Gwen Shamblin Lara (February 18, 1955 – May 29, 2021) was an American church leader known for the Weigh Down Workshop, her Christian dieting program. She founded Remnant Fellowship Church in 1999 and oversaw its ministry until her 2021 death in a plane crash together with her husband Joe Lara, who was the pilot, and five other Remnant Fellowship leaders. Shamblin founded the Weigh Down Workshop in 1986 as a

registered dietitian A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

in Memphis. The program grew to 30,000 participating churches in fifteen years and expanded into product sales and Shamblin's 1997 book, ''The Weigh Down Diet''. Shamblin was criticized for lavish personal spending using proceeds from the ministry. Remnant Fellowship has been compared to a cult and has been criticized by other Christian groups for denying the doctrine of the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

. It has been accused of encouraging

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

and was raided by authorities investigating the death of eight-year-old Josef Smith, whose parents Joseph and Sonya Smith were

convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...

in 2007 of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

. Shamblin and church members publicly supported and paid for the legal defense of the Smiths, who attended Remnant Fellowship. A

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

on Shamblin, '' The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin'', was released on

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

in 2021.

Early life

Shamblin was born Gwendolyn Kay Henley on February 18, 1955 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

to Walter H. Henley (1926–1981), a general surgeon and Betty (née McNeil; born 1929) Lawrence. She was the second youngest of four children with an older brother, an older sister, and a younger brother. Shamblin along with her siblings were raised in a

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

family. She earned an

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher ed ...

dietetics A dietitian, medical dietitian, or dietician is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related malnutrition and in conducting medical nutrition therapy, for example designing an enteral tube feeding regimen or mitigating the effects of ...

and a master's degree in food and nutrition with an emphasis in biochemistry from

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. In college, Shamblin says she struggled with her weight. She worked as a

, consultant and a faculty member at

Memphis State University The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

for five years, and began a weight control consulting practice in 1980. She also worked in the city's Tennessee Department of Health.

Weigh Down Workshop

Shamblin developed a faith-oriented weight-loss program while earning her master's degree at

, and founded the Weigh Down Workshop in 1986. Shamblin counseled that

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

and behavior modification were not enough explanation for why some people were overweight, and hosted the first class in a mall in Memphis with a strong focus on faith and prayer. The program did not require exercise, calorie-counting, weigh-ins, or food restrictions. It developed into a 12-week seminar guided by video and audio tapes featuring Shamblin. Some experts raised concern over its deviations from

American Dietetic Association The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is a multi-unit enterprise that includes a 501(c)(6) trade association in the United States. With over 112,000 members, the association claims to be the largest organization of food and nutrition professiona ...

guidance. The Weigh Down Workshop expanded rapidly in the 1990s, with Shamblin hosting a Memphis-area program at Bellevue Baptist Church and many other churches and homes hosting programs simultaneously. By 1994, it was offered in about 600 churches in 35 US states, and by January 1995 it reached more than 1,000 churches in 49 states plus Canada and the UK. By July 1996, the Weigh Down Workshop was in about 5,000 churches, 10 percent of them in Tennessee. Weigh Down Workshop had a staff of 40 in 1996. The company built a headquarters in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

, and Shamblin began hosting an annual summer convention in the

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

area called Desert Oasis. By August 1998, it had more than 250,000 participants in more than 21,000 classes across Europe, Canada, and every US state.

Writing

Shamblin published the 1997 book ''The Weigh Down Diet'', which advised readers to cut food portions in half, eat only when hungry, and transfer the desire for food into love of God. The book sold more than 1.2 million copies and led to further publishing deals.

Finances

Shamblin was criticized for branding the Weigh Down Workshop as a Christian ministry while profiting significantly and living a lavish lifestyle, driving multiple

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

s and a Mercedes and purchasing a $2.3 million mansion. When a

WTVF WTVF (channel 5) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Ion Television owned-and-operated station WNPX-TV (channel 28). WTVF's studios are loca ...

reporter asked in 2001 how much money Shamblin was making, she said the amount was "between me and God". On

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

, she said the Weigh Down Workshop devoted half its proceeds to taxes and put the other half back into the program.

Remnant Fellowship Church

Shamblin founded the Remnant Fellowship Church in

in 1999. In 2004, the church moved into a new building that had been constructed on 40 acres of land purchased by Shamblin in

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census. Shamblin sent an email to her followers saying that she believed that the doctrine of the

was not Biblical on August 10, 2000. In response, some evangelical churches dropped her program, Thomas Nelson Publishers canceled the publication of her next book, she was removed from the Women of Faith website, and some employees left her staff. Shamblin had preached that members should give their money to the Remnant Fellowship church, the only true church, and that all other churches were fraudulent. Remnant Fellowship was compared to a cult. After her death in 2021, Shamblin's children Michael Shamblin and Elizabeth Shamblin Hannah stated in June 2021 that they will both continue to lead Remnant Fellowship and continue their mother's legacy. Shamblin's son Michael is no longer involved in Remnant Fellowship's operations since leaving the church in November 2021 leaving his sister as the church's sole leader and said in 2024, "It is a church, but it's a cult".

Remnant Fellowship Church productions

Shamblin began producing a live Internet show, ''You Can Overcome'', in October 2011 which was filmed in the church. On September 9, 2019, Gwen and her husband Joe began a Youtube series entitled "Life with Gwen and Joe". The final episode entitled "Honoring the Christian Martyrs" was released on November 20, 2020.

Associations with corporal punishment

Shamblin has been accused of promoting

. She and other Remnant Fellowship members paid for the legal defense of adherents Joseph and Sonya Smith, who were ultimately convicted of

and

of their eight-year-old son Josef. On October 8, 2003, the Smiths punished Josef by placing him in a small wicker box with electrical cords wrapped around the outside holding the lid closed. They then watched an online service from Remnant Fellowship, after which they opened the box and found Josef braindead. County medical examiners concluded that the child died as a result of "acute and chronic" abuse. The Smiths routinely beat Josef with foot-long glue sticks, belts, and heated coat hangers. Police reported that the couple locked Josef in his room for days or weeks, providing a bucket for bodily waste and a picture of Jesus on the ceiling for him to pray to. Another child in the family, Milek Smith, died 11 weeks before Josef's death, with the cause of death reported variously as

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

SIDS Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and ...

. During the investigation of the death, authorities conducted a raid of Remnant Fellowship due to its teachings on child discipline. Church members created a website to advocate the Smith's innocence, suggesting Josef died of a bacterial infection and that his own skin markings came from scratching his own

eczema Dermatitis is a term used for different types of skin inflammation, typically characterized by itchiness, redness and a rash. In cases of short duration, there may be small blisters, while in long-term cases the skin may become thickened ...

. '' Georgia v. Smith'' resulted in the Smiths' conviction in February 2007, and they were sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison on March 27, 2007, the maximum punishment. A member of the church expressed a desire to "support the Smiths in any way possible". The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the convictions in 2010, and the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

denied the case in 2011.

Personal life

Gwen married David Shamblin in January 1978 and together they had two children and nine grandchildren. In 2018, Shamblin filed for divorce from David. Shamblin became engaged to actor Joe Lara on June 23, 2018. They married in a Remnant Fellowship Church wedding ceremony on August 18, 2018 and becoming the step-mother to Lara's daughter from his previous relationship. In 1996, Shamblin bought Ashlawn, a historic mansion that was built in

Brentwood, Tennessee Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.

Death and legacy

Gwen Shamblin Lara was killed together with her husband Joe, her son-in-law Brandon Hannah, and two other couples from the Remnant Fellowship Church when the Laras' 1982 Cessna Citation 501 private jet crashed into

Percy Priest Lake J. Percy Priest Lake is a reservoir in north central part of Tennessee. It is formed by J. Percy Priest Dam, located between miles six and seven of the Stones River. The dam (easily visible from Interstate 40) is located about east of do ...

near

Smyrna, Tennessee Smyrna is a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. Smyrna's population was 53,070 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Tennessee by population in that census. Smyrna is part of the Nashville metropolitan area. Histo ...

, shortly after takeoff on May 29, 2021. The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

concluded that the crash was a result of pilot Joe Lara's "loss of airplane control during climb due to

spatial disorientation Spatial disorientation is the inability to determine position or relative motion, commonly occurring during periods of challenging visibility, since visual system, vision is the dominant sense for orientation. The auditory system, vestibular system ...

." According to her will, Shamblin did not leave any of her money to the church.

Television portrayals

A five-part

, '' The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin'', was released on

in 2021. In 2023, Shamblin was portrayed by

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film Reckless (1984 film), ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She earned wo ...

in the Lifetime TV film ''Gwen Shamblin: Starving for Salvation'', which was directed by John L'Ecuyer.

Selected works

Books

* * * * * * * *

Other media

* * *

References

External links

IMDB Entry TV/Miniseries 2021-
link Retrieve September 20, 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamblin Lara, Gwen 1955 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Accidental deaths in Tennessee American women founders American women non-fiction writers American women religious leaders Founders of new religious movements Nontrinitarian Christians Protestant writers Religious leaders from Memphis, Tennessee University of Memphis alumni University of Tennessee alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2021 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Women Christian religious leaders