Word of Faith Fellowship

Word of Faith Fellowship is a Pentecostal congregation in Spindale, North Carolina, run by Jane Whaley. According to the Associated Press, it is run like a gulag, with Whaley dictating every aspect of congregants' lives. Group members were afraid to leave because Whaley, whom they considered a prophet, warned they would be struck dead by God if they did.

Whaley's distinctive teaching is that people routinely become infested by demons, who can only be banished by physically beating them out of the person. Thus, severe beatings, including of children and babies, are commonplace, yet members are forbidden to seek outside medical help. The group also ran a school, one wing of which was used as a de facto prison, where "rebellious" men and boys would be held for up to a year.

Former members have accused the Whaley of coercing members to commit fraud by filing false unemployment claims in order to keep funds flowing into the church starting with the Great Recession.