However, members of the same household needed to live close enough to each other to share meals, prayer times and other forms of fellowship.
Ralph Martin and Stephen Clark were formerly involved in the Cursillo movement office in Lansing, Michigan, and Jim Cavnar and Gerry Rauch were involved in Charismatic renewal work at the University of Notre Dame[1]: p.80 and had come to carry out evangelism in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after their encounter with the Catholic Charismatic movement at Duquesne University that year.
[10][11] William Paul McCartney of the Promise Keepers is reported by Russ Bellant as being "deeply influenced" by the Word of God Community.
This resulted in Wilson forming a local Ann Arbor chapter of the Blue Ocean Faith Community.
[15] These books presented songs used in charismatic renewal prayer groups, many written by members of the Word of God Community.
[15] In the 1980s, allegations that The Word of God was practicing too much control over its members, prompted leadership of both the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod to send teams to investigate the community and determine if what they were teaching was orthodox.
[citation needed] In 1989, a coalition of seven groups led a boycott of Domino's Pizza, due to the connection between Tom Monaghan and the Word of God.
[19] Russ Bellant describes the Word of God as "a select and insular group" which "practiced shepherding/discipleship" (see the Shepherding Movement).
Bellant reports that: In 1990, the community split over proposals to seek a status that would allow greater local autonomy from Sword of the Spirit.
[10][11] In 1991 Ralph Martin acknowledged that the practices introduced by the Sword of the Spirit was "an ill-advised venture that led to considerable confusion, turmoil, spiritual distress both in individuals and in the community as a body", "was especially harmful to women", and "fostered elitism".
[1]: p.90–92 In the late 1990s the Word of God began a youth outreach called Mission Christ in the Washtenaw County area.