Ariz. Pastor Enlists Teen Girls to Exorcism Franchise
After learning from a controversial Christian minister how to perform exorcisms, a group of teenage girls - armed with holy water, a Bible, and a cross - say they are prepared to take their place in the fight against evil.
The girls, ranging in age from 15 to 19, say they are answering the Rev. Bob Larson's call for laborers in a demanding field where the harvest is plentiful.
Larson, the controversial pastor of Spiritual Freedom Churches International in Scottsdale, Ariz., told the Daily Mail Friday that "outbreaks of demonic possession are getting out of control."
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"The Church just can’t keep up with demand," Larson said, claiming to have dozens of trained teams casting out demons all over the world.
"Our phone lines are ringing constantly-we receive up to 1,000 individual requests monthly, and we travel to countries like Africa, Ukraine, England and even Australia," he added.
Among the trained teams working with Larson's "exorcist franchise" is a cadre of teenage girls.
"We have found that our female, teenage exorcists are particularly effective at curing the possessed," Larson told the British paper.
His 16-year-old daughter, Brynne Larson, is also on the list of recent graduates from the exorcist school located in a hotel in Scottsdale.
Larson's daughter told the Daily Mail that she performed her "first exorcism [at] age 13, in Africa, on a man possessed by terrible demons." Brynne Larson said she found the experience exhilarating.
Others from Larson's school include Savannah Scherkenback, 19, and her sister Tess, 16; Jess Shurkenback and Melanie Massih, both 16; and Melanie's sister, Christina, who is 15.
In the weeks-long or months-long process of learning to perform exorcisms and break curses, the exorcism students are taught how to spot the tell-tale signs of demon possession.
According to Larson, those signs are: speaking a language one has never learned, having supernatural strength, and having a violent aversion to God, the cross and a hatred of holy water.
The Roman Catholic Church has developed specific teachings for priests assigned to perform exorcisms and, although views regarding the issue varies among Protestants, exorcisms and demonic possessions are portrayed as common in the New Testament.
The Gospels tell of Jesus Christ casting out demons from possessed persons and Acts 16: 16-18 describes Paul the apostle commanding a "spirit of divination" to leave a girl.
Larson, described as an evangelical in the Daily Mail article, has been carrying out a public exorcism ministry since the 1990s.
He has faced criticism from both within and outside the Christian community for allegedly being a fraud and for being unbiblical.
Larson has published dozens of books and appeared on several television programs. He also regularly holds exorcism seminars in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
According to the Spiritual Freedom Churches International's website, the Arizona pastor has been working on a reality TV show and a documentary called "Hellbound," an exploration of the Bible's teaching on and the public's perceptions of hell.
Larson told the Daily Mail that only those with a calling from God could truly become exorcists.
"It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, but we do find that young women are incredibly good at exorcisms," he said, adding that his students usually vary in age.
