Gwen Shamblin was an author and founder of Weigh Down's Christian diet program. She advised that all people needed was to stop loving food and to love God instead. The results seemed to work; everyone wanted to know how to achieve the perfect weight loss. 

The preaching of God's work became so ingrained in her that she saw the opportunity to open her own church called the Remnant Fellowship Church. Shamblin was living the good life, one filled with doing God's work.

But was Shamblin doing God's work, or was she filling her own pockets with the hard-earned cash of others? Allegations of corruption, abuse and murder soon replaced the positive headlines. So who was the real Gwen Shamblin Lara?

Weigh Down Workshops

Shamblin was born on 18th February 1955 and raised in a Christian family. She studied dietetics at undergraduate level and went on to get her master's in food and nutrition. She worked in Tennessee in the department of health for five years. 

In the 1980s, she started her career as a weight consultant with her own business. She started the Weigh Down program, which stated that God would take the weight off. 

Thousands of people joined these workshops. Due to the religious nature of the program, churches throughout the country hosted the workshops. Following this, she published the Weigh Down book, which sold millions.

Remnant Fellowship Church

Shamblin knew what she wanted to do with the thousands of people following her every word. So in 1999, she set up her own church in Brentwood, Tennessee, that would help many more people meet their weight goals. 

Shamblin went on the Larry King Show to promote the church, stating that half of what she earned went to the government for taxes and the other half went back to the church. After that, however, people started to question the lifestyle that she was having with no income. 

Everything was going well for Shamblin. She divorced her husband in 2018, with whom she had two children and seven grandchildren. Her next marriage was to Joe Lara, an actor known for his role as Tarzan. 

Then on 29th May 2021, Shamblin, Lara and five members of the Remnants church boarded her Cessna Citation 500. The plane was piloted by her husband, whose medical license to fly had expired. Several minutes after taking off, it crashed into Percy Priest Lake, everyone on board was killed. 

Shamblin's death made it clear that everything was not as it seemed as allegations of abuse, corruption and murder erupted.

Abuse and Murder

Cracks had started to show in Shamblin's facade before death. Divorcing her husband was considered very controversial, especially by the head of a church that condemned divorce. 

Followers who wanted to divorce were told it was a woman's job to stay with her chosen man. It did not matter if he was violent to you; divorce was not allowed. Unless it seemed you were the head of the church.

This was not the only area of family life that the church commented on. They stated that children should obey their parents. Those children who did not should be beaten with glue sticks and belts to make them compliant. 

Joseph and Sonya Smith were a couple who took this scripture to heart. They beat their eight-year-old son to death, having tortured him for months beforehand. They both received a thirty-year sentence.

The church quickly condemned the couple, stating this was not in their scripture. They paid for the defence counsel for them. They even released stories that said Joseph Junior had died from an infection, not any beating. However, the autopsy results showed a story of continued horrendous abuse.

Financial Irregularities 

During her divorce from her husband, it became clear that Shamblin had amassed quite a fortune. Remembering her declaration on national television, people questioned where this money had come from. 

Unable to gain a divorce settlement, her ex-husband's lawyers subpoenaed the financial records of the Remnant church. It became clear there was much to fight over. Shamblin reportedly had eighteen properties worth $20 million and a private jet. 

In particular, the lawyers wanted to see the money the church gave Shamblin and her new husband. Shamblin settled out of court straight away.

This did not perturb investigators; they looked further into her finances. They discovered several houses Shamblin owned that had recently been transferred into various trusts. Shamblin was attempting to hide the extent of her property portfolio. 

Verbal Abuse and Humiliation

Many ex-patrons of the church have come forward to tell their story. They tell a tale of corruption and abuse. The only reason people lost weight was the church's level of control over them.

Patrons who wanted to lose weight were given mentors to work with, who were with them all the time. Every food choice had to be discussed with them before consumption. The patrons were groomed into weight loss in an isolated bubble. They would even buy new clothes for the thinner patrons.

One patron puts the ethos perfectly; she states that when you were doing the right thing, you were Shamblin's best friend. You were given hourly supervision when you started to put weight on again. If you still put on weight, you were banished from the church until you conformed.

Who is the real Gwen Shamblin Lara

On the surface, Shamblin appears to be a woman who got on with most people. She was a successful businesswoman and one of the first females to head a religious church. 

At the time of her death, she was one-third through a nine-week program with her followers urging them to renounce their wealth. Instead, in her words, money should be given away to build God's kingdom. 

This kingdom, it appeared, was her own pocket. The Remnant Fellowship seems to have been more of a cult than a religious group. One filled with abuse and corruption. 

When writing this, the church is being run by her daughter Elizabeth. Her son, Michael, has wasted no time since his mother's death, divorcing his wife and leaving the church altogether. 

Those who still doubt who the real Gwen Shamblin was in her will may provide the final answer. In it, she leaves her whole fortune to her two children and nothing to the church she founded. 

It suggests to me — perhaps I'm cynical — it suggests to me that the accumulation was not for God, it was for Gwen. - Nashville lawyer Gary Blackburn