I recently heard an audio recording in which Living Stream Ministry leaders spoke of themselves as the spiritual fathers of the 900 full-time training graduates that they had assembled with the purpose of protecting them from truth. We are told near the beginning of the recording that Benson Phillips, admiringly looked at the room full of graduates and said, “Beautiful.”
I heard some of the graduates come forward to praise these men as their spiritual fathers–saying they were brothers who had faithfully carried forward “the Lord’s move” and taken care of “the Lord’s interests” on earth.
Because some of these so-called spiritual fathers are characters in The Thread of Gold (TOG) and because some who were past full-time trainees are now reading TOG, I have decided to provide the real names of persons in the book (for whom I had used pseudonyms).
The list below is in alphabetical order by pseudonym. In a few cases, I have provided a chapter reference to an account about a person. (I have not included all the names.)
Want to know the real name of a pseudonym in the book that is not listed here? Create a reply (below), put “Who is?” on the topic line, and enter the pseudonym in the space for the reply; or you may use the “Contact Us” tab.
Pseudonym / Real name
Guy Andrews / Joe Davis
Anne Andrews / Carole Davis (chapter 11, 13 [“Something About Oneness”], Chap. 15)
Bob Brown / Jim Coleman
Sandra Brown / Sharon Coleman
Ed Black / Max Rapoport
Vera Hughes / Virginia Barber
Jerry Hughes / James Barber (chapter 15)
Judy / Christine Carrington
Sam Jones / Ray Graver
Ted and Beth Jefferson / Tommy and Nancy Roberts (chapter 9)
Alex Kent / Ron Kangas (chapter 14, 197-201 [“A prayer, An Answer, and a Lesson]
Sandra Kent / Susan Kangas
Stephen Thompson / Don Looper (chapters 9, 10)
Diane Mays / Kathleen Massey
Howard Mays / Herman Massey
Harriet Mays / Diana Massey
Mark and Linda / Bill and Barbara Mallon
Steve Smith / Ben McPherson
Tina / Jodi Burke (chapter 15)
Lynn Turner / Linda Lowry (chapter 11)
David Washington / George Whittington
Dan Williams / Benson Phillips (chapter 1, chapter 12 [“An Embarrassing Confrontation]”)
Bill and Sue Wilson / Rick and Debbie Blissard (chapter 15)