"bjh" is correct, the Assemblies of George Geftakys were never associated with the Plymouth Brethren. George and Betty Geftakys fellowshipped with the Brethren in southern California for about 15 years. He was accepted as a Bible teacher in the Goodyear, Pomona, and Grace Bible chapels, but was never allowed to be an elder because he was so ovebearing. In 1971 he finally left the Brethren to start his own thing. This was when the Jesus movement was flourishing, so it didn't seem odd at the time.
My husband and I had been attending Westmoreland Chapel in Los Angeles, which was linked to T. Austin-Sparks' ministry, Honor Oak, an offshoot of the Keswick Conferences. When George came along, his Plymouth Brethren ideas and language were very familiar. To our regret, we took up with him and helped him build his movement. We now see that George was a charismatic sociopathic narcissist, who "spoke the language of Canaan" but didn't really care about it. In other words, he was a charlatan. What he was after was prestige, power, money and sex.
The movement he crafted was a cult in the sociological sense of the term. The doctrine was orthodox in many respects, but was skewed to such an extreme on sanctification that justification was obscured. Externally, to someone visiting on a Sunday morning, the groups looked like lively, flourishing Plymouth Brethren meetings--headcoverings, no musical instruments, spontaneous prayer, the Lord's table and open ministry. Most of the people were incredibly sincere and outgoing.
What was not immediately obvious was the extent of control over people's lives, the pressures to perform and conform, the elitist leadership hierarchy, the totalism of the group that demanded almost every hour of every day that wasn't required by employment, and the elitist attitude toward other churches, to name a few of the negative characteristics of the Assemblies.
The movement fell apart in early 2003 when adultery and domestic violence came to light. Most of the 45+ Assemblies disbanded within a year; there are about 15 that are continuing. These surviving groups are sticking to the principles of "simplicity of gathering," which might be admirable, except that the leaders were trained in George's toxic ways and appear to be still under the effects of his false teaching.
The spiritual fallout in people's lives has been horrendous. My husband and I maintain a website to provide resources for encouragement and recovery,
http://www.geftakysassembly.com/.It also archives documents on the history of the group, and the details of how it imploded, as well as personal stories of folks who left, and updates on the current status of the remaining Assemblies.
May our experiene serve as a warning, that others may not fall into a similar trap.
Sincerely in Christ,
Margaret I.
Editor, [url]geftakysassembly.com[/url]
