Hi all, I seem to be hogging the stage a bit at the moment, but I do have a good reason, at least this time round! I have just read a really interesting book, and I thought that you might all like to hear a bit about it. And I do actually mean ALL. I think the book might be of interest to the main contributors to the forum - those who have experienced SMC and left - but I also think it could
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi All, I had reason to have a look at the evangelical alliance website and was interested to read some of what was said there. Nothing too unexpected in the statement of faith (11 points) but I was interested in the "Evangelical Relationships Commitment" that has 3 affirmations and 5 actions. The affirmations are:QuoteWe welcome as Christian brothers and sisters all who experi
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Happy Survivor, It is good to hear that there has been a bit of a response, and even better to hear that you are not letting it get to you one way or another. I am not surprised that Grace did not wish you well in the new fellowship - they really do not believe anyone could ever be as foolish as to leave their perfect church. Funnily enough, one of the tests of a cult is whether &qu
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That is really good, and is wha I would hope for from Christian Leaders.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Well OK, happy to apologise for saying it is nonsense - especially as we are on the theme of being willing to apologise. I do think there is a danger in going down that route however. I know there have been times that people have almost got to the point that they think they are grieving the Holy Spirit because they put the wrong socks on in the morning, or parking in the wrong parking space,
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi there, I know nothing about this organisation, so cannot pass judgement, but I do have a very simple test that is useful, which is to ask to speak to someone who has left the organisation. If your friend cannot find anyone anywhere who has left but still thinks highly of the organisation, the alarm bells should immediately start ringing. All the good organisations I know, whether they ar
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Happy Survivor, I will not speak for others, but I think this is great. I do not see it as a big change of heart, just as a genuine action prompted by wanting to do what is right. I too believe that two wrongs do not make a right, and we should not use the behaviour of others as an excuse for our own misbehaviour. Well done! I have also apologised to others (for example on this for
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi C-barb and others. It is good to have a chance to continue the chat about all things Struthers. Yes, you see the false authority thing all the time in Struthers- in fact you rarely see anything else. Once you remove the unjustified authoritative statements (God is here, God wants to bless you, God's is not pleased with you, God has shown me you have a demon etc, etc) there is basica
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RR moderator, Would it be possible to get a response to this? It would be really useful to know whether posts on this message board were searchable through google or not, and whether this was a policy decision or some sort of technical issue. Thanks.
Forum: Destructive Churches

The loss of so much information and debate is indeed a tragedy, although some of the more active threads (like the Struthers Memorial Church thread which is my main interest) have managed to recover all the lost posts from use of the google cache and a number of local records. Not much that can be done however, and thanks for the apology - it does make a difference to people to know that the l
Forum: Destructive Churches

Truthseeker9001, The SMC leaders may be spouting forth their usual “we are wonderful and God will look after us” rubbish, but they will have to do a lot more than that to get approval from OSCR - they will have to provide externally examinable evidence, something they have never had to do before. Until now, they have not needed any evidence, just a repetition that they have been specially cho
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi All, good to see that the interesting posts ‘jus keep a-comin’. I do have concerns about the school, but my bigger concern is about the whole organisation and how the two bits fit together. The leaders/Trustees need to answer the question of whether the school in an outreach or not. If it is, they have to explain to parents that this is the case and they will be trying to influence young
Forum: Destructive Churches

Sorry - obviously picked that up wrong. Still some relevance perhaps, but happy to apologise to you and to the SMC leadership for suggesting this was within their sphere of influence.
Forum: Destructive Churches

To the leaders of SMC If you read the above posts, you will see that a member of your congregation has intimidated someone. That may have been accidental or it may have been intentional, it may have been a bit ambiguous or it may have been totally 100% unambiguous. Whatever the memory or intention, it has clearly been seen as a threat. (Happy Survivor, please do not read any doubt of yo
Forum: Destructive Churches

Happy Survivor First and foremost, you have done nothing wrong. One of the effects of Struthers is to leave you examining everything under a microscope – “Oh no, I wore my red socks this morning. I am sure that guy in the train was going to speak to me about the terrible burden he was carrying and would have been converted on the spot, but he saw my red socks and thought I must be some sort
Forum: Destructive Churches

Happy Survivor Your treatment by the SMC leadership really has been appalling. It is so sad when people who are struggling are kicked when they are down instead of supported to stand on their own two feet. It is good to hear that you are moving forward however, and you have been withdrawn from the drugs. I am sure things will continue to improve, although life is rarely a straight-forward u
Forum: Destructive Churches

rrmoderator – thanks for confirming the reasons for banning bingowings. Like others, I think it is really helpful to have this sort of info. It is so sad that bingowings was attempting to post personal attacks. I certainly can’t see how making personal attacks is consistent with the Christian message so, even if there had not been any other concerns, that would immediately make me wonder abo
Forum: Destructive Churches

Saturdaynightfever - welcome! That is indeed a well-chosen moniker! Yes, cbarb ("-again") I remember the sermons against gambling on the stock market as well, and I also remember Chris Jewell, who was and is the treasurer, explaining to some of us (who hardly knew what the stock market was) why Mr Black believed it was wrong. Interesting that Mr Black and Chris Jewell then later ap
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Bingowings Now I’m offended – you will answer Happy Survivor’s questions but not mine. I am most disappointed. If I hadn’t already plumbed the depths of depression due to SMC many years ago, I might take it personally. Seriously though, this is unfortunately what I have come to expect in Struthers – “the wrong person asked the question”, “the question was asked the wrong way”, “you have d
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Bingowings – welcome to the forum. It would indeed be wonderful if you could check out things that have been said. Quite a number of people have felt confused by the teachings and would welcome clarity. Will you come back to this forum with your findings? One very simple thing for starters – is there, or was there, a rule that women should wear hats at meetings? If you want to go back an
Forum: Destructive Churches

QuoteHappy SurvivorA couple from SMC who are very highly thought of decided that they would obey the leadership and get rid of their T.V. But they were then faced with a tricky problem...how would they watch their favourite T.V. programmes? So do you know what they did? They watched them on the BBC IPlayer. This got them into huge trouble with their broadband provider as they were watching so man
Forum: Destructive Churches

Clive Thanks for that impressive piece or archiving and restoration. Like others, it seems to me that the forum has great value in at least 2 ways. The first is the opportunity to share our experiences and to understand we are not the ones out of step here. I know how much I have benefited in this regard, and I love to read how others have also found reassurance and support through the fo
Forum: Destructive Churches

Dear all, I thought that you might be interested to read this information from the front page of the charity giving website . Quote We can confirm that the Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Dove Trust, who operate the online donations portal www.charitygiving.co.uk. Pesh Framjee, Partner at Crowe Clark Whitehill, has been appointed by the Charity Commission as i
Forum: Destructive Churches

FilthyBackslider – welcome to the forum! We do pick some interesting names, don’t we! Great to have you joining the merry crew, and to hear of your experiences. It does seem that the great and the good at SMC have no interest at all in anyone other than the “shining examples” (and, in my view at least, the “shining examples” all turned out to be damp squibs!) I wonder how many others sit in
Forum: Destructive Churches

Just a couple of comment on the remark QuoteRensil The large influx of young folk in the late 70s and 80s consisted mostly of kids from unbelieving families. I think we have to remember 2 things - first, the "large influx" is only large by SMC standards. What we are talking about here is perhaps a dozen folk in each influx. The other thing is that, apart form the early days whe
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QuoteCliveHi Guys, ThePetitor - you wrote recently "As Mister Black often used to quote, “All that is required for evil to abound is for good men to do nothing.” which I had been thinking of posting here just before reading your quote. One of the things that I find interesting is that I do quote Mister Black from time to time. Chris19 says that looking back form a distance he or she
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Wistongirl, I too remember the little one that died so young, so we might also have known each other. It was a traumatic time for all, and there are some details there that even I (well known for wanting everything out in the open) will not make public. I am sorry you are not feeling so rosey – we are all human beings and are all affected by things at all sorts of emotional levels. I know I
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Quotecbarb I would love to see a response to the letter you posted, the Petitor, it doesn't seem like an unreasonable request for someone to make given the previous friendship. It's a bit unchristian to not even acknowledge the letter even if the meeting were out of the question, for whatever reason. This so-called anointing that the privileged few have seems to me to be the last
Forum: Destructive Churches

Just catching up with posts and love some of the comments. Leaders discerning sin left right and centre but not noticing half bottles of whisky in the meetings – wonderful! There have been other related examples, with leaders apparently not being aware of members involved in relationships or even of a girl getting pregnant. Yet they “discern” things that are not true – that someone is a lesb
Forum: Destructive Churches

QuoteIfellawaySorry E.Ray, I meant to say, don't remember grace really, but, truthfully I do recall Jennifer as approachable and patient. I actually don't remember being on the receiving end of her discernment. ... Which actually makes it harder to hear how some have been ignored by her. I originally came here to defend the outrageous claims against my childhood curch leaders. The
Forum: Destructive Churches