An existing church building has been bought by the Boston Church of Christ, which is part of the International Churches of Christ Fellowship, in Arlington, Massachusetts.

A local person who says he has been a member of Boston Church of Christ for 15 years has responded thus (in part) to my question about whether the organization is the same as written about on the Reveal website:

"Sort of. The Boston Church of Christ described on that site is the same body that has bought the Pleasant St. Church building. The people leading the Church at the time, are no longer members and the abusive (and un-biblical) practices renounced.

"The International Churches of Christ went through a period of growing pains, and some in high leadership positions became more focused on selfish ambition than in the work of the church, and led things astray. The church did wake up to what was happening, and made many reforms and put in place safeguards to try and keep things like this from happening again."


I would be very grateful if someone could direct me to reliable information that is *current*. Although I am aware that people and organizations can change, I am concerned that a group that has been described as a cult or cultlike is establishing a presence here.

It's good the ICOC confronted their abusive ways from previous years, but have they confronted their foundation? Do they still have the mindset they are the one true church? Do they hold to the same leadership pattern that Kip McKean taught and practiced? One has to wonder.

I was with Crossroads CoC that sent out Kip McKean, who was the Lead Evangelist for Boston CoC back the day. It's a long story, but the spiritual abuse began in Gainesville, mainly with Kip, who took over the leadership of "the movement" back in the late 80's. Point is Boston CoC needs to confront their foundation, how scriptural it is. And how true they were/are in practice.

I was a member of the London Church which was sent out by Boston. I just recently wrote up my experiences to write a book called Counting the Cost [toursinluxor.net] Now during the writing I did lots of research on the group and loads of the leaders are still active, none have apologised, they say they originated in Boston but don't mention any of the other history, the abuse, the Henry Kreite letter or anything, Kip is still active in Portland although they have expelled him i would not say they have eradicated his methods, not from my research.

I used the reveal website and Facebook in my research. I searched on names and found many of them on FB and a lot still part of a church Malcolm Cox is a good example, writes a blog, runs a church has meetings etc. Have a look at Doug Jacoby then look where they have mutual friends, suddenly you see the web is still there.

Jane Akshar member London Church of Christ 1986 - 1993

I was a member from 1990-2004. There were some surface reforms made after a high-up leader released a letter of scathing rebuke to the leaders and it 'leaked' to the members. But the changes did not go nearly deep enough (which is why I finally left). And his statement that "The people leading the Church at the time, are no longer members"... I have NO idea where he got that from!! That is totally not true. Most of the same leaders stayed in their positions, except for those who were forced to resign or the very few who stepped down for conscience reasons. Ooooh, I know what he's talking about: he's talking about the ICOC's founder Kip McKean, who was forced to step down and then started his own new group. But the leaders who kicked him out weren't any better than him, really, and didn't change what he set up while he was leading.

And many (if not most) branches since the "upheaval" have reverted back to the old ways, which absolutely follow the classic cult characteristics. I compare it to that old toy, Stretch Armstrong, where it stretched out for a while, but then sprang back into its original state. It was sad to watch.

Even in ICOC branches where the cult characteristics are no longer in place, I would not consider it a healthy church. Its foundation is sorely flawed.

There is a very active forum about the ICOC which has a lot of good information: [forums.delphiforums.com]. It's open to anyone, including current members, and their posts are just as telling about the state of things in the group as posts by former members.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2013 03:07AM by Splash90.