Michael Shamblin, son of Remnant Fellowship Church leader Gwen Shamblin Lara, has broken his silence about his mother’s church, calling it a “cult” and his mother a “narcissist.” Shamblin spoke to investigative reporter Phil Williams, who first met Michael Shamblin over 20 years ago.
“Gwen Shamblin Lara was a narcissist. She always had the answer. She knew more than anybody in the room wherever she went,” Shamblin told Williams, chief investigative reporter for NewsChannel 5 in Nashville, Tennessee. Williams conducted an extensive interview with Shamblin that is being released in several installments.
Shamblin used to be a worship leader at Remnant Fellowship Church, which his mother founded in Brentwood, Tennessee. “It’s hard to call it a church in my mind,” he said, because of all the people harmed by it. “It is a church, but…it’s a cult.”
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When pressed, Shamblin added, “I do believe it’s a cult,” explaining the reason why is because Remnant “is a group of people who are devoted to a person, Gwen Shamblin Lara.”
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Gwen Shamblin Lara became well-known in the 1990s due to her Weigh Down Workshop, which was offered in many churches, and her book, “The Weigh Down Diet.” She founded Remnant Fellowship in 1999 with Weigh Down participants as core members and herself as the primary leader in the church.
On May 29, 2021, Shamblin Lara and six other people died tragically in a plane crash. Among the deceased was her husband, former “Tarzan” actor Joe Lara, as well as Remnant Fellowship church leaders David Martin and his wife Jennifer, Jonathan Walters and his wife Jessica, and Shamblin Lara’s son-in-law, Brandon Hannah. Michael Shamblin and Elizabeth Hannah, Shamblin Lara’s two children, were not in the crash, and Elizabeth Hannah remains a leader in her mother’s church.
In September 2021, Max released the first three episodes in a docuseries titled, “The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin.” The final two episodes came out in April 2022. The docuseries makes the case that Gwen Shamblin Lara was a cult leader and that Remnant Fellowship was spiritually abusive. Former members recount brainwashing, child abuse, manipulation, eating disorders, depression, and suicidal ideation.
Michael Shamblin did not appear in the docuseries but told Williams, “I think they actually did a fantastic job.” According to Shamblin, people who attend Remnant are not allowed to watch the series.
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