Product Description

Damaged Disciples is the account of Ron and Vicki Burks' search for a meaningful faith. Unfortunately, the nontraditional church they found trapped them in a branch of the charismatic movement that taught them to be subject to their spiritual "masters" in every area of life. Vicki was taught to submit herself to her husband where she was to be sustained by his spiritual life which, in essence, allowed none for her. This is also the chronicle of the beginning of their journey back to faith and wholeness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1296455 in Books
• Published on: 1992-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

About the Author
Vicki holds a Batchelor of Science and a Master of Arts in Counseling from Ohio University and is a Professional Clinical Counselor at Health Recovery Services in Athens. Her journey of recovery both from a fringe church experience and from extensive childhood sexual abuse has been an inspiration to all who hear her lively workshops.

Ron holds the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary and the Ph. D. in Counselor Education from Ohio University. He is also licensed as a Professional Clinical Counselor in Ohio. He has worked for 9 years at the world's only residential facility for ex-members of abusive groups. In that time he has helped hundreds of survivors of abusive families and groups. Ron is active in research and has presented studies at several national conferences. He has appeared on several news programs and on the Montel Show.

Customer Reviews

Thin and disjointed
When one hears of abuse by clergy or churches, one typically imagines something darkly sexual, or screaming sessions of high pressure salesmanship, or kidnapping and isolation, or perhaps some kind of slick brainwashing. But in this book, none of that occurs.

By their own admission, the authors simply became dissatisfied with the direction and doctrines of their charismatic church; perhaps they were disillusioned by personalities or practices. They got "hurt" in personal disagreements with their pastor. In fact, one could even speculate from reading that perhaps, even, the authors were angered that they did not "advance" higher and more quickly in the "hierarchy" that they perceived.

Whatever the case, the book makes a fairly thin and disjointed case for lumping the authors' former church in with various groups where serious abuse does occur. Such cynical and hysterical labeling does a great disservice to those who are truly trapped in abusive and destructive cults.

It seems these days that everyone is a victim and that one can sell a lot of books by crying wolf. And, if you wrap it in some kind of academic, psychobabble mumbo-jumbo and throw in a sanctimonious tone that hints at brave triumphs over horiffic injustices, well, then, so much the better.

I must admit: I was part of the Shepherding Movement from 1975-1988 through a church that looked to Rev. Ern Baxter as a spiritual leader and caregiver. My life was permanently blessed by Rev. Baxter and the other men with whom he related spiritually. True, those men weren't perfect (and I was there the grievous day in Chicago, 1986, when they disbanded their fellowship), but their lives and teachings blessed, and continue to bless, literally millions of people. The modern worship movement, the Promise Keepers movement, the spiritual warfare and prophetic movements, and many others have grown out of the Shepherding/Discipleship teachings.

No one has been forced to follow their teachings. If a man like Mr. Burks can say that he voluntarily was part of that movement for many years, only to realize one day that he had "missed God," then how does he have any credibility to say that he's not "missing God" now?

Personality conflicts and doctrinal differences do not equal abuse. Congratulations to the authors for hyping and overstating their case, for unbiblically attacking their brothers and sisters in Christ, in order to sell some books.

Faltering flame sparks lame blame game
This book about one couple's remembrances of the Shepherding/Discipleship movement is a sad and tragic tale. By sad and tragic, I mean pitiful; and by tale, I mean not very credible and not very balanced. Reading it made me feel queasy and even annoyed; such is the rambling, repetitive writing style and the shallow anecdotes shared by the authors. I don't want to be mean to someone who has, at least allegedly, been hurt, but the word that comes to mind about this book is: "lame."

As I read, I was particularly struck by how the Burks' repeatedly seem to blame their own problems and mistakes on someone else. Through part of the book, they often point the finger at their former "Shepherd" (small group pastor) named Gerrett, but I kept asking myself, "If Gerrett was so wrong, why did they keep naively doing what he 'told' them to do?" I also wondered, "Did Gerrett ever do anything good for them, or were they just masochists? Why did they stay with him for so long and supposedly sacrifice so much?" In other words, balance is missing here; one fails to understand why the Burks' were drawn to, and stayed with, this movement if it was so abberrant. I would guess that Gerrett (or the overall movement leaders) would have had to have some kind of redeeming qualities in order to lead so many people. I would HAVE to guess, though, because the Burks' don't seem to want to actually offer the reader any clues.

Also, they don't seem to ever indicate that they purposefully, clearly confronted their pastor or any other leader, or spoke out, or asked questions or disagreed openly until AFTER they left the movement. I wonder then, how could their pastor really know what was in their hearts and how best to help them? After all, even the Burks' seem to admit that there actually was much about the group that was biblical and loving. Yet, then they throw around words like "fear" and "intimidation" and "control" and "abuse," but such words are a bit shopworn and overused by all too many people who traffic in the cults of victimhood and lack of personal responsibility. The examples of misunderstanding or disagreement listed by the Burks seem to fall far short of actual "abuse" or "intimidation" (unless a person is just hopelessly thin-skinned, insecure, or clueless).

Growing up and living in the Florida Panhandle, I have had opportunity to meet and hear some of the people who have been involved in the Shepherding Movement over the years. I even went to some of their meetings in the Mobile City Theater many years ago. And, while there have been some difficulties or mistakes made by this movement (just as there have been in the Assemblies of God, Baptist, Methodist, Brownsville Revival, Toronto Blessing, Christian International, Maranatha, Episcopal, Church of Christ, and other groups), I would say that the overall "fruit" of this ministry has been very, very positive.

I won't argue that some people did get hurt via their personal involvement in the movement. Some chose to stay and be redemptive, some chose to leave and be redemptive, and some chose to leave and throw rocks. I am sure the Burks' would think and argue that they are being redemptive. But I really hope that they are not actually just portraying themselves as martyrs in order to puff up their victimhood status and their counseling business. I suppose God only knows.

If you want a more balanced historical look at the Shepherding movement, see the scholarly book by Dr. S. David Moore entitled "The Shepherding Movement." There is also an interesting book called "Derek Prince: A Biography" by Stephen Mansfield.

Perhaps a good dose of Dr. Laura Schlessinger's philosophy (taking personal responsibility for your life, your decisions, and your actions, and not living life as a "victim" always stuck in the past) would be a helpful antidote for what ails the Burks.

So glad this was written, but use a grain of salt
I was wary to purchase this book because I was concerned that it would be another "cult hunter" book full of unbalanced distortions and half-truths, especially since the authors were wounded in the movement. For the most part the book avoids that pitfall. The end section theology, especially with regard to family leadership misses the mark a bit--probably overreacting.

However, the stories, and especially Ron's life story, which is the majority of the book, are very valuable. They give you a personal understanding for what it was like in at least the official Mobile-based part of the movement. It's actually very sad that such a cultish world could be created by men who were not intending to do so, and otherwise taught orthodox doctrine. And it's especially sad to see a promising young couple give such a large portion of their lives to this.

I would recommend that you also read S. David Moore's book on the Shepherding Movement if you want a more complete picture-- I believe that neither book stands on its own. Those seeking to build new church structures where Godly authority is present would do well to read both. It was not that all of the new emphases of the movement were wrong, but it was the case that certain emphases were unbalanced enough to hurt a lot of people, and we should be careful to avoid those, and take responsibility for our teachings if people are hurt.