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Lawrence A. ("Larry") Pile
File:LarryPile.jpg
Born	May 11, 1943  United States
Occupation	Cult expert (research, workshops)
Nationality	American
Genre	Cult recovery
Subject	cults, Totalist Aberrant Christian Organizations
Literary movement	Anti-cult movement

Lawrence A. ("Larry") Pile is a cult research specialist, archivist, and workshop leader at Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and has 5 ½ years experience within Great Commission International. He has been studying the cult phenomenon for more than 30 years.

Background

Born on May 11, 1943, Larry Pile hails from Beachwood, Ohio. He holds a Bachelor's degree in German from Wheaton College, where he graduated in 1965. Pile served three years in West Berlin as a German translator for U.S. Army Security Agency. He was an interpreter of German, French and Russian on a fact-finding and assistance team visiting Christians in Iron Curtain countries in 1971. Following his experiences with Great Commission International, a group Larry left because he felt it had grown too "authoritarian," Larry and others staged several conferences for former members of GCI to help them "recover from the emotional and psychological damage they'd experienced" with in the movement. He went on to become a cult counselor at the world's first accredited cult recovery center, the Wellspring Retreat, in 1988.

Wellspring roles

Larry Pile acts as workshop developer and leader at Wellspring. He acts as resident cult and fringe group researcher and archivist. He also acts as a consultant for families and friends of cult victims. He is the editor of Wellspring Journal. Pile is a researcher for legal cases involving cults as well.

Workshop process

Pile shows videos to Wellspring clients during group workshops to illustrate what it is like to be in a cult, to demonstrate how cults are formed, and to demystify his clients' experiences. Pile also runs a theological workshop where debates over the Bible are deconstructed.

Published works

Books

• co-author, Overcoming the Bondage of Revictimization, 1998, with Paul R. Martin, Steve Martin and Ron Burks.
• Marching To Zion: A Personal History and Analysis of the "Blitz Movement" aka Great Commission Association of Churches, 1979 (1st Edition), 2006 (2nd Edition)

Articles

• Choosing a New Church After a Painful Experience
• The Other Side Of Discipleship
• 2006 Statement about Great Commission Association of Churches/Great Commission Ministries
• The Emperor Has No Clothes

References

1. "Pile, Lawrence - profile". Retrieved 2007-04-29.
2. "Pile, Lawrence - profile". Retrieved 2007-04-29.
3. Pile, Larry (Summer, 2000). "Making of a Cult Counselor". Wellspring Journal. 9 (2). {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. "Organizations List Cult-Help". Retrieved 2007-04-30.
5. Jeff Truesdell (1991-10-17). "How The Sun Set". The Weekly (Orlando, Florida).
6. ""Just Who Is Jim McCotter?" North & South". New Zealand. April 2002. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. Pile, Lawrence (2002). MARCHING TO ZION: A Personal History and Analysis of the "Blitz Movement" aka Great Commission Association of Churches (2nd ed.). Albany, Ohio: Christians United to Remedy Error (CURE).
8. ^ "Lawrence A. Pile". Retrieved 2007-05-02.
9. "Larry: Cult Research & Workshop Leader". Retrieved 2007-04-30.
10. Laura Withers (February 15, 2002). "Students susceptible to cults' lures". The Ohio State University Post. Retrieved 2007-04-30. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
11. Laura Withers (February 14, 2002). "Cult recovery center product of experience". The Ohio State University Post. Retrieved 2007-04-30. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. Philippe Boulet-Gercourt (November, 1999). "WELLSPRING, la clinique de l'âme pour les gens blessés par les sectes". Le Nouvel Observateur. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accesssdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

Template:Persondata

• Researchers of cults and new religious movements
• American people
• 1943 births
• Living people