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The Cult Dossier · No. 096 · Christian-Derived

Word of Faith Fellowship

WOFF

1979 – present · Spindale, North Carolina; Brazil (São Joaquim de Bicas, Franco da Rocha); Ghana

XI. THERAPY, POLITICS AND THE SMALL GROUPS

Fully religious — evangelical/charismatic

Who led it

JANE WHALEY, a compelling speaker with no formal ministry training, and her husband Sam Whaley. She turned a former steakhouse into a chapel that grew to about 750 members.

What it worshipped and taught

A charismatic Christianity centred on BLASTING — loud, prolonged, screamed prayer directed at a person to drive out demons, sometimes for hours, in which the subject may be surrounded, held down, shaken or struck. Doctrine holds that essentially all misbehaviour, illness and dissent is demonic. Practices documented by the Associated Press investigation: control of members' marriages, finances, jobs and medical care; instructions to members to lie to investigators; separation of children from parents; and the systematic use of Brazilian members brought to the US on student visas as unpaid labour.

Who was in it

Jane Whaley; Sam Whaley; Kent Covington; the AP reporters Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr, whose 2017 investigation ran to dozens of stories; MATTHEW FENNER, whose 2013 beating led to criminal charges against five members that have still not been tried to a verdict; Danielle Cordes; the former members who recorded services covertly.

How it ended, or where it stands

Active; several members convicted of federal fraud offences; the 2013 assault case still untried after thirteen years.

The dead

—

Of note

Included as a representative of a very large and under-documented category: small independent charismatic churches with total pastoral control, no denominational oversight, and a theology in which questioning the pastor is itself demonic.

Its timeline

  1. 1979 Whaley founds the church in Spindale.
  2. 1995 An Inside Edition broadcast carries former members' accounts of beatings to remove destructive spirits and of screamed prayer in a prayer chair.
  3. JANUARY 2013 MATTHEW FENNER, a gay member who had joined as a teenager, reports that members held him down, choked him and beat him for TWO HOURS in a blasting session to expel 'homosexual demons'.
  4. DECEMBER 2014 Five members are charged with kidnapping and assault.
  5. 2017 AP publishes an investigation based on 43 former members, reporting physical abuse, separation of families, and men held in storage buildings for up to a year. MAY 2017: BROOKE COVINGTON'S TRIAL ENDS IN A MISTRIAL after the jury foreman brings his own research into deliberations.
  6. 2018–2019 Federal fraud cases: Jerry and Jason Gross plead guilty to wire fraud in May 2018; Diane McKinny pleads guilty over false unemployment claims; KENT COVINGTON is sentenced in April 2019 to 34 months for mail fraud conspiracy.
  7. DECEMBER 2025 Days before a retrial delayed MORE THAN EIGHT YEARS, Fenner asks a judge to remove District Attorney Ted Bell, saying Bell sided with the church. Judge William Stetzer refuses, accepting an independent finding that the delays came from a COVID backlog and lawyers on both sides quitting or falling ill.
  8. FEBRUARY 2026 Bell HANDS THE CASES TO A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR. It is unclear when they will move forward.
  9. Present The church continues to operate; Whaley remains in place. The Fenner cases are unresolved.

Its people

Jane Whaley

—

Founder, Word of Faith Fellowship · born c.1942–1946 · active 1979–present

A compelling speaker with no formal ministry training who turned a former steakhouse into the chapel of a charismatic church in Spindale, North Carolina, built around 'blasting' — loud, prolonged, screamed prayer directed at a person to drive out demons, sometimes for hours, during which the subject may be surrounded, held down or struck. A 2017 Associated Press investigation drawing on 43 former members documented control of members' marriages, finances, jobs and medical care; instructions to lie to investigators; separation of children from parents; and the use of Brazilian members brought in on student visas as unpaid labour.

Before the law. NEVER PERSONALLY CHARGED. Several church members convicted of federal offences. As of February 2026 a special prosecutor has taken over the outstanding criminal cases after eight years of local delay.

Where things stand. LIVING AND STILL LEADING — CONFIRMED AUGUST 2026. She and her husband are listed as the church's pastors, SAM AND JANE WHALEY, at Old Flynn Road, SPINDALE, NORTH CAROLINA, an organisation they established in 1979 and which still holds 750 OR MORE FOLLOWERS. She continues to deny that she or any church leader abused members. ONE POINT OF UNCERTAINTY THIS FILE WILL NOT PAPER OVER: her birth year is not firmly established in accessible sources. This entry carries c.1946, while press coverage in 2026 describes her as 84, implying c.1942. NO SOURCE CONSULTED SETTLES IT, so the estimate stands flagged rather than corrected. FLAGGED AS A LIVE CASE: the outstanding criminal matters passed to a special prosecutor in February 2026 are unresolved, and a former member seeking retrial over an alleged beating moved in December 2025 to have the prosecutor removed after years of delay.

  1. 1979 Founds the church.
  2. JANUARY 2013 Matthew Fenner, a gay member, reports being held down, choked and beaten for two hours in a blasting session.
  3. DECEMBER 2014 Five members charged with kidnapping and assault.
  4. 2017 AP publishes its investigation; MAY 2017: Brooke Covington's trial ends in a mistrial.
  5. 2018–19 Federal fraud cases: Jerry and Jason Gross plead guilty to wire fraud; Diane McKinny to false unemployment claims; Kent Covington gets 34 months for mail fraud conspiracy.
  6. FEBRUARY 2026 The DA hands the Fenner cases to a special prosecutor.

Checked 2026-09-17 · living: health details are kept at home

Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr

—

Associated Press reporters, the Word of Faith Fellowship investigation · — · active 2017–2019

AP investigative reporters who, in 2017, published a multi-part investigation into Word of Faith Fellowship built on interviews with 43 former members and on internal recordings. They documented 'blasting', the control of members' finances and medical care, the coaching of false testimony to investigators, and the use of Brazilian members brought in on student visas as unpaid labour. The investigation triggered federal and state inquiries and produced guilty pleas from several church members for unemployment insurance fraud and obstruction. The church itself and Jane Whaley were never charged.

Before the law. Journalists.

Where things stand. Both living and working as far as anything consulted shows, though there is no recent reporting on either. MITCH WEISS IS A PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING investigative journalist for the Associated Press; HOLBROOK MOHR IS A PULITZER FINALIST for investigative reporting. BEYOND THE 2017 AP SERIES, THEY PUBLISHED A BOOK THIS FILE OMITTED: BROKEN FAITH: INSIDE THE WORD OF FAITH FELLOWSHIP, ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST DANGEROUS CULTS (2020), built on hundreds of interviews, SECRETLY RECORDED CONVERSATIONS and thousands of pages of documents, and named an NPR Best Book of the Year.

  1. 2016–17 Interview 43 former members; obtain internal recordings.
  2. 2017 AP publishes the multi-part investigation.
  3. 2017–19 Federal and state investigations open.
  4. 2018–19 Four church members plead guilty to federal unemployment insurance fraud; others convicted of obstruction.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

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