Small plane carrying diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara and members of her church crashes into lake
‘It is now a recovery’: Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara, her husband and five other chief members of the Remnant Fellowship Church are ‘presumed dead’ after their private jet crashes into lake
- The Cessna C501 slammed into the water in Percy Priest Lake in Smyrna, Tennessee around 11am
- The plane is registered to Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband Joe Lara’s company JL&GL Productions LP
- Shamblin Lara, who founded Remnant Fellowship Church, is the author of The Weigh Down Diet, a diet based in Christian practices
- The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane left from the Smyrna Rutherford County Airport
- It crashed shortly after take-off and was reportedly bound for Palm Beach International Airport
- Shamblin Lara’s daughter Elizabeth Hannah sent a text to families of the church telling them the plane ‘had to go down for a controlled, quick landing’
A small plane carrying Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara, her husband and five other members of the Remnant Fellowship Church crashed into a lake in Tennessee on Saturday, and all passengers are now presumed dead.
The Cessna C501 left from Smyrna Rutherford County Airport before it slammed into the water in Percy Priest Lake in Smyrna, Tennessee at 10:53am shortly after take-off, officials said in a news release. The plane was bound for Palm Beach International Airport and it was not immediately clear who was piloting it.
‘Our efforts have transitioned from that of a rescue effort to that of a recovery effort. Those efforts will be continuing through the night,’ Captain Joshua Sanders with Rutherford County Fire Rescue Department said during a press conference on Saturday night.
Rutherford County officials had indicated earlier in the day that they had been able to confirm at least one person had died in the accident, though did not reveal who that passenger was.
The plane is registered to Lara and her husband Joe Lara – who played Tarzan in the 1989 film Tarzan in Manhattan and short-lived 1990s’ TV series Tarzan: The Epic Adventures – through their company JL&GL Productions LP, WTVF reported.
Elizabeth Hannah, Lara’s daughter, sent out an internal text to families of the church telling them the plane ‘had to go down for a controlled, quick landing,’ WTVF reported.
Hannah’s text identified them as her own husband, Brandon Hannah, along with the Laras – and church leaders David and Jennifer Martin and Jonathan and Jessica Walters. Rutherford County officials confirmed those identities in the press release late on Saturday.
Dive crews were reportedly seen at the lake looking for debris and survivors on Saturday afternoon after a plane registered to Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband Joe Lara’s company JL&GL Productions LP crashed into the water
A small plane carrying Christian diet guru Gwen Shablin, left, as well as her husband and five other members of the Remnant Fellowship Church crashed into lake in Tennessee
A Cessna owned by JL&GL PRODUCTIONS LP, believed to be the one that wrecked, is pictured
A boat is seen on the Percy Priest Lake in Smyrna, Tennessee after the plane crash
Emergency responders are pictured at Percy Priest Lake in Smyrna as they search for survivors of the wreck
Shamblin Lara, who founded the church in 1999, is the author of the nationally bestselling book The Weigh Down Diet, a diet based in Christian practices. Her status after the wreck is not known.
Her website describes her as the ‘pioneer of faith-based weight loss.’
The plane, built in 1982, is a fixed-wing plane with two engines and eight seats, according to the website Flight Aware.
Dive teams and recovery crews were continuing to search the lake into Saturday night, officials said in the news release.
Elizabeth Hannah wrote in her plea for prayers to the church’s parishioners that: ‘My brother and I are asking for immediate prayers right now.’
‘We have just gotten word that Gwen and Joe Lara’s plane had to go down for a controlled, quick landing,’ she wrote.
‘More information to come, but be in prayer – and be at peace. GOD IS IN CONTROL, and we will not stop moving forward with WHAT GOD WANTS with this church.’
She added that on behalf of herself and her brother, Michael Shamblin, that they ‘love this church and need the prayers of the righteous on this one.
The Federal Aviation Administration told WTVF that the plane left from the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport just before it wrecked. It was reportedly bound for Palm Beach International Airport
This flight-tracker shows the route the plane took before crashing shortly after taking off from Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport
The Remnant Fellowship Church is pictured in Brentwood, Tennessee
The Remnant Fellowship: A church of ‘hope’ for some and a ‘cult’ for others
In 2002, Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara bought 40 acres of land in Brentwood, Tennessee, and donated the entire property for the building of the Remnant Fellowship Church.
The Remnant Fellowship Church opened its doors in November of 2004 and the entire Weigh Down organization was donated to the church in 2006.
The church bases its ministry on the Bible-based teachings of Gwen Shamblin through Weigh Down Ministries, according to the church’s website.
Remnant remains based in Brentwood but its services are webcast out to over 100 Remnant Fellowship locations worldwide, according to the church.
The church’s global leadership includes a team team consisting of ‘120 shepherds, deacons, ministry leaders, and ministry assistants.
‘Any decisions made on behalf of the church are made through the leadership team with much prayer and discussion. Many of the day-to-day operations are handled through the various ministry teams,’ the church’s website reads.
The church is known for helping people through problems such as alcohol and drug addiction and markets itself to people ‘weary of the constant battles in today’s world.’
‘Rising crime, financial problems, broken homes, alcohol and drug abuse, rebellious children, disappearing morality – it seems like the world is growing further and further away from God and Christ, and the results are obvious,’ the church’s website reads.
The church notes that it is ‘not a man-made doctrine or dogma about sacraments or rituals.’
Its ‘assemblies’ take place on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings and usually run between 90 minutes and two hours long with music provided by a chamber orchestra, choirs and a praise band.
People who support the church have praised it for helping them through the ‘hopelessness’ in their lives.
‘This is a church of change changing from increasing hopelessness of the world to a high calling that is filled with more and more hope and blessings from God!!’ a woman named Sherri Johnson wrote in a Facebook review.
Another woman named Cora Elizabeth Palmer wrote: ‘Most peaceful place on Earth. Very thankful to get to be a part of such an awesome church!’
However, the church has also faced criticism and characterizations as a ‘cult.’
Former members Adam and Maria Brooks wrote in 2002 that they were ‘blindly caught up in Mrs. Shamblin’s call for faithful followers to leave their churches’ and claimed that she would recruit members of her church from her Weigh Down events.
‘As a result, in the summer of 2001 we left our church for a brief period and nearly joined Remnant Fellowship,’ the couple wrote.
‘For us, that experience gave us a traumatic taste of what it is like to be recruited into a cult and to experience ‘cultic mind control.’
The church also faced criticism in 2007 after two members Joseph and Sonya Smith were convicted of beating their 8-year-old son to death, NBC News reported. The church was reported to have stood by the couple amid their conviction and even paid for their legal appeals.
Elizabeth Hannah, her daughter, sent out an internal text to families of the church telling them the plane ‘had to go down for a controlled, quick landing’
Brentwood-based Christian diet guru Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband Joe Lara, who were both reportedly on the plane, are pictured. Her daughter, Elizabeth Hannah, right, was not on the plane but Hannah’s husband Brandon Hannah reportedly was
Pictured: Jonathan Walters and his wife Jessica Walters were also reportedly on the flight
Pictured: David Martin and his wife Jennifer Martin were also reportedly on the flight
Rutherford County Fire Rescue dive teams are working to determine the extent of crash site, examining the debris field, and conducting search and rescue operations
Rutherford County Fire Rescue dive teams are working to determine the extent of crash site, examining the debris field, and conducting search and rescue operations
The Rutherford County Fire Rescue tweeted that boaters and private aircraft are urged to stay clear of the area
Lara also has a grown son named Michael Shamblin – who was also reportedly not on the flight. Michael Shamblin has four children with his wife, Erin, and helps lead worship at the Remnant Fellowship Church.
The Remnant Fellowship told DailyMail.com in a statement that ‘authorities have not been unable to communicate with the families of those involved’ because no details have been confirmed.
‘The Shamblins, Hannahs and Laras appreciate your concern, support and prayers,’ the church said in the statement.
‘As has been reported by the media, some family members may have been involved in a plane accident this morning.
‘The families are awaiting details from the authorities. Because no details have been confirmed, the authorities have been unable to communicate with the families of those involved,’ the statement reads.
‘The families will share details at the appropriate time.’
Lara, an avid blog writer, had published a post to her website on Saturday – before the flight took off
Gwen Shamblin Lara: The woman who created the Weigh Down Diet
Gwen Shamblin Lara is a registered dietician and has a master’s degree in food and nutrition.
Her interest in weight loss started in college after gaining about 20 pounds, according to her website.
She has said she was ‘permanently set free’ from being overweight and dieting by ‘studying God’s perfect design and naturally thin eaters.’
Lara founded her Weigh Down workshops in 1992, in which dieters lose weight by using ‘the same Bible-based principles’ people use to turn away from other addictions such as smoking or alcohol abuse.
In 1997, she published her book The Weigh Down Diet which sold more than 1.2 million copies by 1999, Time reported.
By August 1998, Weigh Down held more than 21,000 classes with over 250,000 reported participants worldwide, the Chicago Tribune reported.
During a lecture in 1998, Lara quoted from the Bible while offering inspiring stories to spread her message that ‘food can’t love you back,’ the outlet reported at the time.
‘It’s a false comfort, a false friend, a false entertainment. In other words, a false god,’ Lara said.
Publisher notes for the book on Amazon read: ‘This is not a diet like others, because it is not food-focused.’
‘Weigh Down gives back hope to dieters who will learn that God did not put chocolate or lasagna on Earth to torture us – but rather for our enjoyment!’ the publisher wrote.
In 2002, Lara bought 40 acres of land in Brentwood, Tennessee, and donated the entire property for the building of the Remnant Fellowship Church.
The Remnant Fellowship Church opened its doors in November of 2004 and the entire Weigh Down organization was donated to the church in 2006.
She has since written a number of other books including: Rise Above, The Legend to the Treasure, The Tablet, The History of the One True God, The History of the Love of God, Weigh Down Works, and God-Fearing Families.
According to the church’s website, it was founded by Lara in 1999 and it has since grown in membership with more than 150 churches in the United States and Canada, and across several continents.
Lara, an avid blog writer, had published a post to her website on Saturday – before the flight took off – in which she said: ‘God does not want us to worry about the food’s content.’
The blog post included two verses from the Bible: Mark 7:14-23 and Ephesians 5:3-5.
‘So Jesus taught us that it is not the food that defiles us, but rather the attitudes and thoughts that we have in our hearts and in our minds that will corrupt and destroy us. It is the greed in our hearts that leads to overeating and overdrinking,’ she wrote.
Brandon and Elizabeth Hannah oversee and direct and direct the church’s youth group. The couple, married in 2003, has four children together: Grace, Gweneth, Gloria and Charles Grantham, according to their biographies on the church’s website.
David and Jennifer Martin, two of the passengers believed to have been on the plane, have been members of the Remnant Fellowship Church since Lara founded it in 1999.
The couple has been married since 1992 and has five children, with the oldest three married and living near them in Brentwood, according to their biography on the church’s website. Their role with the church is not immediately clear.
Jonathan and Jessica Walters met as original members of the church in 2000 and were later married at the church in 2002. The couple has three children together and also lives in Brentwood, according to their church biographies.
‘Hearing Gwen Shamblin read from the Bible was like hearing and reading it with completely new ears and eyes. She read it out of genuine love for God first, no legalism, and it made all the difference!’ Jessica Walters wrote in her biography.
According to his biography, Jonathan Walters helps lead the church’s youth group. His wife’s role with the church was not immediately clear.
