Internet Archive (in their own words, though they deny it). They delete, so we archive.

6/8/11

The Myrtle Beach Conference, and the 'Blow-Up':

Unless you're Family.

Someone asked on Jeff’s Blog…“Deborah, did you ever know Carl Sensabaugh? Was he some kind of ‘adopted’ son of RWD. I know that you were previously married to Rev Blumenthal and it is weird having heard about people that RWD makes it sound like he cared for them like they were his own children and would have moved them up in leadership if they hadn't left NTCC.”

Well, Darwin Durek could provide you with more detail about Carl Sensabaugh’s job in the church, and more about him, than I could. From what I heard he was a very charismatic person, as was/is Rick.

A while back Mike Kekel ‘mentioned’ on his blog about Rick, as to why he got in ‘trouble’ with Rev. Davis. Mike said, “I remember the Conference at Myrtle Beach when her husband, who was AGO of the Central Division at the time, got in trouble for rebuking Pastor over something he preached about ladies and tight skirts. It really cost him more than he’ll ever know. He went back to pastoring, and I see no need to speak of that, except a downhill trend was beginning. Greg was one of the ‘boys in the home’ in Okinawa where they pastored, and once she was a free woman, Greg got the job.”

Rick is not here to defend himself, but I know what Rick said to Rev. Davis. These are the events that lead up to this so called rebuke of Pastor Davis:

While we were in the Philippines in '85-'86, we were brought back to the states so Rick could be promoted to Assistant General Overseer (AGO). He didn't want to be AGO, and he didn't want to come back to the states. The work was beginning to grow; we were seeing the fruits of our labor. Upon returning—and in Rick’s new capacity as AGO—we began preaching revivals for the churches. While on the Revival circuit, the pastors and wives had been talking to Rick about their concerns with their Church and the Organization. Rick related all that had been asked, to Rev. Davis. When they held their meeting, he told the board he could be a go between. They’ll talk to Rick which is good, because some would hesitate to talk to others among the leadership (especially Rev. Davis, for reasons already thoroughly discussed). This should have been great news for NTCC!

I don’t know if Rev. Davis okayed this, but Sis. Davis told a good Sister that her clothes were too tight. Though the Sister’s work was growing, she didn’t have the finances to go shopping (of course not going to just one Conference will buy anyone an entire new wardrobe). Excuse me, but not all of us had money to buy clothes on a whim. We all wore what we had, till we could buy something else. It was especially hard if you had a family. Not many could afford ‘fat’ clothes. When the Sister told me this, she was upset. It wasn’t that she purposely wore tight clothes; she had gained weight and couldn’t go out to purchase new ones. I told the Sister to talk to Rick, since he was the AGO. Her question to Rick was, “Why is it okay for Sis. Davis to tell her about her clothes, when she and Tanya are just as guilty! Plus, she couldn’t help it if she was blessed with a large bosom.”

Rev. Davis had been preaching about the women wearing tight clothes. He didn't want the women wearing SWEATERS or STRAIGHT SKIRTS! Yet, the women in his own family were the worst, and most consistent, violators (and still are).

A couple of months later, while on a (shopping) trip to Germany, Sis. Davis had bought some 2 piece sweater outfits for her and Tanya. They were very form fitting, which is not suitable for a woman with a large bosom and/or back side. Now if you’re slender and have no assets, you could get away with it. You can imagine how they looked sashaying around during conference and other services. Another sister had bought some too (following their example), and wore one of them to a Conference. She wasn’t blessed on top but blessed in the back. She looked nice, but it was waay border-line.

Conference in Myrtle Beach, and the Blow Up:

When the board met, Rick relayed my friend's question, and told them what Sis. Davis had done. Rick mentioned how bad it looked to the ministers, wives, and church members, that Rev. Davis preaching about the women wearing tight clothes, when his own wife and daughter were (are, since they still do it) guilty. He blew up (loud, angry) at Rick, saying that HIS family was OFF LIMITS. This is what Mike was talking about when he said Rick ‘challenged’ Rev. Davis. He was not challenging, he was just speaking for all of us who had seen the double standards. Rick was thrown under the bus for doing his job.

What good is it to have a title? His job was to hear the minister’s problems and help them out. What could not be dealt with, he would refer to Rev. Davis. He wasn’t trying to take over. What good is it to have a board, when Pastor Davis won’t listen to what the men he put in charge were telling him. Any concerns are quickly perceived as “he’s trying to take over, rebellious, etc.”

It was clear to many of us what Ron Denis was doing. Sis. Davis told me that Rev. Davis would not listen to her, Tanya or Mike; when they were warning him (Greg tried also). Rick told me that Rev. Davis told him to keep himself, and guard his testimony, and he would one day be President. Rick always told me he didn't want to be up in Graham. He was happier out preaching revivals and being away from all the HQ politics.

After Myrtle Beach conference we were sent overseas; Rick wasn’t thrilled. He loved the people in St. Louis, and they loved us. He was upset, and had no other choice. Rick could not be the AGO anymore.

There is one thing I’d noticed throughout my 15 years of marriage to Rick...Rev. Davis said a lot of things that seemed to get Rick riled up. He would mention all this stuff about Mike and Tanya when the church opened in Graham. As if Mike was the best thing since sliced bread. They were building a house, they did this, or they did that. Tanya’s pregnant, Tanya had a baby. Was it a test to see how many buttons he could push?

Since it is a well known fact the Kekel’s have been homesteading in Graham for about the last 27 years…Why does Rev. Davis do this? It seemed as if he takes pleasure in seeing people pitted against one another, in sowing discord/discontent. Then he says you have a problem mister, you’re jealous! I wonder if Rev. Davis was ever into cock/dog fights?

At first, Rick was treated like a son, and he was given special treatment. He was loved by Rev. and Sis. Davis. He was around them from the age of 12 (similar to Rev. Johnson). Ricks parents were not in church, so the students and Rev. Davis took him under their wing. He was a bright kid, and very good in athletics. But he also abused his position (since he emulated Rev. Davis), and there were many times I spoke to him, and told him he was wrong. He didn’t like it, but I cannot stand bullies (if it had not been for Greg, I would have left long before 2008). I stood up for the people, when I felt he was picking on certain ones. I know this is a long answer, but I thought some details needed to be provided, and I haven’t written on this blog for a long time.

God bless each and everyone who has just come out from among them! What a great feeling it is to be free to worship the Lord. Standing tall, with no heavy burden to carry on your shoulders.

God bless you Rev. and Sis. Bellamy, glad you made a good choice!

Deborah

Here is the link to the hit piece Deborah references (from Rev. Kekel's Blog).

24 comments:

  1. Thanks Baby,

    This is quite a different picture than the one Rev. Kekel painted.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Its funny, we always wondered if were were the only ones that noticed the way Sis Kekel dressed. It seems that I remember a Brother once mentioning her attire to R.W. and he was rebuked for not keeping his eyes above her shoulders. I can say it was very difficult for many of us to do that. We as men are responsible I know, but a man should not have to guard his eyes in a holiness church.

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  3. DS or GS said, "This is quite a different picture than the one Rev. Kekel painted."

    Don and Ange say,

    There is only one truth. We believe this picture is the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Debbie, I do remember this now. Yes I remember how that Michael and Tanya also came to preach for us at Tillicum and guess what Tanya was wearing? A two piece sweater outfit! Of all things to wear to a servicemen's home, especially after her own mom and dad taught how that we were not to wear clothing like that. I personally think V. Davis might have had some jealousy towards some of the sisters.

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  5. Nice post, Sis. Shunk. Thanks for sharing. I remember talking to a fellow single minister one time at a Conference. We were having a conversation and in walked Tanya. His face went into lust mode and his eyes dropped down to her waist area and just stared at her with no look of remorse whatsoever. He was just fully lusting. I glimpsed to make sure he was really doing what I thought he was doing, and I just remember, ya, it was form-fitting.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Quoting MCK, Deborah said:

    "Greg Shunk was one of the ‘boys in the home’ in Okinawa where they pastored, and once she was a free woman, Greg got the job.”

    Don and Ange said:

    We are very happy for you and Gregory and glad that he "got the job". You are both great examples of love all who know you well and to us that know you a little bit.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Diana Taylor said:

    "Yes I remember how that Michael and Tanya also came to preach for us at Tillicum and guess what Tanya was wearing? A two piece sweater outfit! Of all things to wear to a servicemen's home, especially after her own mom and dad taught how that we were not to wear clothing like that."

    Don said:

    I also remember seeing Tanya dressed in tight outfits. There was a difference between someone that can afford really nice tight form fitting clothes and someone who is arrayed in clothes that are worn out and no longer fit the way they did when they were new. It's sad that when a person can afford to dress decently and follow the rules set forth by her own father and will in turn break those rules and condemn others that can not financially afford to buy new clothes all the time.

    If a brother wanted to lust, there were lots of avenues for this outside of the servicemen's home. The double-standard is what makes this so wrong. There were many pastors wives that looked very nice but when you are a Christian you don't drool over women, you pray that God gives you one of your own - "God can I have one of those?"

    People sin when they are drawn away of their own lust and enticed. When women like Tanya wear tight clothes it can be enticing. If you go to an assembly of God or baptist church you might see women wearing form fitting clothes and you might see men doing the same. True salvation that takes place on the inside will keep a persons heart, mind and eyes in the right place. I believe it also will help people make the right decisions when it comes to appropriate clothing. Some oneness churches say long sleeves, no watches or wedding rings and dresses down to the ankles. You can add more and more to standards but the bible says modest. Where do you draw the line? I know this much, if you don't live what you preach, you are considered a hypocrite among other things.

    Ange and I recently visited the tomb of the unkown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Ange had some friends that had a grand daughter that was selected to assist in the laying of the wreath at the tomb. The teacher that organized the event for this group of Junior high school students told us that she was thinking about hand picking the students that she wanted to participate in this ceremony. She said that she would have picked her own son among others. When she realized that this would present the appearance of favoritism to others, she decided to have a drawing. She did the right thing to avoid a double standard.

    It doesn't seem like the ntcc cares about doing the right thing. If they were to honor the "practice what you preach" concept, their actions would not be conceived as hypocritical.

    Don and Ange

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  8. Deb, I knew that something was not right from way back before the Myrtle Beach Conference. I guess the double standard for RW Davis was that he could tell others what they should do with their families, but his family was off limits! AMAZING! So much to be said on this topic, but I will save it for another time.

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  9. Well I'm going to tell it like it is. RWD is a straight up hypocrite. He is a bully. Tanya was wearing booty hugger dresses and skirts probably every time I went to conference. It wasn't like she had a very nice butt anyway and it wasn't like you could miss it with the painted on cloths that she wore. Probably every sister in conference noticed and mentioned that Tanya wore tight cloths and she had no excuse because money is not an issue with the Kekels.

    The Kekels got away with everything. It's good I didn't wind up in Graham. I'd like to go there now just so I could give old crooked Double Standard Davis a good piece of my mind. As I'm sure everyone has figured out, I can't stand the Davis family. They steal everybody elses life while putting little or no restrictions on their own. Davis is a menace to society. I'd like to see the same deal like Denis did take place again but this time a little bit different.

    Davis has got away with too much for too long. A good bunch of brothers should come together and all stand up to old Double Standard Davis openly in conference. If enough brothers did it, they wouldn't get thrown out on their heads and Davis would have to listen. Does this suggestion sound strange? Not to me it doesn't. Jesus started flipping tables in the temple didn't he? He got angry. Be ye angry and sin not!

    The way to start it would be a good Sister stand up and rebuke Davis and Tanya for the double standards
    and as soon as all these gung ho brothers stood up to remove her, all the brothers involved in the rebellion stand up and there would be a big stand off. See people probably think I'm joking but I'm not. There is one way to take care of a bully. Knock him out and kick him while he is down and he won't be a bully anymore. Break a few ribs and knock a few teeth out and you take care of a bully who is physically abusive. But for a verbally abusive bully like RWD? Give him a good dose of his own verbal abuse in a setting where he has to listen to it. I'd travel all the way to Graham to particulate in that event. RWD has ruined lives and I don't like him not one bit. Someone needs to really tell him off or for all those spiritual folks, (openly rebuke him)!!!

    Jeff Collins

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  10. From the original post, DS or GS quoted an anonymous comment. One thing anonymous said was "it is weird having heard about people that RWD makes it sound like he cared for them like they were his own children and would have moved them up in leadership if they hadn't left NTCC."

    Ange says,

    I noticed that r w davis often said that very thing about many who left the ntcc. Or r w davis would say, "God was getting ready to bless, but ..."

    My opinion is that davis is just manipulating people, trying to get everyone to give more, run harder, try to catch that carrot being dangled in front of the horse!

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  11. davis himself told us he would have the board members vote on a successor for him. Guess who would be the next preacher run out of town on a rail? You guessed it! Then at the next conference you'd get the same old story described by anonymous: it is weird having heard about people that RWD makes it sound like he cared for them like they were his own children and would have moved them up in leadership if they hadn't left NTCC.

    Those voting sessions had nothing to do with finding a successor for davis! Those were meetings designed to help davis identify and eliminate the competition!

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  12. This might make a great quote to add to davis' photo on your home page:

    "My family is OFF LIMITS!"

    HAHAHA

    And the hits just keep on coming!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deborah said, in the original post, "[Rick Blumenthal's]job was to hear the minister’s problems and help them out."

    Ange says,

    Silly rabbit! That would be true in a normal church when the man holds the title and authority of an Assistant General Overseer. But in the ntcc eveyone has only one job:

    obey r w davis [see rule #1]

    In the ntcc, regardless of your title, you have no authority.

    ReplyDelete
  14. MSNBC has hired a documentary team to do a series on groups like ntcc.

    They have asked for participants, especially those who have left the group within the last year, to share their experience.

    Please consider contacting them at

    CLPdocumentry@gmail.com

    We recommend including "ntcc" and your intials or "anon" in the subject line of your correspondence. Thanks.

    Click name for more info.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The e-mail address in the ntcc on MSNBC comment doesn't work.

    It should be:

    CLPdocumentary@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jeff said It wasn't like she had a very nice butt anyway and it wasn't like you could miss it with the painted on cloths that she wore.

    Maybe a butt sticker would help, "Caution, this truck makes wide turns."

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  17. That was a good one. It's more like:

    Caution, Wide Load!

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  18. Glenn always wondered what happened in Okinawa. I rememember in Graham having Tanya as a teacher and her coming in with a blouse that had a very deep neckline... or she just didn't button it up.
    It definately wasn't what anyone else would have been able to get away with. And then in that same class, she brought an enormous picture book of Jewish artifacts and what the Isrealite priests wore. All of the sudden she was blasting this sister sitting by me for laughing at the book and she kept saying, "Do you think this is funny?" I never heard this girl laugh. It just seemed Tanya wanted to be mean to her. Although she was always very sweet to the brothers. Graham was a very bizzare experience.

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  19. This is funny. I remember at Rev. Kekel's house, there were a bunch of people in his backyard. Wurn was there and his wife and Tanya approached Wurn to talk to him, and Wurn tried to answer her question with his wife sitting there watching, and I noticed Tanya's neckline was quite low. Wurn stuttered a little and it was obvious he was having a hard time talking. I caught the look on his wife's face, like she knew what was happening. I felt bad for her that Tanya could do that to her husband and not even feel ashamed right in front of her.

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  20. I remember Tanya resting a picture on her breasts while she showed it to us in her class. I was like, "do I look at the picture (and simultaneously unavoidably stare at her breasts) or look down?

    ReplyDelete
  21. I always tried to stay away from Tanya. Not because I was afraid of her, or was attracted to her (she looks more and more like her father as time marches on, plus she is married)...but because she dresses and acts inappropriately (she wasn't the only one).

    Even as an adult sinner I was not attracted to women that acted slutty.

    Gregory

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  22. It is so funny that MCK will try to act like this "manly man" (misogynist) behind the pulpit and get up in people's faces and then you have Tanya flirting around and seeing how she can distract different men in NTCC. Maybe MCK needs the purple pill?

    She'll have little Brother So-and-so prance off somewhere to get her something, have her flutter her mascara laden eyelashes and when he gets back, give him a pat on the back and he gets a peak. You wonder if anyone has a similar story about Tanya as the lady that was with RWD while her husband was at work.

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  23. C'mon! Seriously? I'd be more inclined to believe in mUck cheating on tanny than the other way around. Flirt? Yes. Cheat? I'm skeptical. Wear tight clothes so she looks like jello in a ziplock baggie? Yes. Seek attention and act lasciviously? Yes. Seen it ourselves. tanya learned that from her mamma verna. Actually cheat? hmmnn... Well, maybe... LOL. You might be right anon. The more I think about it... Virtuous women don't 'act out' or 'show off' their hardware. Just my opinion... Ange

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  24. Do you guys still believe in God... I'm having trouble. At times I still believe in their view of the bible... Others I tend to think God doesn't even exist.
    Mike

    ReplyDelete

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