WOMEN OF FAITH

 

AN OUTREACH OF THE U.N.

 

 

Women of Faith founder, Steve Arterburn, was previously a partner with Frank Minirth and Paul Meier of Minirth-Meier Clinics. In 1995, there was a separation from Arterburn, who in turn filed a lawsuit against Frank Minirth for libel. Arterburn continues to purvey the Freudian psychology of Minerth-Meier through his New Life Clinics and Women of Faith Conferences. (Please see Biblical Discernment Ministries for various critical analyses of the general teachings and activities of Minirth and Meier.)  Steve Arterburn sees the Women of Faith conferences as a good patient recruiting tool for psychological counseling: “At Women of Faith events, New Life and their Remuda clinics (which specialize in eating disorders) are on hand to provide information about their counseling services.”

 

WOF MINISTRY PARTNERS

 

According to the Women of Faith website, WOF Ministry Partners are as follows:

 

“Realizing the need for partnerships that would assist in accomplishing the mission, Women of Faith formed strong alliances with: Campus Crusade for Christ, Clean Web Filtered Internet, Crossings Book Club, Family Christian Store, Integrity Music, International Bible Society, Power & Glory/Columbia House, Today's Christian Woman Magazine, World Vision, Women of Faith Visa Card, Zondervan Publishing.”

  About WOF Ministry Partners:

ZONDERVAN PUBLISHING is owned by billionaire pornographer, Rupert Murdoch. 

 

Zondervan was purchased in 1988 by Harper & Row Publishers, a secular publishing house. One year later, Harper merged with another secular publisher, Collins, to become HarperCollinsPublisher. According to Zondervan's web page, “Zondervan and HarperCollins form one of the largest English religious publishing concerns in the world.” Rupert Murdoch, also the owner of Fox TV's Bart Simpson and Married With Children programs, is now the owner of HarperCollins and Zondervan. As the proprietor of Zondervan, Murdoch also owns the printing rights to the New International Version [NIV].

 

CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST 

 

The ecumenical origins and heretical orientation of Campus Crusade are documented in The World Christian Movement:

 

“After laying hands on Bill Bright to impart to him her mantle, and receive him into the Fellowship of the Burning Heart, [Henrietta] Mears took Bright and his wife Vonette into her home. There they lived for eleven years, being groomed for leadership. It was in Mears's living room that Campus Crusade for Christ was born. All the converts from Campus Crusade for Christ, as well as other youth groups-the Navigators, Young Life, Youth for Christ, and other streams - are trained in the ecumenical doctrine and sent back into their churches to influence them for world evangelization."

 

Evangelism vs. Evangelization:

 

“Evangelism, of course, is a legitimate name and a legitimate endeavor. It is the work of the Church to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to bring souls into the Kingdom of God. True evangelism follows the spreading of the pure Gospel with the planting churches and the discipling of believers that will guard the biblical truths and practices vital to sustaining a viable relationship between individual believers and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

“Evangelization is the term used by the global, ecumenical World Christian Movement to gain the support of churches throughout the world. It denotes the ‘Christianizing’ of all a world's ‘people groups’ by means a work that combines social and political action as equal elements with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

“To the average Christian there is no distinction between evangelism and evangelization. But to the World Christian Movement there is a distinction. Essentially, that distinction is that evangelism involves the saving of souls, while evangelization means the saving of whole nations or ‘people groups’ spiritually and temporally through political and social action.”

 

See Biblical Discernment Ministries for other articles evaluating Campus Crusade for Christ from a Biblical point of view.

 

WORLD VISION

 

Women of Faith is in a partnership relationship with World Vision, a global organization which preaches a highly ecumenical, man-centered, humanistic gospel and which has socialistic leanings.

“Over 16,500 World Vision sponsorships given for the year 2000 to raise the quality of lives for families and children living in poverty around the world. For the 1999 tour, over 9,000 children were chosen to be sponsored.

“4 Cities Salute Women of Faith and commemorate the conference weekend as Women of Faith Days. This honor is given because of the partnership Women of Faith has with World Vision in seeking to make a difference in the quality of lives of others around the world.

Note that the term “Women of Faith” is a generic term, inclusive of religious “faiths” other than Christianity.  Predictably, Women of Faith is a unifying catalyst which considers Catholic women to be “sisters in grace” who are members of the Body of Christ. WOF casts the “Broad Net of [Religious] Unity”:

“Casting the Broad Net of Unity: Women of Faith desires to be a part of bringing the body of Christ together in unity. The unique messages and conference environment appeal to a broad audience. Where else can you find a 14 year old teenager, a woman in her 30's or 40's and a 90 year old woman laughing one moment and crying the next to a message of grace and truth to which each one can personally relate? Where else will you find Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists of all kinds, Lutherans, and Methodists all joining hands together singing, ‘We are women, women of faith! United in God's love, sister in grace…’? And where else will you find different nationalities and cultures (Russian Orthodox, Chinese, Ambassador wives from different countries, hispanics, African Americans, and Asians to name a few) coming together under one roof accepting each other's uniqueness and binding together in God's love?”

 

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:” (Matthew 7:13)   

World Vision advertises itself as a Christian organization; however it is, in fact, affiliated with the United Nations as a non-governmental organization [NGO] with Special Consultative Status.  One World Vision subsidiary boasts of World Vision’s multi-faceted affiliation with the U.N.

 

“Entities with which World Vision has close working relations include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Additionally, World Vision is a member of the board of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organisations) Committee on UNICEF, the executive board of WHO, and the management committee of UNAIDS.

 

“World Vision is an active member of three Geneva-based international co-ordinating agencies: International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA); Conference of Non-Governmental Organisations (CONGO) and Federation of Semi Official and Private International Institutions Established in Geneva (FIIG), and a member of the co-ordinating committee of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. World Vision is also an active member of a number of international interagency regional and national working groups and task forces, and fully participates in the preparation of UN-sponsored world summits and conferences.

 

“World Vision works with World Bank on the programmatic level and works with other NGOs to bring about policy and operational changes in World Bank. World Vision has been a lead agency in World Bank’s hunger conference, in the participatory learning process, and in the new global review of structural adjustment projects. In addition, World Vision, PLAN International, International Save the Children, and Christian Children’s Fund are working on an initiative to promote the education of girls and have established co-operation with World Bank and UNICEF in this effort.”

 

World Vision appears in the United Nations’ Database as an NGO with Special Consultative Status with Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). A 1996 resolution outlining the stipulations for “Consultative relationship between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations” states that organizations in this category must be in agreement with the “spirit, purposes and principles” of the U.N. and “undertake to support the work of the U.N.” Also, such organizations must promote the goals of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

 

            U.N Resolution 1996/31

“Principles applied in establishing consultative relations with non-governmental organizations:

“2. The aims and purposes of the organization shall be in conformity with the spirit, purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

“3. The organization shall undertake to support the work of the United Nations and to promote knowledge of its principles and activities, in accordance with its own aims and purposes and the nature and scope of its competence and activities.

“25. Organizations to be accorded special consultative status because of their interest in the field of human rights should pursue the goals of promotion and protection of human rights in accordance with the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.”

 

Since World Vision child sponsorships are solicited at the Women of Faith Conferences [see WOF statement above], Christian women who respond to WOF appeals to sponsor children through World Vision are in reality subsidizing the work of the United Nations.  The following is a partial listing of World Vision Board Members and the organizations in which they hold leadership positions. Clicking on the hyperlinks will take the reader to more detailed information and analyses of these individuals/organizations:

Based on the preceding evidence, Women of Faith is part of the global ecumenical movement which is seeking to bring Christians under the umbrella of the U.N.-sponsored United Religions Organization.  The United Religions [U.R.] organization is an international, inter-religious organization modeled after and affiliated with the United Nations. As a U.N. liaison, the U.R. will “cooperate closely with the U.N. and its organizations to complement the U.N.'s political, diplomatic and social mandates, influence U.N. policy and support its programs.” [Ecumenical News Services, June 1996]

 

PROMISE KEEPERS

 

The Women of Faith conferences are the women's counterpart to the men's Promise Keepers rallies. Promise Keepers is also highly ecumenical, based on Freudian psychology and patterned after the secular Men's Movement. The following excerpt from a BDM critique of Promise Keepers indicates that Women of Faith is part of the global apparatus designed to draw Christian women into the worldwide ecumenical movement.

 

“Not to be left out of the ‘rally crowd,’ a number of look-alike [Promise Keepers] organizations for women have been created (the total attendance at all look-alike events for 1998 were expected to top 600,000, which makes the women’s groups larger than PK itself). The women’s groups ‘are a combination of revival meeting and spiritual pep rally ... [having] much in common with secular self-improvement and motivational seminars: Disorders are the order of the day, and victimhood almost always precedes victor’ (4/6/98, Christianity Today):

 

“(a) ‘Heritage Keepers’ conducted its first conference 8/10/96 in Wichita, Kansas, with 8,000 registration requests for only 3,000 available seats. ‘Heritage Keepers is designed to teach a woman how to be godly to her family, God, and community,’ says pastor Bob Beckler, who created it with his wife Lori. Speakers were John Trent, a frequent speaker on the PK circuit and author of How to Handle Your Promise Keeper [does not this title speak volumes about the manipulative focus of PK and why PK receives such overwhelming support from the wives of PK-ers!] along with psychological counselor Marge Caldwell and four-temperaments guru Florence Littauer.

 

“(b) Deborah Tyler of Morristown, Tennessee, organized four ‘Keys for Abundant Living: A Promise Keepers Counterpart’ conferences in 1996. Meetings were held in Dallas, Birmingham, Nashville, and Little Rock, each drawing about 1,000 women, with speakers including Anne Graham Lotz, Gloria Gaither, and Luci Swindoll. Conferences were planned for seven Southern cities in 1997. They are part of Tyler's Renaissance Ministries, designed ‘to provide opportunities for women to be challenged, inspired, and encouraged and to lead each woman to a personal commitment to God's Word as the ultimate authority for successful living.’

 

“(c) One of the most ambitious undertakings may be that of ‘Chosen Women: Daughters of the King.’ This new Pasadena, California-based group (founded by Susan Kimes, in conjunction with Calvary Church in Santa Ana, California, where she has held women's conferences since 1985) had hoped to attract 80,000 women to the Rose Bowl May 16-17, 1997, with speakers such as Ruth Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, Elisabeth Elliot, Bunny Wilson, and Jill Briscoe. Actually, 30,000 attended, which is still the largest women-only stadium rally since the Promise Keepers men's movement began. Women of all ages sang, danced, did the wave, blew bubbles, batted beach balls, prayed, and applauded the all-female slate of speakers. Attendees paid between $56 and $71 in registration fees for the experience (6/16/97, Christianity Today).

 

“(d) In 1997, ‘Women of Faith: Joyful Journey’ meetings nationwide drew about 197,000 women at 15 conferences organized by Women of Faith (up from 38,000 in 1996). (For 1998, Women of Faith's leadership was projecting double that total for 29 conferences under the theme ‘Bring Back the Joy.’) They are sponsored by Minirth-Meier New Life Clinics, the Freudian ‘mental health’ clinics in Richardson, Texas (‘It was time for the clinics to do something for women in America [to] help them celebrate life and God's grace,’ says New Life's Stephen Arterburn – ‘I really believe that the idea was a gift from God.’ Arterburn sees Women of Faith as a good patient recruiting tool for psychological counseling: ‘The clinics always did conferences dealing with problems, and the response was underwhelming.’ He says they revised the Women of Faith conference focus ‘to see how many more people we could reach by celebrating what is good about life.’ ‘At Women of Faith events, New Life and their Remuda clinics (which specialize in eating disorders) are on hand to provide information about their counseling services.’). Several speakers on the Women of Faith circuit are best known as humor writers, including Patsy Clairmont, Barbara Johnson, and Luci Swindoll. Zondervan is producing a Women of Faith Bible and study guides; Integrity Music is planning worship music products; and Campus Crusade's Women Today International will provide follow-up materials. (Reported in the 3/3/97 & 4/6/98 issues of Christianity Today.)

 

“(e) Other groups that have sprung up in recent years include ‘Aspiring Women’ of Nashville, Tennessee; ‘Suitable Helpers’ of Wheat Ridge, Colorado; ‘Promise Reapers’ of Houston; ‘A Promise Kept’ of Los Angeles; and ‘Praise Keepers’ of Eldon, Missouri [the latter's co-founder Donna Henley says: ‘Women's ministries are always bigger than the men. This will be bigger than the men's’ [she has proved to be correct] (3/1/97, Calvary Contender)].

 

“(f) A Focus on the Family sponsored one-day event in Nashville on 9/21/97 drew 19,600 women from 47 states and Canada (with a 20,000 wait-list). James Dobson was the only male speaker at the "Renewing the Heart" conference. Five more conferences are scheduled for 1998, at $48 per attendee.”

 

WOMEN OF FAITH SPEAKERS

 

PROFILES OF SELECTED SPEAKERS:

 

Sheila Walsh

 

Formerly with Youth for Christ and co-host with Pat Robertson on the 700 Club. [Youth for Christ was founded by Billy Graham [see World Christian Movement] Pat Robertson signed the Evangelicals & Catholics Together Document [1994]

 

“While celebrating nearly two decades of ministry as a recording artist, songwriter, author, and inter-nationally-known television host, Sheila recently added "speaker" to her lengthy resume and joined Point of Grace, Kathy Troccoli, Crystal Lewis, Luci Swindoll, Barbara Johnson, Patsy Clairmont, Marilyn Meberg, and Thelma Wells as one of the key speakers on the tremendously popular Women of Faith conference tours.”

 

Luci Swindoll

 

“Earlier in her career, Luci served as an executive at Mobil Oil Corporation, then as Vice President of Public Relations at Insight for Living, the international radio ministry of her brother, Chuck Swindoll.” [See: General Teachings/Activities of Charles Swindoll] 

 

Kathy Troccoli

 

Recording artist, Sandi Patti, with whom Kathy Troccoli recently made an album, was divorced from her husband and is married to a man with whom she had an affair during her former marriage. Sandi Patti, however, continues to sing before Christian audiences, as does Trocolli.

 

“In her 17-year recording career, Kathy has sold more than 1 million albums, racked up numerous No. 1 radio hits, received Dove Awards and Grammy nominations, and made several television appearances, including Entertainment Tonight and The Tonight Show. Her two latest albums, A Sentimental Christmas and Sandi Patty and Kathy Troccoli Together, reflect the nostalgia and culture of the romantic ‘40s. The Long Island resident says that her love of big band jazz music was influenced by her father.”

 

The following devotional by Kathy Troccoli, which appeared in Christianity Today, reveals her low opinion of Christians. Troccoli implies that Christians who preach the gospel, warning the lost about hell and urging them to change their beliefs, are intolerant and bad witnesses of Christ to the world.

 

“More and more these days, I hear derogatory remarks aimed towards Christians:

“‘They're all a bunch of hypocrites.’

“‘Can you believe he told me I'm going to hell?"
 

“‘All she does is preach at me.’

 

“‘They don't respect what I believe - they just want me to accept what they believe.’

“And on and on. As I talk about Christianity to people, it's hard for me to refute some of the criticisms. I'm challenged and often find that I have to climb over many stereotypes the world has placed upon believers.

 

“I do know that, ultimately, when everyone stands before God, the fact that ‘the church is hypocritical’ will not be sufficient reason for not believing in Christ as Savior. I can see God saying something like, ‘What is that to you? I've asked you to follow me.’

 

“I’ve often said that if we compare ourselves to the worst in other people, we may come out looking pretty good.”

 

Jill Briscoe

 

Serves on the Board of Directors of the neo-evangelical magazine Christianity Today; Board of National Evangelical Association's World Relief. Jill’s husband, Stuart Brisco is pastor of Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin, a church which ordains women. Jill Briscoe has addressed the National Association of Evangelicals [NAE].

 

“One of the busy spots at the 55th Annual NAE Convention (1997) was the ‘Christians for Biblical Equality’ exhibit. This group made available the books Women Elders Called By God and What Paul Really Said About Women. This radical group is calling for women’s ordination and rejecting the Scripture texts that forbid women serving as pastors and elders. Their statement said ‘We believe that Scripture is to be interpreted holistically and thematically. The Bible teaches that in the New Testament economy women as well as men exercise the prophetic, priestly and royal functions. Women are to be used in pastoral care, teaching, preaching and worship.’ Among those who signed this declaration are Myron S. Augsburger, Stuart Briscoe, Tony Campolo, Vernon Grounds, David Hubbard, Bill Hybels, Richard Mouw, and Ronald Sider.”

 

The National Association of Evangelicals [NAE] is the powerful U.S. division of the lesser known, international World Evangelical Fellowship [WEF].  The World Evangelical Fellowship's history dates back to 1846 when, under the original name World Evangelical Alliance, it held the first global meeting of missionaries at the United Grand Lodge of England Freemasons' Hall, London. (The UGLE had been “dedicated to the purposes of Freemasonry” at its completion in 1776.) In 1944 when the American branch of the Evangelical Alliance dissolved (to be later resurrected by the NAE in 1951), its remaining funds were transferred to the Rockefeller-funded Federal Council of Churches [FCC, 1908]. The FCC would later become the World Council of Churches [WCC, Amsterdam, 1948]. Like WOF’s partner, World Vision, the World Evangelical Fellowship today serves the United Nations agenda as a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status with UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

 

Please see: The Elijah Revolution: Another Jesus Revolution for more detailed information about the National Association of Evangelicals and the funding of World Relief projects by the World Bank and USAID, the population control agency of the U.N.

See also: General Teachings/Activities of Stuart and Jill Briscoe

 

 

Transformation of the Church Database

 

The Discernment Ministries