A Twisted Faith Web Site Launched
In conjunction with the book’s publication, a new Web resource for readers of A TWISTED FAITH by Gregg Olsen was launched today. The book chronicles the five year span between Dawn Hacheney’s death in a house fire in Bremerton, WA, and the arrest and conviction of her youth pastor husband, Nick Hacheney, for her murder in 2002.
The new site includes a list of some of the church prophecies that prosecutors say contributed to Dawn’s death. It also features testimony from church prophet Sandy Glass, a timeline, photographs, a reader discussion guide, and the trailer Olsen created to promote the book.
Beyond the obvious bizarre nature of the case – the abuse of power and theology – Olsen says he hopes the book sparks constructive and healing debate.
“No matter what anyone thinks of the principal women in A TWISTED FAITH, it is my hope that their courage for speaking out is honored and incites others who have been victimized to come forward and share their stories,” Olsen said. “Evil always thrives in a dark place.”
Olsen and others associated with the case will post commentary and updates on the case.
Go to the site and come back here to share your thoughts.
March 30th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Your new site is well done! I really like it!
March 31st, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Excellent! The discussion questions are great and I look forward to some lively commments! My answer to #1 is “yes.” The church which is now named H.O.P.E. Center for Christian Unity under Lifestaff Ministries is indeed a “cult.” (more to come from me later)
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:06 pm
I am curious as to why the apostle did not go ahead and raise Dawn from the dead in spite of Nicks evasiveness. One of the credentials of a true apostle is raising the dead…it was a perfect opportunity.
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:50 pm
My answer to question #3 is that it was a powerplay. The church had already pulled its affliation from the Assmeblies of God and established Robert Bily of Lifestaff Ministries as their apostle and legal provider. I was there at the time but new to the church. I did not have a clue as to what was happening behind the scenes in the inner circle but I did see changes in some of the women and was gradually becoming aware of some unsavory things going on. After the enormous split of the church, I was one of those who stayed behind for another 7 years making it a total of ten years. I watched as the apostle blew up his church on the average of every 2 years. He could not get along with his pastors. In hindsight, I realized that this apostle was more about power than numbers. A classic and definite indicator of a cult leader. They must maintain power and subserviency. Each time the group is blown apart it tends to draw the remaining group tighter together which produces a core of people that will be in absolute loyalty. Many times I was told that I needed to be absolutely loyal to him(apostle). I now know that this apostle did not bring the situation of Nick and the women into the open because it appears that it was a part of devised plan on his part of a strong and sinister powerplay. After all, he owned the church now. Everyone’s hands were tied.
April 3rd, 2010 at 12:19 am
I too wonder this, anonymous. If Apostle Bily had acted rather than waiting to see what happens, could things have been different?
Imagine any other organizational leader “waiting to see what happens, at the expense of those people under under their care? Imagine the serious legal and ethical implications to this type of rationale.
In this case, Dawn may very well still be alive today, had Bily acted to remove and expose Hacheney, rather than “waiting”.
April 4th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
I was a part of Hope Center (formerly Christ Community Church) for about 13 years. I have experienced “prophetic words” from several people there. Mostly, the prophetic words were very encouraging and built me up in my faith in the Lord. If other people were hearing or believing other words, then they probably weren’t testing the words against the Bible, which we should all do. If a prophetic word directly contradicts the standards of the Bible, then it’s probably not a word from the Lord.
I have known Nick since forever. He and I grew up in the same church in Poulsbo. Lately, I’ve been wondering why the Lord protected me from Nick’s evilness… since I was also getting counselled by him. My conclusion is that because I’d known him for so long, I didn’t have him up on a pedestal. I wasn’t in awe of him and thus not able to be manipulated by him. (This is just speculation, I guess.) Or, maybe he just wasn’t interested in me anyway – LOL!!
People aren’t perfect. Even Godly people. Even pastors. They are fallible. So we need to always be alert and test all things against the one-and-only, true, infallible Word of God – The Bible.
April 12th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
How did so many people become twisted in their faith? We are talking about intelligent well respected professionals in the community. What went so wrong? How did so many saints of God become blinded of so many warning signs? It was as though the congregation just closed their eyes and were mesmerized by the power of this self exalted self proclaimed apostle Robert. How did Robert become so powerful, so quickly in so many people’s lives? Robert believed in himself.(Strongly) Robert had so much to offer to so many. While he dug deep in their pockets. Who was Robert’s greatest victim’s? Those who believed in him the most.Those that believed he had a better understanding of the scriptures than themselves. Those that desired the order he had to offer them in their own personal lives. Marriage,finances, raising children,and even midwife help available for expecting mothers.(Which his wife was the head of) This couple Robert and Pamela became the new corner stones of this congregation. Most of the congergation would later find that they had been duped,or should I say bewitched! It is interesting that the church in California that they previously attended said Robert had strange ideas. One of Roberts pet doctrines, was on marriage and divorce. Isn’t he divorced and remarried now? And didn’t he change his doctrine on devorce and remarriage? Robert set the stage others were more than willing to act it out. It seemed almost as though everyone had a main role. This was the recipe for disaster! Either you were in the ministry or you were the target of the ministers of the ministry.
I don’t know if the ministers knew at the beginning how they were being led themselves for a great fall. And the time would come for them also to either continue in denial and falsehood of the truth. Or to humble themselves and admit there own wrongs. It wasn’t until they personally went through their own personal trauma. Then they saw the light. Then and only then were they knocked off their own high horse. Or did they just loose their position of ministry for a while? Did they ever go back to the many people that made themselves vulnerable to them?
April 13th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Mike, I was one who stayed behind. I was so much on the outside of the click that I did not pick up on the warning signs. A few years later after the “earthquake” split of the church, I became more intimately involved with ministry by default as the apostle in question blew things up time and again. He had issues with pastors. I don’t know what it was that seemed to “mesmerize” me. All I can say for myself is that my own passion to serve God and to minister blinded me as I saw opportunity in the structure of the ministry. I had been involved with several churches since 1973 and had served in every capacity available to women. There were many times women would call me looking for counsel that they could not seem to obtain from our pastors. I asked for training and position but instead I had to resort to whatever literature I could find including the Bible. But, still, there was no freedom or permission from church leadership to counsel. I often found that pastors were even unwilling to give the counsel needed. All this to say that when I came to CCC in ‘94 I saw a church that was open to possibilities for women to minister to the deeper needs in women’s lives. During the last 3-4 years of my affiliation with CCC things became extremely intense. I began to see the indiscretions of the apostle and I became his scapegoat for all the evil at that time. I knew I would be for he had no choice but to scathe me to cover his own bizarre behaviour. There were many bizarre things coming to the surface that I had not known about and I suddenly found myself embroiled in a mess. I gladly walked out with my husband, finally feeling freedom that I never knew I was missing. I have met with some people that left the church in the split including Pastor Bob and Adele. My love for them will never change. I have great respect for them.
April 13th, 2010 at 7:47 am
Debbie,
yes you did make a difference in a good way, you were there for me and do not concider you one that harrased us when we left. You gave my first born son his first bath and made me feel your equal. But our relationship did fazeout when we left CCC. we accually move from the Island to get away from everyone at CCC because bumping into them was so uncomfortable. May God bless you on your quest to continue to help others, you do have a gift for it. your blog was healing to read. Thanks
April 13th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Thank you, Tammy,
I was so unaware of your pain and what you were going through. I was sorry to lose you as a friend. You and your husband are honest and decent people. I, too, have moved after 22 years on BI. If you are on FB, friend me. I will look for you, too.
May 17th, 2010 at 10:46 am
I just read the book…..what a jerk Nick was! It is hard to imagine so many women getting caught up in his net. I visited Poulsbo and Bremerton, Silverdale, etc. in 2005, so was especially interested in reading about all of the intrigue. Daughter and grandchildren there still. Hope they don’t meet up with any of these people.