A scholar's twelve-year journey inside a secretive Catholic group.
When the Catholic charismatic renewal emerged in the late 1960s, it inspired dreams of authentic Christian community. From this movement emerged tightly organized "covenant communities"—most notably People of Praise and The Word of God/Sword of the Spirit—that promised to restore unity to a Church they saw as weak, confused, and divided.
Drawing on twelve years as an insider and decades of theological scholarship, Adrian J. Reimers reveals how these communities were not spontaneous works of the Holy Spirit but carefully planned structures designed by leaders who believed they could rebuild Christianity through "emergent leadership" and strict hierarchical control.
This groundbreaking analysis exposes how these groups, while claiming to renew the Church, actually function as separate denominations with their own pastoral systems, mandatory tithing, and authoritarian governance. Reimers reveals how their organizational structures represent a profound departure from orthodox Catholic teaching on personal religious freedom and ecclesiastical authority, demonstrating how their treatment of women, marriage, and spiritual life violates fundamental Catholic teaching and human dignity.
As contemporary movements revive similar approaches to gender roles and religious authority, Not Reliable Guides offers essential insight into communities that have shaped thousands of American Catholics while operating largely outside Church oversight.
A work of rigorous scholarship and painful honesty, this book serves as both historical record and pastoral warning about movements that promise renewal but deliver spiritual bondage.
"The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) ushered in changes that left many American Catholics feeling adrift. Some Catholics, seeking stability in an age of chaos, created new 'covenant communities' ostensibly devoted to authentic renewal within the Church. By the 1990s, many of these groups had come under scrutiny for heretical teachings and authoritarian abuse of members. Adrian J. Reimers, a former member of one of these communities, draws on his personal experiences and understanding of Catholic theology to provide a cautionary tale for how movements for renewal within the Church can so easily become schismatic movements against the Church. The high-water mark of covenant communities has passed, but this story remains relevant as many young Catholics today turn to various forms of radical traditionalism in search of a pure Catholicism free from the confusion they attribute to Vatican II.”
Associate professor of history at Christendom College and author of American Pilgrimage: A Historical Journey Through Catholic Life in the New World
"This is an important book and well-worth your time."
Best-selling author of Real Moms of Real Saints, Lenten Prayer for Families, and other books for Catholic children, parents, and families
