Photo by Jayden G

“The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.” John F. Kennedy

I will be traveling to Phoenix on Friday. My husband is attending a conference, and we will join Todd and his wife for an evening of mirth. Todd and I have only seen each other in the flesh one short time, some years ago. Since our flight is at 6 AM, I am not sure I will write a new post on Friday, but I will post something. The same applies to the following Friday when I will be flying to Tulsa to join a group of women who have come forward in their 50s and 60s to tell their stories of abuse as children. We will be producing a video of this discussion since it is our wish to help the Christian community understand the complexities and lifelong pain of child sexual abuse. However, this video will not be available for a couple of months. Something else is happening in the background, which will make sense once revealed. It’s all good.

A short time ago, I received an email asking me to look into a church group, which the writer claimed had no name. This person said that child sexual abuse was rampant. I was confused, thinking about America and A Horse With No Name. We know many churches have secret lists of abusers (think SBC,) but rarely have I heard of a group that claims to keep no names of members or even when and where the church meets. I asked for further information but didn’t hear from them again. Today, I read about Julie Roys’ Restore Conference and the following:

“There are lots of people from lots of traditions that are going through very similar feelings and processes,” said Lisa Gray, one of more than 50 conference attendees who formerly belonged to what’s known as the “2×2 Church” or the Two by Twos, a secretive church with members throughout the U.S. and beyond. The FBI is investigating the group.

A brief history of the 2×2 church,

I had never heard of the 2×2 church and noted that it was secretive. Thinking back to the email, I wondered if this could be the church. I think it might be. I spent about two hours reading all I could find about this church, and I was frustrated because I thought, “What a set-up for abuse!” There are many articles about this quasi-denomination. Most refer to the involvement of the FBI investigation of allegations of numerous child sex abuse complaints. Tucson.com posted Secretive church with global reach, under investigation by FBI, holds an annual convention.

The Christian sect Stringfield was a member of operates across the United States and the world. It does not have a name, but it is sometimes called the “Truth,” “The Way,” or the “Two by Twos” because the workers travel in pairs of two preaching the gospel and staying at members’ homes.
The Two by Two church was formed in Ireland in the 19th Century by Scottish evangelist William Irvine, according to Cherie Kropp, a historian and former member of the church. Kropp estimates that there are around 75,000 members of the church in the United States and globally, though she emphasizes it is a rough estimate.|

Kropp, who grew up on Mississippi convention grounds, said conventions are a yearly retreat for members of the church, who otherwise usually worship in their homes and never in a traditional church building.

Conventions usually last from Wednesday to Sunday. The grounds have dormitories where people can sleep, a kitchen and an area where services are held, Kropp said. Duane Grotz, the owner of the York convention grounds, said there has been a convention on the property since 1916.

I wanted to learn more, so I visited Wikipedia, which has a plethora of information about this group’s history.

The church was founded in 1897 in Ireland by William Irvine, an evangelist with the interdenominational Faith Mission. Irvine soon began independently preaching that the itinerant ministry set forth in Matthew 10 remains the only valid method of evangelism.

Here is a link to Matthew 10 NIV. Irvine envisioned men (no women) who would be “true” ministers who would have no home or make no money. ABC 7 News posted FBI investigating 2×2 religious sect operating in Bay Area following alleged child sex abuse. Over time, the inevitable non-hierarchical hierarchy developed. Men like Irvine would not marry and travel about collecting followers. This evolved into:

“Overseers” are at the top, considered to be church leadership. Below them are the “Ministers” or “Workers” who travel in pairs of two men and two women as they evangelize and preach to members.

Below them, are “Elders” and “Friends” that make up the members of the congregation.

The preachers were to be celibate,” Kropp said.

These ministers often live in members’ homes for a period of time before moving to the next. According to the scripture, it’s considered an honor to host them.

What could go wrong?

What do they believe?

It gets a bit difficult to pin down everything since they don’t believe in writing down their rules, but they are convinced that they are based on the Bible. They believe they are the one true church and any church outside of them is apostate. According to Wikipedia:

No church buildings.

Church members and “workers” will publicly declare that the church does not own any buildings. This is not strictly true: in fact, church members own rural or semi-rural properties dedicated to worship, housing workers, and church gatherings, including conventions and “special meetings”. The concept of church buildings is still seen as inconsistent with biblical Christianity and was strongly denounced by early workers.^[120]

Ministers make no money or have a home.

Its ministers do not own homes or draw a salary.

Salvation is only through the church.

The King James Bible is the only book used in English language services. The Bible itself is held as insufficient for salvation unless its words be made “alive” through preaching of its ministers.^[O][129] The extemporaneous preaching of the ministry is considered to be guided by God^[130][131] and must be heard directly.^[9][132]

Salvation is works-based.

Salvation is deemed to require self-sacrifice in following the example and commandments of Jesus^[Q] and suffering is revered.^[138]Members are encouraged to attend meetings and to publicly pray and testify at them.^[139] Although the church has roots in the Holiness movement and has inherited some of its features, charismatic elements are suppressed.^[43] Other standards include modest dress, not wearing jewelry, long hair for women and short hair for men, not getting piercings, not dying hair, not getting a tattoo, and avoiding activities deemed to be worldly or frivolous^[117][140]

The church deliberately has no name.

The church represents itself as nondenominational and without a name.^[131] Those outside the church often use descriptive terms such as “Two by Twos” (from their method of sending out ministers in pairs),^[155][156] “No-name Church”, “Cooneyites“, “Workers and Friends”, “disciples of Jesus”, “Friends”, “Go-preachers”, and “Tramp Preachers,

The people who attend have unofficial names for the church.

Instead, they refer to the church as “The Truth”, “The Way”, “The Jesus Way” or “The Lowly Way”.^[1

They do not believe in the Trinity. It is my personal belief that all heresy in the Christian faith starts with a misunderstanding of the nature of God.

The believe that Jesus is God’s son but he is not God.

A secretive church with wandering preachers will attract predators.

I have long believed that predators seek out situations where they can access their prey, such as children. They will pursue situations in which they can be in control, such as a respected pastor whose very title implies respect and submission. In this case, these pastors get to stay in church members’ houses where there are children. In many articles that I read, church leaders state they haven’t seen any child sex abuse. 

Why did the FBI get invovled?

Could it be that they are estimating that there are hundreds to thousands of victims within this secret church? The FBI got involved in 2024.

According to Wikipedia:

In April 2019, the Australian current affairs television show 60 Minutes interviewed child sex abuse victims of Australian ministers.^[104][105] On 20 March 2023, a letter was released from overseer Doyle S. Smith, (the “Dean Letter”) informing members of the discovery of predatory and sexually abusive behavior by recently deceased worker and overseer Dean Bruer.^[106] Since the release of the Dean Letter, other allegations of sexual abuse and child sexual abused have been reported within the church from all over the world, and former minister Robert Corfield admitted that he had sexually abused a boy in Saskatchewan, Canada, over several years in the 1980s.^[107][108] Numbers of perpetrators have been estimated to number in the hundreds, with several thousand victims identified.^[109] In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an investigation in 2024.^[110][111]

Advocates for the Truth was formed in response to this crisis.

The AFTT hotline was founded on March 23, 2023 and incorporated as a not-for-profit 501c(3) organization in July of 2023. The hotline was first created to be a central reporting site for victim-survivors of child sexual assault and sexual assault within the secretive church community known as “ The Truth,” 2×2 or “The Way.” Advocates intended to collect data to report to church ministry leadership who currently oversee state, national and international church organization.

…As the number of reports of abuse increased around the world, it was soon obvious that ownership of injustice and support for victims was nonexistent. Without hesitation the team recognized a profound need to address systemic abuse and the severe mental health crisis of traumatized victim-survivors both active and inactive from the church community. AFTT has since coordinated and led a dedicated group of individuals and professionals to support and aid victims of abuse.

This group reports disturbing statistics.

• 2000+ unique victims have reported
• 910+unique perpetrators
• Victims are overwhelmingly women and children of all genders.

This group assists the FBI in identifying victims and perpetrators. The forms are provided online.

The FBI Omaha Field Office is seeking the public’s help in identifying victims or individuals with knowledge of abuse and/or criminal behavior that has occurred within a religious group that traditionally has not had a name. The group has often been referred to by others outside of the group as “2×2,” “The Way,” “The Truth,” and “The Church With No Name,” among others.

Most importantly, this group seeks to support survivors.

SURVIVOR SUPPORT REQUEST

There are no words that will adequately express your profound bravery in coming forward. Thank you.

You will receive communication and services from AFTT as soon as possible. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis please contact the suicide crisis hotline at 988 or emergency services. If you do not receive your response within 2-3 days, please check your spam or call our hotline 1-503-386-4634.

In consideration of the wide scope of needs brought forward by victim – survivors within and without the fellowship community AFTT is utilizing a circular care model. Our team consists of a dedicated group of volunteer Advocates, that are trained to assist each victim-survivor by providing guidance to services with the goal of remediating historical and current abuse. Our resourced team provides victim-survivors access to trauma informed communal care, professional services and referrals. All services are survivor led and available throughout the recovery process. A survivor can also access care without reporting a perpetrator with AFTT’s Survivor Care Team. Our team of advocates regularly check in throughout the recovery or legal process should they choose to take legal action

Finally

This is a quick overview of this secretive group. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the insider information in this post is superficial and may not include some relevant facts. We are committed to supporting survivors, and if any victims wish to share their stories, don’t hesitate to contact Todd or me. I will have been writing for 16 years in March, and I do not remember hearing about this group. I suspect it will be the same for many others as well. The church may be small, but the abuse statistics, if correct, are alarming. We commend Advocates for Truth for their comprehensive outreach into their community.

Note to the FBI: Secrecy in church settings almost always leads to the presence of predators.