Hi Lintar123 Yes, you are right, the leaders are not good teachers. My Mum was also a school teacher before she retired and never once resorted to bullying tactics. However, if the leaders of SMC are bullying in their attitudes towards their congregation then it stands to reason that they will be the same in the classroom and it is right to fear for the kids they are currently teaching. I
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Calvary I think you're right about Mr.Black's view of 'words of knowledge' and unfortuately, since his death, there is no-one left to supervise the way in which the current pastors use these 'words of knowledge'. I'm reminded that good orators can incite crowds to riot and strange behaviours outside the church as well as inside. We only have to look at
Forum: Destructive Churches

Sorry, I did mean to mention in my last post that when I attended SMC, apart from Miss Taylor, all the pastors were men and the teaching was pretty much the same then as it is now. Just to clarify where I'm coming from with my feelings about the women who are now pastors in SMC. :-)
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Clive Yes Derek was a lovely man and sadly died far too young. I'm not sure about their married life but I do know that Ma Jewell and Joan didn't see eye to eye on many things. Ma Jewell was very vocal and strong when she disagreed with teachings from the pastors and she was usually right and people, including the leaders at the time, respected her for that so it speaks volumes
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Clive I think that's an excellent idea. It's so easy to forget specifics of a sermon if you're not the one it's being directed at and certainly writing these things down would give people a solid base to work from. I for one do not believe that any of the leaders have any special gifts like this, I believe that they gleen all their information from the clipes and cli
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Clive I get what you're saying but I think that the people who post here are not the ones who need to hear your words. I believe the people who post on this site have realised that spirituality doesn't just reside in SMC and this is why many have found the courage to get out into the world and away from the church. Back in the day the congregation of SMC numbered something in th
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Calvary I agree with you, God loves his children no matter how disillusioned or badly guided they might be by their fellow men (or women). I personally have experienced healing and two of my family members were miraculously healed, one so miraculous her doctor wrote a paper on the subject and 25 years on this doctor continues a study on my family member but the condition has never reversed
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi rrmoderator No worries, I get where you're coming from. :-) What I really wanted to say was that, whether the visions of miss Taylor were true or not, I don't see how you can have a revival by turning people away from the church and, in some cases, even destroying the faith of the people involved. Perhaps we would have seen a revival at some point if the leaders hadn'
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi rrmoderator I do apologise, I wasn't aware that my words would be construed as preaching or personal beliefs but I'll be more careful in future. :-) I do keep the SMC leaders and congregation in my prayers though.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi ChesterK55 Thanks for the confirmation. I knew I had experienced a real change in the church at some point, a heavy suffocating atmosphere that suddently seemed to take over the Greenock church. I do remember visitng other churches in the surrounding areas, in the early years. I made some good friends in those days in the Elim and Nazarene churches and I was really upset when we stopp
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi guys Being a part of this forum has led me to cast my mind back further and remember days I had long ago forgotten. My own feeling is that the church changed drastically AFTER Miss Taylor became a part of the congregation and, subsequently, a higher leader than Mr. Black. Am I right? Is there anyone here who remembers what SMC was like in the days prior to Miss Taylor's leadership?
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Rensil You're probably right, I was still quite young at the time and you know the young folk never got told anything much and I guess I wasn't really involved in any of the 'bad stuff' although I do remember a particular incident which shook me a lot at one of the camps, when a guy collapsed with an epileptic fit and instead of calling an ambulance the leaders started p
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Religionless - I'm dumbfounded by what's going on in the church I used to pretty much LIVE in. The original founders would be turning in their graves right now because although they were strict back in the day, they would certainly not have condoned what is happening now and if D Rutherford is who I think she is then I remember well the day she joined the church at one of the summer
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi folks It's been many years since I attended SMC and it's quite alarming to me to read about the church in so many sites and confirming what I have secretly felt for years! The church was founded by Hugh Black (then a teacher at Port Glasgow High school) in the 1950's. The original church consisted of Hugh Black (known as 'Totty Black' to the school kids) and a b
Forum: Destructive Churches