December 27, 2023 • 34 mins
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Embark on a gripping exploration as we uncover the story of Gwen Shamblin, who charted a path from weight loss guru to creating a controversial spiritual movement. Crime Connoisseurs peels back the layers of Gwen's life, tracing her roots in the Church of Christ to the birth of the Weigh Down Workshop, her faith-infused diet program that soared to global recognition. We delve into the complexities of her methods, examining the allure they held for many and the unease they sparked among others, leading you to ponder where devotion ends and blind faith begins.
Addiction takes center stage in a riveting discussion that challenges conventional wisdom, suggesting a spiritual void rather than physiological dependency could be the culprit. As we dissect this theory, we bring forward voices from those who've shed pounds and found solace in Gwen's teachings, putting a spotlight on the potential for spiritual fulfillment in combating addictive behaviors. The conversation doesn't shy away from the contentious debate on personal responsibility versus industry culpability in shaping our consumption choices, leaving you with plenty to contemplate.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, all my fellow crime commisores, I'm your host,
grace D.
I hope you all had a wonderfulholiday.
For those who've recently hadone to celebrate, and for those
of you whose holidays are stillto come, I hope you all have a
great holiday as well.
Fun fact for those who didn'tknow, more than 10 holidays are
observed and celebrated inDecember alone.
(00:22):
This is something that Ilearned a few years ago and I
like to share with those who maynot know as well.
In this week's case, we're goingdown a different road than
before.
This will spark a conflictingdialogue amongst people when it
comes to religion.
What defines a religious groupas that in a church versus a
(00:44):
cult?
The charismatic leadership?
The money, the beliefs?
The sermons?
Cult is a term for a relativelysmall group, typically led by a
charismatic and self-appointedleader who tightly controls its
members, requiring unwaveringdevotion to a set of beliefs and
(01:06):
practices considered deviant,outside the norms of society.
This week we're covering awoman out of Tennessee and how
she went from a weight loss guruto a religious leader.
Some refer to her as a preacherand others as a cult leader.
Let's dive in and you decidehow you feel about her and her
(01:28):
practices.
This is the case of GwenShamblin and the Remnant
Fellowship Church.
(02:09):
Gwendolyn Henley was born inMemphis, tennessee, on February
18, 1955.
She was raised in the Church ofChrist.
The Church of Christ is aProtestant church movement that
began in the 1800s.
It was an emigration of severaldifferent groups with the same
ideas.
One of the ideas wasrestorationism the belief that
(02:33):
recovery of your originalChristian practice and thought,
derived only from Scripture, wasthe only way to re-approach
truth.
They believed they came acrossit and were restoring lost truth
.
Gwen was one of four childrenand her mother believed they
needed to clean their plates.
(02:54):
Regarding food, gwen wanted tomake sure she got her fair share
when it came to the dinnertable, and her father, who was a
doctor, would notice.
Gwen had a relentless hungerfor more.
She went on to college andstudied dietics and nutrition at
the University of Tennessee inKnoxville.
When she went to college, shegained an excess of 15 pounds.
(03:18):
She was trying to figure outhow to be a thin eater who could
eat but not gain weight.
Gwen believed that one's weightwas not due to genetics.
In 1978, gwen married DavidShamblin.
They welcomed their son,michael, in April of 1980 and
(03:40):
then their daughter, michelle,who now goes by Elizabeth.
In December of 1981.
Gwen became a registereddietitian consultant and faculty
member at Memphis StateUniversity for five years.
She also worked in the City ofTennessee's Department of Health
for five years.
(04:00):
In 1980, gwen began a weightcontrol consulting practice.
Throughout the 80s she begansharing her wisdom.
What she found out about beinga thin eater, listening to your
body and following hunger cuesTo Gwen it was a divine
revelation.
She started incorporatingscripture and people started to
(04:21):
come.
They would lose some weight butthen they would gain it back.
Gwen asked the Lord what washappening and supposedly God
spoke directly to Gwen and saidquote they are not following me
and my son, they're not beingobedient.
This was the start of the WayDown Workshop in 1986.
(04:45):
Gwen developed the Way DownWorkshop while completing her
master's degree at Memphis StateUniversity.
As part of a counseling center,she hosted the first class in a
mall in Memphis, tennessee.
The program was offered as asmall class in retail and
non-religious settings.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
What I do in this program is teach people how to
stop bowing down to therefrigerator and how to bow back
down to him.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That was Gwen in one of her many interviews.
The basic principles were youcould eat whenever you wanted
and no foods were bad.
Jesus declared all foods cleanin Mark 7.
This gave the idea of foodfreedom.
There were no food restrictions, exercise regimens or weigh-ins
(05:39):
or calorie counting.
They're being told that you caneat whatever you want and still
lose weight even when the worldand society say otherwise.
But, as we know, everything inmoderation.
That's the key.
There's a difference betweeneverything in moderation, in a
(06:00):
healthy way, and an extreme waythat is so bad for you.
Within the Way Down Workshopyou waited for physical hunger
and you ate until you weresatisfied.
And the times that you weren'thungry you went to God and
prayed.
You gave the desire for food tohim Park, when they can only
(06:25):
think about food when theirstomach growls, eliminating a
lot of focus on food.
So in theory the program workssimply by portion control.
The Way Down Workshop started inBellevue Baptist Church in 1992
, and after only five years itspread like wildfire.
(06:47):
The program consisted of12-week seminars guided by video
and audio tapes featuring Gwen.
The program was offered inabout 600 churches across 35
states by 1994.
By January 1995, it was in morethan 1,000 churches in 49
(07:11):
states, great Britain and Canada.
The program grew to about 5,000churches, with about 10%
located in Gwen's home state ofTennessee, by July of 1996.
Approximately eight churches inGreat Britain hosted workshops
in December of 1996.
(07:33):
In 1996, way Down Workshopemployed 40 people and built a
headquarters in Franklin.
Tennessee.
308 Corporate Center was hometo the Way Down Workshop
warehouse.
Other Christian diets taught thesame general principles, but
she expanded on them.
(07:54):
She began developing Biblestudies.
That became the foundation forthe Way Down Workshop.
Gwen started hosting an annualsummer convention called Desert
Oasis in the Nashville area.
By 1997, from word of mouth,way Down Workshop reached
(08:16):
250,000 people in over 14,000churches and 70 countries.
Classes were hosted in every USstate, canada and Europe.
Some participants even hostedworkshops in their homes in the
US.
Some criticized Gwen for usingthe Christianity label.
(08:39):
While building her business,gwen appeared on CBS, nbc 2020,
and Larry King Live.
She gained such a massive mediaattention.
Gwen wrote books on Way DownWorkshop.
In 1997, her book, the Way DownDiet, sold over 400,000 copies.
(09:04):
The concept of the Way DownDiet was that the love of food
should be transferred to a loveof God and to cut food portions
in half, only eating when you'rehungry.
In 1998, gwen went on LarryKing Live saying we were made to
be addictive.
(09:25):
Here's part of that interview.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
God doesn't care if you're fat or not.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
No, no, no.
But if people think, hey, thisis too hard thinking, hey, you
know, I've always said, you know, my dad was a surgeon and he
used to follow him around, youknow, going through the making
rounds, and I said, dad, how canyou cut someone open, you know?
And he said, you know, I don'tthink about cutting someone open
, I think about taking the badout and I feel like what I'm
(09:53):
doing oh yes, it may hurt alittle bit to go back and say
it's not the food's fault, it'syour fault.
Your hands are like this.
You know you're too.
It's too much food, you knowyou've got to turn it up like
this and wait A lot of peoplehave tendencies to addiction,
predisposed to addiction.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
That we know that about alcoholics, that why some
people are alcoholic and someare not, is a mystery I'm going
to, I'm going to propose a newtheory.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I'm going to say it's not out there but it's in my
book that I think we put way toomuch emphasis on this
physiological addiction.
You know, yes, there aredelirium treatments after
alcohol.
Your body wants it.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
But some people can have three drinks and they're
alcoholic.
Some can have three and they'renot.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I'm going to tell you that I believe it's a spiritual
addiction.
I think what we have notaddressed is that this is a void
inside of us.
We were made to be addictiveand I'm not asking people not to
be addictive, I'm sayingtransfer over this addiction to
God, the only thing that canlove you back without you know,
robbing your blind.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And how do you know it's not a crutch?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
That God is a crutch, hey, nathan, because we forgot
what a God is in this country.
Now, if you love the food, thefood can't love you back.
In fact, it robs you blind.
It robs you for clothing youcan't find anything to wear.
It robs you early yeah, itkills you.
It robs you of your health, ofcourse, we all know that.
But it robs you of yourrelationships, your self-esteem,
your pocketbook.
It's a parasitic leech.
(11:19):
It's a false comfort.
It's a false God.
But a true God is this and youexperiment with it.
A God, a true God, needsnothing.
He has everything.
He owns a cattle on theThousand Hills, he has
everything.
So now you go back and youexperiment with this.
It's empirical.
You're giving 10 minutes andall of a sudden you seem to have
an hour back.
You're giving $10 and $100 withthe blessings.
(11:40):
You can play around with thisand you find him.
And then you know if you'reseeking, you will find him.
And then the fact is, his heartgets full, that's the desire
goes away for the food.
It's filled up.
Instead of chocolate cake, youfill it up with God.
You get skinny.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I need to deal with when they used to say when
someone wins something, it meanssomeone had to lose something.
Let's say God, everybody praysto God who smokes, and they deal
with God and they get thespirit and they will stop
smoking.
There's going to be a tobaccofarmer, he's going to look them
and say God, why'd you do thisto me?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Oh no, he'll give back, he'll, I don't know.
Yes, I do.
I believe that if someone'slooking to go out of business,
you know I'm the one that's heretrying to defend the tobacco
company.
I think we have like beat themto death saying that they, they,
they, they, they kill a product.
Well, well, at the same time,I'm sitting there saying what
about moderation?
What about an occasional cigar?
(12:29):
Is that what's wrong?
What about a moderate drinkevery once in a while?
What about?
What about a?
Speaker 3 (12:33):
brownie.
If you sell moderation, they'reout of business.
They're selling you.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
What if we got to the food and said brownies are
killing.
You See, I believe it's theperson.
The person has got to have aresponsibility and I'm saying
quit blaming the tobacco companyand the food.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Let me get a break with Gwen Shamblin.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Gwen did tours all over the country called
Rebuilding the Wall.
She would have people come upon stage holding up their old
clothes and talk about theirweight loss.
One woman claimed she had lost196 pounds following Gwen and
the Weigh Down Workshop.
The core audience of Weigh DownWorkshop was women who felt
(13:15):
that they had significant needsin their lives that weren't
being spoken to by thetraditional churches they were
in.
Gwen was very passionate aboutGod and taught people how to
have a relationship with Him.
In another interview, gwen wasasked if she was worried about
the appearance of God onlyloving you if you were thin and
(13:37):
she said quote no, I think he'sjealous.
He's jealous of us worshipingthings more than Him.
End quote.
She started putting out morecurricula and media with the
same message.
As the wealth grew and Gwenbegan to gain more of a
following, she brought in herthings to, believing that her
(14:01):
message would apply toeverything and any personal
problem people had, such asalcohol, cigarettes, drugs and
porn, to name a few.
In the HBO Max docu-series theWeigh Down, god Greed and the
Cult of Gwen Shamblin, reverendRafael Martinez states, quote
(14:23):
Gwen continuously asserted thatshe was a purveyor of this
wonderful message.
End quote.
Gwen says quote we want toteach you permanent weight loss,
but more than that, we want toteach you fulfillment in life
end quote.
She uses all the language ofrecruitment for a cause or a
(14:45):
personal quest.
Gwen believed the Weigh Downworkshop message was the answer
to all the world's evils.
Reverend Martinez also saidquote she believed she had the
truth.
Christian perfectionism couldonly be achieved by following
her announcement end quote.
(15:05):
After this she felt like thereneeded to be a new church, a new
restoration.
In March 1999, the ReminantFellowship Church was
incorporated and between July 14and 15, 2000, gwen held the
Desert Oasis 2000 Weigh Downworkshop convention.
(15:28):
It was here that Gwen announcedthe start of Reminant
Fellowship.
Half the people in attendanceaccepted her message and the
other half left because sherejected the traditional
Christian notion of the HolyTrinity that there is one God in
three forms the Father, the Sonand the Holy Spirit and instead
(15:52):
Gwen placed emphasis solely onGod and His will.
On August 10, 2000, gwen sentan email to her followers saying
that she believed the doctrineof the Trinity was not biblical.
After this, some evangelicalchurches started removing the
(16:12):
Weigh Down workshop classes intheir churches because she
denied the Trinity.
People and churches called intothe Weigh Down workshop
warehouse, angry and yelling.
Books and tapes were beingshipped back to them.
Thomas Nelson Publicationscanceled the publication of her
(16:32):
next book out of Egypt.
She was also removed from theWomen of Faith website and some
employees resigned.
Five women, represented by GaryBlackburn, filed a religious
discrimination lawsuit againstGwen Shamblin, one of the
(16:53):
claimants.
Tanya Cardente was a staffcounselor until she was fired on
June 13, 2000.
Tanya claims that she was firedfor preying on the job.
She told the Baptist Pressquote I used my lunch hour to
pray and I was told by GwenShamblin that she pays people
(17:16):
good money to pray and shedidn't need my prayers and it
wasn't my place to decide whatto pray for.
Tanya continued in theinterview saying, quote she said
some people are sacrificed forthe benefit of others and that's
what she said when I was fired.
End quote.
(17:37):
Attorney Gary Blackburn toldBaptist Press in the same
article, quote basically theowner of Way Down Workshop
established her own church andimposed religious tests upon the
people who worked there.
That's discrimination basedupon religious preference and
(17:58):
you don't see these kinds ofcases very often.
End quote.
Tanya had moved from Californiaone year prior because she was
recruited to work at Way Down'sNashville office.
She was courted for about ayear and decided it would be a
good opportunity for her and herfamily.
After moving to Nashville, shesaid she was increasingly
(18:22):
pressured to join Gwen's church,reminent Fellowship.
She said she prayed about itand visited the church for about
two months, but stopped afterhearing things that she knew
weren't orthodox.
She said quote Gwen would tellus that grace isn't the message
of God and that she is a prophet.
(18:42):
She said the Antichrist resideswithin each of us.
End quote.
Tanya said that after leavingReminent Fellowship, she lost
her job, and she wasn't the onlyone.
At least 35 employees of WayDown Workshop had been pressured
to quit their jobs.
(19:03):
A Southern Baptist employeeclaims that she was fired
because she would not attendGwen's church.
Anita Pillow, a Park AvenueBaptist church member and a
single mom, told Baptist Pressshe was heartbroken after losing
her position of almost threeyears, but became distraught
(19:26):
when Gwen asked her to lie abouther dismissal.
In the Baptist Press article,anita said, quote I was told
that, because of the directionthe company was moving towards,
my position was being replacedby someone who attended her
Reminent Fellowship church.
(19:46):
She thanked me for my hard workbut said my services were no
longer needed Because I was nota member of Reminent Fellowship.
I was being replaced.
In the middle of being fired,gwen sent me a letter saying
that human resources people madea mistake and I wasn't supposed
to be fired, only allowed toresign.
(20:09):
She asked me to sign thisletter saying that I resigned
and was never fired.
Well, I didn't sign it becauseit was not the truth.
She called me personally andthat's just what I told her.
They told me that I wouldn'tget any money if I didn't sign
those papers.
(20:29):
End quote.
You see, anita was no fool.
She saved copies of all theletters, including her
termination notice, and she sentthem all to Nashville attorney
Gary Blackburn.
She sought severance pay andattorney's fees.
(20:51):
A former high ranking executiveat Weigh Down told Baptist Press
that at least 35 employees werepressured into resigning from
the ministry because they wouldnot join Reminent Fellowship and
two others were fired.
The executive, who wished her amain anonymous, said even he
(21:11):
was pressured to join her church.
He said, quote on manyoccasions Gwen had spoken to the
employees during devotionalsand strongly suggested that we
all come and share in theirworship service.
The last week of my being thereit became more of a you need to
(21:32):
be there and support what we'redoing or don't take a paycheck
from me.
End quote.
When asked about Anita'sallegations, the former
executive confirmed her story,saying, quote it's true.
End quote.
The anonymous source continuedin the article saying, quote I
(21:55):
resigned because I didn't agreewith the Reminent Fellowship
doctrine.
The fact was she was pushingthis church on the staff and I
didn't agree with the stance shehad taken to pressure people to
being part of that church andnot have a choice.
That wasn't right.
I couldn't condone thedirection she was heading.
(22:16):
End quote.
The employees departure starteda domino effect among other
workers unhappy with atheological direction of Weigh
Down.
The executive said, quote thiswas not a resignation to hurt
anyone.
I had been very close to herfamily.
We all would like to know whyMs Shamblin won't change her
(22:39):
ways.
It would be my opinion that theissues to her are power and
control.
She wants to have it her way.
End quote.
Other former employees agreedwith that assessment, calling
the Reminent Fellowship a cult.
Anita said, quote.
For a person to say they're theonly one teaching the truth is
(23:03):
a red flag.
The message we were getting wasone of condemnation If you're
overweight, gwen said that youcouldn't love God end quote.
Another former employee,fearful for personal safety,
also confirmed Anita's story.
They too also wanted to remainanonymous and said quote Gwen
(23:27):
panicked.
She wanted Anita to sign arelease saying she had
voluntarily quit.
She was afraid of Anita andGwen realized she didn't have a
right to tell people where to goto church end quote.
When Baptist Press contactedGwen about everything, she told
them she would not comment aboutformer employees because her
(23:50):
company is a privately heldcorporation.
Attorney Gary Blackburn filedthe five lawsuits individually
and combined them into one case.
During a deposition conductedby Gary with Gwen.
She compares way down to theHolocaust and she means it in a
(24:11):
good way here.
Take a listen.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
When people were in prison camps and ate less food,
they all swam, All of themShamlet.
Surely you're not making acomparison between the forced
starvation of a population inmiddle-class Americans eating
habits.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Are you honestly doing that?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I have been for 15 years and a lot of people have
responded.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
The case was ultimately settled outside of
court and confidentialityagreements were signed, so we
don't have any more informationon the outcome of the settlement
and Gary isn't offering up anyother information either.
This won't be the last timeGwen and Reminant Fellowship
(25:05):
will be in the headlines.
A lot of Gwen's messages inReminant Fellowship are focused
on obedience.
As we know, gwen means beingobedient when it comes to food,
but it was also instructed forwomen to obey their husbands and
children to obey their parents.
The church went as far asencouraging discipline like
(25:29):
spanking or hitting childrenwhen they disobey.
Somehow and I say this becausethere's conflict on where the
information came from, whetherit was from Gwen, reminant
Fellowship leaders or othercongregants of the church
Somehow, members would use longglue sticks to hit their
(25:50):
children, since they hurt butdidn't leave much of a mark.
Now, when I say long gluesticks, I'm talking about the
ones that go in the hot glueguns.
During one of Gwen's sermonsshe gave this message quote the
way you show God that you areanswering to him is through
(26:10):
obeying your mother and yourfather on the first time.
If you do it on the second orthe third time or you are slow
to obey, you are being your ownGod and nobody playing around
like that can ever go to heaven.
If you do not obey mommy anddaddy the first time, you will
be taken out and you will bevery, very sorry.
(26:33):
End quote.
In 2001, nashville CBS affiliateWTVF investigated how way down
workshop leaders spent money.
Gwen said half of the proceedswent to the government and were
paid as taxes and the other halfwere put back into the program
(26:56):
Under Reminant Fellowship'sumbrella and the tax exempt
status.
Gwen purchased a 25-acrepre-Civil War plantation hoag
called Ashlawn, located at 902Franklin Pike two miles south of
Brentwood.
It was built in 1832 by Richardand Marianne Christmas.
(27:18):
Gwen believed in having as manyservices as possible throughout
the church to keep everythingin house, from handyman services
to babysitting, hairdressers,piano lessons and homeschooling
the children.
Little was done outside of theRemnant Fellowship participants
(27:39):
and community.
Remnant Fellowship also had itsown recording studio and
publication company.
Remnant Publications publishedGwen's third book, exodus
Devotional, in 2002.
On October 8, 2003, cobb Countyfire and rescue officials were
(28:01):
dispatched to 611 Factory ShoalsDrive, mabelton and Atlanta
suburb for an unconscious,unresponsive child.
The boy was taken to CobbHospital and was then
transferred to the ScottishWright Children's Hospital in
Atlanta the next day,eight-year-old Joseph Smith
(28:23):
would be pronounced dead and theboy's body condition and the
family's connections would raisemajor red flags for the
investigators.
And that's where we're going toleave off for this episode.
Be sure to tune in next week aswe delve into the death of a
child and how it all ties intothis case.
(28:45):
Full disclosure I will be goingover the autopsy report of this
child so you are aware,listener, discretion will be
advised for next episode and itis going to be tough to listen
to, but it's important to thecase to get all the information
out there and I promise you willunderstand why that is.
(29:09):
But I just want to give you alla heads up.
So please, please, please,download and subscribe Crime
Connoisseurs wherever you listento your podcasts and you can
follow on Instagram at CrimeConnoisseurs.
If you have a case that you'dlike to suggest that I cover,
(29:30):
please feel free to let me know.
You can click the link in thebio and fill out the forms where
it'll have the case suggestion,or you can send me an email and
put in the subject title casesuggestion at CrimeConnoisseurs
at gmailcom.
In the meantime, keep it classeconosaurus and I'll catch you
(29:52):
on the next case.
Hey, all my fellow crime commisores, I'm your host,
grace D.
I hope you all had a wonderfulholiday.
For those who've recently hadone to celebrate, and for those
of you whose holidays are stillto come, I hope you all have a
great holiday as well.
Fun fact for those who didn'tknow, more than 10 holidays are
observed and celebrated inDecember alone.
(00:22):
This is something that Ilearned a few years ago and I
like to share with those who maynot know as well.
In this week's case, we're goingdown a different road than
before.
This will spark a conflictingdialogue amongst people when it
comes to religion.
What defines a religious groupas that in a church versus a
(00:44):
cult?
The charismatic leadership?
The money, the beliefs?
The sermons?
Cult is a term for a relativelysmall group, typically led by a
charismatic and self-appointedleader who tightly controls its
members, requiring unwaveringdevotion to a set of beliefs and
(01:06):
practices considered deviant,outside the norms of society.
This week we're covering awoman out of Tennessee and how
she went from a weight loss guruto a religious leader.
Some refer to her as a preacherand others as a cult leader.
Let's dive in and you decidehow you feel about her and her
(01:28):
practices.
This is the case of GwenShamblin and the Remnant
Fellowship Church.
(02:09):
Gwendolyn Henley was born inMemphis, tennessee, on February
18, 1955.
She was raised in the Church ofChrist.
The Church of Christ is aProtestant church movement that
began in the 1800s.
It was an emigration of severaldifferent groups with the same
ideas.
One of the ideas wasrestorationism the belief that
(02:33):
recovery of your originalChristian practice and thought,
derived only from Scripture, wasthe only way to re-approach
truth.
They believed they came acrossit and were restoring lost truth
.
Gwen was one of four childrenand her mother believed they
needed to clean their plates.
(02:54):
Regarding food, gwen wanted tomake sure she got her fair share
when it came to the dinnertable, and her father, who was a
doctor, would notice.
Gwen had a relentless hungerfor more.
She went on to college andstudied dietics and nutrition at
the University of Tennessee inKnoxville.
When she went to college, shegained an excess of 15 pounds.
(03:18):
She was trying to figure outhow to be a thin eater who could
eat but not gain weight.
Gwen believed that one's weightwas not due to genetics.
In 1978, gwen married DavidShamblin.
They welcomed their son,michael, in April of 1980 and
(03:40):
then their daughter, michelle,who now goes by Elizabeth.
In December of 1981.
Gwen became a registereddietitian consultant and faculty
member at Memphis StateUniversity for five years.
She also worked in the City ofTennessee's Department of Health
for five years.
(04:00):
In 1980, gwen began a weightcontrol consulting practice.
Throughout the 80s she begansharing her wisdom.
What she found out about beinga thin eater, listening to your
body and following hunger cuesTo Gwen it was a divine
revelation.
She started incorporatingscripture and people started to
(04:21):
come.
They would lose some weight butthen they would gain it back.
Gwen asked the Lord what washappening and supposedly God
spoke directly to Gwen and saidquote they are not following me
and my son, they're not beingobedient.
This was the start of the WayDown Workshop in 1986.
(04:45):
Gwen developed the Way DownWorkshop while completing her
master's degree at Memphis StateUniversity.
As part of a counseling center,she hosted the first class in a
mall in Memphis, tennessee.
The program was offered as asmall class in retail and
non-religious settings.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
What I do in this program is teach people how to
stop bowing down to therefrigerator and how to bow back
down to him.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That was Gwen in one of her many interviews.
The basic principles were youcould eat whenever you wanted
and no foods were bad.
Jesus declared all foods cleanin Mark 7.
This gave the idea of foodfreedom.
There were no food restrictions, exercise regimens or weigh-ins
(05:39):
or calorie counting.
They're being told that you caneat whatever you want and still
lose weight even when the worldand society say otherwise.
But, as we know, everything inmoderation.
That's the key.
There's a difference betweeneverything in moderation, in a
(06:00):
healthy way, and an extreme waythat is so bad for you.
Within the Way Down Workshopyou waited for physical hunger
and you ate until you weresatisfied.
And the times that you weren'thungry you went to God and
prayed.
You gave the desire for food tohim Park, when they can only
(06:25):
think about food when theirstomach growls, eliminating a
lot of focus on food.
So in theory the program workssimply by portion control.
The Way Down Workshop started inBellevue Baptist Church in 1992
, and after only five years itspread like wildfire.
(06:47):
The program consisted of12-week seminars guided by video
and audio tapes featuring Gwen.
The program was offered inabout 600 churches across 35
states by 1994.
By January 1995, it was in morethan 1,000 churches in 49
(07:11):
states, great Britain and Canada.
The program grew to about 5,000churches, with about 10%
located in Gwen's home state ofTennessee, by July of 1996.
Approximately eight churches inGreat Britain hosted workshops
in December of 1996.
(07:33):
In 1996, way Down Workshopemployed 40 people and built a
headquarters in Franklin.
Tennessee.
308 Corporate Center was hometo the Way Down Workshop
warehouse.
Other Christian diets taught thesame general principles, but
she expanded on them.
(07:54):
She began developing Biblestudies.
That became the foundation forthe Way Down Workshop.
Gwen started hosting an annualsummer convention called Desert
Oasis in the Nashville area.
By 1997, from word of mouth,way Down Workshop reached
(08:16):
250,000 people in over 14,000churches and 70 countries.
Classes were hosted in every USstate, canada and Europe.
Some participants even hostedworkshops in their homes in the
US.
Some criticized Gwen for usingthe Christianity label.
(08:39):
While building her business,gwen appeared on CBS, nbc 2020,
and Larry King Live.
She gained such a massive mediaattention.
Gwen wrote books on Way DownWorkshop.
In 1997, her book, the Way DownDiet, sold over 400,000 copies.
(09:04):
The concept of the Way DownDiet was that the love of food
should be transferred to a loveof God and to cut food portions
in half, only eating when you'rehungry.
In 1998, gwen went on LarryKing Live saying we were made to
be addictive.
(09:25):
Here's part of that interview.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
God doesn't care if you're fat or not.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
No, no, no.
But if people think, hey, thisis too hard thinking, hey, you
know, I've always said, you know, my dad was a surgeon and he
used to follow him around, youknow, going through the making
rounds, and I said, dad, how canyou cut someone open, you know?
And he said, you know, I don'tthink about cutting someone open
, I think about taking the badout and I feel like what I'm
(09:53):
doing oh yes, it may hurt alittle bit to go back and say
it's not the food's fault, it'syour fault.
Your hands are like this.
You know you're too.
It's too much food, you knowyou've got to turn it up like
this and wait A lot of peoplehave tendencies to addiction,
predisposed to addiction.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
That we know that about alcoholics, that why some
people are alcoholic and someare not, is a mystery I'm going
to, I'm going to propose a newtheory.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I'm going to say it's not out there but it's in my
book that I think we put way toomuch emphasis on this
physiological addiction.
You know, yes, there aredelirium treatments after
alcohol.
Your body wants it.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
But some people can have three drinks and they're
alcoholic.
Some can have three and they'renot.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I'm going to tell you that I believe it's a spiritual
addiction.
I think what we have notaddressed is that this is a void
inside of us.
We were made to be addictiveand I'm not asking people not to
be addictive, I'm sayingtransfer over this addiction to
God, the only thing that canlove you back without you know,
robbing your blind.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And how do you know it's not a crutch?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
That God is a crutch, hey, nathan, because we forgot
what a God is in this country.
Now, if you love the food, thefood can't love you back.
In fact, it robs you blind.
It robs you for clothing youcan't find anything to wear.
It robs you early yeah, itkills you.
It robs you of your health, ofcourse, we all know that.
But it robs you of yourrelationships, your self-esteem,
your pocketbook.
It's a parasitic leech.
(11:19):
It's a false comfort.
It's a false God.
But a true God is this and youexperiment with it.
A God, a true God, needsnothing.
He has everything.
He owns a cattle on theThousand Hills, he has
everything.
So now you go back and youexperiment with this.
It's empirical.
You're giving 10 minutes andall of a sudden you seem to have
an hour back.
You're giving $10 and $100 withthe blessings.
(11:40):
You can play around with thisand you find him.
And then you know if you'reseeking, you will find him.
And then the fact is, his heartgets full, that's the desire
goes away for the food.
It's filled up.
Instead of chocolate cake, youfill it up with God.
You get skinny.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I need to deal with when they used to say when
someone wins something, it meanssomeone had to lose something.
Let's say God, everybody praysto God who smokes, and they deal
with God and they get thespirit and they will stop
smoking.
There's going to be a tobaccofarmer, he's going to look them
and say God, why'd you do thisto me?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Oh no, he'll give back, he'll, I don't know.
Yes, I do.
I believe that if someone'slooking to go out of business,
you know I'm the one that's heretrying to defend the tobacco
company.
I think we have like beat themto death saying that they, they,
they, they, they kill a product.
Well, well, at the same time,I'm sitting there saying what
about moderation?
What about an occasional cigar?
(12:29):
Is that what's wrong?
What about a moderate drinkevery once in a while?
What about?
What about a?
Speaker 3 (12:33):
brownie.
If you sell moderation, they'reout of business.
They're selling you.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
What if we got to the food and said brownies are
killing.
You See, I believe it's theperson.
The person has got to have aresponsibility and I'm saying
quit blaming the tobacco companyand the food.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Let me get a break with Gwen Shamblin.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Gwen did tours all over the country called
Rebuilding the Wall.
She would have people come upon stage holding up their old
clothes and talk about theirweight loss.
One woman claimed she had lost196 pounds following Gwen and
the Weigh Down Workshop.
The core audience of Weigh DownWorkshop was women who felt
(13:15):
that they had significant needsin their lives that weren't
being spoken to by thetraditional churches they were
in.
Gwen was very passionate aboutGod and taught people how to
have a relationship with Him.
In another interview, gwen wasasked if she was worried about
the appearance of God onlyloving you if you were thin and
(13:37):
she said quote no, I think he'sjealous.
He's jealous of us worshipingthings more than Him.
End quote.
She started putting out morecurricula and media with the
same message.
As the wealth grew and Gwenbegan to gain more of a
following, she brought in herthings to, believing that her
(14:01):
message would apply toeverything and any personal
problem people had, such asalcohol, cigarettes, drugs and
porn, to name a few.
In the HBO Max docu-series theWeigh Down, god Greed and the
Cult of Gwen Shamblin, reverendRafael Martinez states, quote
(14:23):
Gwen continuously asserted thatshe was a purveyor of this
wonderful message.
End quote.
Gwen says quote we want toteach you permanent weight loss,
but more than that, we want toteach you fulfillment in life
end quote.
She uses all the language ofrecruitment for a cause or a
(14:45):
personal quest.
Gwen believed the Weigh Downworkshop message was the answer
to all the world's evils.
Reverend Martinez also saidquote she believed she had the
truth.
Christian perfectionism couldonly be achieved by following
her announcement end quote.
(15:05):
After this she felt like thereneeded to be a new church, a new
restoration.
In March 1999, the ReminantFellowship Church was
incorporated and between July 14and 15, 2000, gwen held the
Desert Oasis 2000 Weigh Downworkshop convention.
(15:28):
It was here that Gwen announcedthe start of Reminant
Fellowship.
Half the people in attendanceaccepted her message and the
other half left because sherejected the traditional
Christian notion of the HolyTrinity that there is one God in
three forms the Father, the Sonand the Holy Spirit and instead
(15:52):
Gwen placed emphasis solely onGod and His will.
On August 10, 2000, gwen sentan email to her followers saying
that she believed the doctrineof the Trinity was not biblical.
After this, some evangelicalchurches started removing the
(16:12):
Weigh Down workshop classes intheir churches because she
denied the Trinity.
People and churches called intothe Weigh Down workshop
warehouse, angry and yelling.
Books and tapes were beingshipped back to them.
Thomas Nelson Publicationscanceled the publication of her
(16:32):
next book out of Egypt.
She was also removed from theWomen of Faith website and some
employees resigned.
Five women, represented by GaryBlackburn, filed a religious
discrimination lawsuit againstGwen Shamblin, one of the
(16:53):
claimants.
Tanya Cardente was a staffcounselor until she was fired on
June 13, 2000.
Tanya claims that she was firedfor preying on the job.
She told the Baptist Pressquote I used my lunch hour to
pray and I was told by GwenShamblin that she pays people
(17:16):
good money to pray and shedidn't need my prayers and it
wasn't my place to decide whatto pray for.
Tanya continued in theinterview saying, quote she said
some people are sacrificed forthe benefit of others and that's
what she said when I was fired.
End quote.
(17:37):
Attorney Gary Blackburn toldBaptist Press in the same
article, quote basically theowner of Way Down Workshop
established her own church andimposed religious tests upon the
people who worked there.
That's discrimination basedupon religious preference and
(17:58):
you don't see these kinds ofcases very often.
End quote.
Tanya had moved from Californiaone year prior because she was
recruited to work at Way Down'sNashville office.
She was courted for about ayear and decided it would be a
good opportunity for her and herfamily.
After moving to Nashville, shesaid she was increasingly
(18:22):
pressured to join Gwen's church,reminent Fellowship.
She said she prayed about itand visited the church for about
two months, but stopped afterhearing things that she knew
weren't orthodox.
She said quote Gwen would tellus that grace isn't the message
of God and that she is a prophet.
(18:42):
She said the Antichrist resideswithin each of us.
End quote.
Tanya said that after leavingReminent Fellowship, she lost
her job, and she wasn't the onlyone.
At least 35 employees of WayDown Workshop had been pressured
to quit their jobs.
(19:03):
A Southern Baptist employeeclaims that she was fired
because she would not attendGwen's church.
Anita Pillow, a Park AvenueBaptist church member and a
single mom, told Baptist Pressshe was heartbroken after losing
her position of almost threeyears, but became distraught
(19:26):
when Gwen asked her to lie abouther dismissal.
In the Baptist Press article,anita said, quote I was told
that, because of the directionthe company was moving towards,
my position was being replacedby someone who attended her
Reminent Fellowship church.
(19:46):
She thanked me for my hard workbut said my services were no
longer needed Because I was nota member of Reminent Fellowship.
I was being replaced.
In the middle of being fired,gwen sent me a letter saying
that human resources people madea mistake and I wasn't supposed
to be fired, only allowed toresign.
(20:09):
She asked me to sign thisletter saying that I resigned
and was never fired.
Well, I didn't sign it becauseit was not the truth.
She called me personally andthat's just what I told her.
They told me that I wouldn'tget any money if I didn't sign
those papers.
(20:29):
End quote.
You see, anita was no fool.
She saved copies of all theletters, including her
termination notice, and she sentthem all to Nashville attorney
Gary Blackburn.
She sought severance pay andattorney's fees.
(20:51):
A former high ranking executiveat Weigh Down told Baptist Press
that at least 35 employees werepressured into resigning from
the ministry because they wouldnot join Reminent Fellowship and
two others were fired.
The executive, who wished her amain anonymous, said even he
(21:11):
was pressured to join her church.
He said, quote on manyoccasions Gwen had spoken to the
employees during devotionalsand strongly suggested that we
all come and share in theirworship service.
The last week of my being thereit became more of a you need to
(21:32):
be there and support what we'redoing or don't take a paycheck
from me.
End quote.
When asked about Anita'sallegations, the former
executive confirmed her story,saying, quote it's true.
End quote.
The anonymous source continuedin the article saying, quote I
(21:55):
resigned because I didn't agreewith the Reminent Fellowship
doctrine.
The fact was she was pushingthis church on the staff and I
didn't agree with the stance shehad taken to pressure people to
being part of that church andnot have a choice.
That wasn't right.
I couldn't condone thedirection she was heading.
(22:16):
End quote.
The employees departure starteda domino effect among other
workers unhappy with atheological direction of Weigh
Down.
The executive said, quote thiswas not a resignation to hurt
anyone.
I had been very close to herfamily.
We all would like to know whyMs Shamblin won't change her
(22:39):
ways.
It would be my opinion that theissues to her are power and
control.
She wants to have it her way.
End quote.
Other former employees agreedwith that assessment, calling
the Reminent Fellowship a cult.
Anita said, quote.
For a person to say they're theonly one teaching the truth is
(23:03):
a red flag.
The message we were getting wasone of condemnation If you're
overweight, gwen said that youcouldn't love God end quote.
Another former employee,fearful for personal safety,
also confirmed Anita's story.
They too also wanted to remainanonymous and said quote Gwen
(23:27):
panicked.
She wanted Anita to sign arelease saying she had
voluntarily quit.
She was afraid of Anita andGwen realized she didn't have a
right to tell people where to goto church end quote.
When Baptist Press contactedGwen about everything, she told
them she would not comment aboutformer employees because her
(23:50):
company is a privately heldcorporation.
Attorney Gary Blackburn filedthe five lawsuits individually
and combined them into one case.
During a deposition conductedby Gary with Gwen.
She compares way down to theHolocaust and she means it in a
(24:11):
good way here.
Take a listen.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
When people were in prison camps and ate less food,
they all swam, All of themShamlet.
Surely you're not making acomparison between the forced
starvation of a population inmiddle-class Americans eating
habits.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Are you honestly doing that?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I have been for 15 years and a lot of people have
responded.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
The case was ultimately settled outside of
court and confidentialityagreements were signed, so we
don't have any more informationon the outcome of the settlement
and Gary isn't offering up anyother information either.
This won't be the last timeGwen and Reminant Fellowship
(25:05):
will be in the headlines.
A lot of Gwen's messages inReminant Fellowship are focused
on obedience.
As we know, gwen means beingobedient when it comes to food,
but it was also instructed forwomen to obey their husbands and
children to obey their parents.
The church went as far asencouraging discipline like
(25:29):
spanking or hitting childrenwhen they disobey.
Somehow and I say this becausethere's conflict on where the
information came from, whetherit was from Gwen, reminant
Fellowship leaders or othercongregants of the church
Somehow, members would use longglue sticks to hit their
(25:50):
children, since they hurt butdidn't leave much of a mark.
Now, when I say long gluesticks, I'm talking about the
ones that go in the hot glueguns.
During one of Gwen's sermonsshe gave this message quote the
way you show God that you areanswering to him is through
(26:10):
obeying your mother and yourfather on the first time.
If you do it on the second orthe third time or you are slow
to obey, you are being your ownGod and nobody playing around
like that can ever go to heaven.
If you do not obey mommy anddaddy the first time, you will
be taken out and you will bevery, very sorry.
(26:33):
End quote.
In 2001, nashville CBS affiliateWTVF investigated how way down
workshop leaders spent money.
Gwen said half of the proceedswent to the government and were
paid as taxes and the other halfwere put back into the program
(26:56):
Under Reminant Fellowship'sumbrella and the tax exempt
status.
Gwen purchased a 25-acrepre-Civil War plantation hoag
called Ashlawn, located at 902Franklin Pike two miles south of
Brentwood.
It was built in 1832 by Richardand Marianne Christmas.
(27:18):
Gwen believed in having as manyservices as possible throughout
the church to keep everythingin house, from handyman services
to babysitting, hairdressers,piano lessons and homeschooling
the children.
Little was done outside of theRemnant Fellowship participants
(27:39):
and community.
Remnant Fellowship also had itsown recording studio and
publication company.
Remnant Publications publishedGwen's third book, exodus
Devotional, in 2002.
On October 8, 2003, cobb Countyfire and rescue officials were
(28:01):
dispatched to 611 Factory ShoalsDrive, mabelton and Atlanta
suburb for an unconscious,unresponsive child.
The boy was taken to CobbHospital and was then
transferred to the ScottishWright Children's Hospital in
Atlanta the next day,eight-year-old Joseph Smith
(28:23):
would be pronounced dead and theboy's body condition and the
family's connections would raisemajor red flags for the
investigators.
And that's where we're going toleave off for this episode.
Be sure to tune in next week aswe delve into the death of a
child and how it all ties intothis case.
(28:45):
Full disclosure I will be goingover the autopsy report of this
child so you are aware,listener, discretion will be
advised for next episode and itis going to be tough to listen
to, but it's important to thecase to get all the information
out there and I promise you willunderstand why that is.
(29:09):
But I just want to give you alla heads up.
So please, please, please,download and subscribe Crime
Connoisseurs wherever you listento your podcasts and you can
follow on Instagram at CrimeConnoisseurs.
If you have a case that you'dlike to suggest that I cover,
(29:30):
please feel free to let me know.
You can click the link in thebio and fill out the forms where
it'll have the case suggestion,or you can send me an email and
put in the subject title casesuggestion at CrimeConnoisseurs
at gmailcom.
In the meantime, keep it classeconosaurus and I'll catch you
(29:52):
on the next case.
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