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That's me the aloof one on the right. Ok! I came in as William Walter Wells. But that sounds a bit too stiff for someone who grew up in Alaska. No polar bears. I grew up in Juneau, Southeast Alaska. We had Grizzlies and Black Bears, not to mention eagles, seals, whales, sea lions and lots of other wild life. I still have family there, two sisters in Juneau, but I haven't been in Alaska since high school and that's a while (1969). My brother Bob, and one of my sons live in the Seattle area where my parents finished their days.
I finished my last year of high school in Montana and went on to college there, where I settled on theatrical design and production. I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Montana in 1974. Almost immediately upon graduation I joined the Unification Church, "the Moonies". As I am now heart and soul for Jesus, I have had to wrestle with how and why I became involved in a "cult".
In fact, I rose to a fairly high level in the Moonies. As a Moonie, I got an unaccredited Masters of Religious Education from Unification Theological Seminary in 1978. The education was broad based and Christian with a curriculum based on "liberal" seminaries like Harvard Divinity School or Union Theological Seminary. Only one professor was a "Moonie". Others included Herbert Richardson, a Presbyterian and Thomas Boslooper, Dutch Reformed. There were also several well known guest speakers such as Harvey Cox, Richard Rubenstein and Ernst Becker. While there I started a series of conferences on world religions, originally dubbed the Congress of World Religions. I was also the "State Leader" for Wisconsin, and became involved in their media outreach.
If you are interested in that phase of my life, I write about it in my book A Cult Challenge to the Church.
Eventually the Unification Church and I parted ways. I married another ex-Moonie, and got back into theater as a designer and technical director off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway. I have worked for the New York Shakespeare Festival, Houston's Alley Theater and Houston Grand Opera and lots of other theaters. I also worked for Show Fountains and for Dancing Waters, which specialized in theatrical water shows. I also worked as a drafter for a large plumbing company here in Houston. I retired from there in order to write.
I have two fine sons, Austen One Wells and Ian One Wells. Austen is working in the Seattle area at the moment, has a wife and adorable little girl. Ian is making his way through college in Houston.
I enjoy thinking about the universe, God, religion and the saints, or the mess we make as people. For better or worse, we are all on a spiritual journey collectively, as couples and families, and as individuals. I am making progress or as one preacher quipped, we are all recovering Pharisees. In addition to my book A Cult Challenge to the Church, I have also release a Bible study based on the early life of David David in the Wilderness, based on a series found here on my website.
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