I came across this website which relates to calvinist megachurch Mars Hill and the overbearing pastor there Mark Driscoll. Driscoll has publicly apologised. Something we are yet to see from Diana Rutherford and other top SMC brass Of course the only difference here is that SMC has never been anything close to a “megachurch”.
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Found the site - but i’m slightly puzzled, the site creator doesn’t appear to be an ex-member nor is any mention of the site owner having attended SMC at all present, or any interaction with SMC members or leadership. To illustrate my point here is an excerpt: "Whatever the facts are, I would welcome any information. Your anonymity is safe with me. I don't want to make enemi
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Hi people, long time and all that, I recently came across an old comment posted on the BBC website its from a “Fifi” and posted on the Radio 4 PM programme site: and thought i’d share it here. Maybe “FIFI” can verify this story.. "At the age of 17, and just about to leave school, I couldn't resist the temptation - having been specifically invited to do so - to tangle with my
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QuoteThePetitorBy the way, if anyone is interested in reading the "witness statements" from posters here, have a look at the thread on The Refuge in Wendover, Aylesbury, as SeekingSusan created a useful summary of these testimonies there. Since there have been some recent new additions to testimonies, if anyone wants me to add theirs to the Wendover Refuge thread, then send me a PM wi
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On checking out the Struthers website, and while looking at the blog noticed that SMC are now happy to show DVDs by a person named  George Otis, called Transformations II in their youth meetings. This man seems to be part of a movement in the US called Dominionism. Are Struthers, Diana Rutherford and other SMC leader now part of this movement ? Given the recent reports that influence from
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“Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. “Others fell among the thorns, and the tho
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So lets get this all straight. Here we have a church that has as a central core of its doctrine that * Struthers leaders have a personal relationship with Jesus - and - of course - the Holy Spirit. Everyone should strive to be "IN HIS WILL" at all times. And WE THE LEADERS KNOW HOW TO DO THIS !!!. * Mr Black, Miss Taylor and Diana Rutherford all stress that everyone in the c
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and a new testimony from "Merciful7" It feels strange to be actually posting on this forum after over a year of observing the postings of those formerly involved in SMC or, like me, someone who grew up in SMC. I have felt many times that I wanted to post, if only to agree with so many of the comments that have been made. Cbarb’s recent postings have inspired me to write as, I
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A sad testimony from poster Lintar123: I am so glad to have found this website and comforted, in a sense, to discover that I haven't been alone in trying to recover from my SMC experience. My husband was a long time member when I met him at work and joined in 1981. We were married there in 1986 and many times since, I have even questioned whether or not our marriage was valid! I wa
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I’m sorry to say, that after spending some time trawling all the posts on this thread in preparation for this video task, and taking on board the very real fears and anxieties expressed of revealing their identities, both here and in private, that I think the effort in getting this right, with all the submission and resubmission of stories that would be necessary to do this properly, that I no
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QuoteAnthonyI would very much like to contribute to this Susan That is encouraging Anthony. If you wish, please do send me your story text by PM , or if you prefer, maybe post it here. I did a quick search here for your posts but none seemed to go into any detail so would maybe now be a time to do it here ?. Of course if you’d prefer to just submit it to me privately for the time being thats
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thanks for the feedback. It would help me if those who wish to have their story included can send me an edited version via private message of the exact text you want shown. We can then discuss further edits via PM. Otherwise i’ll just use the content of your posts here. Try and trim out as many unnecessary words as possible, because only a limited amount of text can be displayed and sensibly vie
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It is clear that there are two outcomes that people wish for here - A) that SMC leaders address issues raised on this thread B) to warn any people or children who have been approached by SMC from getting involved with or joining this church, its youth activities or its conferences. Its becoming clear that A will never happen. That leaves B. And as I said before I think a Youtube c
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Quotemandrake The thing is if you want to reach the wider community and therefore prevent other people suffering the same trauma that many of you have experienced it may be worthwhile bringing this forum to the attention of the local press or indeed to the Local Authorities who ARE her employers In You tube and even on the internet you have to be specifically looking for this kind of inform
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I was wondering if any other posters here have considered using YouTube to share these testimonies and thoughts, in textual and anonymous form ? This might be a more immediate and accessible way to get the message across to many people - particularly the younger generations.
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one more that i mistakenly i omitted.. Covlass Yes Ive had some very negative experiences of Struthers Memorial Church. Its a long story bit I'll try to bring out the main points here. It began by meeting a friend who went there, first online and then we develpoed the freindship in real life. She spoke about how the church was really 'anointed' and how holiness was a major fo
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In just in the recent months there seem to be more and more people "coming forward” which is interesting. I thought it might be encouraging to people here to compile all the testimonies - mostly first time posts - from posters here, thus “cutting to the chase”. I’ve posted these on the other Refuge Wendover Thread, since it might prove useful to parents and children ( they target youn
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Finally a quote from a recent post: clare "To all the confused young people who read this forum in secret, God will not punish you for leaving struthers, you can just leave, there is life after struthers! and if you are there under obedience to parents He will honour your obedience , pray that He will shield you until you can leave."
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and more..: Biscuits I was a kid and a teenager in SMC, and although I loved the worship and the very real presence of God (totally addictive), I felt under the most extreme pressure to perform. I remember in one Saturday night kids’ meeting in Glasgow, the leader made everyone sit in a circle and asked everyone who had been baptised in the Spirit to raise their hands. (This by the way is
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and more: Rensil I also found that rules made by the church leadership can change but with no announcement of the fact or instruction to the members. For example, it used to be that women were not allowed to wear trousers, especially not jeans. Nowadays most of the women there wear trousers including, in the younger women, tight-fitting jeans. Nothing is said. The wearing of hats for wome
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Here a condensed list of testimonies posted on the main Struthers thread: Goldengirl I have read with much interest all of the postings on this site and having been in Struthers church for a number of years, then left, I feel I can identify with many of the experiences shared here. First of all, as a teenager I started to go along to meetings with a few of my friends and very quickly chan
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Just read this article in the guarding today. Brazilian televangelist tells followers to embark on media 'fast' : Subhead: "Bishop Edir Macedo's request to refrain from television, radio or the web criticised as diversion tactic from bad press" Ring bells fo anybody ?
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As well as the use of “holiness”, the other tool often used as an excuse for overarching authoritarianism is the constant use of the “Enemy” metaphor. One finds this at work in authoritarian states - be they marxist or fascist, as well as abusive churches throughout the ages. And very often politicians and leaders desperate to fasten their grips on power - will search hard for or just invent
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Hi Clare, SMC are like the Catholic church:- the "supreme leaders” hear from god directly and infallibly. They exercise a thinly veiled form of popery wrapped in pentecostal clothing, using wesleyan holiness as a vile justification for exercising unchallenged power over their docile and at times clearly fearful flock. However in the Catholic church one sees divergent views in its cle
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ConcernedMother. You should also be aware that prior to Pauline Anderson taking over the running of the Refuge in Wendover, back in the formative days of the Refuge group - in the 80s, Diana Rutherford moved down England to be with this branch and spent several years alongside another Struthers pastor - Joan Jewell to help run and minister to the small group of Struthers followers that was to
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Although not from the Refuge , i think this post from the other thread bears being reprinted here, considering the original question concerned how Struthers threads their young children: Take special note of the comment at the end where the poster says that after his experience in this church he felt resentment against christianity, but AFTER READING THE CRITIQUES on this forum, he now actual
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Does anyone here know anything about the struthers branch called "The Refuge" down in England ?. Someone is asking about childrens activities there under a new topic specifically about that church group. See here :
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Quotesusie Lloyd Corry said: "the chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken" Lloyd Corry ??? I think you mean Samuel Johnson.
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Hi Covlass, I can recall several times being told - even warned - by a SMC member of the “spiritual errors and dangers" of the “Shepherding movement “ - which was briefly popular among some charismatic churches some time ago. Whereas the shepherding movement was for many charismatic churches a fleeting fad that quickly passed, it is ironic and deeply hypocritical that it now appea
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QuoteRensil To answer a previous question from seekingsusan, No the leaders and members of SMC do not believe in Anihilation after death. They believe in a resurrected body and new life in an eternal realm. They get many things wrong, but, to be fair, not that. Actually I was referring to the doctrine of Hell and whether SMC teach that the UNSAVED will suffer eternal torment in Hell - ie
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