Why This Website?

Here I am at 15 and 21 years old, 1980 and 1986 in case you couldn't guess by the haircuts and earrings. Yes, in one I'm wearing a jumpsuit.

I launched this website over 3 years ago to tell the truth about RJ Testerman and his cult, The Welcomed Consensus. The site started as a way to tell people that I’d been wrong about RJ and that I was sorry I’d hurt them. Yes, it was horrible to realize the truth about how RJ groomed me as a child then used me most of my life for his schemes, but it was worse to know that I’d helped him to do the same harm to others that he’d done to me.

My love and support of RJ Testerman and his cult/commune helped to legitimize The Welcomed Consensus, Free the Need, and the community surrounding them for 40 years. As a recruiter, a shill, or a secret keeper, I’d been completely committed to RJ and the group. He'd chosen me, and I believed we’d chosen each other as family.

I’m not innocent of the violence, degradation, and harmful practices used to make others adhere to the belief system. I was an expert at preserving the bubble of silence and loyalty needed to manipulate people “for their own good”. This is all painfully clear to me now so this site was my start at atonement.

Breaking my silence helped me to reach a lot of people I knew and many more I did not. Since the beginning I’ve received a steady stream of responses from people contacting me about their own experiences with RJ, his children, and or his cult recruiters. They thank me for “giving them reality” about what transpired and for working to expose this controlling abusive group. Even when the website lay dormant for over a year I still heard from people affected by RJ and The Welcomed Consensus.

This site is for all those people that had the bravery to reach out and tell me their stories, and for those still too afraid to speak. It is a place for family members of those currently living under the cult spell to find information and insight into what’s happened to their loved one. It’s also a place for anyone interested in how to protect yourself from predators and recognize harmful systems of control.

I’m grateful to those who gave their stories to help others who've been, or are being, hurt. It is through silence and shame that RJ Testerman and The Welcomed Consensus, and people and groups like them, continue to exist. I've managed to keep this site going through the help and support of many more people who prefer to stay behind the scenes.

Please reach out to me if you'd like to tell your story here or in private, or if you have any questions or information you think would be helpful. Although we have slowed their operations, RJ, his family, and The Welcomed Consensus are still recruiting in San Francisco, Klamath River, and Smith River, California.

Please read and share. Exposure and education are our greatest strengths. Help in leaving a sex cult or community - that is what we're here for: to provide help, support, insight, courage and more.

Thank you,
Christine