To
Silentfornow
I’m sorry to hear that you feel that the forum is not a safe place to post.
I hope that you can share your thoughts with others of ‘like mind’.

I’m of the older generation so we know of each other but I came into SMC in 87 and I don’t think we’ve ever really had a conversation because the two generations didn’t mix, which was sad.
But I often had conversations with your mum K at conferences or camps and found her exceptionally kind and nice likewise with D’s parents. Both your parents D are the salt of the earth as well, always balanced in their Christian walk and loving…talked together often in Glasgow church.
Do hope your children have settled into a new school and forming new friendships.

As you or D have not posted on the forum
‘ I have never contributed to this forum and neither has DM’ so neither of you are ‘extra’ or ‘westofscotland’?
I don’t know your opinion or experiences of AS whether positive or negative but she was to some ‘a wonderful person’ but unfortunately a lot of what esme expresses is true because I and others I know also experienced it. I also knew of some of the statements esme made before esme posted them.

What the forum also needs is for a younger generation to be open about similar experiences.

I know you’ve said you don’t want to share but talking about trust then I would say if you want to ask anything about or clarify anything about the forum then ask the Petitor in a pm.
I wish you and all your family well
AG

Silentfornow,

I am so sorry that you have had a bad experience of this forum and that you feel it is no longer a safe place. I have not read over the posts again, and often do not follow the complexities of who said what to whom, so am not at this point thinking of the detail, but it really is not right for people to be identified and their lives discussed on a public forum in that way. Sorry this has happened to you.

As others have said, it is legitimate to question the actions and approaches in Struthers and to be critical of the leadership - especially the directors as, whether they like it or not, they carry the responsibility. We do need to be wary of identifying any other individuals though.

That is why it seems to me that one of the best ways to hold Struthers to account is to use their public statements - things from sermons, policies, thoughts for the week etc. In these cases, the author and content are verifiable and are therefore beyond dispute. The Latigo site [https://latigo214.info] has done a good job of doing this sort of thing, posting actual quotes from sermons and other documents, and FriendlyFace has of course also done a great service in publishing open letters and complaints.

Latigo has actually added a recent article called "obey the prophets sometimes" that examines the SMC rhetoric and practice regarding obeying prophets. That article is well worth a read as it once again shows that the leaders have no intention of following their own policies and advice. I do not want to spoil it by repeating the arguments here, but it is one of the clearest examples I have seen of the arrogance and hypocrisy of the struthers leadership.

One thing I would add is that mistakes and inaccuracies on this forum do not however take away from any legitimate points that have been made. Are there some inaccuracies here? Yes, I am sure there are. Does that mean everything here is inaccurate? Absolutely not.

That is a point that has been made countless times on this forum - you have to judge what you hear. Whether it comes from the lips of a Struthers leader or from someone on this forum, you cannot simply accept that it has to be true because of who said it. You have to judge what is said. So please folks, do not assume everything said from the pulpit is true (or for that matter that it is all false) and do not accept everything here has to be all true or all false. Each statement has to be considered on its merit.

That includes me! Please do not accept what I say as "true" in any sort of absolute sense. Like others, what I say has to be examined and tested. You always have to ask things like:

* is the source reliable and is there evidence to back it up (eg quotes from sermons);

* does any analysis use sound logic or are there logical fallacies (eg attacking the person rather than their argument);

* is there consistency (eg a "golden thread" linking policy and practice) or are there random changes of position (eg not following your own policy);

* are principles based on the Bible (eg Pauline's letter) or just created out of thin air (eg the SMC reply to the letter)?

Hello friends, this forum has allowed me to get in contact with a few friends SMC. We’ve been chatting and reminiscing on the past which has been lovely. He asked if I could share his encounter with a prominent Struthers youth leader and tell a funny story.

I still sporadically attend Struthers so hopefully my identity remains a mystery LOL. One of the summer adult camps, I was roped into a humiliating ordeal, all because of one of the youth leader by weekend and probably unqualified teacher by week, ER and her warped sense of humour. She insisted I perform ‘Hear the Heart of Heaven Beating’ in front of everyone, claiming I’d “accidentally” volunteered when I misheard her question about joining the choir as “do you want a chair?” It was a ludicrous and unfair setup—I’d never sung publicly, and we were only just learning the song for the first time! I don’t think she liked boys very much as we were too rowdy for her. I’m unsure if anyone on the forum can recall the year we got taught this by AJ, but if they can they will remember how relentless AJ was with making us sing that song! We sang it over and over until our voices were hoarse. I complained to my parents who thought I must’ve been mistaken but they were too busy subtly fighting with Gartmore house’s bed bug ridden beds! I complained to ER when she initially made me do it but she told me to grow up and learn to die to myself.

Now for a humours story to go with my ordeal.

Meanwhile, one of the older boys at camp wouldn’t stop watching Firefly on his mobile, his peaked cap bobbing as he laughed at Jayne’s one-liners. That same night, someone pelted the caravans with water balloons, and the owners zeroed in on the Firefly enthusiast because he and his friends would hang out near the caravan and I think it might also be because of his distinctive cap. He never got blamed but I was suspected because his daughter didn’t like me one bit! We were playing manhunt across the camp grounds and I found myself the prime target in the chaos, all because of my oversized shoes. I was an easy target to be fair as my oversized size 12 shoes (a hand-me-down from my dad despite my size 8 feet) was a hinderance. The clunky things slapped the ground with every step, making stealth impossible. GS, DB, DM, OA, DD, ST, were all the hunters and came at us all. I was one of the first out as result. For being supposed followers of Christ, they hunted us with such a devilishly aggression. No wonder most don’t attend anymore.

He still attends so I hope he is happy. I don’t recall what happened at the above to be honest. Hopefully I can inspire others to tell their experiences.

Esme your private pms are full

FALKIRK BAIRN

Enough
From: Extra
To:Esmespiers
Date: 04/20/2025 07:27PM

‘Esme’ please be aware Falkirk bairn has told many who you are claiming to be.

You are not..... . What you are doing is very damaging.

If you have an issue with the spiers, which is fair enough, then have it out with them. You have experience trauma and abuse but this is not the way to resolve it.

Don’t you dare bring innocent people into this by sharing gossip about them or stories that are old news.

Grow up. You’re an intelligent man with a wife and children. Enough is enough Dougie.


I bow out and will leave some of my cousin to contribute when the chose to do so. But l may come back on.

Some very strange goings-on in this forum...rumours of people pretending to be other people, false accusations, lies. Not a happy or safe place to be right now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2025 05:30AM by Mulberry.

Again just to clarify - neither ‘Esme’ or ‘Extra’ are Dougie/DM.

I am aware that many people read this forum, so if we could stick to facts that would help.

It is certainly not helping when people who have never posted on the forum are being named.

If DM does ever choose to write here I can assure you he will not do it anonymously.

Best wishes,
KM



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2025 05:32AM by Silentfornow.

Thank you to all who sent kind messages to me both online and privately. I certainly never thought I would be in this position but the past few years have not been easy and rather than helping I have found this forum making me anxious and upset.

As such I will not be reading or contributing again. If I choose to in the future it will be under my own name so I can take ownership of my comments.

I would ask again that people do not accuse me or my husband of contributing to this forum.

I wish everyone the best,
KM

Esme I would like to apologies for my message.

I have been concerned by some of your posts but you have the freedom as we all do to share what you want.

I would like to confirm I do not believe Esme is called Dougie. That is not my name either. I can only assume there has been an issue with autocorrect.

I won’t be posting again in this forum. It has taken a turn.

This forum is a really important resource for people who have suffered harm from SMC to share stories, find solidarity, healing, and warn others. However, it should not itself cause harm. Recent posters should consider the impact of their naming and shaming, this isn't Wednesday night at an August camp and it's not right to put individuals in the spotlight. It's also not entirely legal, and risks this entire forum being shut down.