Improper Dependence on Leadership. Fostering or requiring of excessive and inappropriate dependence on the corporate group and leadership for guidance and decision-making regarding their ministry as well as personal affairs. Leadership approval, often referred to as a "witness" by the leadership, is required on virtually every decision regarding the personal affairs, sometimes including mundane matters, of members and their entire family. Congregants are taught that their leaders have been placed in a position as a watchman or a guardian over them by the Lord, as the "bishop (overseer) of their souls," which they interpret to mean that the members need to obtain permission or approval from their "personal pastor" or leader for life matters. The commonly purported reason for this necessity is in order that the member can ensure that they are "in the will of God."
A powerful and effective grip that Klaus Pesch uses to hold everyone where he wants them was through his discernment of the Lords will for their lives in just about every area of their lives and those of their children.
His mechanism for achieving this is through his principles that if a person can see an alignment of the Facts, Feelings and Revelations from God concerning a particular decision then it is certain that these three things are revealing the Perfect Will of God' for this person in that situation.
He has positioned himself as the irrefutable discerner of Gods directions in every situation; He is the last word in aligning the facts and feelings which are moulded and orchestrated to align with his business or family needs, disguised as the needs of the
He “helps” group members to piece together his interpretation of the facts, his feelings and the Bible readings which would be taken / read in public and interpreted in public so that there is a 'group witness'.
His interpretation is often in broad generic terms which can often be in the most condescending and damning tone and once cemented together and documented is considered irrefutable.
He claims to have the gift of ‘knowledge and understanding’ pertaining to the scriptures and says often that God had “promised him that whenever confronted by a need for interpretation of scripture he will always give him the answer”, and on that basis there is no one else in the fellowship that can trip him up with the word of God. Effectively promoting himself into a position where he can never be questioned or held to account in matters of scriptural interpretation.
This principle of “taking readings” is considered central to being able to discern the Lords will in any matter.
It involves the practice of opening the Bible at a random place and reading the verse of scripture (whole or portion of a verse) at the top left of the left page and the bottom right of the right page, and the verse or verses that cross from one page to the next (in the middle), these three portions are called the “keys”.
This is done three times to discern firstly what was called the “foreshadow” reading, then again for the “intermediate” reading with the opportunity to discuss and further discern God’s will as more scripture is bought into the equation, then finally the “Perfect” reading which will seal the process and produce a completely binding rule or edict.
During the entire process Klaus Pesch (or his family members) will subtly twist the meaning of each verse by taking them completely out of the context in which they were written, moulding them to fit the situation whilst at the same time using them (if necessary) to prophesy the future just in case they didn’t quite fit the situation at hand.
This almost Ouija board use of the scriptures is employed on a daily basis to discern the Lord’s will for just about everything. No one in the ‘Team’ can make a major decision on anything without going through this procedure and once performed the decision is final regardless of the outcome. God had spoken and that is final. To go against God’s word on a matter is considered idolatry and spiritual adultery. Records are kept of all questions asked and the answers in scripture, and these are constantly referred to.
It is compulsory for each couple or single person in the ‘Team’ to take a single (daily) reading each morning which is called “the daily bread”. The two pages supposedly contain God’s word for the day and can be expected to shed light on the tasks or circumstances of the day and Gods will for them, most people in the group keep a diary with all the readings going back decades.
Congregants are taught that their leaders have been placed in a position as a watchman or a guardian over them by the Lord, as the "bishop (overseer) of their souls," which they interpret to mean that the members need to obtain permission or approval from their "personal pastor" or leader for life matters. The commonly purported reason for this necessity is in order that the member can ensure that they are "in the will of God."
The Green Book
Klaus Pesch kept a diary of his daily bible readings using this method for some thirty years and on each day he had chosen a specific verse; from this diary he has compiled a book of select passages of scripture which are taken from specific dates which he claims were revealed to his wife by prophesy and edited the individual verses 'end to end' and completely out of context with no gaps.
This book is reproduced with green covers and is referred to by ‘Team’ members as the “Green Book”, and is supposed to contain the complete collection of the “statutes and ordinances” or revelations of the Holy spirit necessary to build the kingdom of God here on earth.
These books were distributed to the elders of the fellowship who also took a ‘daily reading’ out of this book as well and placed them side by side with their daily reading from the Bible. Klaus Pesch constantly affirms that the scriptures are so precious and full of meaning that group members should all limit themselves to just those two pages per day (plus the Green Book if they had one).
In reality Klaus Pesch uses these combinations of verses to manipulate and control all of the major decisions that arise in the daily course of business by claiming that he has a deeper understanding of what the Lord was saying through the portions and combinations of scripture.
Team members are often required to produce their daily readings in the midst of a conflict or difference of opinion so that Klaus Pesch and his sons can check if the “keys” are positive or negative in tone or would highlight a problem or area requiring counselling which could lead to public admonition, shaming or humiliation.
Almost everyone in the group uses the same editions of either English or German bibles so that the “keys” are the same for everyone, and could be understood by everyone. It is also intended that this will build a group ability to discern; even individual situations should it be necessary to expose the problems for a group witness. It has quite the opposite effect, building a fear and dread in everyone of public or corporate delving into personal or private decisions.
The result of this practice of using the scriptures like a talisman is that almost everyone in the group has eventually changed the way that they read and interpret the scriptures, gradually shifting from a considered and balanced study of the scriptures to snatching small snippets of scripture and taking them completely out of context so as to apply them through personal interpretation to a specific situation in their personal lives, It also promoted completely inappropriate emphasis on dreams and visions as they are bundled together to strengthen the collection of facts and feelings.
Not content with having control over the discernment of the Facts, Feelings and Revelations, Klaus Pesch and his sons use a system of levels in the ‘Lords will’. According to their teaching it is possible for a believer to be in either the “Good” or “Acceptable” or “Perfect” will of the Lord, it goes like this;
there are some things that are ‘good’ in the Lord’s eyes, some things which are more ‘acceptable’ in the Lord’s eyes but finally there are other things which would be ‘perfect’ in the Lord’s eyes and it is only an alignment of these perfect things in the Lord’s will that will produce the Kingdom of God here on earth. They teach that the believer can only fulfil their calling in the kingdom if they can maintain a walk in the perfect path, ensuring that all their decisions and works were within the Lord’s perfect will.
This puts the believer under enormous pressure as they do everything they can to ensure that they are in the Perfect will of God for their lives. Falling from the perfect will is every group members nightmare scenario and failure to maintain a perfect walk could invite lack of effectiveness, a reduced level of divine protection from the enemy, illness, subdued wisdom and so on.
The Pesch’s also teach that if a perfect walk could be maintained then it would be the channel through which the Lord could train the individual into higher levels of awareness of the Holy Spirit and effectiveness for God, needless to say no-one ever gets there because of the constant criticism and tight control of Klaus Pesch and his sons.
The whole methodology of seeking the Lord’s will dispenses with the ‘Grace of God’ entirely, bringing everyone back to a works based ‘salvation and growth’ in a kingdom promoted as the kingdom of God, but in reality designed by and under the control of Klaus Pesch and his family, via a mechanism of rules and regulations governed by discernment which are tailored by Klaus Pesch.
The entire framework is utterly inappropriate and doomed to failure, but within the group of those who look to The Pesch family it is portrayed as a “brave new world” of living in harmony with the Holy Spirit, everyone goes along with it because to go against it would invite the pain and hardship of the wrath of the Pesch family.
Many group members feel trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of being unable to make the grade or live up to Klaus Pesch’s expectations, perplexed by shifting goal posts and confused by ‘daily readings’ which do not make sense in the circumstances they are in. It’s like being forcibly invited to attend a party which you do not want to attend and then being forced to dance to music you find both offensive and confusing, not to mention irrelevant.
The tragedy is that Klaus Pesch and his family have harnessed everyone’s enthusiasm and passion for serving the Lord and enslaved them in a complex mechanism embroiled in legalism and uncertainty, designed to maintain control, hold everyone down and stifle freedom.
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