Cult? Where?
Posted on 12/31/2002 3:31:31 AM PST by Captain Shady
By Baker Maultsby Staff Writer
RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. -- A hearing this morning could help bring closure to a custody dispute that has perplexed authorities and put a controversial Spindale-based church at odds with one of its former members.
Shana Muse is hoping to regain custody of her four children, ages 8 to 15, who have been staying since September in the home of Word of Faith Fellowship members Kent and Brooke Covington.
The Covingtons filed last week for permanent of custody of the children. Their suit alleges that Muse is an unfit parent.
Judge Robert Cilley is scheduled to hear the case at 9 a.m. in Rutherfordton.
In September, Muse left the Word of Faith Fellowship.
When she tried to get her children, her sister, a church member, called the Department of Social Services in an effort to keep the children from going with her, according to Muse.
After a short investigation, DSS cleared Muse, who, with the help of sheriff's deputies, took her children.
Within hours she took the kids back to the Covingtons' home. According to Muse, the children were screaming hysterically, fearful of leaving the church.
Meanwhile, Muse, who said she had had an $8 an hour job at Kent Covington's company, Diverse Corporate Technologies, left the group without money or the security of a job.
The Covingtons, she said, demanded she sign a contract giving them custody of the children.
Earlier this month, Muse left Rutherfordton to seek treatment at the Wellspring Retreat, a counseling center for former cult members. She returned about two weeks ago hoping to reunite with her children and return to Florida.
But, this time, law enforcement officials would not help her retake the children.
Church officials have said the children are free to go with their mother if they want to. The Covingtons have been unavailable for comment, but the children have said they do want to return to their mother.
Based on advice from Rutherford County Attorney Walter Dalton, Sheriff Dan Good determined that it would not be proper to force the Covingtons to give up the children until it is determined whether the contract signed in September is legally binding.
District Attorney Jeff Hunt said the contract would likely not hold up in court. But he said it offered an important glimpse of Muse's mindset at the time she allowed the Covingtons to keep the children -- and makes it difficult to assert that the Covingtons have broken any laws.
When Muse and her attorney, Rob Deaton, tried to file a civil custody order, they found that the Covingtons had beaten them to the Clerk of Court's office.
The Word of Faith Fellowship was the subject of a nationally televised undercover investigation in the mid-1990s. Former members of the group, including Muse, describe the church as a cult.
Baker Maultsby can be reached
at (864)582-4511, Ext. 7425, or
Cult? Where?
Don't know.Good point.
LOL. BTW ,North Carolina has a Roman Catholic governor now, by the name of Mike Easley.Reckon they know that?
That's probably why there are only 9 posts so far.
Mike Easley's Catholic? Ugh. We need to get Dan Ramirez into Congress quick to be the standard-bearer.
One of the things I like about the south is that Catholics & various Protestants and evangelicals are always dishing on each other, in a good-natured way. In the North it's very private and often bitter.
I guess Catholicism is growing in the South with so many people moving in.I have relatives in Spartanburg,SC there are Catholic.My branch of the family is a mixture of various protestant groups and some that don't believe much of anything.
I personally believe that God has a special place reserved for those who use his name in vain and for profit.
I dunno, but this is an offshoot of Robert Tilton...
Posted on January 01, 2003
Court grants Muse visitation rights before custody trial
By Baker Maultsby, Staff Writer
RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. -- A brief hearing in court Tuesday did little to resolve a custody battle described by local experts as "unique" and "bizarre."
After several hours of back-and-forth by attorneys, a judge laid down rules for Shana Muse to visit her four children, who will remain, for now, in the home of Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) members Kent and Brooke Covington.
The Covingtons filed suit this past week for permanent custody of Muse's four children, ages 8-15, who have lived in their home since Muse left WOFF in September.
Muse, who said she left the church financially and emotionally unstable, signed a private custody contract with the Covingtons. She has since said she signed the contract under duress and repudiates the agreement to allow the Covingtons permanent custody of her children.
In December, Muse received counseling at the Ohio-based Wellspring Retreat.
She returned to Rutherfordton later in the month to take her children back to Florida, where she says she has the support of family and plans to find work as a nurse.
All that will have to wait until after a custody trial that could focus equally on Muse's past problems with drugs as well as practices within WOFF that some former members have described as child abuse.
The Covingtons' attorney, Tom Hix, represented a WOFF member in a 2000 custody battle -- between a father who had quit the church and a mother who remained -- that led a judge to criticize the church's treatment of children. The case resulted in the mother securing custody of the children Monday through Friday.
Though the church has no official role in the case of Muse's children, it is clear that support for each side breaks down along church lines.
Former WOFF member Holly Hamrick and Mary Alice Chrnalogar, who counsels former members of cults, accompanied Muse in court Tuesday.
Also in the courtroom were several people identified as WOFF members, including church staffer Jayne Caulder.
Two weeks ago, Caulder read a statement to the media she said was given by Muse's oldest daughter, Sarah.
"We do not want to go with our mother," the statement read in part.
Muse's own family appears divided along WOFF lines.
Older sister Suzanne Cooper, a WOFF member, sat near the Covingtons in the courtroom.
Sitting across the aisle was Tearie Sheffield, another of Muse's sisters.
Sheffield had driven from Florida to support her sister. She acknowledged that Muse had a five-month battle with drug addiction several years ago but said allegations that she has abused her children are false.
"I pray she is going to get her kids out of this cult," Sheffield said.
Muse's attorney, Shelby-based Rob Deaton, must file an answer to the Covingtons' suit before a trial date can be set.
Until then, Muse will be allowed supervised visitation with her children every other weekend. She also will have visitation on every other Thursday from 5-8 p.m.
Cindy Cordes, another of Muse's sisters who belongs to WOFF, will supervise the visits.
Religion is not to be discussed with the children, according to the agreement signed by both Muse and the Covingtons.
The children are not to be exposed to a "deprogrammer" while the agreement is in effect.
Judge Robert called the agreement a "stop-gap" measure until a trial date can be set. He said it was sensible to allow the two parties' attorneys to hammer out the rules for visitation.
Muse declined to comment after the hearing.
An effort to reach Kent and Brooke Covington at their home Tuesday evening was not successful.
Ha! This reminds me of my son's ex wife who brainwashed the kids against their father and then declared, "The children are free to go with their father if they want to" but naturally the kids don't want to for fear of upsetting their mother. This is sick!
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