I Want to Hear your Faith Assembly Stories

I would love to hear whatever you are willing to share of your story regarding Hobart E. Freeman’s Faith Assembly.  I grew up in the cult, and indeed in my first 15 formative years, was indoctrinated with the cult’s beliefs by both my parents and the cult leaders.I have blogged a bit on the subject, and am seeking others’ stories to gain more perspective.  Feel free to contact me at pokerjosher@gmail.com, or in the comments below if you are willing to share.

Faith Assembly really has a story to tell, and I hope that your experiences can be part of the story that I tell.

 

Update:  Please help me document Hobart Freeman’s Faith Assembly history.

A Word on Bitterness and Growing up in a Faith Healing Cult

The most common reaction that I get from people reading my Faith Assembly blog is, “Wow, you must be bitter.”  No doubt Hobart E. Freeman was an evil man, intentionally or not.

For years I was bitter, but hardly any bitterness remains at all.  Why?  Well, my father and mother, before they got into the cult, and before I was born, were attending Indiana University.  He was pursuing a pre-med degree and she was pursuing a nursing degree.

Had they not gotten wrapped up in this cult, I probably never would have been born!  What luck for me, whatever turn of events that it took, that I actually was born, against all odds!  I am fairly certain that had they stuck to their college plans, and not gotten involved in the cult around age 19, I never would have been born, when they were 21.

So do I think that I was raised in an environment of child abuse?  Absolutely.   Did it take years longer for me to mature to the level that most people are at at age 25?  No doubt about it.  Was I emotionally unsound enough to not excel at college, and to even turn down 20 full free ride scholarships?  Sure.

But, I am of good cheer, and bitterness is nearly exclusively a thing of the past.  I exist, I live, I dealt with my past, and now I’m planning my future.  What luck to be alive!  What luck to be born!  What luck to still survive, and what luck to live in this technologically advanced age.  And finally, what luck that I have some ability to contribute to the scientific world, and what luck that I took an interest!

I live in Sarasota, FL, where it’s sunny and 70 degrees almost every day of the year, and I am ecstatic to be alive!

Former members: Please help record the history of Hobart Freeman’s Faith Assembly.

Links on the Web: Dr. Hobart E. Freeman’s Faith Assembly near North Webster, IN

Info and Forums

Faith Assembly Survivor’s Forum – A collaborative effort to document the Faith Assembly record, starting by listing the church leaders, and the satellite churches. Please join the effort!

Children Of Faith Assembly Facebook Group – Different views from different angles of kids that were raised in the cult.

Wikipedia – The most comprehensive, fact based history

Tomax7 – Thoughts from a former attendee, and current Faith Assembly apologist

More thoughts from Tomax7

Feedback to Tomax7 by former members, as edited by Tomax7 – Tomax7 has not posted some of the negative feedback that I have requested that he post, so don’t take the list as all inclusive

Faith Assembly Forum –  A forum run by people that still believe the teachings of Dr. Hobart E. Freeman

This forum is dedicated to Jesus Christ and to serving Christian believers
and most specifically, those who were a part of the previous incarnation of Faith Assembly and it’s various outreaches under the direction of Hobart E. Freeman, Th.D.

Factnet.org – A less biased forum about Faith Assembly

Faith Ministries and Publications – Order cassette tapes of sermons and books written by Dr. Hobart E. Freeman here

News Articles

Two Controversial Religious Sects From The 1970′s Have Impact On Noble County -Unknown date article by The News-Sun in KPC News  archives.  Faith Assembly is the second religious sect discussed in the article

The result was that more than 100 deaths among sect members were attributed to a lack of medical attention.

My family was friend with the Ricks, and I knew their oldest son, Michael, quite well.

Another Noble County couple, Michael and Dianne Ricks, pleaded guilty in April 1991, also in Noble County Superior Court, to one count each of neglect of a dependent in connection with the April 8, 1990, death of their son, John David Ricks. He died of bacterial meningitis after developing a fever and a common respiratory illness five days earlier.

Also

More than 103 deaths occurred among Faith Assembly members in various locations as a result of following their religious beliefs, according to AFF, a Bonita Springs, Fla.-based nonprofit, tax-exempt research center and educational organization that studies psychological manipulation and cultic groups.

Hobart Freeman: Mystic, Monk or Minister - 4 page 1983 article in the Times-Union by John J. Davis

Refusing Treatment Brings Death In Sect – November 27, 1982 article in the Free-Lance Star by John M. Doyle

Death Joins Choir At Indiana Church – November 28, 1982 article in the Milwakee Journal from AP and UPI

Indiana Faith Healing Couple Convicted In Child’s Death – September 12, 1984 in the Lakeland Ledger from the Associated Press

Parents Convicted – September 8, 1984 Herald-Journal article from AP reports (2nd article in National Digest section)

Faith Sect’s Beliefs Tied To 88 Deaths – September 29, 1984 article from Eugene Register-Guard from AP

Two Sentenced In Baby’s Death – October 30, 1984 article from the Star-News from AP, NYT News Services

Faith Healers Convicted Of Child Death – August 30, 1984 article in the Lewiston Daily-Sun from AP

88 Deaths Documented in Faith-Healing Sect – September 26, 1984 article in The Fort Scott Tribune from AP

This post was edited 7-26-11 to add the Children of Faith Assembly Facebook Group link and information.

Pictures of Dr. Hobart E. Freeman’s Faith Assembly, near North Webster, IN, Noble County, IN

Update:  Please join the collaborative effort to document the history of Hobart Freeman’s Faith Assembly.

Here are some pictures on the web relating to faith healing cult Faith Assembly, led by Dr. Hobart E. Freeman, located in Noble County, IN, near North Webster, IN.

Dr Hobart E. Freeman, leader of Faith Assembly, located near North Webster, IN

The faces of Dr. Hobart E. Freeman

Inside Dr. Hobart E. Freeman’s Faith Assembly, in Noble County, IN, near North Webster, IN

Outside Dr. Hobart E. Freeman’s Faith Assembly, near North Webster, IN, facing east

The former spot of the Glory Barn, a former location of Hobart E. Freeman’s Faith Assembly, near North Webster, IN, burnt down July 4, 1980 under suspicious circumstances after local media reported the deaths of women, infants and children related to the church’s faith healing beliefs

Dr. Hobart E. Freeman residence