Campus Maranatha.just another religious
order or a group of Christian 'shepherds'?
This article is the second of
two parts on Maranatha, a na
tional religious group that has
started a University ministry this
year.
Charges of cult techniques
such as mind control, brain
washing and •‘shepherding-’
follow the national Maranatha
Chnstian Ministry as it locates
on campuses throughout the
United States
But no one at the University is
ready to identify the local
Maranatha ministry as a cult,
partly because Pastor Buster
Landwehr is doing his best to
convince the campus commun
ity otherwise
Landwehr says he s heard the
allegations "I don't leap for joy,
but it’s just not true One mother
said, ‘You sound just like a cult.'
I can understand parental con
cern,” he says
His wife Pat dismisses par
ents concerns as “just a reac
tion to the '70s.” Lots of campus
groups have been called cults,
she says, and students who
become involved in those
groups may offend parents who
“aren't excited about the Lord . ”
Dick Beswick, president of
the campus Religious Directors
Association, says Landwehr has
been open and willing to talk
with him about Maranatha’s
religious practices.
“My direct contact with him
has been good,' Beswick says
“He said all the right things He
wasn't belligerent at all.”
As a researcher of cults, he
isn’t ready to hang that label on
the local Maranatha ministry It
comes down “just this side of
the fence, but could easily
move away from or leap over
that fence in the next six
months, Beswick says
Two Californian groups that
conduct research on Christian
groups have equally ambiguous
positions on Maranatha
Spiritual Counterfeits of Ber
keley. Calif , has no specific
statement on the group yet. but
a representative says Maran
atha "takes a highly charismatic
approach to their view of Chris
tianity."
“They seem to be having a
tendency toward the shepherd
ing movement,” which stresses
strong authority figures called
"elders” within the group, says
“Mary." (Spiritual Counterfeits
researchers do not release their
surnames )
Paul Carden, a research con
sultant at the Christian Re
search Institute in San Juan
Capistrano, says that while the
institute does not consider Ma
ranatha "a non-Christian cult,"
Emerald photo
Dick Beswick
researchers have identified
"some abusive authority prac
tices' and “unjustified pressure
on members to contribute mon
ey for various things "
"What we hear is not good I
haven't heard anything good
(about Maranatha) yet as a
matter of fact," Carden says
Parents and administrators
are concerned by the
"100-percent commitment” to
the Lord that is asked of Maran
atha members A "Statement of
Commitment” that members
sign includes a section, at
tributed to the Bible, that says
"No matter what my opinions,
objections, etc , might be, they
must be brought into submis
sion to God's Word ”
Another section states that I
realize that Jesus said unless a
man be willing to forsake ever
ything (emphasis theirs), he
cannot be my disciple ”
Landwehr says all the state
ments mean is that anyone
who feels "born again" should
be willing to make a total com
mitment to God But that
doesn’t mean withdrawing from
school and friends, he says
One way to show God working
in your life is to do well in
school, Landwehr says
“I know what it's like when
you go to college and you’re
studying,” he says
Other, more serious, charges
have been leveled at Maranatha
groups on campuses in other
states The father of a former
Maranatha member at Kansas
State University says "they
practice mind control — per
iod ’’
Frank Tilman, a KSU faculty
member, says that after his
daughter Deedee was depro
grammed she was able to iden
tify eight different mind control
techniques that had been used
on her
"They just commit them
selves to the whole group in
everything they say and do
That's called mind control,” Til
man says “They hide behind
the Bible" and take a third
grade approach to interpreting
it, he says
After becoming involved with
Maranatha, Deedee gave away
all her record albums, stopped
dating because she was in
structed the Lord would choose
her husband at the proper time,
prayed from 5 to 8 every morn
ing, attended Maranatha meet
ings at night, and tried to con
vert her sisters, Tilman says
Of 27 members involved with
the KSU Maranatha Ministry, 10
have been deprogrammed — all
by their own choice, he says
Is Maranatha a cult?
“Sure — without question,”
Photo by Mark Pynaa
Buster Landwehr
Tilman says, and gives students
interested in joining this advice
"Stay away absolutely Have no
truck with it If you like Moonies.
you'll like Maranatha All they
want is money for themselves
and more people to be
members ”
Tilman is, of course, speaking
of the national group He hadn't
heard of the ministry at the
University, although he says he
knows of groups at many other
college campuses
At the University, Pastor
Landwehr paints a different pic
ture of Maranatha and its time
requirements Members are
asked to attend a Tuesday night
Bible study, a Friday night cele
brational meeting and a Sunday
service However, students can
miss any of the meetings as long
as they leave a message, he
says
There are no set require
ments for individual prayer,
although members paste post
ers on walls around the house
suggesting Biblical sections on
different topics
The emphasis on giving up
material goods that is present in
the Statement of Commitment
and that led Deedee to give
away her record albums may be
misinterpreted, Landwehr says
The statement, which reads
My material possessions are
committed to the saints If any
has a need, my abundance is
available to supply his want,"
just means that people should
help each other out, and feel
free to ask for that help, he says
The local ministry does par
ticipate in at least one activity
identified as typical of cults
Each month, Maranatha
members poll students on cam
pus about national issues and
send the results to Pres Reagan
"so he knows what youth are
thinking "
Many cult groups use this
technique to approach lonely
students, encourage their inter
est in the religious group, and
get their names and addresses,
according to Gregory Blimling,
Dean of Students at Louisiana
State University
Landwehr denies that Maran
atha considers itself the only
way to God or that the group
wants to convert every Christian
to its particular religious prac
tices
"We re not it as far as Mar
anatha is the only thing Your
commitment is not to to Maran
atha — it's to the Lord first
We re only a part of the exper
ience of the body of Christ
Maranatha's goal isn't to
bring every student into its fold,
Landwehr says
"With 17,000 students on this
campus, what would I do if
everyone wanted to join
Maranatha? Talk about your
stress factor
"We come not just to be a
blessing to the campus, but to
be a blessing to the community
as well," he says.
By Ann Portal