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Vignettes:
Carl Noe Story
Mr. & Mrs. Carl Noe had
been involved with The Kingdom for many years, and had raised their family in the
movement. What follows is the chain of correspondence the editors have had with them, and
their desire for their story to be heard. Both people dearly love their Savior, and wish
only that what they have experienced may be retold to others who have chosen to place
themselves in the service of the Lord. It is their desire that the pain they
endured will not have to be experienced by other well meaning volunteers for Christ.
July, 1999
Dear Mr. Parker,
I am Tom Noe’s and Eleanor Noe’s father. We don’t have a computer, but
someone gave us some of the information taken from the internet about the Kingdom. The
reason I am contacting you is that we don’t know very much about it, but your name
was mentioned, and we would like to know more.
After we read Shirley Nelson’s book and compared it with Frank Murray’s book, we
knew we had been deceived by the Kingdom leaders since we first became members. My wife
Ruth (Stone) was baptized in 1934 and I in 1943. We were driven out twice and have had
enough experiences to fill a book. I am glad to hear that something is being done to
expose the Kingdom as a cult. It took us a long time to realize it.
There are not many of us left that were members before Sandford’s death, and I think
if each would give a good report of their experiences in the Kingdom it might help some of
the poor souls that are looking for a way out. Our roots were deep enough in Jesus, and we
held on to Him. That kept us from giving up on religion, as many have done.
We would like to hear from you and find out what all is going on. We are praying for you
and are glad to help in any way.
May God’s rich blessings be on you,
Carl Noe
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July, 1999
Dear Mr. Noe,
Thank you for your letter of encouragement, and I apologize for taking so long getting
back to you. One of the benefits of corresponding by e-mail or internet is the immediacy,
as opposed to writing someone, where you have to sit down and make a deliberate effort.
(not that this takes a great deal by any means, but you just have to find the time and
make the priority)
Both Dick Sweet and I read your letter, and appreciate that you have found benefit from
our effort. There are many others such as yourselves who have found their way out of the
darkness who also have responded. The web site is for all of us who grew up in or were led
into the deception of the Kingdom, and there has been a satisfaction for both Dick and I
in the knowledge that what we have made available helps others. There is a great cloud of
fear that surrounds and permeates the Kingdom. It’s the “glue” that held it
together as long as it has existed, and continues to intimidate any who will permit their
lives to be ruled in that fashion. Without the fear, members would be free to examine for
themselves the Kingdom’s real roots. Without the fear, people would be at ease in
asking questions about their heritage and past. Without the fear, they could be free to
reach out to their Saviour and their neighbors in a manner that glorifies Him only, and
points others in that direction as well. I guess it all depends on what one’s goals
really are. “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you
do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. “ 1John 2:21
You spoke in your letter about people of your generation donating stories from their past.
We can’t guarantee whatever is donated will be published, but we would love to listen
(by audio cassette) or read (by letter or computer file) what you or others have to offer.
I believe we all have something significant to say, because we all came from that madness
and have been affected by it in ways we ourselves only partially appreciate. By sharing it
with others, we are able to help those who are only now coming to understand the damage
that system inflicted in the lives of themselves and their families.
We are attempting to post new information on a monthly basis on the web site. There is
tons of information out there, some more outrageous than others, and it never ceases to
amaze me what a wonderful job the Kingdom mind police have done in keeping it “under
wraps”.
Well, I guess that will be all for now. Thanks again for the encouragement, and again, I
apologize for not getting back sooner. Feel free to write anytime.
Sincerely,
Reggie Parker
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Dear Mr. Parker,
Thank you very much for your letter, received today. I know you have better things to do
with you time than to write to an 83 year old like me that has all the time in the world
with the rest of his allotted time.
I want you and Dick Sweet and all others working with you to know that we are so, so glad
for what you are doing. I have a great love for people and want everyone to have
God’s best, and I seem to hurt when I know others are hurting. Since getting my eyes
open to the false teachings and the deceptive tactics the Kingdom leaders used to ensnare
people into their cult group I have had various phases to work through.
First, I realized I had been deceived which was a terrible feeling, then I realized I had
taught our children false doctrine. (I immediately apologized to each of them) Then I
tried in every way to understand how I could have been deceived.
Before we moved to Florida from New Hampshire in June of 1974 I felt that God revealed to
me in a vision of some sort that Mr. Victor Abram was going to die and the Kingdom would
break up. I did not fully understand it until after Mr. Abram’s death in 1977. It was
no surprise when we heard about the recent changes going on in the Kingdom. I believe it
is the responsibility of every leader and minister if the Kingdom group who taught false
doctrine and in any way deceived anyone to apologize to them.
I have been greatly blessed and encouraged by reading the Bible, especially Acts 5:34-39
where Gamaliel ( a Jewish teacher of the law held in high respect by all people) said
about the early Christian’s church - “And now I say to you, keep away from these
men and let them alone, for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing,
but if it is of God you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against
God.” I wonder if the separation taking place in the Kingdom today is
“God’s work” vs. “man’s work”? What do you think?
My concern is not to bash the Kingdom and its leaders but to show by our experiences that
God will take people through victoriously even through the hardest kind of treatment and
abuses. I saw so many people come to the “feasts” (so called) excited and
inspired to change the world. But after that I never saw or heard from them again. We have
one son who didn’t survive the pressures, after he went to class, and he blames the
then current leader for it.
My wife and I are considering doing an audio tape highlighting some of our experiences,
good and bad. If you will pray for us, we will try, because it is hard for me to write
letters. We are going to continue to pray for God’s richest blessings on you and the
work you are doing.
We are now a part of the most loving and helpful church group that we ever experienced. I
will enclose a card.
From people who love you,
Carl & Ruth Noe
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Dear Mr. Parker
The good Lord has helped me put together an audio tape about my experiences in the
Kingdom. A large portion of it has to do with how the Kingdom leaders abused and
mistreated my wife and me. I have highlighted the various experiences to save space and
listed some names and locations for better understanding.
It’s not easy for me to do this kind of thing because I love people so much and
don’t want to do or say anything to hurt them. (it’s too painful for me) The
tape is yours if you can use it in any way in your ministry to help and encourage anyone.
Feel free too delete any part you feel would be unwise to use or be hurtful to anyone.
Recently I was reading in the New Living Bible that our daughter gave us and I noticed in
Matt. 25:31-46 where Jesus is judging the nations. His emphasis was not on what we think
as gross sins such as murder, theft, lying, rape, etc. that might have been committed. His
focus and concern was how they had treated his dear brothers and sisters. He said, in
effect, they were treating Him in the same way they were treating His dear children. It
seems to me like He was sending a strong warning to all Christian abusers everywhere that
He intends to deal harshly with them when He returns.
We are so glad to hear about what you are doing. We will ask Jesus and our heavenly Father
to give you all you need and also protect you from all the flack and attacks from the
other side.
I fought for my country (WWII) and then when I returned I had to fight a different kind of
warfare for spiritual survival. Jesus helped me, as He always does, to keep the faith and
let “no man take my crown.” Keep up the good work, dear brother in Christ, and
may my Lord Jesus and Father in heaven bless you and all your family and cooperators.
Sincerely,
Carl Noe
Dear Mr. Parker,
I thought I would write some of what is on my heart concerning my 40+ years of membership
in the “Kingdom Inc.”
My connection started at 10 years of age when my parents (George & Ella Stone) joined
the group through baptism July 4, 1934. As a youngster, I wondered why we had so many
rules that were unpleasant for me, but by my senior year in high school God worked on my
heart in such a way I committed my life to “Him”. (Jesus) To this day I remain a
follower of Jesus. I spent five years at the Bible Class in New Hampshire where I learned
to apply the Bible to my daily living. However, along with the good I now realize I was
taught the religion of fear. Fear I would do something that would keep me from being
worthy of being acceptable to my Maker. Fear also, that if I left the Kingdom, I would be
“out of the will of God.” I was taught that the kingdom was the only true
religion - outside was partial truth. “Mine was not to reason why”, they said.
Don’t question the leadership. They were the DIVINE AUTHORITY. This is the trap I was
caught in. Imagine the turmoil when it was clear we couldn’t attend the Kingdom
services and I was afraid of the future. However, God stood by me and rescued me from that
grip of fear. Thank God He opened my eyes to see the cult I was in. Now I am a happy
member of the family of God.
My prayer is for those who got entangled in such a group and now have soured against
religion. We are praying for your efforts to be helped in rescuing others caught in the
same trap I was in. Use this letter in any way you think will be a help to others.
Sincerely,
Ruth Noe
FROM THE TAPED TESTIMONY OF CARL NOE:
My name is Carl Noe. I was born March 26, 1916 to Hugh and Essie Noe of Knoxville,
Tennessee. I had seven brothers and three sisters. Six of us boys were in World War II at
the same time. My mother, the daughter of a Baptist preacher was a woman of prayer and
faith. She prayed her six sons through the war, although some were badly scarred by it. I
was the first member of the family to serve my country in 1943. I had recently accepted
Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and was baptized into the Baptist church. Jesus put a love in
my heart for people and I wanted to tell everyone about Him.
In the military I was trained to kill people. This was a conflict to me because I love
people and want to help them to find Jesus. Sometimes I hear people say God seems to be a
thousand miles away. I don’t understand or relate to them, for I have never had those
feelings. Jesus told me in the Bible that He would never leave or forsake me, and I made
Him the same promise. He kept His, and helped me keep mine. I am now 83 years old and
haven’t lost my love for Jesus, and am still excited about Him. I am not highly
educated, and my vocabulary is limited. I am not a gifted speaker, and don’t put
words together very good. I try to do the best I can with what little smarts I do
have.
One of my worst decisions ever was to be baptized into the Kingdom. I can see now that I
was a prime candidate for them; a young Christian wanting God’s best, and trusting
everyone who claimed to be a Christian. After being a member for 35+ years, and some
of those places the hottest places - the Kingdom centers where many people got wounded or
traumatized, not by bullets as in war, but by the so called Christian leaders using their
divine authority doctrine to use and abuse people verbally and control their thinking and
whole lifestyle. This kind of abuse affects people physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Similar tactics are used to break down prisoners of war. A better description would be
mind control. I would like to list some of my experiences in the Kingdom, not in a biased
or slanted way, or to offend, hurt, or embarrass anyone, but to encourage and help those
who suffered similar pain and agony as I did. Jesus helped me to keep the faith and not go
down under the pressures. He will help you too.
When I refer to the Kingdom, I mean the Kingdom Incorporated. The religious organization
that deceived people into believing it was God’s Kingdom. When listing my
experiences, many names will be mentioned. I want to be fair and clear and honest in
describing what happened and who was involved and had a part in it. Dates and places may
not always be exact. Remember, some of these things took place as far back as fifty years
ago.
In 1943 I met Mr. Charles Holland in Miami Beach, Florida, where I was in the Army. He
told me about the Kingdom, except he told me only what he wanted me to know about it. He
told it in such an attractive way that I felt as though I was missing something by not
being a member of the group. I decided to be baptized, but later began to have many doubts
and wonderings whether or not I had done the right thing.
I was discharged from the Army in October of 1945, and had planned a short visit to
Kingdom centers. My first stop was Boston, Mass. There, for the first time, I met Mr.
Sandford. I have never met anyone who affected me the way he did. He showed genuine love
in a way that he won my heart. It was easy for me to believe that he was a prophet of God.
I was also impressed by all the attention I was getting. Everyone acted as though they
thought I was a very special person. I did not want to go back to Tennessee and get
involved in "ordinary things". After that gathering was over I was ushered to
Chestnut Hill, New Hampshire where the Bible Class was located. Everyone was so friendly
and treated me in a dignified way. I certainly was not used to that kind of treatment in
the Army.
My first job assignment was to tend the chickens. One of my duties was to ship eggs to
various centers. This way I obtained the mailing address where Mr. Sandford was living.
About March of 1946, Mr. Perry died. He was one of our teachers. Mr. Gleason was the other
one. He came up from his home in Reading, Ma. Monday evenings and went back Thursday
evenings. Later Mr. Herman Anderson took Mr. Perry’s place.
In the spring of 1946 Mr. Robert Morrison asked me to go with him on an evangelistic trip
to my home state. Mr. Sandford felt it was God’s will for me to go. We circled the
state, and our efforts saw several lives changed. As a result my brother Alfred came back
to the class with me. Not long after, Mr. Sandford came and met my brother and welcomed
him into the Kingdom. That same year I accompanied Herman Anderson and others on an
evangelistic trip from Maine to Florida to Tennessee to Michigan and back to Maine again.
My sister came back with me to the class at that time.
During our trip Herman Anderson told me I should be thinking about marriage, and asked me
if I had anyone in mind. I told him Ruth Stone, because I felt that God made me know she
is the one. He told me to speak to Mr. Gleason about her, because at my age (30 years old)
I should have no problem. This was new territory for me, but I finally got up enough
courage to talk to Mr. Gleason about Ruth. I was shocked and surprised when he told
me he did not want to pour cold water on me, but she had been spoken for; if after I spent
four years in Bible class I still felt the same way, and she had not been taken, I should
speak to him again about it. Things had been going so well for me, I wondered if they were
beginning to change. [It was Kingdom policy then and now for Bible
School students to talk to their teachers/leaders regarding such matters and definitely
not the object of their affections. Ed.]
One Thursday morning Frank Murray, the president of the Kingdom, asked me to take Lawrence
Peterson to work in Manchester, for his car (Peterson’s)
would not start. I got back late for the 9 o’clock service. When I walked in,
Mr. Gleason was furious. I had never seen him that way. He accused me of
setting a bad example to others by being late, and further, my bed had been left unmade.
If he would have stopped his raving and given me a chance to explain, I would have
told him I had been sent to Manchester and that J. A. was still sleeping on one side of my
bed when I left, and I couldn’t make it with him in it. Although J. A. was sitting in
the meeting during this episode, he said nothing. Mr. Gleason went back home that
day and did nothing to try to correct the situation. My sister had been at the class only
a short time, and this was just too much for her. The following Monday she left secretly
and went back home. [As a result], the Manchester police
department got involved searching for her. My brother and I were put in isolation so the
police wouldn’t ask us a lot of questions and get involved with things that were
going on there at Chestnut Hill. Later, Mr. Sandford came to comfort my brother and me,
and told me God had spoken to him for me to enter the Sacred Edifice (S.E.) The S.E. was a
big building that they had there that only certain people were allowed to go into. People
considered it a great privilege to be able to enter there. But for some reason or another
Mr. Gleason and Frank Murray would not let me live in [up over the]
S.E., but instead sent me to Maine to work on the church's yacht. [Coronet]
The ship’s captain was near impossible to please. I had never worked for anyone as
mean as he was to me. I did, however, send a letter to Mr. Sandford about Ruth
Stone, but never once mentioned to him about how I was being treated. He answered
back quickly, giving me permission to see and talk to Ruth. She felt that God told her
“This is the one you should choose.” On November 16, 1947 we were married.
In March of 1948 Ruth’s father and I went to the feast in Boston. It was there we
were first told about Mr. Sandford’s death.
In February of 1949 our first child was born, and we went to live with Ruth’s folks.
By this time we had had enough of center life. We felt we had been pounded to a pulp by
certain leaders and knew we needed a change. I got a job, bought a car, saved up
money and we moved to Tennessee. I got my old job back and we began living a
peaceful life enjoying our little daughter. About a year later Mr. Abram came
through the state, and looked us up. He demonstrated to us his real love and care.
We told him how we felt forced out by some of the leaders, and they must have told him
something about us because he said, “I don’t see anything wrong with you
folks”. He "gathered" us back up into the Kingdom, and protected us
from the retaliation of the other leaders as long as he lived.
So, in 1951 we moved back to New Hampshire, but never lived in a center again. We also had
two other children. As with the natural course of things, all of them grew up and left
home, and in 1974 we moved to Florida. I would like to tell about a strange
experience I had before we moved to Florida in 1974. I had a revelation of sorts
from God that Mr. Abram was going to die and the Kingdom was going to break up. I
tried to share it with Frank Murray at the time, but he brushed it off by saying Mr. Abram
was going to be with us until Jesus came back. In 1977 Mr. Abram died, and Mr.
Joseph Wakeman became recognized as the new leader.
A very serious problem developed in the Florida church. In 1980 Mr. Wakeman came to
our home and said that one of the local pastors had told him that one of the pastors could
not have services while Ruth and I were in the audience. We were devastated. My nerves
acted up so bad I put myself under a doctor’s care, who advised me to stop working.
I felt it was best that I retire. I tried to get help from everyone I could
think of in the Kingdom, but no one I communicated with seemed willing. One of the church
ministers wrote us that God completely blocked him and the body of ministers from helping
us. Another told us he could understand how the situation drove us out, but he said he
would follow a Kingdom leader even if he knew they were wrong. My nerves became so bad I
almost had a nervous breakdown, and did finally have a heart attack. I actually had
two heart attacks, and finally by-pass surgery. I believe the Kingdom leaders put us
under those stressful conditions and were largely responsible for my health problems.
It’s hard to believe that Christian leaders could push Christians to the point
they did us. Jesus said, “Even as you have done it unto the least of my
brethren you have done it unto me”.
A St. Petersburg Christian arbitration group which consisted of Christian lawyers, judges,
and counselors tried to help us. Ruth and I, together with three of the kingdom ministers
met with them. We each presented our evidence. Ours was loads of letters and documents.
The final decision was made that the Kingdom had seriously mishandled our case in such a
way that we were forced out of the Kingdom. Instructions and rules were given at
that time by the arbitration group to help correct the problem. The arbitration group was
told that the older ministers had discussed our earlier past experiences amongst
themselves, and those discussions had effected the more recent dealings with us. The
Kingdom leaders, however, refused to follow the recommendations given to help correct the
situation. That left us completely driven out.
Ruth and I hope that by re-telling some of these situations we have posted a warning to
the uninitiated and perhaps provided something of encouragement to some poor suffering
soul. Because we found that, through it all, God is faithful. He cares and
understands. Jesus was treated much, much worse than we were, and He won the victory
for us. When we read Frank Murray’s book and Shirley Nelson’s book and compared
them we felt sure the Kingdom group was a cult and the leaders had been deceiving us from
the very beginning. We have been so glad our roots are down deep in Jesus and we
have not fallen by the wayside. We prayed that God will put his blessing on this
testimony and use it in any way He wishes.
Recently I was reading the New Living Bible and noticed Matt. 25:31-46 about Jesus
judgment of the nations. His emphasis in this passage was not on the gross sin committed,
but how his brothers and sisters of the faith have been treated, as verses 40 and 45 bring
out. His whole concern seemed to be that He wanted his dear people to be treated
with respect and dignity. He compared it to himself, or if they did it to His people they
were treating Him the same way. It is our belief that each minister, teacher, or anyone
who has acted in an official Kingdom capacity and taught or influenced anyone to believe
and accept special Kingdom doctrines as truths have the obligation and responsibilty to
make corrections and seek forgiveness.
Thank you
Any responses will be welcome. May the Lord’s richest blessings be yours,
AMEN
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