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On August 31, country singer and songwriter Rory Feek dismissed the cult allegations brought against him by his daughters Heidi, 37, and Hopie, 35, more than a week ago, where they also claimed that he was disregarding the safety and security of their little sister Indiana “Indy” Boone, who has Down Syndrome.
Heidi took to her Instagram Stories on August 23, where she mentioned how she and Hopie were “pursuing legal action” as they “no longer believe Indiana is safe under our father’s care, and her well-being remains our top priority.” Later, on August 29, she further explained that Indy was being “left in the care of a group” reportedly the Montana branch of the Homestead Heritage.
While the group defines itself as an “agrarian and craft-based intentional Christian community,” reports dating back to The Texas Observer in 2012 claim that they were allegedly involved in s*xual and child abuse as well as domestic violence. However, ever since, Homestead Heritage has denied the accusations.
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Amid these, Rory Feek responded via a 3500-word blog post on Saturday titled “love, dad.” He called it a “family dispute” and said that social media wasn’t the place to “settle it.”
“What makes this hardest, I think, besides that, it’s being done in public and by family members that I love dearly, is that Indiana has never been more loved or better cared for than she is right now,” the 59-year-old crooner claimed.
Elsewhere in the lengthy blog, Rory Feek also shared that Homestead Heritage is not a cult, rather they live “in a way that other people don’t like or understand.” He added that “it’s a whole lot easier to call something a cult and dismiss it than it is to look deeper into and actually find out what it is they are doing and why they’re doing it.”
All you need to know about Homestead Heritage in the wake of Rory Feek's drama
According to the official website, Homestead Heritage was formed in June 1973 by Blair and Regina Adams in the Hells’ Kitchen neighborhood of Lower East Side Manhattan, New York City, where the couple converted an old bar and crash-pad into a “small peace church.”
Back then, the community comprising 30 members focused on growing their own food, home education, home birth, and more, and soon shifted their base to New Jersey. Subsequently, they grew in number, and over 100 members moved to Colorado and later expanded to Texas, where they began practicing horse farming, craft barns, and organized fairs.
Since then, the Christian community has focused on “simplicity, sustainability, self-sufficiency, cooperation, service, and quality craftsmanship.” They also encourage “peaceful coexistence with the land, other people, and other faiths.”
Today, Homestead Heritage has over a thousand members, alongside several thousand visitors and followers, and hosts various events over the year, including the Thanksgiving Fair. They are primarily based out of Baylor, Texas, and offer classes at the Ploughshare Institute for Sustainable Culture where life skills such as knitting, yarn spinning, basket weaving, woodworking, and more are taught.
Exploring Rory Feek’s response against his elder daughters’ allegations
In July 2024, country musician Rory Feek married his youngest daughter Indiana's teacher, Rebecca, in Greycliff, Montana. Afterward, his eldest daughter Heidi claimed on Instagram that Indiana, who has Down Syndrome, was left with an unfamiliar family while their father and his new wife were on their honeymoon. In August, Heidi and her sister Hopie announced plans to take legal action against their father, accusing him of being part of a "cult" in Homestead Heritage and neglecting Indiana's care.
In the wake of these accusations, Rory Feek wrote a long blog post over this weekend and repudiated his daughters’ claims. He mentioned that he may not be a “perfect father” but he was also not an “idiot,” and ensured that while he was away on his honeymoon with his new wife Rebecca, Indiana was left in the care of two “loving” families who had kids close to her age.
The Kansas native added that his youngest daughter “had a ball” during the time and was totally “safe” in the presence of their next-door neighbors and closest friends.
“What saddens me about the accusations against them the most is that no one reached out to me to ask about them or anyone else. They just looked online, found people saying bad things that frustrated ex-members and strangers have said through the years, and ran with it as truth,” the Gentle Man singer wrote.
Elsewhere, he mentioned that his elder daughters held grudges against him because he no longer allowed them to meet Indiana. Rory Feek explained that earlier, Indy went to spend “a night or two” every few months in Alabama with her elder sisters. However, he “stopped” allowing that a year ago because “they refused to respect my wishes when she was there.”
“Indiana is my daughter, and I know what Joey [his late second wife and Indy’s mother] would want, and I am standing firmly on not compromising the values and principles that are important to me to raise Indy with,” the musician wrote.
Rory Feek explained that he was a conservative Christian and his adult daughters believed something “completely different,” and “exposed” Indy to movies, music, and other things he did not approve of. The This Life I Lead creator added that Indiana was still allowed to “speak” to her big sisters on the phone, and expressed his hope of a family reconciliation soon.
“I will readily admit that I wasn’t a perfect father when they were young, but I tried to be a good one. And I continue every single day to do my very best for Indiana,” the artist shared.
As for the “cult” accusations, Rory Feek explained that Homestead Heritage was nothing like his grown-up daughters claim it is. He mentioned while all communities have “bad apples,” so did them, but they were in the past and were on the path of redemption. He further mentioned how “canceling” them entirely was not the right way forward.
The father of three also noted that he and his late wife Joey came across Homestead Heritage over a decade back in Texas around the time when Indiana was born. He explained that they connected with the “folks” over there as they too had a same-aged child with Down Syndrome.
Rory Feek wrapped up by saying how after Joey’s passing, he went to Homestead Heritage to find his solace and eventually found his calling, forging friendships, love, and care, with the community there. He also requested people to “pray” for his family, so that they could put their differences aside and come together, with the help of legal counsel and mediation.
In response to their father’s post, Heidi once again took to her Instagram on Saturday and mentioned that the only reason she made the family issue public was because her and Hopie’s efforts to connect with Rory Feek offline for months, failed. She also attached screenshots of unanswered texts and an audio message where they seemingly “begged” him to seek family therapy.
