Re attending other churches, Petitor and Liz

Liz said
‘There was an expectation that church attendance, if someone was returning to their home or student town say, must be somewhere he had had a connection.’

It wasn’t just Mr Black, Mary Black was the same and probably others too.
There was a time when I lived away from the Glasgow area because of work. I started attending another church, Baptist, Bible study and
naively told Mary. I was told not to do that and she likened the attendance at another church to an escalator which would slowly take me away from SMC. She wanted me to only attend Glasgow. Believe it or not the Cumbernauld church was closer than this other church but I was also told not to attend cumbernauld either because ‘my place was Glasgow’. Is that not extreme control!

Amazing grace Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Re attending other churches, Petitor and Liz
>
> Liz said
> ‘There was an expectation that church attendance,
> if someone was returning to their home or student
> town say, must be somewhere he had had a
> connection.’
>
> It wasn’t just Mr Black, Mary Black was the same
> and probably others too.
> There was a time when I lived away from the
> Glasgow area because of work. I started attending
> another church, Baptist, Bible study and
> naively told Mary. I was told not to do that and
> she likened the attendance at another church to an
> escalator which would slowly take me away from
> SMC. She wanted me to only attend Glasgow. Believe
> it or not the Cumbernauld church was closer than
> this other church but I was also told not to
> attend cumbernauld either because ‘my place was
> Glasgow’. Is that not extreme control!

Absolutely ridiculous, demonstrating that it’s not about Christianity and the bible, it’s about control and manipulation. There is no mandate whatsoever, biblically, for this kind of coercion. This is why I and many others call them a cult.

Many people now struggle with the fact that they gave up their intellect, their sense of self and their ability to reason and instead took orders from another human. Why? Because they believed they were ‘anointed’ and that these instructions came from god (small g). Some were fearful, thinking that if they didn’t, they were being disobedient and perhaps bad things would happen.

We’re not talking about ‘stupid’ people – many were / are highly qualified, intelligent people in high-profile jobs.

What can we learn from this? Every single one of us can be duped. The power of belief and, in particular religion, can cause any person to act and behave in a way that they wouldn’t otherwise do.

Do not EVER allow another person to control you.

I am aware of an upcoming online session on healing spiritual abuse "How Do We Heal Our Spiritual Hurt?" that is run by a bona fide respected organization that I trust, and featuring speakers who have inspired me many times in the past, such as Brian Maclaren and Jim Finley. Date is July 11, and it is accessible for a very low fee. (I am not involved in any way in the delivery of this program, and receive no financial benefits of any kind from advising you about it)

[cac.org]

I am sure this program would be of value and interest to many readers on this site.

I am hopeful that by posting this information I am in conformity with the guidelines for posting about events, given the broad benefit and interest it may bring to readers.

After a period of contemplation, prayer and considerstion l have chosen to withdraw and am sure that will bring great delight to some. But, please be aware those who were so fast to defend the behaviour of another that she has shared the identity of a good number of you and that is what l was irritated about. She shared a pseudonym l shared with her and I did that as a test and was shocked when others sent messages stating they new who l was as well as others of you.
For those who have been upset l understand that only too well as that is what Esme and l faced most days at school and for Esme within the SWSNBN commune.
I wish you all well.
And before it gets asked l will jump in with it. When is the BBC documentary.?
Mirmac

Mirmac,

I'm maybe missing the completely obvious, but I'm not aware of the person you're talking about and the dastardly deeds that have been taking place in the shadows. (I'm not defending anyone btw, I'm just oblivious to it).

If someone has revealed themselves, in confidence, to someone else and they've then gone on to reveal that to others, that's absolutely not on.

Unfortunately I do know what Mirmac is talking about because I have fallen victim to this. My identity has been revealed to others and maybe passed to SMC leaders too. I am very sad about this and it is a betrayal of confidentiality. I wish to remain anonymous on this Forum but it looks like that is not now possible. I am not the only one whose identity has been revealed and caused them upset.

It might be ok for people who left Struthers many years ago to reveal their identity, but for those of us who left in recent times, it is still very raw and because we’re still seeing Struthers people whom we know, whilst out and about or shopping, it can be stressful. Things are certainly better now, because more and more people have left SMC and it’s easier if one happens to bump into them.

Mirmac, I hope you will reconsider and not leave the Forum. We need to hear the voices of young people, some of whom are teenagers, who have suffered at the hands of Struthers leaders especially A Speirs, in very recent times.

As I said here once before, we are all here to support one another regardless of what abuse we’ve suffered whilst in SMC.
Thankyou, Ekreteia, for the link to that course on spiritual hurt. It looks like a great course to take.

OK i HAVE SAT BACK AND LET MY NAME BE SLANDERED ABOUT HERE. YES I DID SHARE WHO ESME WAS BUT I SHARED AS I WAS WORRIED ABOUT HER. SHE WAS VERY ARCTIC THAT DAY AND I PERSONALLY FELT SHE NEED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN THE FLESH OR OVER THE PHONE. I REACHED OUT TO FOKE I THOUGHT WHO WOULD KNOW HER TO GET HELP THAT WEEKEND . SHE THANKED ME FOR THIS ON THE FORUM AND IN PM.WOULD I DO IT AGAIN YES, AS MYSELF PERSONALLY CAN NOT SIT BACK DO NOTHING ALIKE SOME.

YES, I PROBABLY SHOULDN’T HAVE SHARED HER NAME. BUT WHAT'S BEEN SPREADING ABOUT SINCE THEN IS TOTAL CRAP. YES I HAVE VISITED GREENOCK A FEW TIMES IN THE PAST 2 MONTH BUT ON BOTH TIMES WAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MEETING UP WITH PEOPLE WHO WERE AFTER MY TIME IN SMC WHO I DO NT KNOW FROM ADAM. FIRST TIME I ONLY SPOKE TO ONE PERSON WHO HAD ANY DEALING WITH SMC AND i PROMISE YOU ESMÉ'S NAME WAS NOT SPOKEN OF.

SECOND TIME, I WAS THERE TO RELAX WITH A FRIEND,

I DID SAY I WAS BOWING OUT OF THINGS.
THIS FORUM HAS HELPED ME A LOT THE PAST YEAR. AND THE FOLK IN IT ARE WONDERFUL. THIS WEEK HAS BEEN ONE OF THE HARDEST WEEKS OF MY LIFE, BUT I CAN NOW SAY I HAVE DONE WHAT I WANTED TO DO. THINGS WILL COME TO LIGHT WHAT. ALL I WANT NOW IS JUSTICE FOR THOSE THEY HAVE HURT AND ARE STILL HURTING. IS NOT TO BE AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT
OTHER THING, WHAT DO YOU THINK STRUTHERS IS THINKING ABOUT ALL THIS CRAP. THEY ARE LAUGHING AT IT ALL. THAT'S WHAT.

LAST THIS ESME I AM SORRY IF I HURT AND OFFENDED YOU IN ANYWAY IT WAS DONE THINKING i WAS GETTING YOU HELP.

FALKIRK BAIRN

Some of you may recall that one or two people mentioned the Keswick Convention a few pages back. This is a hugely respected convention that has been going on for 150 years and, putting their faith into action, has never charged one penny for all the conference activities including speakers with a global reputation (some of whom are authors of books many of you have read), seminars, children’s and youth programmes etc.

Well, just to say I will be there some of the time and would be delighted to meet anyone for coffee and a chat whether you were there for a day or a week. Just drop me a PM.

All events are free, you just have to find your own accommodation and food.

I will even buy the coffee!