To the congregation, Rose had been much more than a charismatic preacher.
They call it The Church of Jesus Christ Forever or the Perfect Church.
Rose had also served as many of the church members boss at a local restaurant.
Rose Aluli led the Perfect Church in Oregon, Illinois, until her death in 1992.PerfectChurch.com
A wealthy woman, she loaned money generously several in the room were in debt to her.
Others looked to a self-published book of Roses teachings for spiritual guidance.
Although Rose had been more than 80 years old, her death was completely unexpected.
This wasnt supposed to happen.
Because Rose could not die.
It had been explained to Morris and the other children in the church over and over again.
Rose was, of course, without sin.
It was understood that at some point during the service Rose was supposed to rise from the dead.
She ran a bar with her second husband, Al, while raising nine children.
In the 1970s, Rose found herself swept up in the Life Message Pentecostal revival movement.
The church website describes itself as teaching members how to live completely without sin.
But according to some former members, living without sin entails abuse and sacrifice.
The town has a population of about 4,000 and a conservative, religious bent.
This has led to flare-ups between the more traditional locals and the eccentric church in their midst.
Many also allege he is a master manipulator who orchestrated a more extreme culture of abuse in the church.
Kale and other senior members of the church declined to be interviewed for this story.
FROM THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS a contingent of Oregon that viewed Kale and Roses budding church with suspicion.
Throughout the 1980s, they became the subject of a series of critical newspaper articles.
In one of these articles, a 1987Rockford Register Starfeature headlined Oregon Asks: Cult or Church?
(Rose denied accusations of physical abuse.
Below, it said cryptically, We have discontinued Devils Food Cake.
For a time, the town took the abuse rumors seriously.
Business dipped at Maxson Manor, with some patrons boycotting the restaurant.
While Rose was generally liked around town, some were less trusting of her assistant Kale.
In 1985, Rose received an award from the Oregon Chamber of Commerce for her management.
The group was known to the congregation as the four winds.
Maxsons head chef, Steven Ingersoll, was at the bottom of this pyramid.
During his eight years as a member, his whole life was dictated by the church.
His marriage to another church member was arranged by Kale.
His parents werent allowed to talk to him because they didnt join the church.
This way of living took a toll on Ingersoll.
I remember one Sunday, I was exhausted, he tells me.
I was down in the basement of the restaurant.
She viewed the marriage as predatory, a scheme to gain access to Roses extensive estate.
In a small town, the fire was huge news.
Much of Oregon gathered on the other side of the river to watch the blaze.
Insurance investigators ruled that the fire was an accident, though the timing does raise some questions.
a post on the church website asks.
Once Rose had died, and the restaurant was gone, Oregons interest in the church dimmed.
Newspapers stopped writing about it.
But for those who remained members, things got more bizarre.
GROWING UP, MORRIS SAW HIS PASTOR Kale as nothing short of the voice of God.
When he said jump, you dont just jump, Morris says.
As soon as Rose died, life became very harsh and demanding.
Morris remembers the rules being ambiguous and entirely at Kales discretion.
They mostly involved prayer and good behavior.
First, the congregation was asked to remove the root of sin.
Then they needed to achieve the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Then came something called The Dive.
Kale was usually first to reach the next level.
Morris was usually last.
On the day they met, Kale says, Rose cured a lingering headache.
I vaguely remember there being some level of joy and happiness before, he says.
As soon as Rose died, life became very harsh and demanding.
It was like us versus the world, says Isaac Ryland, a former member.
Morris adds, We were like, Ifonlyyou guys knew how important our church was.
He ate until he vomited, he says, and was then forced to eat his own vomit.
Five other former church members backed up parts of Morris accounts, or have shared stories of similar abuses.
Another says she was forced to slap herself if she misbehaved.
Kale exerted control over the members careers, who they could spend time with, and their romantic partners.
Even minor decisions had to be run up the churchs chain of command, say former members.
Congregants say they were required to pay a minimum of 10 percent of their income in tithes.
(The church describes these tithes as voluntary.)
If kids fell out of line, Kale saddled them with prophecies of dark and disturbing futures.
(The church didnt respond to requests to comment about these allegations.)
If he ever tried to leave the church again, they said theyd turn him in to the police.
So Morris lashed out, sneaking out and breaking into homes, cars, and schools.
That year, Morris was caught and sentenced on a burglary charge.
Morris drove to his moms house, packed his bags and left.
This time, it stuck.
Arians tells me Im going to run into some walls if I start looking into Kales church.
You dig too deep around here and they dont like it, he says.
While some locals are excited to gossip about the church, others are much more tight-lipped.
Over the course of several decades, it seems the church reached an uneasy truce with Oregon.
After Roses death, Kale made efforts to reclaim her legacy.
He and senior member Rick Ryland made appearances at community events and became respectable figures around town.
Ryland joined the school board, then the planning commission.
The church spread members tithe money to various charities throughout town.
They just didnt like the publicity.
Maybe they were selling houses.
Maybe they owned a restaurant, Floski says.
We dont want you to do a story that makes Oregon look bad.
For nearly 30 years, the town had basically embraced the idea of shutting up about the church.
The 30-by-60-foot flag of steel siding covered much of the south wall of the Conover Square Mall.
One read: Rev.
Rose M. Aluli Memorial.
Another commemorated the Greatest Anonymous Donor Ever.
The group was led by church member Rick Ryland, who was the 2017 ceremonys emcee.
The process of fixing the wall was strange and miraculous.
Every time they seemed poised to run out of money, in came another anonymous check.
Each was accompanied by an article in the local paper, where Ryland expressed his shock and gratitude.
Of the $185,000 donated, $160,000 came from this timely anonymous donor.
After brief remarks from Ryland and other local figures, it was his turn to speak.
Kale stepped up to the podium, hugged Rick, and adjusted the microphone.
But when he began talking, it quickly became clear this was his show.
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.
For purple mountains majesties above our fruited plains.
Everything about the speech seemed slightly off-kilter.
Something suddenly felt off about the entire event.
It turned out to be an hour ofhimtalking.
By the time Kale was done, the crowd, originally about 50 people, had thinned out.
Microphone still in hand, he sang along, reaching toward the sky and adding improvised riffs.
The audience cautiously followed his lead, standing and singing.
FIVE YEARS LATER, THE TENUOUS TRUCE between the town and the Perfect Church came to an abrupt end.
In March 2022, a local Facebook page ignited a firestorm that threatened to tear the town apart.
Im very involved inmychurch, Shrimpster tells me.
But this is just wacko stuff.
Im very involved inmychurch.
But this is just wacko stuff.
But his post was quickly removed, he says.
The meeting quickly went south.
Im still here, Shrimpster jokes.
The call lit a fire under Shrimpsters ego.
He kept posting, and some former members joined him.
The resulting controversy is referred to by some in Oregon as the Facebook Debacle.
Over three months, there was a new development every few days.
Soon, the whole town was following the saga.
That was my soap opera for weeks, says Jennifer Grygiel.
Whats Up Ogle County became the most active Facebook group in the area, with 22,800 members.
Allegations that had been whispers and rumors for decades were finally being aired in public.
Jesse Morris, Anthony Rinaldo, and several other members added their stories of psychological and physical abuse.
Shrimpster looked into the funding for the Conover Square wall project.
Unverified rumors spread that the church was stockpiling weapons at a ranch on the edge of town.
We own our own property, pay our taxes, and make our mortgage payments, the statement reads.
Many of our members have volunteered to help the city of Oregon.
We have donated money to the referenda committee that ended with a favorable vote to assist the school district.
The record speaks for itself.
Many are written in a similarly formal style and rely on frequent rhetorical questions.
Would I change anything about the way I grew up?
Only my mistakes, my sins, states one younger member.
Another: Was it always easy?
But I have never lived in bondage.
Other entries discuss feeling ostracized and persecuted by the Oregon community.
DESPITE KALES PROPHECIES, Morris hasnt gone back to prison.
More than 15 years later, hes happily married with a good job.
As the generation of kids who grew up in the church got older, more and more slipped away.
Today, those former members continue to grapple with their experiences there.
In our interviews, many apologize for swearing, considered a major sin in the church.
Some seem to make a point of dropping swears in our conversations.
Several remember negative prophecies Kale made about them and take pride in having avoided them.
While some have ended up in more traditional churches, others eschewreligionaltogether.
Almost all have moved out of Oregon.
(Hampilos says he was not involved in setting rates of compensation for workers on the project.)
Years later, he feels conflicted about speaking out against the church.
My parents are genuinely happy, he says.
Its like ignorance is bliss.
Do I really want to attack something that means so much to them?
Then theres the other side where people like Jesse, those guys were genuinely abused.
Jackie and Roselani do most of the talking.
When I decline those terms, they ask who sent me.
They informed me soon after you left the village bakery.
Im willing to at least receive your call.
I will honor that part … yo ACKNOWLEDGE.
These and other ex-members are now advancing exaggerations and outright lies.
Shrimpster is focused on riling people up about other issues.
The Oregon Police Department investigative report released in late May 2022 ultimately didnt amount to much.
Most of the abuse alleged had happened more than a decade ago, beyond statutes of limitations.
Some incidents occurred beyond the police departments geographical jurisdiction.
Other allegations, while horrifying, are not necessarily illegal.
They did not say whether they had specifically investigated the rumor of stockpiled weapons.)
In a photo, Kale smiles front and center behind an oversize check for $4,500.
But there are fewer members of the church living in town these days.
Inspired by a prophecy, many are splitting their time between Oregon and Kauai, Hawaii.
People who dont live in small towns think people in small towns have really long memories.
But they dont hold long grudges, she says.
People just move on.
