Well, it could be, except that I have only checked about a dozen times in the last week, not 8 times every day. I used to log in a lot, but now look at the higher level stats on destructive churches and only log in if there is a new comment in the struthers thread- partly so that I do not distort the stats. I know that others only log in when alerted of a new message by email, so they are not p
Forum: Destructive Churches

QuoteRensilThere have been several posts relating to the Cumbernauld branch of Struthers, but I'd like it to be known that the same controlling, favouritism and banning procedures occur in all the branch churches. Since every one of the leaders follow the same teaching and continually told us how much in unity the leaders are, then it followed that their treatment of members of their church
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi LoveAlways and Susie, and welcome to the forum. And hello to Rensil as well - I am not sure anyone has actually welcomed you yet. It is really good of you to take the time and share your experiences. I know how hard it can be to talk about issues in the past but, as you can see from the forum, you are not alone. It is also not the first time I have heard of post-traumatic stress syndrom
Forum: Destructive Churches

rrmoderator Thanks, good to have an authoritative source to correct my waffle! I would certainly not want to argue that struthers is a cult on the basis of the above. What is however beyond question is that people have been and are being hurt, and the leadership has no interest in doing anything about that. Whatever the definition and doctrine, that to me is fundamentally wrong. I kn
Forum: Destructive Churches

rrmoderator I am not in a position to answer all of your questions, but I can shed some light on this. Struthers Memorial Church is a company limited by guarantee. That company has charitable status and controls the churches, the school and the coffee/ bookshops. There is only one company, so all of the activities are part of the same organisation. I am not sure how they get away with h
Forum: Destructive Churches

Well, since everyone seems to be listening to the sermon of 12 March, thought I would get in on the act too. I have just listened to the sermon and noted a number of interesting points and phrases. 1) The preacher actually says, “seeds of bitterness”. Now what is that? Is it bitterness or isn’t it? From what I know about people who have left Struthers, including what I read on this forum, t
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi uncertain, and good to hear from you. It is good that you are enjoying the presence of God, singing with others and indeed the shared aspiration for holiness. As C.S.Lewis says, “joy is the serious business of heaven”. Others on this forum may disagree (please do – we like different views!), but I cannot see anything wrong with enjoying a sense that God is giving to you, and that you are re
Forum: Destructive Churches

Many of you will have noticed that a new article has been added to the Latigo site . As always, some really interesting points are made, but I would like to add my own thoughts about one point that Latigo has not particularly covered. That is the insight into the nature of the speaker herself. The sermon quoted makes a number of statements about human nature including: “every human bein
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi anonymousfornow, and welcome to the forum! I can totally understand how you feel. I think there are many people out there who felt they were the only one - I certainly did! As this forum confirms however, that is not the case. I know that one of the things I struggled with was "how could I be right and everyone else in the world be wrong?" Now that I look back, that is of co
Forum: Destructive Churches

It seems to me that the more we look at this, the more issues crop up. I hadn't really thought of the financial side, so thanks for drawing our attention to the recent information on the Latigo site. It does indeed seem bizarre that the viability of the Cedars school is based on the ongoing generosity of the members of Sturthers, and on the apparently arbitrary decision of the leaders to a
Forum: Destructive Churches

Yes, I like the blooper.. doctrinal belief is generally considered important in the definition of a church, if not a cult! I think we understood. In terms of comparing themselves with others, I think part of the problem is that they don't actually carry out this comparison at all. If I am right and almost all of those who remain in Struthers have no adult experience of other churches, t
Forum: Destructive Churches

One other thing I have been meaning to raise for a while. Does anyone know how many people with experiences of other churches stay in Struthers or leave Struthers? Leaders aside, it seems from my experience that almost everyone who has any teenage/ adult experience of life in another church ends up leaving Struthers and almost everyone who has no experience of other churches ends up staying.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Archbishop Laud, welcome to the group! It is good to hear of others who have also come through the Struthers experience. I have to say I really do find it very helpful every time someone contributes to this forum. It has been quite difficult at times over the years not knowing what others think, and whether I am alone in my experience. After so many years, it is really quite encouraging to kn
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi CovLass and others Yes, seems to me that there is a lot of pressure in this model. I remember doing a course in negotiation some years ago, and a lot of it boiled down to saying,"IF you do this, then I MIGHT do that" and refusing to let the opponent (oops sorry, colleagues!) do the same to you. Seems to me that Struthers leaders have been on that course. Not sure it is what Jes
Forum: Destructive Churches

seekingsusan Thanks for your rapid and helpful response. Apology accepted. I did not really take it that it was all directed at me, but I did want to convey my genuine personal reaction to the comments rather than debate what should and should not be allowed or encouraged. I suspect that others may also have felt they were being constrained by the criticism of the discussion. As
Forum: Destructive Churches

QuoteseekingsusanGuys, It seems to me this is just turning into "preaching to the choir" - pointless "radio chatter" to little avail ( I include myself in this ). Well, I guess that is that. It was good while it lasted. I have been looking for an opportunity to talk about how I feel for something like 20 years. Apart from one other ex-member of Struthers, whom
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi all, seems that's the point, isn't it. If there were actually no rules at all, I guess that might be difficult to argue with, but there are rules, or at least expectations and "advice" which includes public bullying. So, if there are rules - no alcohol, no TV other than the news (and I remember a sermon saying that a TV wasn't necessary for that, you could always l
Forum: Destructive Churches

Quoteseekingsusan ThePetitor seems to be wanting to get into some kind of epistemological discussion here as to how one can “know” anything. Fair point, (and a a brilliant explanation of how we might make a decision by the way!) I can see how we could get distracted into that, but my intention was more just to ask whether a judgement is really being made at all - not so much HOW do we/pe
Forum: Destructive Churches

There are a number of comments I would like to make, the first of which is that anon201062 seems to have gone quiet. Seems a bit of a shame, but I can understand how difficult it is to speak up when you feel outnumbered by people with a different view. I would take courage however, anon201062. One of the things you said (about peole sharing a flat) led to CovLass accepting your version of ev
Forum: Destructive Churches

Dear all, I think you will be interested in this email I have just received, and which I provide in full below. Anon201062 - any suggestions? +++++++ The Petitor I wonder if you would be good enough to add the following to the discussions on the Rick Ross site, as I feel I have to comment on the question of whether people are banned from speaking to those that leave the church. I r
Forum: Destructive Churches

Anon201062 I think that CovLass makes a number of interesting points, although I am not going to follow them all up here. One thing I do want to mention however is that your comment, "It is not forbidden to talk to them or anything" is simply wrong. People WERE forbidden to talk to me, and I would be happy to testify to that in any court of the land. The interesting thing wi
Forum: Destructive Churches

CovLass Thanks for picking up some of the points I missed and, by the way, apologies for not responding to your earlier post. I do not want to make this too long a trail, but I am going to address a brief comment on my experience to anon201062.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi anon201062 Good to see your comments about this. It is good to know there are people willing to enter into the discussion and defend the position rather than hide away somewhere say, "I don't need to talk to you - I know I am right." I am not so sure about what you mean by "advice" however. In an earlier post I mentioned a site I came across (http://www.latig
Forum: Destructive Churches

This is quite an old thread, so I am not sure whether anyone will read this, but my test is always the same. If the attitude is, "You can leave here and go anywhere in the world - any country, any religion, any experience, but there is something real here and we will always welcome you back" that is healthy. People are free to come and go, and to make their own decision. Many will st
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi CovLass, and others. Thanks for your reply. It is good to hear from others who have been in the same church so understand the background. One of the problems I have had over the years is that there has been no-one to talk to - those in SMC just tell me to repent (although they won't say of what) and these who have not been involved just think it is all rubbish, so why am I bothered?
Forum: Destructive Churches

Some interesting info here. I was a member of SMC for a number of years and, although I left some time ago, am still confused about a number of things. Two comments I relate to specifically are the “discernment” bit and the lack of communication with ex-members. In my case, the two are very much related as it was made very clear to me that the leaders know more about me than I do, but they r
Forum: Destructive Churches