Michael Peter Woroniecki
Encyclopedia
Michael Peter Woroniecki, (also: Michael Warnecki, Warneki, Worneki, Mike War), born February 4, 1954, is an independent, non-denominational Christian missionary who became known for his ministry on college campuses and at various public events across the US over the span of the last 30 years and his contact with Andrea Yates, the Texas woman who drowned her children in 2001.
family who was raised in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan
. His mother became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Movement in the early 1970s and sought to introduce her children to the born again experience. In 1972, seeking a way out of Grand Rapids, he "made a deal with God" that he would attend prayer meetings with his mother if he could make All-City Tailback and thus receive a scholarship for college. He got the title and the scholarship.
Woroniecki attended Central Michigan University
(CMU) where he studied psychology and played varsity football from 1972 to 1976. He boasted of being able to bench press 400 lbs and run a 4.5 second 40-yard dash. Woroniecki explains in his Christian testimony that he forgot his deal with God and had a "wild streak", involving himself in alcohol and partying. Woroniecki states that he was known to his teammates as the "Crazy War" and continues on to say he was arrested the summer of his freshman year for fighting in a bar, just to prove to his peers how tough he was.
During spring football practice in 1974, Woroniecki suffered a disabling football injury that threatened his athletic aspirations. About the same time, Woroniecki's mother gave him a Bible, which he began to read. Woroniecki says God used this time of suffering and depression to break him of his pride, preparing him to receive the Gospel
. Woroniecki attended the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference at University of Notre Dame
the weekend of June 14, 1974 with his family. He was in the stadium when he says he told God that he didn't know what the saying "born again" meant, but that he wanted everything that the Lord had for him. While sitting alone in the stadium, Woroniecki says that he gave his life to Jesus. At that moment, Woroniecki believes that he "met the living Jesus". "The grass and goalposts were the same but I was changed" says Woroniecki, adding that he found significance in the recently painted Touchdown Jesus
on the library mural right in front of him.
Woroniecki returned to college football practice in July that same summer. One day after practice, while in a bar with his teammates, Woroniecki says he ordered water in the place of his usual beer. His friends becoming curious, Woroniecki explained that he had met Jesus. Used to his outrageous life-of-the-party humor, they all mistakenly thought he was joking, and Woroniecki became the focus of ridicule and rejection by his teammates. He writes that he could not understand why people like Roger Staubach
, a famous Christian athlete, were respected, yet he was rejected, until he read John 12:24 and 25. He reasoned that if the world hated Jesus without cause; they would also hate and reject him if he followed Him.
The same year, Woroniecki and his teammates went on to win the NCAA Division II American Football National Championship for the only time in CMU's
history.
In his remaining years at CMU, Woroniecki met his then cheerleader girlfriend, Leslie Jean Ochalek of Detroit (later renamed "Rachel Rebekah"), who became his wife in 1979.
Woroniecki graduated from CMU
with a B.S. in Behavioral Sciences in 1976.
and then advanced to West Catholic High School
, another parochial school
in Grand Rapids. During his senior year of high school in 1972, Woroniecki began attending Catholic Charismatic prayer meetings, part of his "deal with God."
After graduating from CMU
, Woroniecki attended Melodyland School of Theology at Anaheim, California
starting in 1976. A month after returning home from seminary that summer, his mother died from colon cancer
.
Woroniecki applied to the Dominican
and Franciscan
Orders of the Catholic Church with the intention of helping to bring reform from within the Church. In his final round of interviews with the Dominican seminary near Chicago, Illinois, Woroniecki was refused immediate admission and decided on a different course of action. He then applied to the Franciscan seminary in his own hometown of Grand Rapids. After a semester of study at Aquinas College
, Woroniecki was again offered an extended preparatory period. He chose to pursue other means of study.
In 1978, Woroniecki was accepted at Fuller Theological Seminary
in Pasadena, California
, a non-denominational institution. Woroniecki says he was "deeply grieved" by the professionalism and business-like attitude towards the things of God at Fuller. This atmosphere, Woroniecki claims, ultimately compelled him to stand on the campus lawn and preach "the living Jesus" to fellow students and professors when they came out of the chapel. He confronted classmates over the attitudes of scholastic pride and hypocrisy that he thought to contradict the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Woroniecki obtained his Master of Divinity degree in 1980.
Upon returning to Grand Rapids, Woroniecki briefly attended and occasionally preached at Maranatha Church, a non-denominational charismatic ministry founded by the late Calvin Bergsma, Sr. Shortly thereafter, Woroniecki left to start his own home church and street preaching ministry.
where street preaching is permitted.
To deliver his message, Woroniecki chooses college campuses, large sporting and political events as well as city centers. His wife and six adult children are often seen ministering alongside him.
In the early nineties, Michael Woroniecki shipped a Ford van to England
and then ferried it to France. The family traveled together across Europe and then to Tangier, Africa
. In May 1995, they preached in Casablanca
, Morocco
, where Muslim law makes it a crime to declare Jesus as the Son of God. A riot resulted and the family was arrested. They were interrogated for eight hours by state officials, then ordered to leave the country.
Since leaving Grand Rapids some 30 years ago, Woroniecki and his family have preached in all 50 U.S. states, Latin America
, Europe
, Russia
and Morocco
.
. Woroniecki performed, during the summers of 1992 to 1996, in downtown city plazas and centers, visiting: London
, Paris
, Barcelona
, Lisbon
, Rome
, Berlin
, Budapest
, Athens
, Moscow
among others. Woroniecki says he used the music along with dances and biblical skits as a means of communicating the gospel in countries where they did not speak the language. Michael does not consider himself professional
but believes “that music is a powerful tool to touch people of all walks of life” .
During the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games
, Woroniecki was reported to have performed with his family outside the various venues using the event to reach the international crowds with his message. Beginning in 1997, Woroniecki traveled throughout Mexico
and Latin America
, playing on the streets.
According to his bio, from 2006 to 2009, Woroniecki has self-produced 8 music CDs which he and his family have distributed in their travels across America and abroad.
and seek the Living Jesus
to be Born Again". He says that todays "churches" are not the true Church as seen in the Scriptures and cannot save anyone.
Woroniecki has used large banner signs and often a wooden cross to convey his message for the past 35 years. In his ministry Woroniecki addresses the biblical themes of hypocrisy in the institutional system, grace
, salvation
, forgiveness, hell
, judgment
, deception and the consequences of sin. Because of this, Woroniecki has taken his share of verbal and physical opposition. He claims that these are the "last days" and that Jesus
will soon return to judge the world. Woroniecki cites various Scripture verses in his pamphlets to substantiate his message that only by faith can a man be saved from hell and reconciled to God, a doctrine accepted by most mainstream Christians and defined by Martin Luther as sola fide
.
The Bible figures strongly in Woroniecki’s beliefs and is a focal point of his preaching. Despite not holding a conventional position in an established religion, Woroniecki’s knowledge of Scripture and theology is extensive. His years of personal and scholastic study at three seminaries are reflected in his literature. Woroniecki believes in biblical inerrancy
and considers the Scriptures authoritative on all matters of life.
Woroniecki's message is met on the streets with a variety of responses.
The Yates and Woroniecki stayed in touch by letter and telephone, and in 1998, the Yates travelled to Miami after hearing that the Woronieckis were selling their motor home. Rusty bought the bus, a 1978 GMC that Woroniecki had used for his family's travels. During the week that the Yates stayed, Woroniecki confronted Rusty, saying that he was "willing to sacrifice his wife and children for the sake of his job" After this confrontation, Rusty and Woroniecki "grew apart". In the months leading up to the drownings, Rusty described the relationship with the Woronieckis as not being very close.
Andrea Yates had suffered mental health difficulties for several years leading up to 2001. In June 1999 Yates took an overdose of sedatives and over the next 2 years was hospitalized several times, and prescribed a variety of anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications. On June 20, 2001, a few weeks after being discharged from Devereaux Texas Treatment Center, Andrea
killed all five of her children.
In early 2002 Michael Woroniecki came to the attention of the national media when Yates' trial started. Yates' defense attorney George Parnham placed a copy of Woroniecki's newsletter The Perilous Times into evidence, suggesting that the material was dangerous for someone like Yates, and defense team psychiatrist Lucy Puryear said on Good Morning America that "Yates' fate may have been different if she never met Woroniecki". Certain media outlets alleged that Woroniecki bore some responsibility for influencing Andrea.
However, both Michael Woroniecki and Rusty Yates dismissed the allegations. According to the Houston Chronicle, "(Russell)Yates said his relationship with Woroniecki was more like learning from a book. He was free to accept what he wanted and reject that which he didn't". Yates said "That’s just crazy" when asked whether or not his wife was influenced by Woroniecki. He stated that Andrea had suffered schizophrenia, depression and delusions for years. Both Yates and Woroniecki characterized the connection, between Woroniecki’s teachings and Andrea Yate’s state of mind, as nothing more than media created fiction and sensationalist reporting
. Woroniecki “…certainly didn’t cause the delusion,” says Yates.
Woroniecki called the defense’s claims “ridiculous”. He stated that he had only met Andrea personally 4 or 5 times over 20 years and that his relationship with her was “one of nothing but love and compassion”. Woroniecki said that he had warned Russell Yates that Andrea and their children needed his love. Peter Jennings
of World News Tonight reported that Rachel Woroniecki, in a letter, had told the Yates' that they needed to reconcile their marriage. In an interview with NBC Dateline in March 2002, Mrs. Woroniecki said:
Woroniecki was quoted by the Grand Rapids Press as saying,
in Denver, Colorado in 2008. In November of 2010, according to the article Woroniecki Family in Times Square on Associated Content.com, the Woroniecki family ministered in Times Square
, New York City, handing out free music CDs and promoting their website ‘ifanyoneisthirsty.com’. The author writes that the thrust of their message “was that Jesus is alive and that we need to actively seek him out”, adding that despite any controversy, the family seemed to him to be genuine in their efforts to “go all over the world and celebrate life and the living Jesus.” Jack Wellman, Christian evangelist and contributor to EveryDay Christian.com, OVI magazine online and Associated Content.com confirms that the Woroniecki family continues to take their message “to the world and to the streets of the nations”. According to Wellman, Woroniecki’s current message, as expressed on the website and in his literature, is:
Early years
Woroniecki was the youngest of a large Polish CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
family who was raised in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
. His mother became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Movement in the early 1970s and sought to introduce her children to the born again experience. In 1972, seeking a way out of Grand Rapids, he "made a deal with God" that he would attend prayer meetings with his mother if he could make All-City Tailback and thus receive a scholarship for college. He got the title and the scholarship.
Woroniecki attended Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...
(CMU) where he studied psychology and played varsity football from 1972 to 1976. He boasted of being able to bench press 400 lbs and run a 4.5 second 40-yard dash. Woroniecki explains in his Christian testimony that he forgot his deal with God and had a "wild streak", involving himself in alcohol and partying. Woroniecki states that he was known to his teammates as the "Crazy War" and continues on to say he was arrested the summer of his freshman year for fighting in a bar, just to prove to his peers how tough he was.
During spring football practice in 1974, Woroniecki suffered a disabling football injury that threatened his athletic aspirations. About the same time, Woroniecki's mother gave him a Bible, which he began to read. Woroniecki says God used this time of suffering and depression to break him of his pride, preparing him to receive the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
. Woroniecki attended the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference at University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
the weekend of June 14, 1974 with his family. He was in the stadium when he says he told God that he didn't know what the saying "born again" meant, but that he wanted everything that the Lord had for him. While sitting alone in the stadium, Woroniecki says that he gave his life to Jesus. At that moment, Woroniecki believes that he "met the living Jesus". "The grass and goalposts were the same but I was changed" says Woroniecki, adding that he found significance in the recently painted Touchdown Jesus
Touchdown Jesus
Touchdown Jesus may refer to:*The Word of Life or Touchdown Jesus, a mural visible from Notre Dame Stadium.*King of Kings or Touchdown Jesus, a statue that was on the east side of Interstate 75 near Monroe, Ohio...
on the library mural right in front of him.
Woroniecki returned to college football practice in July that same summer. One day after practice, while in a bar with his teammates, Woroniecki says he ordered water in the place of his usual beer. His friends becoming curious, Woroniecki explained that he had met Jesus. Used to his outrageous life-of-the-party humor, they all mistakenly thought he was joking, and Woroniecki became the focus of ridicule and rejection by his teammates. He writes that he could not understand why people like Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...
, a famous Christian athlete, were respected, yet he was rejected, until he read John 12:24 and 25. He reasoned that if the world hated Jesus without cause; they would also hate and reject him if he followed Him.
The same year, Woroniecki and his teammates went on to win the NCAA Division II American Football National Championship for the only time in CMU's
Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...
history.
In his remaining years at CMU, Woroniecki met his then cheerleader girlfriend, Leslie Jean Ochalek of Detroit (later renamed "Rachel Rebekah"), who became his wife in 1979.
Woroniecki graduated from CMU
Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...
with a B.S. in Behavioral Sciences in 1976.
Religious training
Charles and Rose Woroniecki, Michael Woroniecki´s parents, were members of the Basilica of Saint Adalbert, a Roman Catholic church in the Polish westside of Grand Rapids. Michael Woroniecki attended a Catholic grade school adjoining his family's parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
and then advanced to West Catholic High School
West Catholic High School
Grand Rapids West Catholic High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is a Roman Catholic private, coeducational school and was opened in 1962. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids.-Athletics:...
, another parochial school
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
in Grand Rapids. During his senior year of high school in 1972, Woroniecki began attending Catholic Charismatic prayer meetings, part of his "deal with God."
After graduating from CMU
Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...
, Woroniecki attended Melodyland School of Theology at Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
starting in 1976. A month after returning home from seminary that summer, his mother died from colon cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
Woroniecki applied to the Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
and Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Orders of the Catholic Church with the intention of helping to bring reform from within the Church. In his final round of interviews with the Dominican seminary near Chicago, Illinois, Woroniecki was refused immediate admission and decided on a different course of action. He then applied to the Franciscan seminary in his own hometown of Grand Rapids. After a semester of study at Aquinas College
Aquinas College (Michigan)
Aquinas College is a small Catholic college that aims to provide a liberal arts education located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Aquinas is considered one of the best liberal arts colleges in the Midwest region by U.S. News and World Report ....
, Woroniecki was again offered an extended preparatory period. He chose to pursue other means of study.
In 1978, Woroniecki was accepted at Fuller Theological Seminary
Fuller Theological Seminary
Fuller Theological Seminary is an accredited Christian educational institute with its main campus in Pasadena, California and several satellite campuses in the western United States...
in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, a non-denominational institution. Woroniecki says he was "deeply grieved" by the professionalism and business-like attitude towards the things of God at Fuller. This atmosphere, Woroniecki claims, ultimately compelled him to stand on the campus lawn and preach "the living Jesus" to fellow students and professors when they came out of the chapel. He confronted classmates over the attitudes of scholastic pride and hypocrisy that he thought to contradict the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Woroniecki obtained his Master of Divinity degree in 1980.
Upon returning to Grand Rapids, Woroniecki briefly attended and occasionally preached at Maranatha Church, a non-denominational charismatic ministry founded by the late Calvin Bergsma, Sr. Shortly thereafter, Woroniecki left to start his own home church and street preaching ministry.
Preaching
Woroniecki returned to Grand Rapids after graduating from Fuller Seminary in the summer of 1980 where he preached on the streets and at various events with a sign or cross, starting his own ministry called Cornerstone Christian Fellowship. As a result of, according to Woroniecki, “youthful zeal” and a city unsure of how to handle his unconventional evangelistic approach, Woroniecki was arrested numerous times over the next year and a half. In October of 1981, Woroniecki phoned the City Attorney’s office and offered to leave town if the pending charges against him would be dropped. The offer was accepted and Woroniecki began to travel the US, stopping first in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
where street preaching is permitted.
To deliver his message, Woroniecki chooses college campuses, large sporting and political events as well as city centers. His wife and six adult children are often seen ministering alongside him.
In the early nineties, Michael Woroniecki shipped a Ford van to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and then ferried it to France. The family traveled together across Europe and then to Tangier, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. In May 1995, they preached in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, where Muslim law makes it a crime to declare Jesus as the Son of God. A riot resulted and the family was arrested. They were interrogated for eight hours by state officials, then ordered to leave the country.
Since leaving Grand Rapids some 30 years ago, Woroniecki and his family have preached in all 50 U.S. states, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
Music
Michael Woroniecki began creating music with an electronic keyboard in 1986. In the early 1990s he began using this music as another form of ministry on the streets of EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Woroniecki performed, during the summers of 1992 to 1996, in downtown city plazas and centers, visiting: London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
among others. Woroniecki says he used the music along with dances and biblical skits as a means of communicating the gospel in countries where they did not speak the language. Michael does not consider himself professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
but believes “that music is a powerful tool to touch people of all walks of life” .
During the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
, Woroniecki was reported to have performed with his family outside the various venues using the event to reach the international crowds with his message. Beginning in 1997, Woroniecki traveled throughout Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, playing on the streets.
According to his bio, from 2006 to 2009, Woroniecki has self-produced 8 music CDs which he and his family have distributed in their travels across America and abroad.
Religious viewpoint
Woroniecki preaches that one must "get alone, study the New TestamentNew Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
and seek the Living Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
to be Born Again". He says that todays "churches" are not the true Church as seen in the Scriptures and cannot save anyone.
Woroniecki has used large banner signs and often a wooden cross to convey his message for the past 35 years. In his ministry Woroniecki addresses the biblical themes of hypocrisy in the institutional system, grace
Grace
-Film:* Grace , a 2009 horror film* States of Grace, a 2005 drama film- Games :* The Game of graces, a 19th century game for young girls* Tales of Graces, a 2009 Tales of game by Namco Tales Studio- Literature :...
, salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
, forgiveness, hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, judgment
Judgment
A judgment , in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. At the same time the court may also make a range of court orders, such as imposing a sentence upon a guilty defendant in a criminal matter, or providing a remedy for the plaintiff in a civil...
, deception and the consequences of sin. Because of this, Woroniecki has taken his share of verbal and physical opposition. He claims that these are the "last days" and that Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
will soon return to judge the world. Woroniecki cites various Scripture verses in his pamphlets to substantiate his message that only by faith can a man be saved from hell and reconciled to God, a doctrine accepted by most mainstream Christians and defined by Martin Luther as sola fide
Sola fide
Sola fide , also historically known as the doctrine of justification by faith alone, is a Christian theological doctrine that distinguishes most Protestant denominations from Catholicism, Eastern Christianity, and some in the Restoration Movement.The doctrine of sola fide or "by faith alone"...
.
The Bible figures strongly in Woroniecki’s beliefs and is a focal point of his preaching. Despite not holding a conventional position in an established religion, Woroniecki’s knowledge of Scripture and theology is extensive. His years of personal and scholastic study at three seminaries are reflected in his literature. Woroniecki believes in biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact." Some equate inerrancy with infallibility; others do not.Conservative Christians generally believe that...
and considers the Scriptures authoritative on all matters of life.
Woroniecki's message is met on the streets with a variety of responses.
Connection to Andrea Yates
Woroniecki first met Rusty Yates in the mid 1980s while preaching on the campus of Auburn University, Alabama. Rusty took some literature, and they corresponded by mail for the next several years In 1989 Rusty introduced the Woronieckis to Andrea, whom he had recently begun dating. Woroniecki said of this meeting that Andrea seemed slightly intimidated, and that he advised them not to marry quickly, the same advice he gave to other young couples.The Yates and Woroniecki stayed in touch by letter and telephone, and in 1998, the Yates travelled to Miami after hearing that the Woronieckis were selling their motor home. Rusty bought the bus, a 1978 GMC that Woroniecki had used for his family's travels. During the week that the Yates stayed, Woroniecki confronted Rusty, saying that he was "willing to sacrifice his wife and children for the sake of his job" After this confrontation, Rusty and Woroniecki "grew apart". In the months leading up to the drownings, Rusty described the relationship with the Woronieckis as not being very close.
Andrea Yates had suffered mental health difficulties for several years leading up to 2001. In June 1999 Yates took an overdose of sedatives and over the next 2 years was hospitalized several times, and prescribed a variety of anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications. On June 20, 2001, a few weeks after being discharged from Devereaux Texas Treatment Center, Andrea
Andrea Yates
Andrea Yates is a former Houston, Texas resident who killed her five children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in the bathtub in her house. She had been suffering for some time with very severe postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis...
killed all five of her children.
In early 2002 Michael Woroniecki came to the attention of the national media when Yates' trial started. Yates' defense attorney George Parnham placed a copy of Woroniecki's newsletter The Perilous Times into evidence, suggesting that the material was dangerous for someone like Yates, and defense team psychiatrist Lucy Puryear said on Good Morning America that "Yates' fate may have been different if she never met Woroniecki". Certain media outlets alleged that Woroniecki bore some responsibility for influencing Andrea.
However, both Michael Woroniecki and Rusty Yates dismissed the allegations. According to the Houston Chronicle, "(Russell)Yates said his relationship with Woroniecki was more like learning from a book. He was free to accept what he wanted and reject that which he didn't". Yates said "That’s just crazy" when asked whether or not his wife was influenced by Woroniecki. He stated that Andrea had suffered schizophrenia, depression and delusions for years. Both Yates and Woroniecki characterized the connection, between Woroniecki’s teachings and Andrea Yate’s state of mind, as nothing more than media created fiction and sensationalist reporting
Sensationalism
Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers...
. Woroniecki “…certainly didn’t cause the delusion,” says Yates.
Woroniecki called the defense’s claims “ridiculous”. He stated that he had only met Andrea personally 4 or 5 times over 20 years and that his relationship with her was “one of nothing but love and compassion”. Woroniecki said that he had warned Russell Yates that Andrea and their children needed his love. Peter Jennings
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM was a Canadian American journalist and news anchor. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer...
of World News Tonight reported that Rachel Woroniecki, in a letter, had told the Yates' that they needed to reconcile their marriage. In an interview with NBC Dateline in March 2002, Mrs. Woroniecki said:
.
"A major problem is that people think that by emulating our lifestyle they can have the joy and the love that we have without building a foundation in Jesus Christ."
Woroniecki was quoted by the Grand Rapids Press as saying,
"I will gladly sacrifice my reputation if it can spare Andrea from the death penalty and give her a second chance at life. However ... it is deceitful and irresponsible to blame doctors, hospitals, clinics or 'postpartum depression.' They (Rusty and Andrea Yates) both know that the issues which culminated in this tragedy are much, much deeper."
Current
Woroniecki remains active in his ministry and has visited various universities during the fall semesters of the last several years. He and members of his family were seen preaching at the Democratic National ConventionDemocratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
in Denver, Colorado in 2008. In November of 2010, according to the article Woroniecki Family in Times Square on Associated Content.com, the Woroniecki family ministered in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, New York City, handing out free music CDs and promoting their website ‘ifanyoneisthirsty.com’. The author writes that the thrust of their message “was that Jesus is alive and that we need to actively seek him out”, adding that despite any controversy, the family seemed to him to be genuine in their efforts to “go all over the world and celebrate life and the living Jesus.” Jack Wellman, Christian evangelist and contributor to EveryDay Christian.com, OVI magazine online and Associated Content.com confirms that the Woroniecki family continues to take their message “to the world and to the streets of the nations”. According to Wellman, Woroniecki’s current message, as expressed on the website and in his literature, is:
“Are you willing to look deeper, beyond it all? Please give us a chance to help you. It will be well worth your time. What we offer you is not a new group, “church”, formulas, self exaltation or doctrines. What we offer you is the love of the living Jesus who has the answers that you are looking for.”
External links
- The Truth About Michael Woroniecki - Joshua Woroniecki's blog
- michaelworoniecki.com - The Official Website of the Woroniecki family