[Part One 1966-1998] [Part Two 1998-present]
Revised Apr 2007

Introduction: Growing Families International [GFI] has been controversial within the Christian church for a long time. With the publication of Babywise, the Ezzos extended their controversial method into the secular world.

Purpose: To illustrate that the present-day controversy is the consequence of Ezzo's own repeating patterns of behavior and advice. Concerns about medical misinformation and of a propensity to circulate rumors and lies about critics and associates have dogged the Ezzos almost from the beginning of their ministry. Accountability structures were unable to fulfill their roles as the Ezzos dropped out of accountability relationships when called to account.

Goal: To assist parents and church leaders in evaluating whether Gary Ezzo is qualified to provide leadership in parenting and calling families to high moral standards.

Corrections and additions may be directed to Kathy Thile

The Timeline
Part One 1966-1998

(Note: for clarity, some listings have been grouped by topic rather than by date)

Not much is known about Ezzo's early life or employment background before the late 70's. On a GKGW (2nd ed.) teaching tape Ezzo refers to having some kind of farming or sheepherding background.

Fall of 1966 - Summer of 1969 -- Gary Ezzo took several classes at Mohawk Valley Community College but did not get an AA degree.

1974 - 1977 - Approximate time of Anne Marie Ezzo's employment as an RN at Concord Hospital. Concord Hospital could not verify GFI's claim that Anne Marie Ezzo's work experience included pediatric nursing.
Source: More Than A Parenting Ministry footnote #57, CRI Vol 20/Number 4 1998 April-June

Note: updated ministry bios on GFI's US website have dropped the claim that Anne Marie Ezzo has a background in pediatric nursing.

Ezzo and his church in New Hampshire

By late 1979 -- Ezzo was considered to be one of the leaders/elders of His Vantage Point Church in Laconia, NH (This church came to be known as Lakes Region Bible Church.)

1980/1981 -- Ezzo became pastor-teacher of this church

1982 or 1983 -- Ezzo was asked to step down from leadership in this church amid complaints of authoritarianism, exclusivism and divisiveness.
Sources:More Than a Parenting Ministry, Christian Research Journal Vol 20/Number 4 1998 April-June and A Matter of Bias?, Christian Research Journal Vol 21/Number 2

Ezzo in California

Ezzo and his family--wife Anne Marie and two daughters--moved from New Hampshire to Southern California.

1983 – Ezzo entered Talbot School of Theology full time to pursue a Master of Arts in Ministry degree in a program designed for candidates with ministry experience in lieu of a bachelor's degree.

1984 – The Ezzos started teaching parenting classes at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley CA.

1985 – In the course of accepting a staff pastor position at GCC, Ezzo filled out an employment application, listing a degree he did not earn (the AA), and even specifying a major and a grade point average. In 2000, an embattled Ezzo justified his action saying it, "suited the purpose for which the information was being requested which was simply establishing an educational benchmark for 1985."
Sources: "Unprepared to Teach Parenting", Christianity Today, November 13, 2000; GFI ministry letter on file, dated 2001.

Circa 1985 -- Anne Marie Ezzo authored and circulated a 4-page paper titled "Parent Controlled Feeding". It included "a sample time table for feeding during the first four weeks" which laid out feedings at 4 hour intervals, and urged parents to consider formula supplements if the baby, by three weeks of age, couldn't last three or four hours on mother's milk alone.
Source: Document on file

1985 -- Ezzo graduated from Talbot with a Master of Arts in Ministry

1986 -- GKGW videos first distributed

1987 -- The Ezzos formed GFI as a nonprofit corporation along with five other Grace Community Church couples.

1989 -- The nonprofit corporation was dissolved and GFI became a for-profit corporation

1989 -- The version of Preparation for Parenting that was circulating at this time says that other parenting views are incompatible with scripture, practiced by an "extreme fringe," primitivistic, humanistic, based in evolution, emotional, idolatrous, unhealthful, harmful to marriage, cause developmental delay and "de-sanctify" Christian motherhood.
Source: quotes on file from Preparation for Parenting c 1989

1990 -- Ezzo's "Growing Kids God's Way" radio broadcast began and by '91 it was going out on multiple stations. In January '92 Ezzo claimed it would be on over 100 stations nationwide by April of 92.
Source: Letter from Gary Ezzo on file

1990 – The 3rd edition of Preparation for Parenting: A Biblical Perspective was self-published and taught that spacing feedings 3 to 4 hours apart would cultivate self-control and counter-act the baby's desire for immediate gratification:

The mother would feed the baby

and the book confidently assured parents that the baby's hunger patterns "will begin to line up" with the scheduled mealtimes. If not, the use of infant formula was recommended in order to stay with the plan.

"If toward the end of week three you find your baby is fussy after feeding, not going three to four hours on breast milk, and you begin to question your milk supply, there is a three-day test you may want to try. After nursing your baby, offer him a complementary feeding of one or two ounces of formula. After each feeding, express your milk, keeping track of how much extra you are producing. After three days, if you see that your milk supply has increased...then return to just breastfeeding.

If your milk supply has not significantly increased, that is strong indication that you are not able to keep up with the demands of your little one. If that is the case, do not nurse more often. Stay with the plan and continue with the complementary feeding for the benefit of your baby and your own peace of mind."
--Preparation for Parenting, c 1990, p. 92

By 8 weeks, according to the 3rd edition, the baby would sleep through the night and have 5-6 feedings daily. A table shows 4-5 feedings as the average number of feedings 8 week old babies received according to come from an informal follow-up survey of users.
View more quotes from Preparation for Parenting, 3rd Edition

1992 -- Eric Abel was GFI's Director of Ministries. The Abels were also among the five couples who originally co-founded GFI with the Ezzos. He resigned in September of 1994 due to unresolved concerns about Gary Ezzo's integrity and lack of accountability.
Source: A Matter of Bias, Christian Research Journal Summer 1998 issue.

1992 – Dr. Robert Bucknam, who received co-author credit on Babywise in 1993, was in a pediatric residency program at Children's Hospital in L.A.
Source: Medic Data

1993 – 1st edition of Babywise was self-published by GFI. This edition was nearly identical to Prep for Parenting which Dr. Bucknam did not co-author. Explicit religious language was removed, and Dr. Bucknam added a foreword, praising the earlier Ezzo material which had so impressed him, and denigrating the "instincts" which had left him and his wife high and dry, and feeding their son every two hours.

For babies from 0-8 weeks of age, the book recommended 3 to 4 hour feedings:

Note: The end-to-beginning measurement of feeding intervals instituted in this edition gives the false impression that feeding intervals were changed from previous editions whose 3-4 hour intervals had come under criticism.

This edition noted a side benefit of fewer feedings--it leaves you with fewer diapers to change!

Note: fewer wet and soiled diapers indicates less intake.

August 16, 1993—Christianity Today published first national article voicing concerns: The Brave New Baby by Thomas S. Giles

Summary of article: the growing popularity of Preparation for Parenting is noted along with associated reports of infants with low weight gain and emotional withdrawal. The concerns of various health care professionals were noted. Various church leaders express concerns over dogmatism and their opinion that the program needs modification. Ezzo insists GFI should not be held responsible for these or other health problems, but admitts that he didn't consult any lactation experts or other health-care professionals in writing his manual.

August 20, 1993 - GFI responds to this article by sending a letter and response sheet to their supporters. They accused Christianity Today's reporter of deliberately misleading the public. They claimed that 92% of mothers using the program breastfeed and more than 99% of the babies on the program sleep through the night by 8 weeks, linking these outcomes to use of the material, while doubting that the negative experiences documented by the reporter could be connected to use of the material. They opined that even if there were a hundred babies who had failed to gain weight adequately, it would be statistically insignificant in comparison to the success stories.
Source: Ezzo's August 20, 1993 letter and response sheet on file

Fall 1993 – 4th edition of Preparation for Parenting published
Source: Ezzo's statement in "The Brave New Baby", Christianity Today

September 1994 — Eric Abel resigned as GFI's Director of Ministries over concerns "about the integrity of the company and its leadership." Abel remained at GFI in a different capacity through February of 1996 while seeking other employment. During this period he and his wife Julie removed themselves from their public role with the company because of their integrity concerns.
Sources: Abel Family Public Statement & Eric Abel, email on file, 5.19.06

Ezzo and Grace Community Church

Spring 1993 -- Grace Community Church elders "asked Gary Ezzo to be more accountable to them"
Source: Oct '97 GCC Elders' Statement Regarding Gary Ezzo and Growing Families International

June 1993 -- Ezzo announced plans to resign from the pastoral staff at GCC but to continue as a lay elder.

Mid-1995 — GCC's pastoral staff met with Gary to discuss concerns about doctrinal and biblical content of GFI materials. Gary "promised to make changes in his material to alleviate everyone's concerns." The promised changes were never submitted to the pastoral staff. Instead, Gary resigned as an elder and withdrew from GCC completely.
Source GCC Statement Regarding Gary Ezzo and GFI

July 18, 1995 — Gary's pastor at GCC, Dr. John MacArthur, wrote to Gary upon Gary's resignation from the elder board to summarize and "put to rest" an apparently unfruitful discussion concerning GCC's decision to drop GFI materials and remove them from the church's bookstore. MacArthur expressed his affection for the Ezzos but noted his dissatisfaction with Gary's behavior:

Source: letter dated July 18, 1995 from John MacArthur to Gary Ezzo, provided by GFI

July 8, 1995 — Gary posted on an America Online Ezzo method message board located in a Christian discussion area:

full text here

1995 -- Babywise published by Multnomah.

Ezzo and World Magazine

May 25/June 1, 1996 -- WORLD Magazine published The Ezzos Know Best, subtitled "Controversial Parenting Curriculum is Sweeping the Church"

Summary of article: Description of the attraction of the program to Christian parents and of praise and concerns offered up by various people and organizations.

Not so, said Maynard, in his personal response.

In fact, Ezzo wrote up two 'markedly different' versions of the 'verbatim' interview transcript. The second version was noticed on GFI's website by Dr. Steve Rein, a Christian father and statistician who collected articles about the Ezzos' materials on his website. Ezzo attempted to press criminal charges against Rein for "hacking". No charges were filed. Ezzo later sent a ministry response letter to GFI supporters telling them he had heard that Dr. Rein had lost his position over this, and that "we have no reason to doubt that."

In fact, Rein's departure was unrelated. He was offered an advantageous position elsewhere and accepted it. He left on good terms with his former university and continued to do work for them from a distance for a period of time after his departure.
Sources: "Unprepared to Teach Parenting", Christianity Today; GFI extended response document on file; and correpondence on file from Dr. Steve Rein

July 1996 -- WORLD's writer Roy Maynard issued a personal response, calling the "verbatim" transcript inaccurate and "threaded together in such a way as to distort my words, views, and journalistic methods." He closed by returning to the issues:

WORLD eventually (April 1997) offered a mild apology, but stood by the fairness of the article and their journalist.

Ezzo's Spring 1997 newsletter devoted a full page to applause and praise of WORLD's apology. The implication was that WORLD had repented in sackcloth and ashes and Ezzo's demands had been satisfied in full.
Source: "Gary Ezzo's thoughts on World Magazine", The Community Perspective, GFI, Vol.2 No.1

Later, Ezzo would again use WORLD's mild apology to dismiss the whole affair.

"Children throw temper tantrums for two reasons: blackmail and revenge. Little Stevie blackmails his mother into submission with temper outbursts. He has found this to be an effective method of control, especially in public."
---GKGW p 23

July 11 1996 -- ABC World News Tonight television featured a report on Ezzo's method, by religion reporter Peggy Wehmayer, herself a Christian.

July 1996 -- GFI published a response on their website which denounced the report as part of the media's "War Against Moral Truth" but did not address the issues brought up in the report itself.

August - October 1996 -- The Kuhlmann correspondence:

Soon to adopt a baby, Joel and Kathryn Kuhlmann were encouraged by a pastor at their church to write to Gary Ezzo directly about questions and concerns they had about his material.

Ezzo sent back a photocopy of their letter with terse comments jotted in the margin.

The Kuhlmanns replied that perhaps there had been a mix-up in GFI's correspondence department. Ezzo sent another photocopy of their letter with a Post-it note saying their letter was "so badly flawed in its assertions that any other type of response is rendered useless...."
Source: Kuhlmann/Ezzo correspondence

Ezzo and Grace Community Church cont'd

August 22, 1996 -- Gary sent an email to a donor to the radio ministry of GCC, the church where Gary had pastored for 10 years, containing false information about his former employer and place of worship. GCC's concern mounted when these same rumors began coming back to them from around the world. It appeared, said GCC elder Philip Johnson, that Ezzo was conducting a "private smear campaign."
Source: Questions About Growing Families International, Grace Church and Gary Ezzo

But the most perfidious way to rob another human being is to steal their good reputation....the one who steals another man's good reputation by slanderous gossip can never pay back what he has taken."
--GKGW ed 4, p 245

September 1, 1996 -- Dr. John MacArthur, senior pastor at GCC, corrected the false information and warned Gary to set the record straight immediately -- wherever and to whomever he had spread the false information.
Source: Questions About Growing Families International, Grace Church and Gary Ezzo

September 17, 1996 -- Gary sent an apology to MacArthur and to the donor. GFI later claimed that "Gary's error was not in the veracity of the facts shared, but in the amount of information communicated."
Source: GFI response document

Oct 1996-- Ezzo published "Growing Kids God's Way--Why it's Right" , a lengthy article written to express strenous objections to the "purposeful distortions" contained in an article by Rebecca Prewett, a Christian woman whom he characterized as deceptive and untrustworthy by reason of her former connection with La Leche League International (a breastfeeding support organization.)

After introductory comments, the article offers 3 short paragraphs of positive things about the classes and the organization including a startling claim:

One of the most notable highlights of this program is the Ezzos' advanced research on healthy infant nighttime sleep.

It did not, however, expand on the nature of the "advanced research." and the Ezzos have not ever published this research if it does exist.

The remaining several pages of the article are largely devoted to casting doubt on the integrity of the author of the article.

Early 1997—Eric and Julie Abel (former GFI Director of Ministries) requested to be removed from GFI materials (e.g. teaching videos) in order to complete their disassociation from GFI.
Source: Abel Family Website

January 12, 1997—Conservative Christian parenting ministry Focus on the Family said rigid adherence to the GFI materials could result in child abuse but tactfully concluded that "whether to use or not to use the Ezzos' material remains, in the final analysis, a judgment call."

By late 1997 this statement was strengthened to say Focus does "not recommend" the material.

March 1997: Boulder Weekly article "Wise Advice for Babies?"by Eric Patterson noted that

Babywise credits no one as the book's primary lactation expert. Bucknam says he was not at liberty to give her name. "But, yes, she is certified and highly regarded in her area of expertise," he adds. ...Bucknam also says that University of Virginia and University of Arizona research, soon to be published in major medical journals, will support Babywise's principles. (When asked twice, Bucknam would not divulge the names of the principal researchers or the journals where this research will be published.)

Note: the research never appeared.

April 26, 1997–"In God's Hands" and "Q & A With Gary Ezzo" published in the Bradenton Herald

Ezzo: We have chased down enough of the supposed cases of low weight gain only to find out they had nothing to do with feeding a baby every three hours on our program. Many of the so-called concerns are more fabricated and exaggerated than real.

Herald: Some critics say you are not qualified to give such advice regarding infant feeding. What are your qualifications as well as those of Anne Marie Ezzo? When you say Anne Marie has a "background in pediatric nursing," what specifically do you mean? (i.e. education, where employed, and when, etc.)

Ezzo: Again, who are the critics? What are their families like? Are they sought after by young parents as role models to be emulated?

March to October 1997-- Christian education expert Dr. Kent McClain and a committee from his former church in Arizona conducted a review of GKGW. The process included reading the GKGW materials and viewing the teaching videos and comparing them with other parenting materials. Dr. McClain spoke with Gary Ezzo by phone and set up a meeting. When McClain got to LA, Ezzo "cancelled the pre-arranged meeting."

The critique offered 4 areas of concern:

1) Missing Biblical Cornerstones
The program, which purports to be God's plan for raising children, fails to cover essential biblical teachings such as: the knowledge of redemption/salvation, how to walk by faith, the exercise of prayer, family devotions, etc.

2) Mishandling of Scripture--Fact vs. Opinion
It is difficult to distinguish between the Ezzos' opinions, actual fact, and biblical principle. They periodically create the impression that their own ideas of parenting are Scriptural or moral, when they may not be.

3) Presence of Legalism
The program has a tendency of making parenting applications more significant than the biblical context allows. The material routinely moralizes parenting suggestions, forcing them to become decisions of right and wrong.

4)Questionable Views of Child Development
The materials display a questionable understanding of child development. Many of the discipline suggestions are not age appropriate.

Note: Dr. McClain updated the critique in 2001: click here for the web version.
Download the PDF version here.

Ezzo and Grace Community Church, cont'd

October 16, 1997— Grace Community Church issued a public statement "A Statement Regarding Gary Ezzo and Growing Families International" to explain why GCC is no longer affiliated with Gary Ezzo and GFI and why they no longer use or endorse GFI materials. The document mentioned the elders found no biblical justification for various teachings Ezzo portrayed as biblical, and noted concerns with the way Ezzo had handled criticism.

Gary Ezzo has declined to listen to concerns from essentially friendly critics--including fellow elders, pastors, and even co-workers in the GFI ministries. His responses to the elders of Grace Church have reflected a repeated tendency to avoid accountability....In at least one case he assured a group of concerned elders that he would seek resolution of a long- standing conflict--then later refused to do so. His departure from Grace Church left a disturbing number of conflicts unresolved and concerns unaddressed.

At the same time, Gary has been known to respond with exaggerated and even false accusations against his critics. [Emphasis added]

October 26, 1997—The Ezzos' initial public response to GCC's statement insisted that they were "under the care and guidance and spiritual authority of the elders" at Living Hope Evangelical Fellowship and promised that these elders would conduct a "thorough investigation." Two of the three elders were on GFI's staff. (This is the church that would excommunicate Ezzo less than 3 years later.)

November 11, 1997— The Final GFI response to Grace Statement disputed -- at great length -- points such as the dates of meetings and whether the GCC elders had pursued resolution aggressively enough. It was "reviewed" and "approved" by elders at Living Hope Evangelical Fellowship. It was originally available GFI's website. View here.

December 11, 1997— GCC elder Phil Johnson who framed GCC's statement responded to common questions about the situation in "Questions about GFI, Grace Church, and Gary Ezzo"

Feb 1998 — GFI called on Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries to assist in reconciliation meetings with GCC elders.

March 20, 1998 —The reconciliation meetings resulted in a revised statement by GCC elders "A Statement Regarding Gary Ezzo and Growing Families International"

In a comment on this revised statement, GCC elder Phil Johnson stated that during the meetings Ezzo indicated a desire to rectify character-related issues mentioned in the original statement, so in good faith GCC agreed to retract their earlier statement in favor of a briefer, vaguer statement.

May 13, 1998 — Ezzo made use of this milder statement to minimize to his followers the seriousness of GCC's concerns. He claimed his organization had submitted to Ken Sande's suggestions for improvement, and alluded to unresolved issues saying, "there are some issues only heaven can sort out."
Source: "Grace Church /GFI Ministry statement" originally published on GFI's website.

July 25, 2000 — after Ezzo was excommunicated from his next church, LHEF, GCC's pastor Dr. John MacArthur made an updated public statement, part of which refers to the events in this section of the timeline:

Almost three years ago, the elders of Grace Community Church issued a public statement about Growing Families International (GFI) and Gary Ezzo. In addition to several concerns about the extra-biblical content of GFI materials and divisive tendencies in the GFI program, we also initially voiced some rather significant concerns about Mr. Ezzo's personal character.

Specifically, we reported that he had shown a pattern of resisting accountability, and that he was not always truthful. (We had become aware of several instances in which Mr. Ezzo twisted the truth, ranging from a false claim that he held a degree he had never really earned, to the spreading of false reports about our church in a manner that appeared to be deliberately divisive.)

Mr. Ezzo subsequently met with one of our elders and expressed a desire to rectify our major concerns about his character. He assured us that he was making himself accountable to a group of men he trusted--the pastor and elders of Living Hope Evangelical Fellowship (LHEF).

In the interest of seeking peace, we issued a revised and abbreviated version of our public statement. In that revised statement, the concerns we had raised about Mr. Ezzo's integrity and accountability were no longer expressly mentioned, pending further action on Mr. Ezzo's part to mitigate or allay those concerns. After the revised statement was issued, however, Mr. Ezzo made no further attempt to address the larger concerns we had raised about his personal character.

We have nonetheless been able to verify that LHEF's discipline of Mr. Ezzo involves the very same issues we raised in our initial public statement: Gary Ezzo's lack of truthfulness and his refusal to be held accountable. It is not without significance that the men who have excommunicated him are the same men to whom he claimed to be making himself accountable. This has clearly become a pattern of behavior with Mr. Ezzo. LHEF is at least the third church Mr. Ezzo has left with questions pending about his character.

Note: Ezzo's pattern of agitating for an apology or for private reconciliation meetings followed by public portrayal to followers that the concern was dropped or resolved--may be one reason subsequent critics of Gary Ezzo have been unwilling to enter into private "reconciliation" meetings with him.

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