Hi (Hughblack) if you believe this to be true, it should be put in the hands of the police.

Hi Daisy 69 and welcome. I think your original comment about the school got lost in a flurry of activity about other points, but I have to say I found that quite interesting for all sort of reasons.

First is that people have been telling them about this for years. If you look at the Latigo website at[www.latigo214.info] you will see there are articles about the finances in 2009 – 2011.

One of the things these articles did was point out how much the church was subsidising the school. If you for example look at the article “Struthers Memorial Church and the generous gift” at [www.latigo214.info] you will see that, in 2009, the church subsidised the school to a tune of £ 158,143.

In that year, the church offerings were £583,812 and the expenditure was £ 373,791, so the church side made a “profit” of £ 210,019. Giving £158,143 to the school was therefore viable form a financial point of view. I am not sure it is what the congregation expected their money to be used for, but the money was there and it was not a huge financial risk.

In 2022 (the last year for which accounts are available), the school however required a subsidy of £ 307,605. This is almost twice as large as the subsidy required in 2009. On top of this, church income was down to £396,576 (a drop of 32%). The church expenditure had also decreased by a smaller proportion to £ 295,964 (a drop of 20%). The “profit” (Income less Expenditure) made by the church was therefore just £ 100,612, which was nowhere near enough to meet the £ 307,605 subsidy required by the school.

All this information is in the annual accounts and is publicly available. The problem is however that the annual accounts obscure rather than highlight this issue, never showing income directly against expenditure in this way. Perhaps that is why it has taken them fifteen years to realise this issue has to be addressed.

This meeting and vote raises other interesting points as well though, especially in terms of governance. Was this an AGM or an EGM? Either way, what does the constitution say about providing notice of this meeting – do they have to announce it 14 days in advance for example? Is a minute taken and available at the next meeting?

What information was presented? For a matter as important as this, I would expect a written paper explaining the background, how the situation arose, what steps management had been taking to try to resolve the issue, a financial and business plan for at least the next five years, a set of control points that explained when and how the plans were going to be monitored and reviewed, a set of options accompanied by the assumptions and risks in each etc, etc. Were these sorts of papers produced, or was it just a verbal report? What were the options and risks presented?

Finally, it is very interesting to see the change in governance and responsibility structures, with decisions like this being taken by the congregation. That has all sorts of implications, from the need for the kind of information outlined above to the fact that the leaders can now (attempt to) put the responsibility for anything that goes wrong on the whole congregation rather than on their leadership. Perhaps most interesting of all, it means the congregation can actually discuss things and have different views rather than being told what their views should be.

They will have to be careful or people will expect to be able to discuss doctrine and theology!

Hi, nice to meet you alduf
The meeting was informal a secret vote. No minutes taken.
The school was about to go bust. So the leadership stood up and said that it was gods will, for the school to continue. They glossed over that it is financially unviable.
They are basically draining money out of the church accounts, to keep it going.
The members are tithing, to keep that place afloat. If you look at how much goes to the church, and good works that are supposedly done it’s virtually zilch .
So a church that preaches humbleness is running a private school.
I know friends of people who still attend. So am kept very up to date on everything.
The sun newspaper news desk in Scotland, is very interested in running a story on the church.
It’s my understanding that they are engaging in conversion therapy too. Which is illegal.
They also ban members from associations, outside of the church.
It’s the only chosen church you see.
Other denominations in the community distance themselves from the leadership!

Hi petitor sorry put the wrong beams before!
Your figures look like it’s just being paid for by the church.
What’s wrong with the state schools in Scotland?
What an awful waste of money.
I now attend elim.

Hello everyone,

I've been considering this forum for some time, and I have a few inquiries.

What are the objectives of this forum, aside than encouraging people to share their stories, and what is its purpose? I have been reading this forum for the majority of the years that it has been running, but I'm not really sure where this is going.

I hope everyone is well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2024 08:41AM by curiositykillsthecat.

Hi Curiositykillsthecat,

Interesting question, and I am not sure there is a single answer. Different people may be here with different views and for different reasons.

The “about us” page of this website says it runs the forum “for researchers, professionals and those concerned to network and exchange information and discuss relevant issues.” I guess that is pretty close to why I use it – to network, exchange information and discuss relevant issues.

I have drafted a longer reply with some further thoughts but am conscious I hog the debate at times, so will wait to see if others jump in with their views.

It’s a good thing, because when people consider joining any religion they can see the other side of the story.
The leadership watch this page

I think it's really important for folk looking at Struthers, even their youth groups, to have the full picture of what has gone on in the past and what continues to happen. That's why I think this forum is important.

I also think it's healing to know other people understand what some of us have been through and can relate/empathise.

Well said! It’s not just a cute Sunday school, or youth group with lots of fun . It progresses to homophobic and non tolerant indoctrination. Using discrimination on its members, and others who don’t comply with their way.
A teacher friend said to me the other day, that what they teach there is borderline safeguarding concerns.

Hi Curiosity killed the cat.

The reason I am glad I found this forum is that for twenty odd years after leaving Struthers I thought that the unhappy experiences I had there were because of my lack of holiness and committment to God.

I now realise that many people received the same treatment I did, and those common experiences are a reflection of Struthers, not the people damaged by their time there.

I am not sure if that is the actual purpose or not, but it has been benefical to me.