Here is an edited version of Gary Ezzo’s biography taken from www.ezzo.info. It is a long article so here it is just shortened. For the full text version please refer to ezzo.info.
You will note two significant things about Gary Ezzo.
1. He is not an authority on child development in any way shape or form.
And, 2. He is not even the type of person you would hire as a babysitter let alone give you parenting advice.
Jesus said you’d know them by their fruits…
. . . . . . . . . .
Fall of 1966 – Summer of 1969 — Gary Ezzo took several classes at Mohawk Valley Community College but did not get an AA degree.
1980/1981 — Ezzo became pastor-teacher of this church
1982 or 1983 — Ezzo was asked to step down from leadership in this church amid complaints of authoritarianism, exclusivism and divisiveness.
1983 – Ezzo entered Talbot School of Theology full time to pursue a Master of Arts in Ministry degree in a program designed for candidates without a bachelor’s degree.
1985 – Having accepted a staff pastor position at GCC, Ezzo filled out an employment application, listing a degree he did not earn (the AA), and specified a major and a grade point average. (In 2000, an embattled Ezzo justified the misrepresentation in a letter circulated to supporters by saying that it “suited the purpose for which the information was being requested which was simply establishing an educational benchmark for 1985.”)
August 16, 1993—Christianity Today published the first national article voicing concerns: “The Brave New Baby” by Thomas S. Giles
Article Summary:
* the growing popularity of Preparation for Parenting is described
* reports of infants with low weight gain and emotional withdrawal are described
* the concerns of various health care professionals are noted
* various church leaders express concerns over dogmatism and state their opinion that the program needs modification
May 14, 1996 – “Religious Parenting Programs–Their Relationship to Child Abuse Prevention” The Child Abuse Council of Orange County appointed a religious task force to evaluate GKGW following complaints by area health care professionals who had observed dehydration, slow growth and development and failure to thrive among babies on Ezzo programs.
July 11 1996 – ABC World News Tonight television featured a report on Ezzo’s method, by religion reporter Peggy Wehmayer, herself a Christian. GFI published a response on its website denouncing the report as part of the media’s “War Against Moral Truth” but did not address the issues raised.
January 12, 1997—Conservative Christian parenting ministry Focus on the Family said rigid adherence to the GFI materials could result in child abuse but tactfully concluded that “whether to use or not to use the Ezzos’ material remains, in the final analysis, a judgment call.”
By late 1997 this statement was strengthened to say Focus does “not recommend” the material.
October 16, 1997— Grace Community Church issued a public statement “A Statement Regarding Gary Ezzo and Growing Families International” to explain why GCC is no longer affiliated with Gary Ezzo and GFI and why they no longer use or endorse GFI materials. The document mentioned the elders found no biblical justification for various teachings Ezzo portrayed as biblical, and noted concerns with the way Ezzo had handled criticism.
Quote:
“Gary Ezzo has declined to listen to concerns from essentially friendly critics–including fellow elders, pastors, and even co-workers in the GFI ministries. His responses to the elders of Grace Church have reflected a repeated tendency to avoid accountability….In at least one case he assured a group of concerned elders that he would seek resolution of a long- standing conflict–then later refused to do so. His departure from Grace Church left a disturbing number of conflicts unresolved and concerns unaddressed.At the same time, Gary has been known to respond with exaggerated and even false accusations against his critics.”
July 25, 2000 — after Ezzo was excommunicated from LHEF, GCC’s pastor Dr. John MacArthur made an updated public statement, part of which refers to the events in this section of the timeline:
“Almost three years ago, the elders of Grace Community Church issued a public statement about Growing Families International (GFI) and Gary Ezzo. In addition to several concerns about the extra-biblical content of GFI materials and divisive tendencies in the GFI program, we also initially voiced some rather significant concerns about Mr. Ezzo’s personal character.”
“Specifically, we reported that he had shown a pattern of resisting accountability, and that he was not always truthful. (We had become aware of several instances in which Mr. Ezzo twisted the truth, ranging from a false claim that he held a degree he had never really earned, to the spreading of false reports about our church in a manner that appeared to be deliberately divisive.”
“Mr. Ezzo subsequently met with one of our elders and expressed a desire to rectify our major concerns about his character. He assured us that he was making himself accountable to a group of men he trusted–the pastor and elders of Living Hope Evangelical Fellowship (LHEF).”
“In the interest of seeking peace, we issued a revised and abbreviated version of our public statement. In that revised statement, the concerns we had raised about Mr. Ezzo’s integrity and accountability were no longer expressly mentioned, pending further action on Mr. Ezzo’s part to mitigate or allay those concerns. After the revised statement was issued, however, Mr. Ezzo made no further attempt to address the larger concerns we had raised about his personal character.”
“We have nonetheless been able to verify that LHEF’s discipline of Mr. Ezzo involves the very same issues we raised in our initial public statement: Gary Ezzo’s lack of truthfulness and his refusal to be held accountable. It is not without significance that the men who have excommunicated him are the same men to whom he claimed to be making himself accountable. This has clearly become a pattern of behavior with Mr. Ezzo. LHEF is at least the third church Mr. Ezzo has left with questions pending about his character.”
April 20, 1998. AAP MEDIA ALERT titled “AAP Addresses Scheduled Feedings vs. Demand Feedings” affirmed the American Academy of Pediatrics’ support for cue feeding and reiterated the AAP position that “scheduled feedings designed by parents may put babies at risk for poor weight gain and dehydration.”
April, 1998 “Babywise Advice Linked to Dehydration, Failure-to-Thrive” by Matthew Aney, MD, AAP News, Volume 14, No. 4, p 21
August 1998 “Pediatric News” column in Child Magazine: “Baby-care book could be dangerous”, an opinion piece by the Drs. Zuckerman
September 11-13, 1998: Annual American Academy of Pediatrics Chapter Forum passes AAP Resolution # 53SC (98)—”Evaluating Infant Management Programs”. It noted that the PDF feeding schedule is “inconsistent with AAP recommendations” and that “over 100 health care professionals across the country including 19 AAP fellows have asked the Academy for feedback on [GFI's] potentially harmful program”. It resolved that “the Academy continually evaluate infant management programs such as Preparation for Parenting and On Becoming BABYWISE and regularly report its findings.”
Quote by Ezzo:
“Well, first of all, our advice on feeding babies is identical to the American Academy of Pediatrics…” –Gary Ezzo in 1999 BBC television interview
June 30, 1998 — CRI cover story, More Than A Parenting Ministry published. Summary from 11-page article:
“The programs mix sound parenting advice with highly disputable ideas, but this does not fully account for the controversy. GFI has provoked unprecedented public censure from Christian leaders because, although it is not a cult, it has consistently exhibited a pattern of cultic behavior, including Scripture twisting, authoritarianism, exclusivism, isolationism, and physical and emotional endangerment.”
March 1999–The Washington Post published an article on Babywise. The article included real-life examples from GFI’s online advice and support Forum message board:
“We’re now on Day 5 of Timothy’s retraining for naps,” a Michigan mother wrote recently. “Yesterday was the most difficult day ever. I thought the screaming and crying for 45 minutes was difficult, but I could endure because I felt sure that this was the right thing to do. However yesterday, when I saw a little blood, it was hard not to panic and question my methods.”
April 1999—Ladies’ Home Journal “Babies in Danger?” by Jenny Deam detailed the story of the Kambas baby’s slow weight gain while using the Ezzos’ method, and Ezzo’s reaction.
“The woman who taught our [Ezzo parenting] class said, ‘They’re going to tell you in the hospital to feed the baby when the baby is hungry….Just smile at them.’” *
But once Elizabeth came home, “She would cry and cry, but we wouldn’t feed her because it wasn’t time,” Kambas says. “I called the person who taught the class. She said [Elizabeth] was probably just getting used to her schedule.”
“We were so stupid,” Kambas says, “But I really believed that this program was the most biblically based.”
When Elizabeth was five weeks old, she cried so long and hard one night that Kambas became frightened and rushed her to an all-night clinic. The doctor there weighed the baby and discovered that she had gained less than a pound and a half since birth. (Typically a baby has gained more than two pounds by this time.) The doctor turned to Kambas and asked, “What’s going on here?” She broke down and told the clinic staff about the feeding schedule she had Elizabeth on.
The doctor was adamant: Kambas had to start feeding Elizabeth more often. That night, she began to feed Elizabeth on demand. In seventeen days the baby gained nearly 5 pounds.
Looking back, Kambas is tormented by the thought of what she did to her baby. “[She] was so little,” Kambas says. “We were starving her.”
Gary Ezzo is skeptical. He’s heard these kind of stories before, and dismisses them as either made up or extremely rare. “We don’t teach hunger,” he says….”We’re an alternative to the last twenty-five to thirty years of runaway permissiveness,” he insists. It is not just the popular parenting advice that is being rejected, but the values of the last forty years.
‘The vast majority of American Academy of Pediatric Fellows
would be right where we are,’ he insists.
*Editorial note: this attitude can be compared with the instructions from Prep audio tapes:
Anne Marie: in regards to the hospital, that is where you actually can start the plan, but you have to kind of flex a little bit with what the plans are at the hospital. We don’t want you to go in there and be a rabble rouser….
Gary: And our folks do not need to feel that they have to convert the entire hospital staff with this first child
AM: (chuckling) No, that’s not your job!
–Source: 3rd edition Prep for Parenting Audio Tape #5 “Establishing Your Baby’s Routine”
August 1999 –Ezzo’s son in law, Robert Garcia–GFI’s Vice President at the time– misappropriated a large sum of GFI money for personal use. Ezzo later disputed the reported amount of $500,000.
October 29, 1999 – BBC Newsnight interviewed Gary & Anne Marie Ezzo in a segment on GFIduring their speaking tour in Britain.
Paxman: …The American Pediatric Association says your
advice on feeding babies is wrong. Why should we take the
word of, with respect, one nurse against 53,000 registered
pediatric practitioners?
Gary Ezzo: Well, first of all our advice on feeding babies is
identical to the American Academy of Pediatrics…
[Editorial note: Babywise itself contradicts this, saying "Babywise has brought a needed reformation to pediatric counsel given to new parents." (p.15) ]
April 2000 — LHEF issued an excommunication statement citing Gary Ezzo’s pattern of sin and unrepentent behavior.
Aug 2000 – Laurie Moody, a “Contact Mom” with the organization, one of the few people associated with GFI to have any training in lactation counseling, resigned over concerns about the material’s effect on nursing mothers and babies and concerns about the Ezzos’ integrity.
Nov 13, 2000 Christianity Today “Unprepared to Teach Parenting”
Summary: News report of GCC and LHEF statements that Ezzo is unfit for public ministry, Ezzo’s excommunication from LHEF, his exaggeration of his qualifications including listing a college degree on an employment application that he doesn’t have, the embezzlement of a large sum of money from the company by Ezzo’s son in law, and his pattern of harrassment of critics.
Oct 1, 2001 — Multnomah returned publishing rights for the On Becoming series, including Babywise, to Gary Ezzo, ending their business relationship.
Feb 2002–A university professor discovered that material in Ezzo’s article, “Parental Affection and Character Development” published on GFI’s website had been plagiarized from “The Killer Narcissists” by psychologist Barbara Lerner (National Review, May 17, 1999).
November 2002 — Jennifer and Paul Luedke (one of the Ezzos’ daughters and her husband) cut off contact with her parents after much prayer, consideration and counsel, based on their personal observation of the same types of issues raised by the LHEF elders. Their hope is that the relationships will be restored following the Ezzos’ repentence. (Editor’s note: This has not happened; if it does, it will be noted on this timeline.)
August 2008–In the wake of a rumor to the contrary, I verified that Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo remain estranged from their daughters.
