Mitch Weiss - Broken Faith Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, one of Americas Most Dangerous Cults

An explosive investigation into the Word of Faith Fellowship, a secretive evangelical cult whose charismatic female leader is a master of manipulation

In 1979, Jane Whaley, a fiery preacher with a thick Southern drawl, attracted a small group of followerstwenty-two men and women drawn in by her passion and her promise that through prayer and deliverance, they could turn their lives around.

In the years since, Whaleys following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. In the eyes of her followers, shes a prophetto disobey her means eternal damnation. It could also mean hours of physical abuse. The control she exerts is absolute: she decides what her followers study, where they work, whom they can marryeven when they can have sex.

Broken Faith is the meticulously reported story of a singular female cult leader, a terrifying portrait of life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades. Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Broken Faith offers both a cautionary tale and a deeply emotional examination of faith, resilience, and family. Its the story of an entire communitys descent into darknessand for some, the winding journey back to the light.

Mitch Weiss is a Pulitzer Prizewinning investigative journalist for the Associated Press and the coauthor of numerous books, most recently The Heart of Hell: The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima. He lives in South Carolina.

Holbrook Mohr is an award-winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press. He has covered natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, judicial bribery schemes, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and mass shootings. He lives in Mississippi.

Broken Faith is a gripping, meticulously reported account of a cult leaders grip on a small Southern community. It is also a prescient story of systemic abuse where the victims seekand fail to findjustice from the very institutions that were meant to protect them.

Ethan Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?

A tour de force of investigative journalism and storytelling. This is the kind of book that inspires the next generation of journalists and reminds working reporters why they do the job.

Kevin Maurer, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of No Easy Day

In light of current events, I cant imagine a more important book than Broken Faith by outstanding investigative journalists Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr. Their chilling description of North Carolinas Word of Faith Fellowship and professed Christianity gone horribly awry is unsettlingly parallel to events involving Peoples Temple and its demagogic leader Jim Jones. Much credit is due to the courageous former Word of Faith members who share their shattering stories in Broken Faith . If you care at all about religious abuse and the destructive means by which charismatic leaders exert despotic control of their well-meaning followers lives, read this book .

Jeff Guinn, New York Times bestselling author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown

Also by Mitch Weiss

The Heart of Hell: The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima

The Yankee Comandante: The Untold Story of Courage, Passion, and One Americans Fight to Liberate Cuba
(cowritten with Michael Sallah)

Hunting Che: How a U.S. Special Forces Team Helped Capture the Worlds Most Famous Revolutionary (cowritten with Kevin Maurer)

No Way Out: A Story of Valor in the Mountains of Afghanistan (cowritten with Kevin Maurer)

Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War
(cowritten with Michael Sallah)

Broken Faith

Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of Americas Most Dangerous Cults

Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr

To our families

THE CHURCH

Jane Whaley: The unquestioned leader of the Word of Faith Fellowship, Whaley believes shes a prophet who holds the key to eternal salvation. A former math teacher, Whaley and her top ministers control all aspects of congregants lives, from where they live to when they can get married and have sex.

Sam Whaley: The cofounder of the Word of Faith Fellowship, Whaley was a former used car salesman from Florence, South Carolina, who faded into the background once his wife took control of the church.

Brooke Covington: The daughter of wealthy Kansas farmers, she was an early disciple and is now one of Jane Whaleys closest confidantes. She was one of five people charged with kidnapping and assault in the beating of Matthew Fenner, a congregant who says he was attacked to expel his homosexual demons.

Kent Covington: After spending eight months in a North Carolina prison in the 1970s, he found his way to the Word of Faith Fellowship. He married Brooke Covington and rose in the church hierarchy.

Mark Doyle: His journey to the Word of Faith Fellowship began after hearing Gods voice at an AC/DC concert. A stickler for the rules, Doyle was a minister assigned to keep children in line and in the fold.

Mark Morris: An attorney and minister, Morris was in charge of the dreaded Lower Buildinga structure that former congregants say was used as a de facto prison.

Ray Farmer: A minister, business owner, and the head of the churchs security team, Farmer may be the most feared member of the Word of Faith Fellowship behind Jane Whaley. Former members say he has elaborate surveillance equipment and carries assault-style weapons in the back of his SUV.

Joshua Farmer: Ray Farmers son, Josh Farmer, is an attorney who owns several businesses. His trucking company is one of a handful in the world certified to transport deadly potassium cyanide, which is used in the mining industry.

THE VICTIMS

Rick Cooper: After serving on a United States Navy nuclear submarine, Rick joined the Word of Faith Fellowship in 1993 to attend Bible school. He had hoped to eventually start his own church. But he would later regret uprooting his family from Darien, Georgia, to Spindale, North Carolina.

Suzanne Cooper: The matriarch of the Cooper family, she led two of her sisters into the church. Hoping to stay in Jane Whaleys good graces, she turned against one of those sisters in a bitter custody dispute with Kent and Brooke Covington.

John David Cooper: One of Rick and Suzannes nine children, he was only eighteen months old when his family joined the church. But after nearly two decades of abuse, he became the first of the Coopers to flee.

Jeffrey Cooper: One of John David Coopers brothers, he became an attorney and accountant. He attended key meetings with other church lawyers as they discussed how to undermine police and child welfare investigations.

Benjamin Cooper: Another of John David Coopers brothers, hes an attorney and business owner who has dedicated his life to exposing the church in an attempt to save the children left behind.

Shana Muse: One of Suzanne Coopers three sisters, Muse turned to the Word of Faith Fellowship for help after drugs led to trouble with the law. When she tried to leave, a church couple wrested away her four children.

Wanda Henderson: The mother of Suzanne Cooper and Shana Muse, Henderson was never a member of the church. She watched helplessly as three daughters and more than a dozen grandchildren suffered under Jane Whaleys spell. Affectionately known as Mama-Gail, she never gave up on her family.