FalkirkBairn67 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi just a reminder. Some of us have arranged a
> informal meet on the 3oth of November so we all
> can offer support to others friendly gathering to
> talk about our feelings.
> This is not a slag Struthers meet its to meet
> fellow ex members .old friends everyones welcome
> .If anyone would like information on this please
> send us a pm here .We really need numbers ect whos
> coming ect .


Did said meeting take place and what was outcome friendly.
Did a clash take place hopefully not.
Were previous members in attendance?

Was it agreed to not discuss said meeting on forum as can see no follow up.

FalkirkBairn67 you made us all aware of many grievances and incidents that took place previously and not been given answers or a apology in any form that I can see reading back

By the strange statement issued saying no name given to follow up said complaints or may I say allegations without being nasty in anyway

Has any progress been made in yourself seeking legal advice FalkirkBairn67 as you previously have stated it must be hard living with the issues you raised. Hopefully a now formal complaint with your identity has been sent on or been put to police for advice what a nightmare.

I also hope your friends are backing you after now being made aware of what took place during your childhood at meetings and camp as stated by you on forum

You were brave enough to come this far.I hope now you can now deal with your own mental health issues after now having them stirred up in your memory so suddenly flashing back. Then having to tell your daughter her daughter was in danger, hope evidence was kept by yourself or daughter
I now hope fellow members of forum and any ex members / friends who attended said meeting are helping give comfort and support now.

What is this forum for?

Certainly to discuss publicly things that were done to us in private and said to us in private and to shine a light on the gibbering, incoherent, disastrously failing nonsense being spoken and taught in Struthers Memorial Church.

Certainly to give survivors hope that they are not alone and the abuse they received was in no way unique but was part of the normal Struthers way of treating people.

Maybe to warn the public that there are dangerous things happening in these churches which are not admitted to on their websites. Nowhere does it say someone might point at you in a service and announce a sin to the congregation and claim that you are committing it and if you disagree you are in rebellion to God. If that's what they do they should say so.

And maybe too to let people know it is and always has been safe to leave Struthers. The claims from generations of the Struthers leadership that if people do they will suffer divine punishment are unbiblical, cultish, hysterical and yet more gibbering nonsense. People need to know that life outside Struthers is much much better and can be lived in truth, integrity and without fear of man or angry old women.

I really like your concise summary TheGreek. It sums the various issues discussed on this forum in a simple set of sentences.

I also your post at P197 testing recent events against DR suggestion of "Don't go about thinking, why did that happen?" was right on the money highlighting some of the leadership's current hot potatoes they do not wish their congregation to examine.

Thank you for both.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/19/2024 07:18PM by RedRoad.

Mulberry, I have been meaning to follow up your comment that the post from BlessedChild sounded a bit like a Diana sermon.

I think you are right and that is exactly what it sounds like. It may I suppose be others, as it can be a bit difficult to tell one sermon from another in Struthers. They are all basically the same sermon: (a) God is amazing (b) He is in some special way here and speaking to us and (c) reach out to Him now!

It is hard to argue with the first of these, but the second part can only be accepted by putting faith in the leaders rather than God, and I have no idea what is meant by the third part - it does not seem to be very scriptural to me.

Anyway, all that aside, it could well be Diana thinking she is "reaching out" to us, but this is just nonsense. As it says in James Chapter 2:

Quote
James 2 v 14-17
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The "reaching out" that BlessedChild did is exactly what the above verses say NOT to do. BlessedChild is saying "be warmed and filled" rather than doing something practical to help.

And make no mistake about it, there is plenty they could do. Blessed Child, if you do not know how to help, just read over the suggestions here on the forum. look for posts that say, "the leadership could..." or "why don't they..." and try doing some of these things.

Or read through some of the posts that say, "this happened to me and caused me a great deal of hurt/ trauma" then post an apology and an open commitment to help.

That is what you would do if you actually wanted to help.

It seems pretty clear yo do not want to help though. In fact, your lack of further comment now makes me think this is just a cynical scam.

Think about it folks, you get a call from your phone company, your electricity company or someone who offers to insulate you loft for free and it all sounds very plausible. You listen for a while then say, "thanks, but I don't think I will take you up on that offer" and they put the phone down with no goodbye or anything else. Was that a scam? I would be 100% sure it was, not just because of the "too good to be true" offer, but because they just put the phone down - no explanation, no acceptance of your position, just a cut off because you were not playing their game.

That is exactly what is happening here - one post that claims to be honest and sincere but, as soon as you say "no thanks" the phone goes down.

That tells you something.

I am actually now wondering if the purpose was even more cynical, that it was simply so that they could say, "see, we have reached out and tried to help and they rejected us". No, that is not what happened: what happened was that you did the opposite of James 2 by saying "go" (or in this case "come") "and be filled" rather than doing what you are meant to do. God works through people - we are called to be His hands and feet, to go out, show compassion and help people in need.

Look at all the stuff in the Church of England at the moment, with one Archbishop resigning and another under pressure to resign. Why? Because they did not act. They ensured "Ministry" was available, but that was not enough.

So, if you hear a message - perhaps at the New Year conference - that says, "we reached out to these people and they rejected us" that is a lie. Read the posts on this forum. People on this forum have reached out on many occasions, and the leadership rejected them. If the leaders actually want to do something, they will go back and say, "sorry, I should have responded to this years ago - how can I help", they will read James Chapter 2 and will NOT say, "come to us and be blessed"

I would also suggest they read the verses before that:

Quote
James 2 v13
Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.

Interesting to learn that the Saturday night meetings is now only once a month on the second Saturday of every month. I was just having a nosy on the website and saw it. You all probably know this already.

Interesting to catch up on all these good contributions. It's a good way of surviving the boredom and madness of the season.

I was struck in particular by The Greek's well-informed and incisive comments. The practice of denouncing people by name during meetings crept in with many other abuses to the church's modus operandi, and was a factor in why I left.

It brought back memories. Some may recall my getting the treatment one Saturday night. A visiting preacher - a complete basket-case - fixed her eye on lil' ol' me one Saturday night. "You, the man in the green jacket..."

Now had I gone in wearing a pink jacket with orange circles or even a plain red jacket, I would have known I'd be dead-in-the-water. Way too noticeable. But if only I'd worn a blue jacket or a grey jacket, or no jacket, then surely I'd have had more chance of going under the radar.

Annoying thing is, I don't even like green, least of all green jackets, which should be confined to golf clubs. What was I thinking? Duhh. Anyway, I paid dearly for my sartorial audacity...

And what was the charge, before, I'd guess, about 200 people (this was before the church went into free fall)?

"You have been cheating the taxman". No.

"You have been drinking too much Australian wine." No.

"You have been chasing skirts." No.

None of the above. It was "You have been having rebellious thoughts." Now the preacher was not exactly taking the biggest of risks calling me out for this, for the obvious reason that the proposition is true of all Christians at all times, at some level of consciousness.

However, instead of rejecting her nonsense, I, being a conscientious type, took it to heart, analysed myself, found myself guilty of indeed having "rebellious thoughts" not so much against God as against the church, that particular church and its leadership. It suited them that I should be publicly shamed because I'd always been a little suspect, being, well, male, semi-educated, sometimes outspoken.

But on further reflection, I realised that the whole thing was wrong. The practice of personal denunciation is a monstrous and preposterous farce, an invasion of privacy. What was said to me that night was complete piffle. It was one of the reasons why I was led out of the church. I hope that being subjected to this tyranny, or even just witnessing it, will help others see their way to the door.

Final thought. Maybe I should ask for a green jacket for Christmas, they seem to bring me luck!

Al Duff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The practice of denouncing people by name during meetings crept
> in with many other abuses to the church's modus
> operandi, and was a factor in why I left.
>

That sounds horrendous. I left in the early 1990s and thankfully I never saw anything like that happening, or at least of it did happen, I didn't notice it.

I just left as I never felt I was good enough for Struthers, and couldn't meet their standards. Finding this forum was when I realised that the issue was actually with Struthers, not me.

It all happened and more .

For me the purpose of this Forum has been for genuine people to share what did happen to them in Struthers .

Before I found this Forum ...I felt " alone " ... in the sense that I thought that no one would believe me nor understand the trauma of experience. I questioned myself often.

To have one's life directed and controlled was wrong . God doesn't treat people like that. To be told it was wrong ...to wear make-up ....dye hair....watch t.v. ...read newspapers ... socialise with friends and family gave so many people severe mental health issues . Foreign holidays were taboo ....as was anything really .

I wonder if the " congregations " of today truly realise "how " many of us were treated ...and then discarded .... and ignored . How un Christian .

If they have " changed " the way they preach ...and anyhing goes ....then surely ...that is evidence in itself that things are wrong ?

Personal denunciation.... naming and shaming people is unacceptable . It happened .

Telling people that they were " demonic " and " backsliding " if they spent time with their family was wrong .It happened .


To all who have been affected I wish you a peaceful , happy Christmas full of God's blessings .

The memories are harsh .

I pray for the ones still sadly caught in the struthers " control " and I pray for their freedom .

Hi Hope everyone had a Happy Christmas with Family.

All I can say is thank y9u to everyone who has helped me get through this pass year.

On 31st December last year I decided to finally address what happened in my youth because a little incident what happened with my granddaughter.
Not relising I wasn't alone with what had happened to myself all those years ago.
Yes its been very hard .I can say many a tears have falling and at times I have said to myself I can't do this .

But I have meet so many kind folk this year I am so thankful

Also I finally got in contact with a few great friends I walked away for all those years ago. I will never lose contact with them again they mean so much to me now. .

So what now? Well I don't know but I do know for sure I did the right thing this year and told why I left Struthers it's been hard yes but it's been rewarding so thanks to you all who Have helped me with your kind words.

TheGreek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What is this forum for?
>
> Certainly to discuss publicly things that were
> done to us in private and said to us in private
> and to shine a light on the gibbering, incoherent,
> disastrously failing nonsense being spoken and
> taught in Struthers Memorial Church.
>
> Certainly to give survivors hope that they are not
> alone and the abuse they received was in no way
> unique but was part of the normal Struthers way of
> treating people.
>
> Maybe to warn the public that there are dangerous
> things happening in these churches which are not
> admitted to on their websites. Nowhere does it say
> someone might point at you in a service and
> announce a sin to the congregation and claim that
> you are committing it and if you disagree you are
> in rebellion to God. If that's what they do they
> should say so.
>
> And maybe too to let people know it is and always
> has been safe to leave Struthers. The claims from
> generations of the Struthers leadership that if
> people do they will suffer divine punishment are
> unbiblical, cultish, hysterical and yet more
> gibbering nonsense. People need to know that life
> outside Struthers is much much better and can be
> lived in truth, integrity and without fear of man
> or angry old women.

Thanks Greek for Answering my question .

I would love to know what others see this forum for .

Me I feel the main thing is to Show those who have left. They are others who felt the same as they feel. And to support anyone who needs support in anything .