Dear ATI family member or guest,

Welcome to Recovering Grace. Perhaps you’ve seen our billboard campaign in Nashville near the Training Center this week, or maybe someone has told you about our website. No matter how you found us, we’re glad you’re here.

Recovering Grace is a website founded by a large group of former ATI students who are concerned with the long-term effects of the teachings of Bill Gothard, the Advanced Training Institute (ATI), and the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP). On our leadership team are pastors, lawyers, homemakers, and other business professionals who have become aware that grave danger lies ahead for those who embrace wholeheartedly these teachings.

You may hear from those within leadership at ATI that we are nothing more than a bunch of rebellious students who desire to use grace as a license for all sorts of lasciviousness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each one of us seeks to know and walk with God to the fullest extent possible. And each of us views grace the same way that the great theologians and preachers have for over two thousand years: that it is God’s favor towards us, unmerited and free. It is grace that saves us through faith, and grace that grows us in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and will result in our ultimate glorification in the presence of God.

If this is your first time to visit our website, we would like to recommend some articles to read as an introduction to who we are. Some of our articles are personal testimonies, some are theological discussions of IBLP teachings, and some are simply designed to encourage dialogue about certain issues of concern.

If you have any questions for us, or would like more information about our ministry, please email us at [email protected].

The Recovering Grace leadership team

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES:

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To My Daughter:

An ATI mom writes a heart-breaking letter to her daughter who passed away from leukemia.

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My Childhood in ATI:

John writes about how being raised in ATI affected his spiritual and psychological development, and how God’s grace brought healing not only to him, but to his entire family.

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A Parent’s Perspective – Sixteen Years in Bondage:

A mom shares her perspective on why their family got into ATI and how God opened her eyes to the dangers of legalism.

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An Open Letter from Bill Gothard’s First Generation to Basic Seminar Attendees:

An article giving an overview of the problems found in Bill Gothard’s Basic Seminar. Geared towards those attending the seminar for the first time, the article discusses Gothard’s misuse of Scripture, anecdotes, and guilt, as well as the missing ingredient of grace.

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A Call for Discernment: 

A re-publication of a 1998 document by the leadership of Calvary Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX, which gives an excellent overview of the theological errors in Bill Gothard’s system of Christianity.

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Circumcision, Blue Jeans, & Cabbage Patch Kids: The Danger of Bill Gothard’s “Jesus+” Theology:

Pastor Kevin discusses several of the more unusual teachings of Bill Gothard, and how adding rules and regulations to the Christian walk is antithetical to the true gospel of grace.

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A Matter of Basic Principles-A Review: 

A book review of Midwest Christian Outreach’s A Matter of Basic Principles, which is an expose on the teachings and ministry of Bill Gothard.

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A “New” Approach to Easter: 

Recovering Grace takes a closer look at the Biblical fallacies found in an email sent from Bill Gothard to his followers on Easter Sunday 2012.

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A Response to Bill Gothard:

Recovering Grace publicly responds to a Thanksgiving 2011 letter from Bill Gothard addressed to “All Past and Present ATI Students.”

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Exploited Innocence: Sexual Harassment at HQ:

Lizzie shares her sad account of how she was sexually harassed while working for IBLP in Illinois.