A flurry of e-mails and phone calls were received by students when a small, Christian group with a controversial history relocated next to campus last fall.

Some say Freemans 'cult-like'

Freeman friend’s e-mail calls college’s response ‘most shocking, vicious’

Editor’s note: Deborah and Steve Kirk were part of the Freeman group in the 1970s. They have lived in Spokane since 1994 and attend Opportunity Presbyterian Church in Spokane Valley. When they learned that the Freemans had moved near campus, they asked to publish their personal story and personal experience with the Freemans. The Kirks asked to publish their home phone number along with this article.

The Freemans bought more than a million dollar’s worth of real estate when they settled in to three houses near Whitworth. Many students and administrators have wondered where they got all the money to make those purchases and why they were willing to pay nearly half a million dollars for one mid-sized house in north Spokane.

In some ways, the first part of this series on the Freemans and their past only scratched the surface. Every ex-member of the Freeman group who was interviewed agreed that the couple played at least a partial role in many broken marriages and shattered churches. But a few members — mostly women who had become extremely close to Patsy Freeman — say there are deeper issues with the Freemans that are much more disturbing.

In The Loop: A response to the Freemans

The Freemans, followed to Spokane by a troubled past, are a concern to their former adherents and the Whitworth administration

Man claims church ruined his marriage

LETTERS: Bill Freeman's actions familiar

Scottsdale father raises concerns as church group leaves en masse