No LSM employees involved in the FTTA? Maybe, but directors and officers sure are …
The SPIN
Benson Phillips said: "There are no Living Stream Ministry employees involved there [FTTA]"
This statement seemed to be an attempt to make a clear distinction between LSM and the "blended co-workers." Benson sought to minimize LSM’s role in the full-time training (FTTA) by saying, "The Living Stream Ministry is not related to the full-time training, but it does provide many practical things to aid the training…. The Living Stream Ministry does not run the training. It is run by the co-workers. They fellowship among themselves. There are no Living Stream Ministry employees involved there." [Washington, D.C., Nov. 2006]
The FACTS
However, consider the following:
The website for the FTTA’s gospel publication, Generation, declares it "is a publication of the Full-Time Training in Anaheim, a section of Living Stream Ministry."
We are aware of a specific brother (whom we could name) who according to his own testimony, is an LSM employee and who is also involved with the FTTA. A reasonable person might expect that there are many other examples of this.
LSM’s IRS tax returns for 2004 reveal that several members of the LSM board hold other high-level positions in LSM and receive "employee benefits" as part of their total compensation. Several of these LSM directors and officers are also widely known to be trainers in the FTTA.
For example, brothers Ron Kangas and Ed Marks are LSM directors and both are also designated as Senior Editor – a high-level position within the LSM organization. Moreover, "contributions to employee benefits" constitute a significant portion of their total compensation package. For tax purposes, both brothers are (at least in part) "LSM employees." It is generally known that both brothers are also involved with the FTTA.
According to LSM’s IRS tax returns for 2004, brothers Kerry Robichaux and Dick Taylor also received "contributions to employee benefits" from LSM. Hence they are also (at least in part) "LSM employees" for tax purposes. It is generally known that both brothers are also involved with the FTTA.
Is Benson’s claim that LSM is not related to the FTTA fact or fiction? The trainees’ own publication says that the FTTA is a section of LSM. What about Benson’s claim that no LSM employees are involved in the FTTA? Even if it could be said that they are not "employees", is it disingenuous to make that claim when the brothers involved in the FTTA are instead directors and officers of LSM? Isn’t this splitting hairs? In fact, don’t directors and officers have more control over an organization than regular employees?