Hide Article Text (OCR)
Drummond labeled 'a phony'Continued from Page 1There’s the Rev. Ronald Patterson who followed Drummond from Springfield to Concordville. Mr. Patterson, former principal of Drummond's Pennsylvania Baptist Bible College on the church’s 25-acre estate, said Drummond admitted to sexually assaulting a young male student thereTHERE'S John Coleman, 27, also a former member of the Galilean Baptist Church, who said Drummond gave the distinct impression he was the only one qualified to interpret the Bible. Coleman quit 'when he suspected Drummond was running the church into bankruptcy.’There’s Evelyn Hendricks who said she was at a service when Drummond told the congregation he whipped his newborn son Ricky with a branch from a hedge because he cried like he was angry.’There’s Bob Bucy, a Baptist Bible College teacher with a master’s degree from Ball State University, who said he removed his daughters Carolyn and Ann Margaret, then five and seven years old, from Drummond’s Christian Heritage School because “Ann Margaret was beaten with a board for not washing her hands.”with young, impressionable from all over the United They could be caught in a trap by a charismatic personThe Daily Times has also offered Drummond an opportunity to re-“It seems all you have to do is put up a neon sign that says, 'Follow Me’ and people will. I think the Rev. Jim Jones proved that. ’’SINCE DRUMMOND arrived in Concordville in 1976, leading a caravan of cars through Missouri. Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsyiania, Delaware County authorities and residents alike have been concerned.At first, the concern stemmed only from the reputation that followed Drummond to Concordville where he and his group purchased the Dante School site on Rt. 1 and Thornton Road from the Sons of Italy. More recently, charges of child abuse, immorality, homosexuality, income tax evasion and financial mismanagement by dissident members have refocused attention on Drummond and his religious empire.THERE ARE others who remember Drummond when he was here. Some were emotionally involved as members of his congregation. Others were bystanders like Dale Freeman, the executive editor of the Springfield News and Leader.Until a local bank foreclosed on Drummond for failing to pay a $312,368 loan on his church, Freeman said he hadn’t heard too much about this immigrant from South Africa who came to Springfield via San Francisco in 1971.“I’m not surprised, though, that he did build such a following,’’ Freeman said. This is a town filledFollowing the Feb. 7 death of a 20-year-old girl, a member of the First Baptist Church, and the adverse publicity that followed, Drummond has ordered a clamp down on interviews.THE GIRL, Kimberly Hughes, an epileptic, died while sleeping in the home of the Larry Hyrne family, also members of First Baptist Church. Mrs. Joan Grebb Roscoe of West Chester, the girl’s mother, claims that members of the church urged her daughter not to take medicines needed to control her seizures.Vandals' parents sued by shopspond to these charges. To date, he has refusedChurch leaders denied that Ms. Hughes had been told not to take prescribed medications.Eric Ahlquist, a former missionary to Brazil with whom Kimberly stayed, said only the hope of a healthy life had been premised. She was taken to an elderly homeopathic physican in Bucks County for natural treatments.Ahlquist said church leaders frequently questioned Ms. Hughes about her medicine to be certain she was taking it.An autopsy found that Ms. HughesW*Te01“Phone : *11had been taking medications to control her seizures, but she had not been taking them in the prescribed manner and quantity.NEXT: Springfield, Missouri — a town where one of the supper clubs features gups! singers and an aluminum cross revolves over a BoooevlUe Street church.ROUTE 1(Towmhip Lina Road) laafc man's Plaza DffEXEL HILLMEDIA COURTHOUSE -
Newspaper Details
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester, Pennsylvania, US
Tue, Apr 17, 1979
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Kaeli B.
NA, 10 Mar 2025
Other Publications Near Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester Reporter
Chester Evening Times
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester Times
Chester Daily Times
