Larry Pile
Encyclopedia
Lawrence A. Pile is a cult researcher, archivist, and workshop leader at Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center
. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College
in Wheaton, Illinois
and has 5 ½ years experience within "The Blitz Movement" (today known as Great 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.
. He holds a Bachelor's degree in German from Wheaton College
, where he graduated in 1965. Pile served three years in West Berlin
as a German
translator for U.S. Army Security Agency. He was an interpreter of German, French
and Russian
on a fact-finding and assistance team visiting Christians in Warsaw Pact
countries in 1971.
counselor" at the world's first accredited cult recovery center, the Wellspring Retreat, in 1988. 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 of Wellspring Journal. Pile is a researcher for legal cases involving groups he refers to as cults as well.
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center is a residential counseling center specializing in the treatment of individuals who they evaluate as having suffered in abusive religious groups, cults, domestic violence, clergy and therapist abuse, and manipulative relationships involving mind-control,...
. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
in Wheaton, Illinois
Wheaton, Illinois
Wheaton is an affluent community located in DuPage County, Illinois, approximately west of Chicago and Lake Michigan. Wheaton is the county seat of DuPage County...
and has 5 ½ years experience within "The Blitz Movement" (today known as Great 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.
Background
Larry Pile was born on May 11, 1943 and is from Beachwood, OhioBeachwood, Ohio
-External links:* *...
. He holds a Bachelor's degree in German from Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
, where he graduated in 1965. Pile served three years in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
as a German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
translator for U.S. Army Security Agency. He was an interpreter of German, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
on a fact-finding and assistance team visiting Christians in Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
countries in 1971.
Great Commission researcher
Pile was a member of "The Blitz Movement" (later Great Commission International and today known as Great Commission Churches) from 1971 to 1977, rising to the position of deacon before leaving because he felt the group had become too "authoritarian." Following his departure, Larry counseled former members of the group and researched the movement. In 1979 he published Marching To Zion, an account and analysis of the movement, a book he would later revise in 2002 with updated information. Throughout the 1980s Larry was quoted in various newspaper articles about the group. In the mid 1980s, Larry and several others held conferences for former members of Great Commission International to help them "recover from the emotional and psychological damage they'd experienced" while in the movement.Wellspring counselor
Pile became a "cultCult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
counselor" at the world's first accredited cult recovery center, the Wellspring Retreat, in 1988. He acts as workshop developer and leader at Wellspring
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center is a residential counseling center specializing in the treatment of individuals who they evaluate as having suffered in abusive religious groups, cults, domestic violence, clergy and therapist abuse, and manipulative relationships involving mind-control,...
, 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 of Wellspring 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. Pile also runs a theological workshop where debates over the Bible are deconstructed.Books
- co-author, Overcoming the Bondage of Revictimization, 1998, with Paul R. MartinPaul R. MartinPaul R. Martin was a psychotherapist, licensed clinical psychologist, and director of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Ohio. He also worked in private practice in Athens, Ohio...
, Steve Martin and Ron 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
- The Making of a Cult Counselor by Larry Pile
- Thought Reform in Cults and Abusive Relationships by Larry Pile and Ron Burks
- Choosing a Church After a Painful Experience
- The Other Side Of Discipleship
- 2006 Statement about Great Commission Association of Churches/Great Commission Ministries
- The Emperor Has No Clothes
External links
- Marching To Zion Digital version of the book