Lord Haw Haw:
What a strange name you have chosen for this message board.
It is the title given to an English traitor that defected to the Nazis during WWII.
"Lord Haw Haw" radio broadcast anti-British Nazi propaganda--something like "Tokyo Rose".
Your observation about "shepherding" is really a rather shallow observation.
The key issue is accountability.
Do church leaders have meaningful accountability through a constitution and bylaws governing the congregation, through democratically elected boards and officers?
Can the elected board fire the pastor? And who controls the church budget? And is there meaningful financial tranparency?
Meaningful financial transparency means an annually published and distributed budget that discloses in detail all salaries, compensation and expenses paid out from church funds.
These are the key questions.
Jesus said that many would come in his name, but he would not know them. He warned about wolves in sheep's clothing and urged believers to inspect the fruit. Paul was critical of the bad behavior of leaders in Galatians.
For more information about "shepherding" and the trouble caused by authoritarian church leadership you should read the following:
See [
www.culteducation.com]
Also see [
www.culteducation.com]
These links include research about shepherding and discipleship schemes.