Jack Winters' weekly class, which usually dealt with counseling, healing, and deliverance, eventually wandered into some pretty interesting territory. His teaching, according to those who were there, went something like this: This is a rebellious generation--young, rebellious people who didn't grow up having any discipline or love from their parents. Sometimes, they need to go back and experience discipline to deal with that rebellion in their lives. You need to go back and walk through those steps, receiving parental discipline to heal the rebellious adult. In short, what Winters was talking about was giving spankings to "rebellious" adults!

JPUSA's two elders, Richard and Glenn, looked at each other and within a few days went out to Daystar in the suburbs to get their spanking; whatever it took to get closer to Jesus! Though the spankings might seem more shocking to the reader, what shocked the rest of JPUSA about Glenn and Richard's visit was that they came back with their long hair cut off! (Winters felt the hair was a sign of rebellion as well.)

To follow this historical thread to its conclusion, for the next three years, members of JPUSA continued to "apply" this teaching if they felt there were real areas of rebellion in their lives. One elder, in particular, felt that "the rod" (a thin pine dowel) was of great help in his life. Though occasional classes had been taught at JPUSA on the practice, many members simply chose not to avail themselves of this "discipline." The fact that, for instance, this writer joined Jesus People in January of 1977, yet didn't encounter Winters' teaching until nearly a year had passed, indicates the place the rod occupied in the regular JPUSA disciple's life. 40

As time went on, Winters' rationale for the spankings no longer made sense, if it ever had. By 1978 the practice was waning, and the few still asking for such "ministry" didn't seem to be benefiting from it. At a meeting held in early 1978, Glenn Kaiser announced to the fellowship that Winters' teaching had been in error and that we were discontinuing the practice. His rationale was that (1) the teaching was outside the evangelical mainstream, that no one else we knew of (besides Winters) was practicing this teaching, and that JPUSA didn't want to be involved with anything which would bring reproach to Christ; and that (2) that people were using "getting the rod" as a cheap alternative to serious repentance, which ought to be about stopping wrong behavior and pursuing righteous behavior.

Soon afterward, JPUSA pastors raised the issue of Winters' teaching at a meeting of Chicago-area Christian communities. Among other fellowships represented at that meeting, Reba Place, Wellspring, and Gospel Outreach were present. Our pastors raised the issue frankly, stating that we had been practicing Winters' concept of adult spankings but now questioned its legitimacy and advisability. Other community leaders admitted they, too, had briefly experimented with such ideas, but like us, had found them either unworkable or simply foolish.

Jesus, can you two keep your squabbles to their own thread?