Elizabeth Shamblin Hannah, daughter of alleged cult leader Gwen Shamblin Lara, is urging people to follow her as she walks in her mother’s footsteps. Investigative reporter Phil Williams with NewsChannel 5 Nashville, who recently interviewed Hannah’s brother, Michael Shamblin, obtained a recording of a message Hannah gave in early January.
“You’ll be lifted up if you follow this example,” said Hannah in the recording, “if you follow my mother and follow me as I follow her.” Hannah is now the leader of Remnant Fellowship Church, which her mother founded, according to the church’s website.
In three snippets of the 37-minute long message that Williams has published online, Hannah said she plans to spread her mother’s message around the world. Gwen Shamblin Lara was “misunderstood,” said Hannah, and Hannah’s forthcoming book will bring the lies people have said about Shamblin Lara to light. And the more the media continues to lie about the Remnant founder, the more Hannah advances in heaven.
Elizabeth Shamblin Hannah: My Mother Was ‘Misunderstood’
Gwen Shamblin Lara, founder of the Weigh Down Workshop, also founded Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, in 1999. She died with her husband, Joe Lara, and five others in a plane crash in 2021. One of the deceased was Hannah’s husband, Brandon.
Later that year, Max released the first episodes in a docuseries called, “The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin,” which made the case that Shamblin Lara was a cult leader and her church is spiritually abusive. Remnant Fellowship has denounced the series in a lengthy statement on its website.
Williams has been following Gwen Shamblin Lara’s story for over 20 years. Earlier this month, he interviewed Michael Shamblin, Shamblin Lara’s son, who used to be a leader in his mother’s church.
Shamblin said that when he first met Williams, he saw Williams as the enemy. But now Shamblin sees Williams as a “hero” and Gwen Shamblin Lara as a “narcissist.” In his interview with Williams, Michael Shamblin did not want to discuss Hannah, although he said, “I have so much sympathy for my sister.”