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Published by Garrett County Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
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.
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.
Excerpt
"Dear Mother Mary, please don't let me be deceived! Pray for me that Satan won't lead me astray." This was my prayer one spring day in 1983. I had begun praying the rosary on my way into work every day, and I knew that I was in trouble. The Vatican Council documents taught that Mary is the model and mother of the Church. The nuns from my grade school had taught that she would crush the serpent. And I knew that Satan was trying me. He was doing the one thing that I and the others in my community most feared—trying to separate me from the people of God, from the Body of Christ. I needed help in my time of temptation.
For the previous twelve years I had belonged to the People of Praise, a covenant community in South Bend, Indiana. Together with about 1,000 other people in October 1971, I had taken a solemn commitment to form with them a Christian community, in which we would find the essential core of our life in the Spirit. Together we would serve each other in all our needs, spiritual, material and financial. We would obey the Holy Spirit's directions as manifested to us through our leaders. These leaders were holy men of God, respected leaders of the charismatic renewal. The word within the community was that one of them, a theoretical physicist, had even been nominated for a Nobel Prize. We were uniquely blessed.
For the previous twelve years I had belonged to the People of Praise, a covenant community in South Bend, Indiana. Together with about 1,000 other people in October 1971, I had taken a solemn commitment to form with them a Christian community, in which we would find the essential core of our life in the Spirit. Together we would serve each other in all our needs, spiritual, material and financial. We would obey the Holy Spirit's directions as manifested to us through our leaders. These leaders were holy men of God, respected leaders of the charismatic renewal. The word within the community was that one of them, a theoretical physicist, had even been nominated for a Nobel Prize. We were uniquely blessed.
About The Author
Adrian J. Reimers is a philosopher who has taught at the University of Notre Dame, Holy Cross College, and the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Internationale Akademie für Philosophie and degrees from Notre Dame. Author of eight books including The Ethos of the Christian Heart and Hell and the Mercy of God, Reimers has written extensively on Catholic philosophy and the thought of John Paul II. A founding member of the People of Praise, he brings both rigor and twelve years of insider experience to this study. He lives in South Bend, Indiana.
Product Details
- Publisher: Garrett County Press (April 7, 2026)
- Length: 174 pages
- ISBN13: 9781939430281
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Raves and Reviews
"This is an important book and well-worth your time."
– Colleen Pressprich, Best-selling author of Real Moms of Real Saints, Lenten Prayer for Families, and other books for Catholic children, parents, and families
"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.”
– Christopher Shannon, associate professor of history at Christendom College and author of American Pilgrimage: A Historical Journey Through Catholic Life in the New World
"During the time period covered by this book (1960-2025) there have been hundreds of studies of intentional communities, both secular and religious. Almost all, however, have been written from a sociological or psychological perspective, and few, if any, have analyzed Roman Catholic intentional communities. Professor Reimers has therefore done an invaluable service in applying theology and philosophy to his analysis of charismatic covenant communities in the Catholic Church. It provides an important alternative perspective that complements those of the secular sciences."
– Sister Patricia Wittberg, SC, Emerita Professor of Sociology, Indiana University
"The growth of the new Catholic communities is one of the most distinctive of the post-Vatican II period and raises issues that are primarily not political, but theological and ecclesiological: their relationship with the Church and its authorities. This book by Adrian Reimers is one of those books that cannot be dismissed easily by any of the different camps into which the intra-Catholic theological and ecclesial debate is divided today."
– Massimo Faggioli, Trinity College Dublin
"In Not Reliable Guides, Adrian Reimers provides a perceptive description of parallel Catholic Church structures, such as The People of God, explaining with copious examples how they are not truly parallel, but accepting of Church doctrine and hierarchical structures in some cases and deviating from them in others. Over-all, this is an excellent and well-researched description of para-Church structures."
– Nicholas P. Cafardi, JD, JCD, Dean Emeritus, Duquesne University School of Law
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Published by Garrett County Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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