goals, and progress—in line with the direction and goals of the Family worldwide.

The Family Policy Council

The next level of leadership is the Family Policy Council, which was instituted in 2004, and serves as the Family’s executive and international leadership council. Their purview is to assist Maria and me in determining Family policy. They also provide counsel on administrative matters.

The FPC is composed of the regional shepherds from all 12 regions, the international board chairpersons, and some appointed World Services members. The council is representative of both first and second generation members: 22 members are from the second generation and 26 from the first.

Policy-making is a collaborative effort and involves a complex process. All agenda points are thoroughly studied and deliberated. The inclusion of policy is voted on by the full FPC body, and all decisions are confirmed prophetically. We are deeply aware of the far-reaching effects that policy can have on the Family as a whole, as well as in each individual’s personal life, and as such, we put a great deal of time and effort into determining new policy.

A NEW EXPANSION AND FLOCK-BUILDING PROGRAM

Now I will touch for a few minutes on the expansion program. The reorganization program of 2004 that I mentioned earlier was instituted with the intent of launching a new evangelistic campaign in 2008. The campaign was officially termed the “Witnessing and Winning Offensive” and is commonly referred to as “the Offensive.”

At this time, the Offensive encompasses three main objectives:

1) Flock-building.

2) Expanding our full-time membership.

3) Independent communities establishing a solid financial base that allows them to invest more time in evangelization.

Confirmatory prophecies indicated that the Offensive would be a campaign to expand the Family’s membership base and outreach programs, and to shift the Family’s focus frominternal affairs to evangelization.

Sharing the message of God’s love and truth with others, and gaining converts, is not a novel undertaking for the Family. Many Family members have been missionaries for decades, and are personally committed to and passionate about our mission and evangelization efforts.

However, the Offensive is not merely a new outreach program. The Offensive has also served as a catalyst for examining the Family’s culture and context, with the intent of making significant changes that will allow us to achieve greater success in our mission.

With the Offensive, we are emphasizing personal innovation, national adaptation in outreach techniques, as well as incorporatingprofessionalism and methodology into our evangelical efforts.

At the start of the Offensive, communal Homes were commissioned to devise their own strategy plans for new outreach campaigns and building a congregation. Regional councils were also required to formulate strategies for assisting members in their regions in gaining momentum in the Offensive and realizing success.

At this point, it’s premature to gauge the results of the Offensive. We speculate that it will take three or more years for the Offensive to come into its own. Although the full impact of the Offensive is not measurable and won’t be for several years, already it has resulted in many new initiatives, public ministries, and evangelistic endeavors.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR NEW CHALLENGES

The Offensive represents a significant shift in the Family’s focus over the past decade. The challenges of maintaining a vibrant communal and spiritual life, and attending to the varied needs of the many children that reside in Family communities, has resulted in a very internal focus. Although the Family continued to preach the Gospel during that time, the Offensive represents an enhanced approach to outreach and church growth, and a renewed and vigorousoutward focus.

We are expecting that in a few years’ time, we will see major increases in Family membership, particularly in the part-time service categories. Family membership has not expanded beyond the 15,000-mark throughout its history. If the Offensive thrives as anticipated, and we see congregations numbering in the hundreds or thousands, this will significantly alter the landscape of the Family.

In order for members to experience greater success and fulfillment in accomplishing the Family’s mission, professionalism and innovation are musts. The environment of the Family must be one where innovation can flourish, where individuals can fully develop their potential, and seize new opportunities that arise for engaging in our mission. This will require a great deal of flexibility and openness in Family practice and culture.

The Offensive brings new elements into the context of the Family. We cannot ignore the fact that in order to achieve success, change is vital. We are tasked with the need to examine current Family context and practices and to make any modifications necessary so that they are aligned with, and will enable us to achieve, the goals that we have set for the Offensive.

Perspective on the Second Coming

Considering the future of the Family and the change this will entail led Maria and me to discuss the time frame for the second coming of Jesus Christ. We ultimately conjectured that this may not occur for another 30–50 years.

We have not presented nor received any prophetic revelations to substantiate this theory. Our intent is not to develop a theoretical time frame for the second coming. But we did receive prophetic instruction that it would be prudent for the Family to have a more long-term vision in planning for and carrying out our evangelistic work and expanding Family membership.

The concept of the second coming possibly not occurring in the immediate future was presented to the Family in early 2009. This is a pivotal issue. From its earliest days, Family theology centered around the assumption that the second coming was imminent. We have generally assumed that it would occur within the lifetime of first-generation Family members. As such, long-term organizational strategies and planning for future generations held little relevance.

Broadening the time frame for our supposition of when Christ may return has not altered the essence of our theology concerning the Endtime. It does, however, pave the way for us to plan more realistically for the long-term future of the Family. It empowers members and communities to adopt a more future-minded outlook, to work more methodically and professionally, to build more effective strategies for their Offensive endeavors and outreach programs.

It also raises a number of important issues which we must take under consideration and plan for. These include:

—The issue of retirement and the care of aging members.

—The education of resident children, including ongoing and higher education options.

—The preparation of second- and third-generation members, as well as new members, to assume greater responsibility for the organization and success of the Family overall, including upper-level management and leadership.

We refer to this process of examining all aspects of our movement, as well as the policy changes or actions it will result in, as “the change program.” The remainder of my presentation will center on this topic.

Examining and changing Family culture and context

Over the past 40 years, the Family has developed a deep-seated internal culture. Some elements of our culture have strong roots in context that is no longer relevant. We see the need to update Family context in order to build a new culture that will result in our movement being more effective and efficient in its mission.

Our intention is to bring about substantial change within the Family. We are after significant differences from the way we have thought and operated in the past. We want to unhitch the Family from anything of the past that hinders us from fulfilling our mission, our core purpose.

We realize that this will involve eradicating outdated mindsets and cultural modes, some of which have been in play for 20, 30, or even 40 years. This is a monumental but very delicate task. It requires not only evaluating operations and practice, but also theology and doctrine, in order to separate the truly core values and immutable precepts from those that are outdated and not fundamental to our movement’s belief system and goals for today.

We seek to jettison what is no longer relevant to our purpose, while preserving the concepts and practices that are vital to the Family’s immediate and long-term success. This process will deeply affect the Family, and Maria and I are well aware of the risks involved in delving into practice and theology with the goal of modernizing the Family.

There are mindsets or practices that have developed—in part, due to earlier belief systems or approaches—which in many cases are either clearly or subconsciously understood by first-generation members. However, the same cannot necessarily be said for second-generation members. Their perceptions are very different. They see life and our Christian fellowship through the prism of their own experiences, which also reflects the considerable way in which the world has evolved. Their expectations of success, and their ideals for their personal life, as well as for the Family, are very high.

As more second-generation and new members become the engine of the Family, and move into positions of responsibility and leadership throughout our organization, it’s important that they are personally at peace with the fundamentals of our mission, beliefs, and practices, what the movement provides for them and their children and families, as well as its public profile in society today. It’s vital that any theological issues or practical matters that need resolution or clarification are taken care of, and not left for the next generation of leadership to grapple with.

Our second and third generation and new members are extremely valuable to our communities. They have experience and vision; they have qualities that the Family of the future cannot do without. We want the second and third generation and new members to be prepared for the roles that they will play in the Family of the future.

We are building for the needs of future generations of Family members, and for the long-term success of our movement. This is the driving motivation in evaluating the ways in which our movement needs to change: We want to ensure that the foundation of the Family, as well as its overarching mission, will be durable, and yet flexible enough, to withstand the test of time. We will seek to establish the core purpose and core values of the Family in such a way that they can be preserved for generations to come.

There are many aspects of the Family that leadership, or different generations or sectors of the Family, perceive to be “absolute” or “fundamental.” We will carefully and prayerfully examine those things to determine whether those perceptions are valid.

We do not feel that everything that exists today in our doctrine, context, or practice needs to be preserved simply because it was something that Father David espoused or liked, or because Maria and I happen to like it. If a practice or concept is not a fundamental belief, if it is not essential to the Family’s mission and spiritual well-being today or in the future, we will consider whether modification is needed.

The Family of today is very different from the Family of 10, 20, or 40 years ago. The world has changed, and will continue to change. Therefore our movement must also change in order for our purpose and message to be relevant to the needs of society today and in the years to come. There will be contextual and cultural aspects that need reformation, modification, or outright eradication.

Our goal is to determine those core values which can never change, and define them so that our bedrock foundation is clearly understood by all members. How our core values and core purpose are adhered to and practiced will be less regulated by policy, leaving more room for self-determination and personal commitment in engaging in the mission and adhering to our religious beliefs. We hope that this will allow for heightened exploration and experimentation in solving problems and challenges, capitalizing on new opportunities, and achieving greater success and fulfillment in our mission, both today and in the future.

In seeking to be more relevant to society today, to have a more inclusive culture within the Family and to expand membership, as well as to generate significant change that modernizes the Family, we run the risk of falling into compromise, losing the unique qualities of our religious movement, and succumbing to the eventual decline of our organization. Maria and I have often discussed the great risks involved in attempting far-reaching change. We have talked about it with Family leadership. We have acknowledged these risks to the Family.

For Maria and me, introducing change of this magnitude, while preserving the Family’s core, is a very weighty matter. Ultimately, we have a responsibility to be faithful to what we believe is God’s calling and will for us. And that is to lead the Family into its future as a well-prepared, firmly founded movement that is committed, relevant, successful in its mission, and faithful to follow God’s directions for today.

We are equally compelled and motivated by the personal responsibility that we feel to Family members to not fail them or lead them awry. We fully comprehend that doctrinal and policy issues are, in many cases, matters of personal faith for our members, and greatly impact their lives.

Maria and I have spent many hours in prayer and communion with the Lord, seeking His guidance, prevailing on His wisdom, and entrusting the well-being of individual Family members, and the Family as a movement, into His capable hands.

We must find the balance between encouraging and allowing for more innovation, greater flexibility, and personal choice, while still maintaining a structure that is adequate to the needs of the Family’s future, and that supports and protects the integrity of the spiritual life of members and communities. Our spiritual and community life must be able to sustain an expanded membership.

Leadership must provide the right measure of stimulus, influence, guidance, and encouragement to individual Family members, while not intruding onpersonal choice and commitment to the mission, or an individual’s level of dedication and adherence to spiritual values.

Core to the success of our expansion and congregation-building objectives is embedding inclusiveness into the Family’s culture. Perceptual barriers between membership circles and exclusivity need to be eliminated.

This gives rise to questions of how the communal and spiritual life of full-time Family members will be impacted by a heightened exposure to external influences. As we consider the ramifications of a highly expanded membership, we face the challenge that accommodation will detract from our core purpose and values. We must also ensure that the Family continues to appeal to members who opt for high-commitment service.

We will examine the historical focus on communal living for full-time Family members. Operating successful communes has been a hallmark of the Family throughout our history, and full-time Family members have derived numerous benefits from this model.

In the interests of building a culture of inclusiveness and collaboration, we will analyze whether the current stringent requirements for communalism are conducive to the Family’s success in the future or whether incorporating greater flexibility in our communal model would be more beneficial.

Additionally, Family communities currently serve many functions and they are highly complex and multifaceted. The Offensive has added renewed inspiration, but also greater pressure, to Family communities and the lives of full-time members. We must examine Family lifestyle requirements from this angle as well.

If a change in communal living requirements were to occur, it would also bring into question the current categorization of membership circles. We plan to examine our membership structure to determine whether the present classifications are necessary and conducive to our current objectives, or if a simplified structure is in order. Building a strong sense of community amongst all circles of membership is crucial to the future of the Family.

Additionally, we are reassessing the Family’s perspectives and approach to former member relations. It is our hope that the act of fostering inclusiveness in the Family’s culture will serve to lessen tensions for those that leave our organization, and broaden communication and fellowship options. We have strived to acknowledge past mistakes that have impacted some first- and second-generation members, and we’ve sought to be responsive to their complaints. Consequently, the Family continues to make progress in its reconciliation with former members.

We have developed a greater awareness of the challenges and cultural wrench that former members face upon departing, and we intend to develop a constructive transitional mechanism for Family members who depart from our fellowship. Our sincere hope is that by lessening tensions, we will facilitate the transition of those who depart, empowering them to be successful and stable in their future careers.

We have reassessed the Family’s theology and perspective on education, and have reached the conclusion that the former minimalist approach to academics, prevalent in earlier years of our history, must be reversed, and that the value of education should be further promoted.

Although the previous position has been modified over time, and education has been promoted and regulated over the past decade, nevertheless, greater emphasis on the responsibility of communities and parents to provide a quality education for their children is in order.

We will focus on continuing to promote positive and quality education, with allowance for ongoing and higher education. Traditionally, homeschooling was the preferred educational option, and most second- and third-generation members received their education in the home. However, in the interest of providing quality education to our children, Family policy will not regulate schooling options, and members may enroll their children in secular school if they choose. All sound options for the quality education of children and young people will be available to all Family members.

As inclusiveness takes root in our culture, and Family members increase contact with non-members, and there is allowance for greater exposure to outside influences and less institutional protections, it will give rise to new practical and faith-related challenges. The spiritual and directional missives our members regularly receive and their personal use of prophecy will be crucial to maintaining the spiritual integrity of the Family and our core beliefs.

In putting ourselves and the Family through the paces of change, we will seek to achieve these essential goals:

1) To preserve the spiritual well-being of the Family;

2) To fulfill our mission; and

3) To continue to protect the rights of individual members and their children.

Our primary objective is to enable the Family to prosper well into the future as a thriving religious community that is able to fulfill its ongoing mission, because it is relevant to those it endeavors to reach, while still preserving its uniqueness and our unconventional doctrines. We will work together with Family leadership and all members to make this a successful transition into the future.

Thank you.

Now I have the honor to present someone who has been my very best friend for 30 years, and has been my lovely wife for 14 years, and that’s Maria.

 

Mama’s CESNUR 2009 Presentation

—Maria Fontaine

Ladies and gentlemen,

It’s a pleasure to be here with you today. As Peter expressed earlier, we’re happy to have the opportunity to participate in this conference and to speak about the Family International.

We are also enjoying our visit to Salt Lake City, with its warm and friendly spirit. I’m particularly impressed with the deep evangelistic fervor and strong family values of the Mormons. We applaud them for their courage and the conviction they’ve held through the years, and we admire the outstanding organization that their efforts have brought about.

Last week at a doctor’s appointment, I told the doctor I’d be making a visit to Salt Lake City. He said, “Oh, are you a Mormon?” I said, “No, I’m not, but I really admire the Mormons. They’re one of the fastest growing religious organizations in the world, and that speaks well for them. People must want what they have.

“Their young people—at least the ones that I’ve seen—have always been very polite, intelligent, articulate, and eager to share their faith. I know that they sacrifice a lot to do their missions.”

I was happy to be able to put in a good word for the Mormons, because I think that there are a lot of ways in which the Family International could emulate them.

As Gordon mentioned, this is the first time ever that I’ve made a presentation in a public forum. I’m excited about it and a little nervous, too. I almost feel like a little girl on her first day at school.

Why did I choose CESNUR? It seemed an appropriate venue to speak about the significant changes occurring in the Family. A number of you have written and published papers or books on the Family, or have followed its progress and evolution over the years. I believe that, as researchers of religion, you will be interested in the challenges we face and the dynamics at work as we transition into the future.

I’d like to state that we very much value the work you do in researching and publishing accurate information on religion, and new religions in particular. Your studies are vital to helping the world to understand, and thus be more tolerant toward, other religions, particularly those that are not considered mainstream.

I think Peter did quite a thorough job of presenting the overall, major changes. Now, I’d like to present some additional points and further expand on some of the points he brought up.

Peter and I, as the shepherds of our flock, are committed to bringing about sweeping changes in the Family that will result in an organization that will be more relatable, more attractive, more professional, more modern, and better able to accommodate expansion and growth.

We are also deeply concerned for the quality of life of our members and their children. Inall the change we are introducing, the underlying theme is to empower Family members to be successful and effective in our mission of reaching the world with God’s love and truth, and to continually improve their quality of life and to provide the spiritual and practical support that will enable them to effectively meet the needs of the future.

During this presentation, I will focus on:

1) The steps that Peter and I, as the Family’s executive leadership, are taking to promote the Offensive, and what we are doing to ensure that the many changes being introduced at this time take root successfully.

2) How Family members are responding to the changes being introduced.

3) The role of prophecy in the Offensive.

Some of the steps that Peter and I have taken to facilitate the success of the Offensive and the change program are as follows:

In order to ensure that greater flexibility, and thus greater innovation, is able to flourish, it’s very important to Peter and me that we stay informed of the opinions and ideas of our members. We recently launched a website which includes a survey feature, to actively solicit their thoughts, ideas, and input. The first survey that was posted requested their opinions on the top three issues that they would like to see addressed. Over 500 people responded, and from what we can gather, although we haven’t analyzed the results yet, it looks like the top three are:

1) Innovative ways to fundraise.

2) How to fulfill one’s personal dream and better express one’s individuality within the context of our movement.

3) Innovative ways to present our Gospel message to the world.

Besides participating on the Change Program website, which is a recent development, Family members also write Peter and me personally, and we have received many very insightful and helpful letters since the onset of the change program. When possible, we are attempting to address our members’ concerns and suggestions and questions via audios or site posts.

Additionally, we’re monitoring the reactions and trends that are generated as a result of the change program and the witnessing initiatives of the Offensive. Our goal is to be responsive to issues as they arise, in order to meet new needs and solve problems as expeditiously as possible. We are also soliciting input and constructive criticism from Family leadership around the world, and this gives us a wide base of counsel from the twelve regions.

Furthermore, we are also seeking to include our membership in the process of the changes being implemented by keeping them regularly informed of new direction and explaining our reasoning behind the changes at each step of the way. This is a departure from the way change was presented in the past, when we informed the Family of changes or new direction once it was settled and ready to be implemented. The new Change Program website will serve to keep the Family informed of pending changes, as well as which issues will be addressed, and what the timetable for the presentation of specific changes will be.

In order to bring about results that will last, we feel it is essential to reinforce the changes being implemented so that they’re continually in the forefront of people’s minds. To this end, the Offensive and the change program are a constant thread in everything we currently present to the Family.

Another effective method that we’re using to encourage and motivate our members is the publishing of success stories: sharing with them some of the many accounts we receive from their co-workers around the world of the wonderful things the Lord is doing in furthering their ministries. Publishing these testimonials for the rest of the Family stirs many others to try new methods also.

As another means of promoting the goals of our witnessing and church growth strategy, as well as the change program, we’re implementing more effective means of communicating on a personal level with Family members. I launched a website in July 2008 in the style of a blog called History In the Making, or HIM for short. This is a place where I share information several times a week, including articles, prophecies, commentary, quotes, practical tips, notices, and book reviews.

A main purpose for the HIM site—besides getting information in an abbreviated format to the Family quickly—is to help them to get to know Peter and me better and to feel personally connected to us, not just as their leaders, but also as individuals. We’ve heard from hundreds of our members that these goals have been overwhelmingly reached.

Also in the interest of expanding our communications with our membership, in February of this year, Peter and I hosted meetings in three major cities in India, with over 500 Family members in attendance. This was the first trip of this kind that I have taken, where Peter and I together met with so many of our members.

Gauging by the enthused responses we received, our meeting with the Family in India had a significant impact. The most noteworthy outcome of our visit was the renewed levels of inspiration and motivation amongst our members in India, where social and cultural mores and extreme poverty make bringing the Lord’s love to people a very challenging but also a very rewarding task.

Now I’d like to speak about some changes we are initiating in our public profile. In keeping with the outward focus of the Offensive and the change program, and in response to God’s leading, I have decided to undertake new ventures that will be a radical departure from how I operated in the past. These will result in personal growth and new experience for me, and will be an inspiration to our membership as well.—Our presentation here in this public forum today represents a significant step toward my adopting a more public profile. (I think I like it!)

I have never made public appearances nor communicated directly with the public. I’ve lived a very private life for the past 40 years since the beginning of the Family, partly because for many of those years I lived with David, my first husband and the founder of the Family, who felt led to live in seclusion so he could focus on his writing. Later, I continued to do so due to my health and a serious affliction with my eyes, as well as to continue to focus on our publications. Thankfully, in answer to the prayers of many, my health is much improved. My eye health has been improving steadily over the years, and though I am still unable to use my eyes to a great degree such as to watch television or read books or work much at the computer, I can use them in many ways that I was unable to in the past; the improvement has been like a blind person becoming sighted, and I thank God for such a miracle.

Additionally, we are investing in upgrading the Family’s overall public presence. In 2008, we launched a new official website for the Family International, which included a comprehensive explanation of the Family’s organizational and governmental structure, and a photo of Peter and me. This is the first time we have published this information for the public.

Not only are we changing our public profile, but we are also working on changing ourselves as the Family’s executive leadership—and that’s an important change!

Peter and I consider that the changes in mindset and culture that must take place in the Family must first be thoroughly implanted in our own hearts and minds. We must showourselves willing to make monumental changes and to be the first to embrace new perspectives and to welcome changes where needed, even if these represent significant alterations in policy and doctrine.

I’m not a fan of constant change as David was. He enjoyed change at any level if it resulted in progress and increased effectiveness.

Change was in his genes. Changes are much more difficult for me, or at least they have been in the past. I think I have been making progress recently and learning to embrace change and to find satisfaction in it. Some old mindsets die hard, but once we have done the crucial part of finding God’s will through considering, discussing, proposing, and most importantly, praying over a potential change for the Family, it makes it much easier to make those changes in my own life.

We’ve been inserting gradual change into Family perspectives and culture for some years in various aspects, such as in our attitudes toward former members, providing more assistance to our young people transitioning from the Family to outside society, and improving the educational opportunities for our children.

However, now that we are facing the need to completely eliminate elements of our culture that are not relevant or applicable for today, or that will hinder the growth and progress of the Family, we must present change at an accelerated pace, so that the Family is able to move into the future.

As Peter said, we have made the commitment to put everything about the Family on the table for examination and evaluation.

Everything is open to alteration, modification, or complete elimination if necessary. We’re looking at everything and asking the question, “Does this need to be changed or modified in any way, or even done away with in order to help us to accomplish our mission more effectively?” If it does, we don’t want to stop short of a complete transformation.

Now I’d like to discuss how our members are responding to the change program.

Family members are generally excited and enthusiastic about the changes under consideration, although, as is to be expected, many also have questions and concerns, and have written to us to express them.

These concerns cover a broad range of issues: Some are concerned that the Family will lose its unconventional nature and will become mainstream; others worry that we will lose our convictions and beliefs regarding what we refer to as the Endtime, the events foretold in the book of Revelation leading up to Jesus’ second coming. As Peter mentioned, this has been a key element of our theology from our early days.

Some have questions as to whether the fact that we are changing elements of our theology, practice, or culture signifies that past ways or practices were inherently wrong or in vain; or that in examining and evaluating our doctrine and methodology, the Family’s history and past will come to be viewed in a negative light.

  Others question whether the focus on professionalizing our methodology will result in the Family becoming settled down and mainstream, and thus losing its uniqueness. Some first-generation members have expressed concerns that they won’t be able to manage the scope of change and all that will entail due to their age and increasing health concerns; second-generation members are seeing the need to plan for their future and that of their children due to the change in context regarding Jesus’ second coming. Some people are concerned about too much change being introduced; others that it will not be enough and that the changes are being introduced too slowly.

These are all legitimate concerns, and we share in the Family’s questions and have started to address them in order to help them through this time of transition. Some concerns can be easily addressed to their satisfaction, but in other cases, we have yet to address the issues, and will not be able to provide answers until the lengthy process that occurs prior to introducing change is completed.

Although initially the changes introduced may be somewhat unsettling and produce some degree of upheaval, we feel that in general we as an organization will be able to weather the changes well. Why?

First, we’re accustomed to change, and have experienced the benefits of it over the years. The current changes portend to offer many benefits, such as greater effectiveness in our missionary work, enhanced quality of life for our Family and our children, and the opportunity to see personal aspirations realized.

Also, the Family has faith in God’s Word and wants to live by its precepts.

Additionally, as an organization, we want to be current and professional, and thus be more relatable to the public.

Furthermore, our members have a personal connection with the Lord through prayer and prophecy to guide them through these transitional times.

As well, the members of the Family have faith in Peter and me as their leadership and in our commitment to bettering the Family on every front. We pray desperately that God will help us not to fail them.

Having said that, I want to reiterate what Peter said, that we don’t take lightly the risks involved in the scope and breadth of the changes we are contemplating, which will affect both the communal structure and spiritual atmosphere of the communities. Therefore, we are expending much time and effort in discussion and in prayer and in hearing from God in prophecy and in publishing much spiritual and practical counsel for our membership that will give them the faith to embrace the new.

We’re also investing substantial time and personnel in providing spiritual stability through the creation of new devotional and meditative publications in audio and written format to provide reassurance and faith for this period of transition. And, as I mentioned earlier, we’ve developed a number of communication avenues that we hope will serve to provide Family members with the information and support needed to successfully weather this time of transition.

We are deeply committed to ensuring that each Family member will receive all the support and practical assistance that we can possibly provide during this time of focus on the Offensive and the change program.

 

Now I’d like to talk about prophecy.

An important feature of the Family of today is its widespread use of prophecy. We consider prophecy to be an important gift, given to God’s children, and that it should play an active part in our lives and ministries. As we ask the Lord to guide our paths, we believe that He speaks to each of us personally with daily guidance.

Not only have individual Family members learned to use prophecy in their personal lives for instruction and encouragement, but Family Homes have effectively learned to incorporate prophecy into their decision-making processes. Prophecy also plays an important role in every level of our leadership structure in our decision- and policy-making. In addition, it plays an important role in the change program, as all changes introduced to the Family are confirmed in prophecy, and messages are received that provide direction for the changes and their implementation. If you’re interested in receiving some of our publications on prophecy, please feel free to contact us.

What I would like to highlight here is how we have incorporated prophecy into our outreach ministries. We use prophecy both in the planning and development of our publications and productions for the general public, as well as for the actual content.

As an example, messages received in prophecy are published in the format of Gospel tracts and distributed to the public, addressing contemporary issues such as the current financial crisis, God’s position on war, coping with natural disasters or epidemics, as well as topics of a spiritual orientation, such as comfort, peace, salvation, the Endtime, and the world beyond. (You can pick up a sample of these messages at the back.)

We’ve also produced a series of books entitled From Jesus With Love, which are comprised of messages of comfort and direction received in prophecy for various segments of the public—parents, seniors, teens, women, and others.

Additionally, we’ve published a booklet which outlines the basic principles of hearing from God, with instruction on how individuals can avail themselves of the gift of prophecy. Our outreach publications are available for purchase to the general public, and they are welcome to distribute them.

Another innovative use for prophecy that we have begun exploring is meditational reflections received in prophecy, which I have recorded, accompanied by instrumental music. This is still a fairly unusual concept in the Christian world, and one which we intend to further explore since we have found that there is quite a vacuum for it.

Receiving personal prophecies for individuals is also an important component of the Family’s public ministries. Messages are received providing counsel, comfort, assistance in people relations, or business concerns. We have heard accounts of people who have been greatly touched by these prophecies and have received emotional and spiritual help, as well as practical help.

Not so long ago, one of our members received a prophecy for a pastor whose wife had just died, leaving him with three small children. After reading the prophecy, he said, “I’ve had a number of pastor friends come to talk to me and try to encourage me, but none of them knew or understood just what I was going through. But this prophecy has answered everything. It expresses my heart perfectly.”

A government researcher who was the recipient of prophecies about traumatic losses in his past was also very moved and said that they had helped him to say good-bye to his loved ones. He asked us, “Why aren’t you doing this for others?”

Family members have been using prophecy to help their friends to find healing and closure in their lives for the loss of a loved one or issues they are having a hard time resolving, but this ministry has developed somewhat gradually.

However, now that the Offensive is a primary focus and our members have become more confident in their channeling, the use of prophecy as an outreach ministry is accelerating.

We are also finding that many of the disillusioned youth of today are very receptive to prophecy. A considerable number of our Homes have participated in helping young people to find faith in God through prophecy.

As one example, I’d like to read you an account sent to me by second-generation members in Argentina:

“We arrived at Plaza Francia and set up a blue gazebo and placed some mats on the floor. All of us were dressed in loose white clothes. The idea was to transmit a heavenly aura. The mission was to invite young people to our gazebo to get prayer or prophecy. After only ten minutes, the first daring young people came and sat on the mats. There were two of us ready to pray for them and prophesy. We explained to them the basics of prayer and prophecy and Jesus, and asked them if they had a question that they would like us to ask God.

“The flow of prophecy and young people coming to the tent never stopped. For the next five hours we had people milling around us waiting for a turn. All the young people who came were from 15- to 17-years-old. We were surprised to see how receptive they were, the simple faith they had, the interest in God, the things of the spirit world, and the Endtime. Most of them were concerned about the meaning and purpose of their life. Many were worried by problems with their family and between their parents. Not a single one of them came in a sarcastic or foolish spirit; to the contrary, they took it very seriously, with a lot of respect and admiration. The Lord gave us some specifics for some of them about some things they hadn’t told us, and this resulted in a wave of teens coming to ‘hear the words that only God knows.’

“Many teens came saying that God had spoken to their friends and they wanted it, too. Many of them cried and hugged us. It took lots of humility and faith and concentration for the channels, since the young people would come in groups of six or seven at a time, and the ones waiting would sit listening.”

This account is fairly representative of many similar outreach experiences that take place around the world at other youth happenings, such as concerts and the Rainbow gatherings in the U.S. and in Europe, and anywhere that large groups of young people congregate.

We foresee that prophecy will become an even more important part of the Family’s ministry to the public and a means of witnessing and reaching the hearts of the youth of today, as well as many of their parents. These are the fledgling stages of a ministry that God foretold in a prophecy that was received in 1997 (which was published for the Family at that time) when He said:

“This magical gift, this heavenly connection, this supernatural power that you possess will not be a hidden thing. It will not be something that you do in the corner or only behind closed doors.

“…You will give supernatural messages, you will hear from the departed, you will see and feel things that cannot be seen or felt by mortal man. This will be a part of your testimony, as news will travel far and wide of … the prophets, the ones who can hear from beyond, from the other side, from the spirit world, the [celestial] realm.

“You will not use this … treasure, this precious gift only for yourself, for your own edification or for the supply of your own needs and protection, but you will also use it for others. You will use this gift to answer their questions, and to be a testimony to them that I am the living God, that I love and I care and I speak today, and that I have a personal interest in each of My children. … Many will come to you with their heartcries and their questions. … [Many] will come to you to hear from their loved one who has departed.

“They will come seeking solace, answers, freedom and hope, and they will find this in you.—Not only in the words that you can speak from your vast knowledge of My Word and many years of loving Me and serving Me, but also in the words you speak to give them … My personalized, specialized, unique message for them” (ML #3140:33–34, 40, 43–44).

In conclusion:

Peter and I feel very blessed to oversee the Family and to be part of an organization filled with so many wonderful people. Family members are very dedicated, committed people, who have given their lives in service to God, many times under difficult and sacrificial conditions. They have lived communally quite successfully, despite the challenges this poses, for 40 years. They have raised many children, established missionary works in over 90 countries in our short history, as well as shared the Gospel message with over 290 million people, and prayed with over 33 million people to receive Jesus as their Savior.

Our second-generation members are very creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial. I think that most of them can do just about anything they set their minds and hearts to, and many of those who have chosen other careers outside the Family have done wonderfully as well. I’m very proud of our younger generation, and the important contribution they make to the Family today, and even more importantly, the contribution they will make to its future.

I believe that the Family’s future is a very bright one. The Family’s zeal and passion for helping people and reaching them with God’s love and salvation and the answers to life’s questions will ensure that we continue to make a difference in the lives of the many people we interact with every day.

As the Family becomes more attractive, inclusive, versatile, focused on its mission, and structured in a way that makes it more conducive to gaining new members and sustaining growth, we believe that we will see significant expansion at all levels.

I’ve put a lot of emphasis on what we, as the leadership of the Family are doing, and what our members are doing.

We are doing as much as we can, but our abilities can’t begin to match the dimensions of the task that God has called us to accomplish. However, as someone once wisely said, “We may not be great or capable, but we have a God Who is great and capable.”

We know that with man it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible (Mark 10:27).

That is why we are placing our full trust in the One Who is the wind in our sails, the light in our lamps, the song in our hearts, or to bring it more up to date, the fuel in our engines, our GPS to guide us through this life, and the super computer for the answers to every query.

It’s been a pleasure having this opportunity to speak with you today, and I hope that we will have other occasions to do so in the future. This has been fun for me. Thank you very much for your kind attention. And may God bless you.