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Mulberry p237
Being privy to some inside information i can confirm that the leadership in SMC are now describing Pauline Anderson and Allen Martin as "very troublesome and misguided". They are now seen as usurpers and Offenders of the "Faith."
Now there's a surprise!

Note the NOW describing. This would tie in with TheGreek’s earlier post:

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TheGreek p236
And yet again we hear rumblings of this mental health lie (or confidentiality betrayal) being put forward in response to the publication of publicly available documents on this public website.

Oddly, the writer of the recently published documents was treated with respect and a public reply initially by the Struthers executive. Now the publication, we hear, has led to furious anger and accusations of adverse mental health.

Clearly the Executive did no see the letter from Pauline as an issue. Even an “open letter” is ok to them, as long as it is only open to those in the organisation. The one thing they cannot stand is anyone outside of the organisation having any information about their inner workings.

The reason is simple - the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. As long as the crowd is controlled by their messages, they can talk about how lovely the new clothes are, and how only those blessed with special sight can see them, but you cannot have anyone from outside asked for an opinion, as they have not been indoctrinated onto believing the Emperor has these wonderful new clothes. Sorry folks, this is about as cultish as it gets.

And TheGreek’s comment that this is “yet again” is in itself worth nothing, as it raises the age-old question of whether things are the same as they have always been.

If they are, then they need to repent and change. If not, then they need to read Matthew 23.

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Matthew 23v 29-32
29 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

The SMC executive have to make up their mind - do they agree with their former leaders (including Alison Spears, since she has received a lot of recent attention), or do they not? Those in the congregations need to know whether the current leadership stand by what she did and how she did it, and with choices about the school, or whether they are they saying, as Jesus reported the teachers of the law said: ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

Which is it, new Chair and Executive? Do you endorse all that has gone before, or are you taking a Matthew 23v30 position?


Since I am quoting Matthew Chapter 23, the recent stories of camps and youth leaders reminds me of an earlier verse in that chapter:

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Matthew 23 v 15
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

I think that is what happened with many of the youth leaders – they were taught that bullying and a lack of any compassion for others was “the spiritual way”, tried to implement that teaching and as a result caused untold damage to those they were meant to be “leading”.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2025 03:09PM by ThePetitor.

Just wondering if there is a problem with the private message system for this site as I’ve PMd a couple of folks and not got a reply.
It’s fine if they don’t want to reply but I just thought it unusual!

ThePetitor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> [/quote
> I think that is what happened with many of the
> youth leaders – they were taught that bullying and
> a lack of any compassion for others was “the
> spiritual way”, tried to implement that teaching
> and as a result caused untold damage to those they
> were meant to be “leading”.



That does does not excuse the youth leaders . I mind the camp Mulberry and Esme talks about I mind Pauline and Diana taken us to the back of the meeting prying over us.
Telling me I needed delivered from the evil within.
The youth leader I speak of was a bully even before she joined the church and was given the tools to make alot of the Falkirk youth life hell reporting us for anything we did wrong. She went on to repeat this till this day. And she's in line to take over Falkirk once Jennifer steps down
As I have said I don't support any of them But each of these leaders do have a mind of there own . Right I better stop this as I will say to much

But please everyone ask yourself have I anything to apologise for .

Liz, I find the private messaging system to be a hit or a miss. I hope you hadn't messaged me? I haven't received anything.

FB, nothing to apologise for!

Thanks to the people who private messaged me and I can see it’s all functioning properly. Mine don’t show up on the forum page, only through my emails.

It’s been a while since my last post…

I’ve kept quiet knowing that my posts to this forum made its way back to me.

Yet the posts continue to come, from multiple generations of the same. I wish I could say I was surprised but I am not. My heart goes out to all trying to free themselves from the shackles left by SMC.

I no longer find myself anchored in faith, but the memories of the good times also never leave me. The moments of weakness where I think… did I do the right thing, in leaving. Did I deserve the shunning that occurred upon my leaving. Those days when I felt supported by those at SMC. Where my whole life revolved around meetings and events centred around SMC. And the sudden harshness of losing it all. It still stings thinking back to it. And in those moments of weakness I do still wonder… did I do the right thing?

Then I come to my senses, I realise the life I have now built despite the trauma I still carry. Despite what I lost as a result of my affiliation with SMC. I still believe they hold a part of me that I will never get back. I can but hope one day they won’t have any hold over me.

I still have the fear of bumping into the leaders wandering around the shops, would they acknowledge me? Would I be ignored? What would be the better option, probably ignorance as at least I wouldn’t need to put a face on things and interact.

Years go by and these thoughts still plague my life. One day maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to wander the town I live without fear of judgment.

Hello again, Free@Last...Sometimes

I want to send you good energy. I am sorry to hear you do not have any faith left, but hope and pray you will remain open to the God of love.

You shouldn't worry about bumping into Struthers leaders. They are the ones who need to start worrying. The reckoning is coming. Soon and very soon.

If the figures are correct, and up to two million pounds, which must be the bulk of the church's cash, were quietly siphoned off into the defunct school's coffers, then I predict that the Glasgow church building is next on the list for sale. The congregation there has shrunk with all the defections and will not be able to sustain that grand property, even if the pew fodder's tithes are not now being misappropriated.

The Cumbernauld church may be bulging but I cannot see this continuing. I suspect there will be a fallout there too. Despotic rule, even though I recognise it contains flashes of inspiration, in the end comes a cropper.

My final observation is about what the church gives you back. I read an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph about the Closed Brethren. It listed all the bad practices that Mr Black brought into Struthers when he left the Brethren, including meetings every night, fellowship and marriage only within the church, careers subordinate to the church, heavy shepherding, ban on normal activities such as sport, etc.

There was one conspicuous dissimilarity. The Brethren helped people financially when they married and needed money to buy a home. That was the 'deal'. Funny that Mr Black didn't carry over that particular practice. On the contrary, though he insisted on daily meetings and stifled the networking and career-building which would have enabled men and women to prosper, he did not repay our loyalty with practical help when we needed it most.

In short, Struthers is a rotten deal, worse even than the Brethren's.

I worry still about all the good 'little people' there, who have given up everything for the church, but will go into old age with nobody and nothing - except unfulfilled promises.

Greetings forum dwellers, I have enjoyed and appreciated reading the posts about Struthers and decided to post. I left this strange church many years ago after being in it for a while. I am familiar with most of the past and present leaders commented on. I have never once regretted getting out.

I did tune in the other night to Diana R in Cumbernauld 'preaching'. Couldn't abide it for long. So repetitive, condescending and punitive. Many a tedious rhetorical repetition four times. Jesus...Jesus...Jesus...Jesus...You must...you must...you must...you must. For some poor creatures who attend, this is probably comforting in a strange way and hypnotic. Her face looked hard and rather flushed. I gather she is Number One now.

Ah well, judgement is coming to Struthers in these latter days, I believe.

Welcome to the Forum, Shug The Pug. Yet another ex-attendee of SMC coming on here to tell us about their experience in this church. Do tell us more about your time in SMC and let us know your thoughts about what’s happening in Struthers at the present time. I’m glad you have never regretted leaving.

I know what you mean about Diana’s preaching via the livestream. She comes over as very censorious and harsh, hectoring her congregation and demanding in a loud voice that they have to do better and find a deeper place with God. One time recently, she said that her congregation disappointed her but that God never disappointed her. How people can sit there Sunday by Sunday (and sometimes Saturday night) and accept that kind of negative preaching, I do not know. It leaves you feeling worthless, hopeless and that you’ll never make it. But that’s not what the gospel or the Christian life is meant to be like, it definitely isn’t. I know that in my own life.

Nice to hear from you again, Free@last_sometimes. These emotional swings where you wonder whether you did the right thing are quite common, so please don’t feel you’re alone in sometimes feeling that way. You’re probably missing the sense of community as well as friends you made whilst in SMC. Most of us on here have had to cope with the pain of leaving behind friends when we left SMC, even close friends. That’s one of the most difficult things one has to do. Some friends may still be willing to talk to us but some will cut us off, simply because we have left the church. You definitely did the right thing by leaving, be assured of that. If you feel you need support, there are other ways to find it, like counselling, or looking for a different church or support group. I hope this Forum helps you to know for sure that you made the right decision by getting out of a very toxic church environment.

Iquitthestrutherscult, I tend to agree with you re what Pauline and Alan have done in putting out their letters. I’d always thought that the “top job” was meant to be given to Andrew Jewell when the time came, which is what Mary Black had wanted and was training him for. But he has gone now too. All the plans for the future of SMC have come to nought.
You ask why nobody challenged Alison Speirs nor queried her close relationship with Elaine. Well, after Mary Black and her father both passed away, there was nobody to challenge Alison. Nobody intervened despite there being rumblings of discontent in the Glasgow Church for years. Check out a recent post on this issue by AmazingGrace. The Alison/Elaine relationship could be described as a co-dependent one, which is always an unhealthy one and which spreads its negative effects to others round about. Esme has described these effects in detail for us.

Bye for now! Look forward to reading more posts.