- Larry Pile
Infobox Writer
imagesize = 150px
name = Lawrence A. ("Larry") Pile
caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1943|5|11|mf=y
birthplace = flagcountry|United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Cult expert (research, workshops)
nationality = American
period =
genre = Cult recovery
subject =cults , Totalist Aberrant Christian Organizations
movement =Anti-cult movement
influences =
influenced =
website =Lawrence A. ("Larry") Pile is a cult researcher, archivist, and workshop leader at
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center . He received his bachelor’s degree fromWheaton College inWheaton, Illinois and has 5 ½ years experience within "The Blitz Movement " (today known asGreat Commission Churches ), later writing a book about its history and counseling former members of the group. He has been studying the "cult phenomenon" for more than 30 years. cite web
title=Pile, Lawrence - profile
url=http://www.csj.org/infoserv_profile/pile_lawrence.htm
accessdate=2007-04-29 ] cite web
title=Pile, Lawrence - profile
url=http://cultsandsociety.com/csr_profiles/indiv/pile_lawrence.htm
accessdate=2007-04-29 ] cite journal
author=Pile, Larry
title=Making of a Cult Counselor
journal=Wellspring Journal
volume=9
issue=2
date=Summer, 2000 ] cite web
title=Organizations List Cult-Help
url=http://www.factnet.org/cris_org.htm
accessdate=2007-04-30 ]Background
Larry Pile was born on
May 11 ,1943 and is fromBeachwood, Ohio . He holds a Bachelor's degree in German fromWheaton College , where he graduated in1965 . Pile served three years inWest Berlin as a German translator forU.S. Army Security Agency . He was an interpreter of German, French and Russian on a fact-finding and assistance team visiting Christians in Iron Curtain countries in1971 .Great Commission researcher
Pile was a member of "
The Blitz Movement " (laterGreat Commission International and today known asGreat Commission Churches ) from 1971 to 1977, rising to the position of deacon before leaving because he felt the group had become too "authoritarian." [ cite news
date = 1991-10-17
title = How The Sun Set
author = Jeff Truesdell
publisher = The Weekly (Orlando, Florida)] cite news
title = Church group draws fire
publisher = The Record
location = Wheaton, IL
date = 1988-12-2] Following his departure, Larry counseled former members of the group and researched the movement. In 1979 he publishedMarching To Zion , an account and analysis of the movement, a book he would later revise in 2002 with updated information. cite news
title = Cult label follows new church
publisher = The Sunday Journal (Wheaton, IL edition)
location = Wheaton, Illinois
date = 1988-11-6] cite book
last = Pile
first = Lawrence
title = MARCHING TO ZION: A Personal History and Analysis of the "Blitz Movement" aka Great Commission Association of Churches
edition = 2nd
year = 2002
publisher = Christians United to Remedy Error (CURE)
location = Albany, Ohio
language = English] Throughout the 1980s Larry was quoted in various newspaper articles about the group. [ cite news
title = Ex-members label GCI a coercive environment
year = 1988
location = Wheaton, IL
publisher = The Sunday Journal (Wheaton, IL edition)
date = November 6th, 1988] In the mid 1980s, Larry and several others held conferences for former members ofGreat Commission International to help them "recover from the emotional and psychological damage they'd experienced" while in the movement. [ cite paper
title = "Just Who Is Jim McCotter?" North & South
date=April 2002
location = New Zealand
url = http://www.rickross.com/reference/mccotter/mccotter1.html]Wellspring counselor
Pile became a "
cult counselor" at the world's first accredited cult recovery center, theWellspring Retreat , in 1988. cite book
last = Pile
first = Lawrence
title = MARCHING TO ZION: A Personal History and Analysis of the "Blitz Movement" aka Great Commission Association of Churches
edition = 2nd
year = 2002
publisher = Christians United to Remedy Error (CURE)
location = Albany, Ohio
language = English] cite web
title=Lawrence A. Pile
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20001002163217/http://www.wellspringretreat.org/html/larry.htm
accessdate=2007-05-02 ] cite web
title=Larry: Cult Research & Workshop Leader
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050405162027/http://wellspringretreat.org/larry.html
accessdate=2007-04-30 ] cite paper
author=Laura Withers
title=Students susceptible to cults' lures
publisher=The Post (Ohio University)
date=February 15, 2002
url=http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/archives3/feb02/021502/n4.html
accessdate=2007-04-30 ] He acts as workshop developer and leader at Wellspring, as well as acting as the resident cult and fringe group researcher and archivist. He also acts as a consultant for families and friends of alleged "cult victims". He is the editor ofWellspring Journal . Pile is a researcher for legal cases involving groups he refers to as cults as well.Workshop process
Pile shows videos to Wellspring clients during group workshops to illustrate what it is like to be in a cult, to demonstrate how cults are formed, and to demystify his clients' experiences. cite paper
author=Laura Withers
title=Cult recovery center product of experience
publisher=The Post (Ohio University)
date=February 14, 2002
url=http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/archives3/feb02/021402/n3.html
accessdate=2007-04-30 ] Pile also runs a theological workshop where debates over the Bible are deconstructed. cite journal
author=Philippe Boulet-Gercourt
title=WELLSPRING, la clinique de l'âme pour les gens blessés par les sectes
journal=Le Nouvel Observateur
date=November, 1999
url=http://www.antisectes.net/wellspring.htm
accessdate=2007-04-30 ]Writings
Books
* co-author, "
Overcoming the Bondage of Revictimization ", 1998, withPaul R. Martin , Steve Martin andRon Burks .
* "Marching To Zion : A Personal History and Analysis of the "Blitz Movement" aka Great Commission Association of Churches", 1979 (1st Edition), 2006 (2nd Edition)Articles
* " [http://www.carlstevens.org/gpage17.html Choosing a New Church After a Painful Experience] "
* " [http://www.reveal.org/library/thirdparty/wellspring_otherside.html The Other Side Of Discipleship] "
* " [http://gcmwarning.com/Articles/LarryPileStatement.htm 2006 Statement about Great Commission Association of Churches/Great Commission Ministries] "
* " [http://www.piney.com/sky1.html The Emperor Has No Clothes] "References
Persondata
NAME= Pile, Lawrence A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Pile, Larry
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Cult expert (research, workshops)
DATE OF BIRTH=May 11 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH=United States
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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