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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: Phoebe 2 ()
Date: October 12, 2024 05:56PM

Dear Falkirkbairn -- I felt so very, very sad reading your recent posts. Such a cold & clinical response from DR, without a ahred of real compassion or sorrow expressed for the anguish you've endured over so many years. I guess in her estimation "the letter of the law" has been fulfilled & SMC is exonerated -- but all involved will have to stand before a Higher Tribunal one day.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: anonymousfornow ()
Date: October 12, 2024 06:37PM

Goodness - thank you for sharing, and I'm so sorry you have had this experience and such a poor response. Truly, they have no shame.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: ThePetitor ()
Date: October 12, 2024 08:14PM

FalkirkBairn,

I am so sorry that you went through such a terrible experience, made worse by those who should have been in a position to support you not being there to help.

I am also sorry you received such a poor and defensive response to your complaint, and one that did not actually answer all the questions. I would love to see the full 31:8 report to see what they actually said: I hope someone leaks it to the BBC. (Well, to be honest, my greater hope would be that leaking it is not necessary since they realise the best thing to do is to be open and transparent, so they share it all willingly, but I will not hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Someone will probably leak it though, so they would be better just to share it.)

Apart from anything else, there is one specific thing of note in there - the word "apologise". That I find very interesting, as it means they admit are not perfect and can do things wrong. That to me is crucial, as it means those in the congregation do have to judge what is said and make up their own mind. That basically makes their whole, "I am right, so do not trust your own mind or your own feelings" approach unsustainable.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: ThePetitor ()
Date: October 12, 2024 10:27PM

One other thought, unrelated to the above complaint.

I am appalled by the way the leaders in Struthers attribute bad motives to anyone who dares to criticise them. I was speaking to our Session Clerk recently, saying something along the lines of , “I hope people do not think I am doing this for selfish reasons”.

The reply I got was, “everyone knows you are like a stick of Blackpool rock- it doesn’t matter which way you are cut, you can still see the same message”.

A huge and largely underserved compliment, but that is someone who has worked with me and seen me in a number of different contexts for decades.

Yet the Struthers leaders include me in the “oh that person must be motivated by bitterness” category. They have not spoken to me for decades, in fact they refuse to do so, yet they presume to know me better than people who have seen me every week for years and years, and also know lots of other people who know me.

That is arrogant, insulting and is gaslighting.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: FalkirkBairn67 ()
Date: October 15, 2024 07:17PM

Ty Petior and Anom...Nice of you both t coment.

What i find so surprising but I really shouldn't is since I posted my post on Friday they have been over 2000 views at this thread.

Would have been nice of some of these who viewed the post to comment. OR Is it all Struthers members who have been nosey see what been said.

The last few days has been hard healthwisev witb me .

Also I really hope with me posting and doing the complaint it helps others do the same.

I was never out to destroy the church but to make them aware some off there preaching and action have harmed folk. I just wished one off there Board would post something on this forum say how sorry the church ate for hurting and destroying folks life's on this forum.

So all you members on Struthers ask your leaders why they have never done this..
I and far from being perfect . I still dout myself alot but the one thing is I'm thankful for things I have went through in the past as if I didn't I wouldn't be able to understand and help others I am doing today.

This pass weekend I have been called bitter and angry about Struthers again I can assure folk I'm not. I'm just feel sorry for them for when I look back this church could have been so much stronger and bigger if they had sat back and relise the wrongs they had done and resolved some of the upset they caused.

So my last word is is in this mental health month is Its oOK not to be ok as I know the past week I haven't been ok but the one thing everyone should do is tell somone your not okay as it does help I promise you.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: FalkirkBairn67 ()
Date: October 16, 2024 01:12AM

Phoebe 2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dear Falkirkbairn -- I felt so very, very sad
> reading your recent posts. Such a cold & clinical
> response from DR, without a ahred of real
> compassion or sorrow expressed for the anguish
> you've endured over so many years. I guess in her
> estimation "the letter of the law" has been
> fulfilled & SMC is exonerated -- but all involved
> will have to stand before a Higher Tribunal one
> day.
Thanks Phoebe yeah my thought exact they now think that they have answered me and apologised but What else should I expect as it's been given like ever other no compassion or understand with everything and self doubt they have caused me for years. The thing is they answered about a month ago but with things happening in my life it's just just now I am dealing and answering the responses. I don't know what I want .

Some asked me don't you think you deserve a face to face appolgy from the leader who told you not to say anything.Yeah I probably do but I dont see them or her ever doing that. Do you? I would have liked to have been agnolised last month when she seen me but the same leader didn't have the manners to speak to a ex member who they knew was hurting .Has showing me how cold the leaders are there still.

I know I have done the right thing and I know I can hold my head up high knowing I would never treat or make anyone suffer as they have with me and over a 100 other members from this forum .I care to much for everyone and even them .

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: FriendlyFace ()
Date: October 16, 2024 08:21PM

I have never been a member of Struthers Memorial Church and have not posted here before, but know people who have and have seen the impact on their lives.

I will not really be posting anything about myself or my opinions though, I have just set up this account as I have been asked to pass on some info. I have set up the account so that the info is not associated with any of the other people who post here.

The info I am passing on is a complaint that was submitted to Struthers. I enclose a copy of that complaint below. A response has been received and I will post that in about a week.

The complaint was:

This is a formal complaint that we would like to be addressed in line with your published Complaints Handling Policy and Procedure and Safeguarding Policy. Having read these policies we have noted that you will take seriously complaints from anonymous sources, so look forward to your response on this matter, which we believe is of the utmost seriousness and importance.

The background to this complaint is that a number of people have commented online upon their experience when involved in Struthers Memorial Church or upon leaving SMC. While a few of these comments have been recorded on other websites, the vast majority have been made on the message thread about SMC which can be found on the Cult Education Institute website at
[forum.culteducation.com]

SMC defines a complaint as a written or verbal expression of dissatisfaction. The vast majority of the comments on the forum clearly fall within this definition. We are aware that SMC has known of the forum for some time but, for the avoidance of doubt, we now raise the content of the forum as a complaint (or as multiple complaints).

SMC should now, in line with its own policy, view these complaints as “an opportunity to learn...” and “an opportunity to put things right for the individual or organisation.”

This is our overarching complaint: that, being aware of the content of the forum, SMC is failing to implement its own policy by, amongst other things, failing to take this opportunity to seek to make things right for the individuals concerned.

This complaint is from a number of people who have contributed to the forum. The authors have also, through anonymous direct messages and other means, had some contact with others on the forum who have not directly assisted in drafting this complaint, and with people still in SMC.

According to your Complaint Handling Policy and Procedure, all these “written or verbal expression of dissatisfaction” ought to be treated with respect and should be addressed “openly and honestly” as former leader Grace Gault confirmed (see her sermon quoted on latigo214.info).

We further note that your policy does not prohibit or in any way discriminate against complaints on grounds of religious belief, the emotional wellbeing of the complainant, or any other grounds, and can find no provision for treating both a complaint and a complainant with anything other than this respect.

We however understand that, rather than being treated with due regard, contributors to the forum (who in our experience are genuine, honest individuals; and who are in many cases committed Christians, or seekers who wish to better understand the Christian faith) have been degraded and demonised by the leadership of SMC, with public and private state- ments being made that suggest the contributors are lying, motivated by bitterness, or part of a satanic attack.

This raises a number of question such as whether SMC is in possession of any evidence to support these assertions and whether SMC regards such allegations being spoken of publicly in SMC meetings as compatible with the spirit and intent of the complaints policy.

As well as asking SMC to examine and respond to each of the individual matters raised on the forum, we therefore raise specific questions regarding any such statements made by those in positions of authority within SMC, and directed at those who contribute to the forum.

In addressing this complaint, the points we would like addressed by SMC are:

1. Each of the individual issues and complaints mentioned on the forum. While we understand that the response to some of these matters may be taken up directly with the people concerned through a Private Message on the forum or some other means, we would ask to be informed on an ongoing basis of the steps SMC is taking, or planning to take, to address these issues.

2. Whether any statements critical of the contributors to the forum have been made (for example, that they are insincere, motivated by bitterness, mentally ill, lying, or inspired by some form of evil). If so:
• to whom on the forum do any such statements apply?
• was any sort of investigation carried out prior to making these statements?
• are any of these statement based on any sort of evidence that would be acceptable
in secular courts - for example direct quotes from a person, a professional psycho-
logical examination etc.?
• are any of these statements based on any sort of direct revelation from God, such
as a vision, dream or prophetic utterance?
• do SMC stand by any or all of these statements? If so, will your policy be amended
to show that one possible result of raising a concern is not to be treated with re- spect, but instead to be branded a liar and an emissary of the devil, or subject to some other derogatory comment by a SMC leader, either privately or publicly?
• are there any statements that have been made along this line that SMC would con- demn as inaccurate or inappropriate?
• are there any such statements that SMC neither endorses nor condemns? If so, what position do they take in regard to these statements?

3. Do SMC believe that individuals who have been hurt should remain silent so as to pro- tect the reputation of an organisation?
We look forward to clarification of these important matters in your response to this com- plaint.

Please note that, while the complaint is anonymous, the response can be forwarded by replying to this email address.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: blackwatch ()
Date: October 17, 2024 04:57PM

Hello FF. Thanks for sharing this. Apart from some strange formatting issues resulting in the inappropriate hyphenation of words, it's very well put together. I particularly like how it deals with their propensity for discrediting the complainant using a variety of cheap, ill-conceived notions. One wonders how it's possible to respond to that type of questioning in any rational way. I guess we'll see.

My own opinion is that the 'complaints policy' is simply an exercise to keep the organisation 'charity-compliant'. It's clear from their actions (or lack of actions) that there's no real appetite to deal with complaints or upset.

Dealing with the issues raised on this forum, in the manner in which you have requested, is going to result in a major piece of work. No one will be willing to undertake that I suspect. Perhaps the outcome will be that the complaint has not been properly dealt with, resulting in further escalation to the appropriate body.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2024 04:57PM by blackwatch.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: blackwatch ()
Date: October 17, 2024 05:06PM

FalkirkBairn - thanks for sharing the details of your complaint.

I agree with others that have noted the coldness and lack of any real compassion in the reply. That said, it's quite a pivotal moment perhaps that you've received any real meaningful reply at all! And, whilst it perhaps offers little comfort, you have at least received some kind of apology. I agree with you that it would have been more impactful to have had the (genuine) ear of the person that 'dealt' with it at the time.

Although disheartened, if you take what has been said at face value in their reply, your particular complaint has helped bring about change and updates to policy. I think it's then fair to say you have every right to be pleased that you've helped prevent others experiencing similar.

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Re: Struthers Memorial Independent Pentecostal Church
Posted by: ThePetitor ()
Date: October 18, 2024 05:48PM

Hi FriendlyFace and welcome to the forum.

Some interesting stuff there. I am particularly interested to see if their response uses this as “an opportunity to learn and to put things right for the individual or organisation.”

Blackwatch, like you, I think this is just in their policy so that it is compliant, I think there is no way they will try to use this as an opportunity to learn. If they do not, they are however simply liars. And it is totally hypocritical having wording in a complaints policy if there is no intention to apply it. Where are the Christian values of honesty and integrity in that?

I guess that would be one of my criteria for evaluating any response – does it apply their own policy, including things like showing any willingness to learn? I will not hold my breath.

I was going to say it would be my first criterion, but I think the first one has to be “do they try to answer the questions”. Again, I will not hold my breath. I suspect what they call an “answer” will actually be a list of reasons they are not prepared to answer.

This will be a real challenge to them of course – there are something like 100 people who have complaints. That really is a reason for action rather than inaction though. What if there was just one complaint, would that be answered? Why should that one person’s complaint receive less attention because there are another 99? I guess that is my third criterion – is the response at least as proactive and responsive as it would be if there were just a single complaint? In my view it should be a great deal more proactive and responsive, it should certainly not be less.

We shall see.

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