The Living Word Fellowship
The sun was setting over the rolling hills just north of Kalona, Iowa and I was losing light. I powered on my camera, grabbed a high vis vest and lit my flashlight. I dropped my boots into the charred remains of the now destroyed Living Word compound and made my way into the underground vault.
I was 7 years old the first time my parents took me to this place, that we called “Shiloh”, in 1993. My family spent 2 weeks in a dorm room eating nothing but oatmeal, potatoes and salad. We went to church services, worked in the fields, and attended a 4th of July firework show where we celebrated John Robert Stevens, and his amazing prophecies.
Now, in the fall of 2020, I found myself exploring the ruins of that compound with my camera. The land and the buildings were wholly unrecognizable after the fire. As night took over, I got on the phone with former members of the Shiloh Church, Johnny and MarryAnn Hostetter. MarryAnn told me about the Living Word’s vault where she says the leaders kept original recordings of JRS’s prophecies, known as the “Word”. These “Words” hold the key to my understanding of what The Living Word was and why it had to end.
As a kid, I was trained to record and preserve the “Word” at the Church's production facility. There I worked under the direction of TLW leader Rick Holbrook who told me these audio recordings were the Word of God. When another LW member accused Rick of sexual abuse, my world was completely flipped upside down.
A year after the demolition of Shiloh, the field where the building once stood is quiet. I brought my dad to visit and as I held the camera, he held a short sermon for me and the ghosts. Then we drove down to the Living Word Cemetery, where my mom is buried. As the tires crunched up the gravel drive, my father began to break down. He continued to cry as he stood at the foot of her grave in silence.
For almost a decade I’ve continued documenting The Living Word by visiting former communities all around the country and even abroad to Brazil. There I have interviewed former members and collected Living Word recordings that found their way out of the Shiloh vault before it was emptied. I started a podcast with another former member, Charity Navalesi, where we dissect those teachings and share stories of survivors of the Living Word, including the Living Word teachings that I believe lead to my mother’s death.
Scott Barker and Charity Navalesi are former members, born and raised in The Living Word Fellowship. They are investigating this organization, founded by John Robert Stevens in 1951, that branded itself as a Christian church for over seventy years but turned out to be just another cult. Stevens demanded full submission of his followers until his death in 1983 and when his successors, Marilyn & Gary Hargrave took over, the beliefs and practices became even more extreme as they levied control over the congregants for the next three decades.
In 2018 a former member finally spoke up after Marilyn's death accusing her son of abuse. There are five active lawsuits. The organization is a shadow of what it once was, but some remain believers of John Robert Stevens' teachings and many maintain loyalty to Gary Hargrave. Gary has a new following on social media and an active "ministry".