What Do Bill's Notes Contain?

[Jane C Anderson]

I have only read some of the 3600 pages of Bill’s notes, so I can’t tell you what is in them. I can tell you that some of the notes that I read about elders’ meetings with Lee were eye-opening. They gave me a close-up, unfiltered look at the real Witness Lee. I saw that the one whom I heard publicly declare many times that he didn’t control any one, behind the scenes exercise strong authoritarian control over those leading ones who gave themselves to follow him absolutely.

Reading through Bill’s notes isn’t a job for just one person. I think it will take many eyes on them to surface things that can shed light on the reasons for, and the process of, the so-called rebellions, so it is my hope some will be interested in doing this and will post relevant findings.

These many pages were photocopied in 2007. (There were 2 envelopes of notes from ’77 and ’78 and 27 small books of notes from 86-92.) The tiny handwriting can be more easily read by zooming. Bill wrote all of these notes real-time during these periods of “rebellion.” (Bill also kept notes on the years from 1979 to 1986, but those were not copied.)

Organization: There is one topic for each envelope and one for each book of notes. The topic names correspond to the names on the respective envelopes or books of notes.

If you wish to call attention to, or make comments about, any of Bill’s note pages, please reply under the topic where the photocopied page is found. Please provide in your reply the name of the page to which you are referring (for example: DSC02228).

(You will see a place to reply at the bottom of a topic screen. Write your reply and then click the “Submit” button.)

1987-1992 notes: These notes appear mostly to be notes Bill made about conversations he had with numerous others, either in-person or by phone, during the time of this “rebellion” which is attributed to him and John Ingalls.

1977-1978 notes: These notes appear mostly to be notes Bill took at conferences or trainings that were given by Witness Lee during the time of the 1977-1878 “rebellion” which was attributed to Max Rapoport. Bill was still a committed follower of Witness Lee at the time of these notes. I have not read these to see how much, if any, Lee refers or alludes to that rebellion during his public messages. Some of the notes were taken at private elders’ meetings with Witness Lee. If I remember correctly there are some elders’ meeting notes about what happened in Berkeley.

Use of Initials: See the topic “Names that Correspond to Initials Used in Bill’s Notes.”

Some personal data: Sprinkled throughout Bill’s notes there are phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses of various people. They have not been removed because of the daunting task of finding all of them and technically redacting them from the photocopies. Keep in mind that all such data is roughly 30 years old and most likely is no longer valid.

Some personal matters: Some of the notes contain personal matters such as Bill trying to figure out how to make a living after resigning and being quarantined from the church he had served for 25 years. I was told by Bill there are also some notes about difficulties they faced with one of their daughters who, not many years after these notes were made, went to be with the Lord. She was a church-kid who had many struggles as a young adult. I learned from Bill and Barbara that she had been deeply hurt by an abusive experience at the hands of one of the Local Church leaders. As far as having peers to whom she could relate, she was alone in her mental and emotional struggles.

In 2007, I intended to read through all the notes and find and redact any references to her. However, now, some twelve years later, having not yet done this and considering the many voices of pain that are emerging from today’s young adult “church-kids,” my husband and I decided to go ahead and publish all the notes now, as they are. May any mention of their daughter in the notes serve to add her voice of pain, as a church-kid from a prior generation, to those of today.

(Update: Not long after publishing all the notes, I came across eight or so pages that contained detailed notes about the Mallons’ daughter’s problems and also the Mallons’ research about their options for helping her. We decided to remove these. Over time, we will remove similar notes that surface.)

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