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Their Day in Court: Part Three
February 22, 2019 // 130 Comments -
Their Day in Court: Part Two
February 22, 2019 // 0 Comments -
Their Day in Court: Part One
February 22, 2019 // 0 Comments -
Statement from Recovering Grace regarding the lawsuit a ...
March 28, 2018 // 186 Comments -
Rethinking the Nativity
December 25, 2016 // 144 Comments
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Plaintiffs Amend Lawsuit Against IBLP, Also Sue Bill Go ...
January 10, 2016 // 1311 Comments -
Charlotte's Story
February 5, 2014 // 601 Comments -
Bill’s Cabin: Uncovering Sin
May 21, 2014 // 475 Comments -
How the Teachings of Emotional Purity and Courtship Dam ...
July 22, 2011 // 431 Comments -
Sacred Grooming, Part Six: A Secretary's Account of Lif ...
January 31, 2014 // 405 Comments
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Yes, I agree with you 100%. There are a lot of ove ...
September 24, 2020 -
Rob, this also sounds like a variation on the "pro ...
September 20, 2020 -
what Bill taught can be summed up with the term "m ...
August 27, 2020 -
August 21, 2020
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Indeed. Any attempt to attain righteous by adherin ...
August 21, 2020 -
Psalm 34:15-22 (ESV) reading for today (The face o ...
August 16, 2020 -
Psalm 34:15-22 (ESV) reading for today (The face o ...
August 16, 2020 -
If every accusation against Gothard were false, an ...
August 14, 2020 -
@Rob War "IBLP's downward spiral began before B ...
August 13, 2020 -
Yes, perfect judgement. Bill is no longer the "thi ...
August 12, 2020 -
I'm sure Bill and those supporting him are upset w ...
August 12, 2020 -
Kevin, Thank you. I had a longer reply, but it ...
August 12, 2020 -
You have done an excellent job Larne! You state ...
August 11, 2020 -
Kevin, Your comment about "Witnesses" is intere ...
August 11, 2020 -
Hi Rob. Yes, it is a downward spiral. I read some ...
August 11, 2020 -
Hi Larne, Good to hear from you. Yes, they have h ...
August 11, 2020 -
Rob and Kevin, They have had more than enough t ...
August 11, 2020 -
I can only imagine that the Covid-19 shut downs ha ...
August 10, 2020
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Stolen Dreams
Through IBLP and his “homeschool” program (the Advanced Training Institute), Bill Gothard stifled hundreds of dreams in the name of godly living. As the first wave of apprenticeship students reached teenager-hood beginning in the 1990s, all of us naturally needed to explore and develop our own gifts. But as we sat through Gothard’s sessions in […]
What Sexual Abuse Counseling Can Do to Help You
Christians and psychotherapy haven’t always had the best relationship. Growing up as I did, adjacent to cultural fundamentalists, I absorbed the following dominant assumptions: You don’t need counseling if you have Jesus. Counselors disapprove of homeschooling and Christianity and might want to take you away from your parents. The only good counselor is a Christian […]
Belonging
In groups like the Advanced Training Institute, we have an identity and a community. We might not always like it, but it gives us a level of security. We are surrounded by people who think like us. We speak a different language from other people around us, using words like “courtship,” “motivational gift,” “rhema” and […]
You Cannot Pay With Words
My story is about a leader maintaining a double life for decades and then demanding to pay for his deeds with words and tears. He is outwardly sorrowful that his words and favor are no longer valid currency. My parents were regional and state leaders in the homeschooling movement for years before we joined the […]
Speaking Up Late in the Day
Over the past two weeks and previous two Aprils, Recovering Grace has focused on personal narratives by former Advanced Training Institute (ATI) alumni who endured sexual assault, abuse, or harassment in the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) subculture, sometimes within a context of broader physical abuse, and almost always within a context of spiritual […]
Twelve Characteristics of Fundamentalist Societies that Shelter Sexual Abuse
How could he have fooled so many people, so thoroughly? How did the abuse go on for so many years, unacknowledged? Whenever a leader at this level is ousted or steps down, questions like these come to mind. In the wake of revelations of sexual harassment and abuse pouring in from survivors of Bill Gothard’s […]
Readings on Acknowledging and Healing from Sexual Abuse
Below are some links to readings that members of our community have found helpful on their paths to healing from physical and sexual abuse, especially abuse suffered at the hands of family members, authority figures, and other trusted individuals. In A Theology of Sexual Abuse: A Reflection on Creation and Devastation, Dr. Andrew Schmutzer describes […]
Was It All Wrong?
Okay, now we have left the legalist church/organization/teacher. Now what? Where do we stand? Do we throw out everything we learned? How do we sort out all of this? Does it all just need to go? I have been getting a lot of these questions lately. Doug Phillips and Vision Forum are gone. Bill Gothard […]
Finding My Self Worth
I had thought my anger was long past. I was convinced that I had forgiven and moved forward. And here I am. Over the past several months I have learned new things about myself and about others within ATI (the Advanced Training Institute) that have caused the tears to flow… again. Sometimes in a healing […]
Facing the Future….Alone!
While I don’t think dealing with an ending marriage and becoming a single parent is easy on any one, I do think those from an ATI (Advanced Training Institute) or similar background face specific challenges due to our upbringing. For instance, I was raised to believe divorce was not an option. It didn’t matter what […]