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There is more unrest at Vision Forum as the Board of Vision Forum Ministries today announced the closing of Vision Forum (VF) Ministries. This announcement comes 12 days after Doug Phillips announced his resignation from VF as president, and allegedly nine months after Phillips stepped down from his pastoral role as “teaching elder” at Boerne Christian Assembly.
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The Closing of Vision Forum Ministries
In light of the serious sins which have resulted in Doug Phillips’s resignation from Vision Forum Ministries, the Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of all involved to discontinue operations. We have stopped receiving donations, and are working through the logistical matters associated with the closing of the ministry. While we believe as strongly as ever in the message of the ministry to the Christian family, we are grieved to find it necessary to make this decision. We believe this to be the best option for the healing of all involved and the only course of action under the circumstances.
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Related article:
Infidelity Scandal Just Shuttered Major Biblical Patriarchy Organization
Spiritual Sounding Board 
http://ministrywatchman.wordpress.com/2006/12/28/film-fraud-a-phillips-family-tradition/
Did you guys see this?
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nowoolovertheeyes said:
I want to be clear. When I posted that paragraph, it was about the Patriarchy Movement in general – the movement that Doug Phillips has promoted and built his business/ministry upon. This man has catapulted this system into the homeschool community in such a big way that this lifestyle is normal to many. There are some children raised in this environment who are so sheltered (their only friends are also in the movement), that everything outside of their community is labeled as evil, heathens, corrupt, immoral. They even elevate themselves among other Christians and judge those who don’t follow suit (homeschool, go to family-integrated churches, etc) as less-thans.
Here are a couple of recent posts which are related to this topic and explain my anger:
Are daughters the biggest threat to the Christian Patrarchy Movement and Reconstruction?
Reconstruction and Homeschool Movements: Stay-at-Home Mothers and Adult Daughters
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T.W. Eston:
Feel free to continue cross-posting your comments. You obviously have a good understanding of the people involved, their ties with each other, and the culture. Your comments have been excellent and need to be seen. This is the perfect place for them 🙂
One question for you: You said that he had to step down as teaching elder and also from his ministry. Are you saying he was forced to, or he voluntarily did so out of his own sense of remorse? That is one piece of the puzzle that has not been made clear.
Frankly, if this is the case – that he has been forced to step down – I think the Board of Vision Forum Ministries should have made that clear in their public response.
BTW, I can’t seem to access Doug Wilson’s site. It must be down.
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The affair was with a younger woman (girl) in her teenage years who was very involved with the ministries of both VF and the church. She also helped greatly with the family’s children as a nanny for many years.
This affair has gone on at least 10 years – although she is of age now, she was not when the affair began.
Sorry to reveal so much, I believe this to be true, and the truth sets people free.
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Nikki,
Do you know this woman? (please do not name her) Is she in a safe place? Does she need help? If she needs help, please let us know. I am sure that we can spread the word and get some real help. Please feel free to contact me privately spiritualsb@gmail.com
Edited to add: If this was a sexual abuse situation, do you know if it has been reported to authorities?
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Nikki,
You have no idea (or maybe you do) how many of us want to help. Though I am not affiliated with VFM, I was a part of a Patriarchal church. I (we) understand how these things work. My prayers are with you, her, her family, and your church community.
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My head is spinning. I had heard this “affair” was going on for 6 years (unverified) and that was bad enough. *If* it is true that it has been going on for 10 years, this should be a loud and clanging wake-up call to the Christian community who has long supported Phillips. They need to understand the level of secrecy and control that has been going on in the Phillips Empire for a long, long time.
You have confirmed what I have heard many places about the woman being a nanny.
To have a facade of purity and modesty, godly families, godly fathers, stay-at-home daughters who dote and serve not only fathers, but men outside their home . . . .and then beneath that veneer, violate an innocent, unsuspecting young lady is at the height of cruelty and abuse. We must be enraged at this abuse. We cannot allow this type of abuse where men can take possession of women. I am seething.
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Thanks Julie Anne for your courtesies.
I can assure you that Doug Phillips would have never ever resigned voluntarily from the church or the ministry that he founded, regardless of the sin. He was forced out in both cases. In all likelihood it was all handled much like a “plea bargain” is when someone is criminally charged: plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a lighter sentence. Doug’s public “confession” and resignation would have been a condition of that plea deal. Whether or not the winding down of VFM was something Doug knew was coming or not is subject to speculation, but my guess is he did know of it. Otherwise the odds of a nasty lawsuit would be almost 100%.
When a board of directors fires its president they need to do so in a way that minimizes the risks of litigation, even more so when we’re speaking of firing a president who is an attorney. Scott Brown and his fellow board members are no ignoramuses and they must have some very serious dirt on Doug to have acted as boldly as they have and not be worried about getting sued.
Not getting sued by the president a board fires necessitates allowing the president to save face. Therefore, boards seldom fire their presidents. They ask them to resign, i.e. tender their resignation. If anyone asks either the board or the former president they’ll say he resigned. But the fact is a forced resignation is the same as being fired.
The lavish home that he lives in is owned by VFM. It’s just a matter of time before it’s sold. It doesn’t appear to be listed yet though, so maybe Doug is negotiating terms to buy it himself. No doubt he can easily afford to pay cash for it.
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What I want to know is if there is truth that it was a nanny and it has actually been going on for ten years, what suddenly happened to have it all come out?
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Thank you, T.W. Eston for that helpful information. As I have been discussing this case with others familiar with boards/churches, your words line up completely.
Did you happen to read Nikki’s comment above? Can you confirm what she posted? That this was going on for 10 years and that it began when the young lady was a minor?
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Lynette – – That’s a great question. Someone must have spewed out their Kool-Aid and come to their senses. Or else, there was a cost to someone, perhaps a personal one. When I think of the people who left our cult, there was a price (i.e., forced to shun an adult child).
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Speaking from experience with my own former Patriarchal cult, there’s likely been a lot of shock for the people in Phillips’ church. Many of them revered this man and his teachings. It’s possible that many/most of them have only found out recently as well. That’s a lot of Cognitive Dissonance to process all at once.
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I wonder how many will actually leave that church after tis or just continue to tow the line.
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Please pray for this young lady, her family and the Phillips family. This woman went unmarried all through her 20’s to be there for DP’s every need and whim. When she finally realized she could no longer continue the affair, due to God’s conviction and disgust with the hypocrisy, she made it clear she would expose him if he didn’t confess.
I believe this will slowly be revealed in public. I’m so disappointed with this ministry and the people who have used and abused my family that I don’t care if the truth hurts them anymore. They all
needed a massive wakeup call and this ministry, as an entirety, needs to repent.
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Nikki,
Please feel comfortable to contact Julie Anne. From experience, I know she will be sensitive and confidential where you ask her to be. This is a devastating situation for you, the victim, and your families. Julie Anne can make connections for those of us who want to help to do so.
Thank you. The Lord’s peace be with you.
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Nikki, Thank you for showing up and sharing here. We know that it takes courage to stick your neck out in a public forum. We appreciate your effort to expose untruth and hypocrisy. Yes, the truth does set people free!
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I am in the Twilight Zone reading all of this.
My nearest and dearest know the Phillips and also their closest friends.
Tears being shed right now, not for Doug Phillips, but for the COUNTLESS (believe me, hundreds, thousands?) of families that are going to be absolutely destroyed by this. Seriously, when your very foundation of family life crumbles, what is next?
And the kids that are going to see this, those who have resented their parents all these years for the crap they have had to put up with… I have seen first hand in my life what kids that fight and lose against this system do when they come of age. I have two sisters in law who are basically atheists because of it.
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Please pray for this young lady, her family and the Phillips family. This woman went unmarried all through her 20′s to be there for DP’s every need and whim. When she finally realized she could no longer continue the affair, due to God’s conviction and disgust with the hypocrisy, she made it clear she would expose him if he didn’t confess.”
I am grateful she did not meet with an “accident” if she threatened to expose him. I am serious. I have seen how blatant Phillips has been in dealing with people. He has been lying, deceiving and threatening to ruin people for years.
I agree the movement needs a massive wake up call but I doubt this will be it.
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Julie Anne, Nikki, TW Easton, Anonymous, …. I just want to pat you all on the back for your courage, good sense and tenacity.
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Exactly. So many people put their hope/trust in man. That is wrong.
This breaks my heart because it hits close to home. Just a quick read over at Homeschoolers Anonymous will confirm many more incidences of people hurt by this culture.
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More blather from Doug Wilson’s latest post:
“Nothing that has happened at Vision Forum changes this reality. Men are not automatically a blessing. They are called to be a blessing. When they refuse, or when they turn away, the effects are devastating. This was one of the things taught by Vision Forum, and it is a reality that we can see the truth of now in the shuttering of the ministry. And when we have had the truth of something so manifestly displayed for us, that is not the time to abandon it.”
Which makes it that much more important for people like Nikki to speak up. DP’s buddies are throwing him under the bus now. However, they would have us believe that *they* are somehow different. “It’s not the failed ideology! It was just Doug Phillips’ failings!” Rubbish!
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This is pretty much what I had been trying not to think since all this mess became public.
And, like Lydia, I am thankful that the young woman didn’t just “disappear”.
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Doug Wilson’s latest post implies that the woman Phillips was involved with was a “Delilah” who seduced him. (“It’s that woman you gave me!”)
A man with lots of testosterone is in a position to start a dynamic ministry that speaks to thousands, that fills conference halls, and that rivets people to their seats. Taking a hypothetical, that very same man is also in a much better position to succumb to the blandishments of a stripper with a stage name of Foxy Bubbles, and all in the settled conviction that his sin will not find him out. How could his sin find him out? He rivets people to their seats.
Samson eventually had his eyes put out, but even before he lost his eyes he was not able to see what Delilah was doing with and to him. The thing that God was using against the Philistines, his strength, was also the thing that Delilah was using in a series of sexual jiu jitsu moves against Samson. It is an old trick, and it still works very, very well.
http://dougwils.com/s7-engaging-the-culture/patriarchy-vision-forum-and-all-the-rest-of-it.html
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Leila,
That insinuation makes me very upset. Leave it to a man who espouses Patriarchy to blame the woman.
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Yeah, his new post is pretty despicable.
“So, after a generation of saps has gone through the feminist indoctrination that we call the university system, all you have to do is use the word patriarchy in some unapologetic way, and everybody stares at you like you were a six inch cockroach or something.”
As well they should. One father in my former Patriarchal church started raping his daughter when she was six years old. My church’s lofty defense? “Well, it happens everywhere.” Really? Seriously? If it looks like a cockroach and moves like a cockroach . . .
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I may never again be able to read the word patriarchy without envisioning a nest of six-inch cockroaches.
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BTDT, Thanks for the horse’s mouth quotes.
Doug Wilson’s response is very predictable. Even after the ship has sunk. Basically this: Nobody panic, everyone stay right where you are.
Listen, anyone who’s still in these control-freak groups, now is the time to get out! Quickly & quietly. And never look back.
And the blame-shifting? So predictable. It’s ALWAYS someone else’s fault. Never the one in authority OVER others, no matter what that leader did or wanted someone else to do.
I’ve never associated Patriarchy with the word cockroach, but I will from now on. Thanks, double Dougs! Patriarchroach has a realistic ring, don’t it? 😉
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http://ministrywatchman.wordpress.com/2006/12/28/film-fraud-a-phillips-family-tradition/
“Did you guys see this?”
Lydia, I did not know. Thanks for enlightening us. I have no words, I am speechless. And very sad.
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I just skimmed the article, but I did not know that either, Lydia.
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Reblogged this on A Yewnique Life and commented:
Read the comments!
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If Doug Wilson is reading here, I want you to know that I find you lower than pond scum (which serves a purpose) in slyly accusing the woman for bringing Phillips down. YOUR SYSTEM puts the man up on a pedestal and tells us women that we’re not competent to run our own lives without male oversight. That being the case, the blame should be placed squarely on your buddy Doug Phillips and not on the woman, who likely has been kept in mental infancy as a result of patriarchal teachings. (Since you can no longer keep women in legal infancy.)
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I also would like to help the victim. I am sending prayers and “well wishes” her way.
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Welcome, A Friend, and thank you for your comment.
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I can assure you that Doug Phillips would have never ever resigned voluntarily from the church or the ministry that he founded, regardless of the sin. He was forced out in both cases.
yes I can confirm that he was forced out and down on both occasions. Now why there are 9 months between the two and he continued to speak on behalf of the VFM side, I have NO Idea.
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A teensy bit more insight….
Clarification on Resignation
by Douglas Phillips, Esq., November 14, 2013
I would like to express my gratitude for the great kindness so many have shown to my family in the wake of my stepping down as president of Vision Forum Ministries. My family has been greatly encouraged by many loving notes we have received. With that in mind, I want to be so very clear about the rightness of this transition, and I want to clear up some matters which have been brought to my attention. My sin has resulted in great pain within the Body of Christ, some confusion, and has given the enemies of God reason to rejoice. This is heartbreaking to me. Some have suggested that my sin was not sufficiently serious to step down. Let me be clear: it absolutely does merit my resignation. My resignation is sincere and necessary given the weightiness of my sin. Some reading the words of my resignation have questioned if there was an inappropriate physical component with an unmarried woman. There was, and it was intermittent over a period of years. The local church, not the Internet, is the proper forum for overseeing the details of a man’s repentance, but I just want to be clear for the sake of peace within the Body of Christ, that the tragic events we are experiencing, including the closing of Vision Forum Ministries are my fault, and that I am sincere that I should not be in leadership, but must spend this season of my life quietly walking a path of proven repentance. Please pray for the Phillips family, the Board, and the men who have made up the staff of Vision Forum Ministries.
Doug Phillips
http://www.visionforumministries.org/issues/news_and_reports/clarification_on_resignation.aspx
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Wow, amazing this “clarification” was prompted by people showing him overwhelming kindness and love notes! Wonder who they are and what new plant they are smoking!! (Prob. just the usual Kool-Aid)
Ughhh
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Thank you to Mr/ Ms Eston for the Brown clarifications.
We must appeal to Mr Phillips and pray that he and his BCA elders Sarratt and Horn will call this ADULTERY and to include the years of LYING on Phillips’s part.
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Also, from the Vision Forum Blog
http://www.visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/default.aspx?path=/2013/11/10958/
A Note from Doug Phillips
Last week, I announced my resignation from the presidency of Vision Forum Ministries, a 501(c)3 organization. I retain ownership of Vision Forum, Inc., a distinct and private company, but consistent with my desires to lead a quiet life focusing on my family and serving as a foot soldier, I will not be giving speeches or running conferences at this time of my life under the banner of VFI or VFM. In addition, Doug’s Blog will become the Vision Forum Blog and will be focused on publishing reports and articles by others, along with news and information from Vision Forum, Inc.
Posted by Doug Phillips on November 6, 2013
Yet another note:
Vision Forum Inc. is visionforum.com
Vision Forum Ministries is visionforumministries.org
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“Washers wife does this really bizarro world teaching on Esther and how wives are to do beauty treatments to prepare themselves for their husbands…”
I found this very interesting. Are you aware that Debi Pearl (and her “friends”) did a “Bible Study” for ladies on the book of Esther. They read so much into the text it was mind boggling. So, I’m wondering why the interest in Esther – a book where God did not allow His name to appear and where “the girl got the guy” by proving her prowess in the bedroom before marriage. Does that seem a little….perverse…to anyone else?
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@ Julie Anne
“Let me be clear: I fear for daughters growing up in Patriarchy Movement. Some are imprisoned – spiritually, psychologically, physically, and perhaps some sexually. The very sad thing is because of this oppressive environment, they may not even realize how wrong this is. It is their norm.
Oh my word, I am so ANGRY about this system.”
You are right. I think the thing that freaks me out and makes me the most angry is the women who are bound in this system and think that bondage is “normal” Christianity. It is no wonder that when some of them “get out” they run to feminism and atheism and other extremes. They have never known the true God of comfort and love!
Psalms 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
I think it’s time we realize that God is angry with the perpetrators of this counterfeit religion every single day.
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@ terriergal
You said: “Washer is portrayed as negative in my book because he causes people to look inside themselves for some experience or for growth in holiness for assurance of salvation. Anyone struggling with assurance is already doing that and coming up empty handed. Washer is oppressive in this way. It’s that old Puritan introspection.”
I appreciate this as Paul Washer has rubbed me the wrong way also. He seemed so….hm….prying in such a weird way. And, I’ve heard him use mystical Christian lingo at least once which harked back to monasticism. Reminds me of the excesses of the deeper life movement and maybe even the Oxford Movement. Have you ever read anything about religious scrupulosity? I suffered from that in my late teens and early twenties. I think his style reminded me of that deep, urgent, self-absorbed investigation of myself which led to various “spiritual” excesses. Thank God, this was not my upbringing, and my parents recognized a problem and gently, but firmly, helped me out of that pit!
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Referring to the woman as a “Delilah” and comparing her to a “stripper” while Mr. Phillips is a poor victim of his powerful testosterone is sickening in the extreme. Reminds me of:
1. Fundamentalist Islamic belief that if a woman is alone with a man she will seduce him.
2. William Marion Branham’s (sp?) teaching that women are responsible for everything bad in that happens in the world.
3. Billy Graham saying that he understood what it was like to be a handsome man and how Bill Clinton could get in trouble that way.
There’s a “Greek word for that” – Barf!
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