Gothard Files | Recovering Grace

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Articles about how Bill Gothard mishandles the Bible to support his legalistic viewpoint.

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Stories and accounts of the destruction caused by the teachings of Bill Gothard.

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Gothard Files

Category Archives: Gothard Files

Gothard’s Process: Invite, Idealize, Isolate, Transgress, Rewrite

18 February 2014, 07:00

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Chronology of Ruth, Annette, Charlotte, Meg, Rachel, Lizzie, and Grace

18 February 2014, 07:00

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1970: Ruth, age 18, is pressured by Bill Gothard to leave college and come work at Campus Teams Headquarters in Illinois. 1971-73: Ruth becomes Bill Gothard’s personal secretary, and he asserts control over nearly every aspect of her life. Ruth is pressured to break off her relationship with Larne. 1971: “Meg” is born in Blenheim, […]

Marcus’s Story: Touching the Invisible Electric Fence

17 February 2014, 08:00

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I was invited to work at the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) headquarters during the summer of 1992. I said goodbye to my family in Knoxville, Tennessee, where we had traveled to attend the yearly Advanced Training Institute (ATI) annual conference, and climbed aboard one of the many vans transporting IBLP staff back to Oak […]

Rachel’s Story

17 February 2014, 06:00

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This is my real name, and below is my real story. The Awkward First Meeting It was the final session of the 1992 Knoxville conference, and the choir and orchestra were starting to gather for the big rendition of “It Will Be Worth it All.” I was supposed to be playing flute in the orchestra, […]

Silencing the Lambs: Listening to an Evil Report

15 February 2014, 06:00

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See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. IBLP has a Matthew 18 publication that fits well with each monkey.

Listening to an Evil Report One question often asked of those who have contributed their stories to Recovering Grace is, “If things were so bad, or even illegal, why didn’t you contact the authorities, or at least tell your parents or a lawyer?” Most who grew up in the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and/or Institute in Basic […]

From Bill to Larne and Ruth, February 1981

14 February 2014, 06:00

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On Wednesday, we shared Ruth’s Story, the heartbreaking account of one of Bill Gothard’s former secretaries. The letter below was sent from Bill Gothard to Ruth and her husband Larne in February of 1981, less than three months after their marriage in November, 1980, and less than seven months after the “scandal” and Bill Gothard’s […]

Ruth’s Story

12 February 2014, 06:00

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As the jet taxied away from the terminal that winter day in 1970, the parents tearfully waving off their teenage daughter never imagined how many years would pass before she truly returned. She was embarking on a journey that would last nearly a decade, and when it was over no one would ever be able […]

The GOTHARD Files: The Early Years, 1965–79

11 February 2014, 06:00

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This is Part one, of a three-Part series on the history of the Institute in Basic Life Principles. Please click here to read the Introduction. In the space of less than twelve months, from the early months of 1980 until January of 1981, a multi-million dollar ministry suffered a massive public blow that nearly crippled […]

The GOTHARD Files: The Sleeping Giant

10 February 2014, 06:00

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Today’s article is an introduction to a 3-part series on the early history of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP). Please understand that behind the scenes of these articles is a substantial library of documentation. From the beginning of Recovering Grace, most of our articles have been written by former ATI students and IBLP […]

IBYC Staff Instructions: How to Answer Questions about Dating

7 February 2014, 06:00

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This document was distributed to the staff of Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC, the original name of the Institute in Basic Life Principles) to provide them with approved answers to questions they might receive about their dating habits. IBYC staffers were discouraged from dating during their employ for the Institute, and several staff women […]