Lester Roloff

[Pastor_Bob]

Do you know of a place where I can get a more "balanced" view of Mr. Roloff?

http://www.earnestlycontending.com/KT/bios/lesterroloff.html

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Allegations of abuse in 1999, 2000, 2001.

I think Bro Roloff had been dead a few years by then

 

[Alex Quackenbush]

Does anyone know anything about Lester Roloff?

I heard him preaching on XM radio this morning. He seemed rather weird/extreme. I looked him up on the internet and found out that he was somewhat controversial. He died in '82, so I was way too young to know anything about him.

Would you consider him to be a cult leader? From what little I know about him, I would.

Lestor Roloff used some methods and ideology common to cult and cult-like organizations in my opinion.

 

[Pastor_Bob]

What the "state" would consider abuse may be nothing more than proper biblical discipline.

 

[Pastor_Bob]

I had the privilege of preaching to the men and boys at the homes in the mid 80's. I did not witness any signs of abuse. My brother spent time there and had no testimony of abuse.

 

[Magnetic Poles]

Allegations of abuse in 1999, 2000, 2001.

I think Bro Roloff had been dead a few years by then

Read the entire report and others readily available. It started way before that. These are just the latest of Roloff's legacy of abuse.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

One staff member convicted - long after his death.

Since when do allegations mean guilt?

 

[Magnetic Poles]

What the "state" would consider abuse may be nothing more than proper biblical discipline.

The people through their state government determine what is abuse. Otherwise, anyone can claim their religion condones it. Abuse is pretty easy to figure out, and if some cultic preacher and his followers claims otherwise, it doesn't make it so. It is a rightful role of the state to protect chldren from abusive parents or others in whose custody they are placed.

 

[Salty]

This thread is evolving into child abuse - so I have started a thread about that issue http://baptistboard.com/showthread.php?t=43881

Back to the OP, from all my understanding he was a man of God. I never heard him preach in person. However, I do believe his homes were a blessing to thousands.

Salty

 

[Magnetic Poles]

The knee-jerk defense of one such as Roloff by Baptists is nothing different than Catholics defending pedophile preists because "Father so and so loves kids. He has helped many."

 

[ccrobinson]

MP, would you happen to have a handy link to some specifics about the child abuse allegations against Lester Roloff? The one report you linked to was useful, but without some specifics, it's impossible to say whether we're talking about true abuse, or what the government calls abuse, which may or may not be the same thing. It doesn't matter to me whether you post them here or if you send them to me in private. I'd like to read what you've read to sort of be on the same page.

 

[Magnetic Poles]

Here are a few references. I was actually involved in an investigation of the Roloff homes abuses years ago, but I don't have the work product anymore. I any case:

From Texas Monthly CLICK HERE

Excerpt:

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Only Rebekah girls who had proven their devotion by repeatedly testifying to God's grace could avoid Bible discipline. Some girls were genuinely troubled teenagers who had gotten mixed up with drugs or prostitution; others had been caught having sex; many were guilty of nothing more than growing up in abusive homes. Tara Cummings, now 31 and a mortgage consultant in Chicago, was sent there by her father, a preacher, whose beatings had left her badly bruised. Even she was not immune to judgment. "I was told that I was a reprobate, that I was beyond help and was going to hell," she said. She was treated to the full range of the Rebekah Home's punishments, which were not limited to lickings. "Confinement" meant spending weeks hanging her head without speaking. "Sitting on the wall" required sitting with her back against a wall and without the support of a chair, even as her legs buckled beneath her. But kneeling was what she most dreaded. Kneeling could last for as long as five hours at a time; she might have to kneel while holding a Bible on each outstretched palm or with pencils wedged beneath her knees. Only girls seen as inveterate sinners received the full brunt of the home's crueler punishments. "You had to be saved," Tara said. "It didn't matter if you didn't feel moved to do that-you did it to survive."[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif] The worst form of punishment, the lockup, was reserved for girls who had not yet been saved-who had talked of running away or who had proven to be particularly intractable. The lockup was a dorm room devoid of furniture or natural light where girls spent days, or weeks, alone. Taped Roloff sermons were piped into the room, and the near-constant sound of his voice was the girls' only companionship. Former Rebekah resident Tamra Sipes, now 34 and working in advertising for a newspaper in Oak Harbor, Washington, remembers one girl who was relegated to the lockup for an entire month. "The smell had become so bad from her not being able to shower or bathe that it reeked in the hallway," she said. "We could do nothing to help her. I remember standing in roll call one day waiting for my name to be called off, and I was directly across from the door. She was singing 'Happy Birthday' to herself in such a pitiful voice that I couldn't help but cry for her."[/FONT]
​

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif] A couple of other links:

[/FONT] http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=437

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:79818

 

[christianyouth]

Here are a few references. I was actually involved in an investigation of the Roloff homes abuses years ago, but I don't have the work product anymore. I any case:

From Texas Monthly CLICK HERE

Excerpt:

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Only Rebekah girls who had proven their devotion by repeatedly testifying to God's grace could avoid Bible discipline. Some girls were genuinely troubled teenagers who had gotten mixed up with drugs or prostitution; others had been caught having sex; many were guilty of nothing more than growing up in abusive homes. Tara Cummings, now 31 and a mortgage consultant in Chicago, was sent there by her father, a preacher, whose beatings had left her badly bruised. Even she was not immune to judgment. "I was told that I was a reprobate, that I was beyond help and was going to hell," she said. She was treated to the full range of the Rebekah Home's punishments, which were not limited to lickings. "Confinement" meant spending weeks hanging her head without speaking. "Sitting on the wall" required sitting with her back against a wall and without the support of a chair, even as her legs buckled beneath her. But kneeling was what she most dreaded. Kneeling could last for as long as five hours at a time; she might have to kneel while holding a Bible on each outstretched palm or with pencils wedged beneath her knees. Only girls seen as inveterate sinners received the full brunt of the home's crueler punishments. "You had to be saved," Tara said. "It didn't matter if you didn't feel moved to do that-you did it to survive."[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif] The worst form of punishment, the lockup, was reserved for girls who had not yet been saved-who had talked of running away or who had proven to be particularly intractable. The lockup was a dorm room devoid of furniture or natural light where girls spent days, or weeks, alone. Taped Roloff sermons were piped into the room, and the near-constant sound of his voice was the girls' only companionship. Former Rebekah resident Tamra Sipes, now 34 and working in advertising for a newspaper in Oak Harbor, Washington, remembers one girl who was relegated to the lockup for an entire month. "The smell had become so bad from her not being able to shower or bathe that it reeked in the hallway," she said. "We could do nothing to help her. I remember standing in roll call one day waiting for my name to be called off, and I was directly across from the door. She was singing 'Happy Birthday' to herself in such a pitiful voice that I couldn't help but cry for her."[/FONT]
​

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif] A couple of other links:

[/FONT] http://www.texasobserver.org/article.php?aid=437

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:79818

This is a perfect example of trying to produce psychological conversions instead of spiritual conversions.

 

[Humblesmith]

I use Lester Roloff as an example of a type of dilemma.......He felt that he was led by God to not get a state license, when the state law required it. So when do we follow the laws and when do we disobey the laws? If I remember correctly, the state would have allowed him to continue to operate, but not lock people up, and he refused. As I understand it, there were some genuinely bad-news youth there, but there were also some that had merely gotten crossways with their parents.

If my memory is correct, he got into the most trouble when a girl died in lockup. That said, there were some news reports that were biased against him.

But in general, I'd say he did a great deal of good to some lost kids, but Roloff didn't have a solid biblical ground to disobey the law. And the treatment at the homes was indeed rather severe. I heard one sermon where he preached against letting doctors give out medicine to the youth in his homes.

One of my pet peeves was the legalism.........it's no big deal to disallow chewing gum and soft drinks, but it's altogether different to equate them with immorality.

 

[The Scribe]

I believe he was indeed a cult leader and child abuser. This is why he resisted oversight for basic standards of his home for "wayward" children. IMO he was an evil man, and this comes from first-hand research at the time.

You base your research on Wikipedia instead of men here who remember him? Did you notice how often "citation needed" was used in the article?

Standby your belief if you wish - it won't change who Bro Roloff was.

:saint: :flower:

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

I heard one sermon where he preached against letting doctors give out medicine to the youth in his homes.

My son was there for a year and received daily medication for his epilepsy.

He also was allowed to sing in a quartet and got to travel to several different states and sing while he was there.

Say what you will, the children who went there were sent by their parents.

Some of them were helped, others were not.

As far as disobeying the law by not getting a state license...most IFB churches and church schools refuse to get one still today.

God never gave the government authority over the church or the schooling of children.

 

[Magnetic Poles]

:saint: :flower:

I did NOT use wikipedia at all. Obviously you will believe what you will.

 

[HankD]

I believe he was indeed a cult leader and child abuser. This is why he resisted oversight for basic standards of his home for "wayward" children. IMO he was an evil man, and this comes from first-hand research at the time.

NOT!!!

He was invited all over Kansas City Baptists Churches in the 60-70's when I attended Calvary Bible College and Theo. Seminary.

He was invited to speak at the College.

He was by no means a cult leader.

Why the calumniation concerning this man?

Because for him it was all or nothing when it came to serving Christ.

One day at the college he came to speak at chapel.
He asked how many had memorized at least one chapter from the Bible.
A few hands went up.

He held up a $100.00 and asked how many would memorize a chapter of the Bible for $100.00.
More than half the hands went up (I didn't because I knew what was coming).
Then he said oh, you'll do it for money but not for Jesus. But the offer still goes.

No one took him up on it.

Sometimes he would start singing a hymn right in the middle of his sermon.

Eccentric, yes, cult leader NO.

I knew him personally and you are dead wrong.


HankD

 

[Magnetic Poles]

Eccentric, yes, cult leader NO.

I knew him personally and you are dead wrong.

You are entitled to your opinion, but the facts speak for themselves, both in the matter of Roloff himself, and the legacy of abuse after his death.

 

[HankD]

You are entitled to your opinion, but the facts speak for themselves, both in the matter of Roloff himself, and the legacy of abuse after his death.

OK, then one of us will answer for the statements made here on the BB at TGWTJ. I'll wait until then.

It is my opinion that these allegations have their source from the accuser of the brethren.

That is not a reflection upon you brother because it is within the realm of possibility that you are right.

I think the best thing is to just leave it alone for now.



HankD