CheeryLizard As far as I was aware, there was no process for membership at Struthers. Every other church I went to, had such a process. Most had some kind of basic criteria i.e must be a Christian, agree with the statement of faith etc. It seemed to me that Struthers membership was decided by the minister; a privilege awarded to. I appreciate that I might be wrong on this. My existence at
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi folks Long time no speak. Just to clarify a point cheerylizard made, as a regular attender at Struthers, I was advised that I would not be welcome at the AGM. Other than that, much had changed for me. I am no longer a Christian. My experience at Struthers has no doubt played a role in that, although it was not wholly the reason, it was just a platform for me to question things in gener
Forum: Destructive Churches

Skeptic51 Are you saying that because Jesus overturned the tables of the money lenders that it is ok for the pastor to scream and shout at people? Or that because the disciples fell asleep when Jesus asked them to pray, that it is ok to work church staff to the point of exhaustion? As for a minister saying that he can't have a board of elders because they would want to water the messag
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Happy I think your analysis is correct and I personally doubt that you you would have received a response had you not mentioned on this forum that you had contacted them. My reasoning behind this assumption is the past eperiences of others, when they have written to Struthers leaders and asked for a meeting or hoped or some kind of acknowledgement. I suspect the fact that you apologised wi
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Folks It really has been too long since I posted on here or even visited the forum. So sad to see the forum go so quiet after it was so active. Good to see some of the old faces still around. Happy, I'm not sure if we have spoken before but full credit to you for doing what you believed to be right, it's a shame, but not unexpected that the leadership didn't do this a lot
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Folks Yesterday's news was pretty devastating to me and probably a lot of other posters. Last night I had posted my idea that 2 years of work had been undone overnight. However, I think I was wrong about this. I know that I have been helped tremendously from both posting on this forum and reading the posts of others. I know that others have been helped also and there are probably numer
Forum: Destructive Churches

Got to say I am very disappointed here. Perhaps members who are able to retrieve posts can post them elsewhere with a more relaible system. Perhaps anyone involved with the Latigo site could see about setting up a forum there. At least we would know any future posts would be safe and two years of work would not be undone overnight
Forum: Destructive Churches

Ok maybe I am missing something here but over 70 pages and nearly two years of messages are missing for me. I s this the same for anyone else? The last message I can access is on page 32 on September 3rd 2011
Forum: Destructive Churches

My understanding, after a message from the moderator is the domain name itself is up for sale. The site will not be affected, it will just be given a new domain name. The domain name RickRoss.com I imagine will attract a lot of interest from the managers of an American rapper who goes by the same name apparently. I don't really do rap music but I have heard of him. I imagine they will gla
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Folks I've just been on the Struthers church blog and notice they have had some very interesting reports on recent Bible studies from the book of Galatians. The most recent one was about how the church members should share all good things with their leaders. They were told they should give financial support as well as practical support and help in other areas to leaders who help suppo
Forum: Destructive Churches

I personally think the the recent debates on atheism and whether or not Christians are foolish for believing in God is a distraction against what we are here for. I do wonder if that distraction is done deliberately sometimes in order to cause factions. I'm all for people believing differently from me and I respect their right to do so. I just think that respect should be mutual. For all tho
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hey folks Yeah it.s a pretty uneventful day for me and I'm catching up on the posts after having been mega busy, so I thought I give you two posts in one day lol. Actually I came across this post on another part of this site and thought it was really relevant to those who have wondered if this is all worth it sometimes, especially when we are accused of "just being bitter" and
Forum: Destructive Churches

Clive Have you ever seen the film Bruce Almighty? I refer particularly to the part where Bruce (who gets to be God for the week) answers YES to every prayer and absolutely chaos erupts. I'm not claiming that film as a theological masterpiece, but it does highlight an issue that you bring up. You seem to think that if one prays and the answer does not come as expected then this is a failur
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Wistongirl Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your experiences. I’m really glad you’ve found a happy and fulfilled life, it’s just a shame that you’ve had such a negative experience of some Christians. It is hard to reconcile when you have friends who make no profession of faith, but treat you better than your own church leaders isn’t it? My experience of Struthers happened long
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hey CBarb The thing that really stuck in my throat with Struthers and it was the thing that caused me to leave, was this underlying theme that the cross wasn't enough. The talks of "truly repenting," of having a "deep sorrow for ones sins," like you had to make up for your wrong doings to God and go through a time of penance, in order for God to forgive you and for Str
Forum: Destructive Churches

CBarb The problem is; and I picked this up from my very short time at Struthers, is that most people are not taught to hear God for themselves, or use common sense. It's like in Old Testament times where the high priest sought the face of God on behalf of the people and then came back and told the people what God had said. The average bod at Struthers is taught that they are too unholy t
Forum: Destructive Churches

CBarb you do make me chuckle. However you have missed some points out, particularly under rule 7 - things deemed unholy Listening to any non Christian music Listening to any Christian music that we deem unsuitable i.e. anything by Hillsongs etc. In fact anything that involves any percussion, clapping or a display of joy Desiring to get married unless Struthers leaders (sorry I mean God)
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi E.Ray, it’s good to hear from you. Thanks for sharing your story here and thanks for confirming what I saw regarding the young girl. I know others saw it and I know it must have bothered some people watching it. I’m just sorry I didn’t have the guts to speak up there and then and ask her what on earth she thought she was doing treating a child in that way. Regarding the Disclosure Scot
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Folks I occurred to me just yesterday that we need to have a real concern for all the regular attenders of Struthers church right now. It's pretty clear that the muck may well be hitting the fan right now in Struthers and it's quite possible that along with a general contempt for anyone posting on this forum, that regular members are being blamed, at least in part, for what is ha
Forum: Destructive Churches

Clive I really don't think that setting up a Facebook group will solve anything. I'm not a gambling woman and I don't have a million pounds but if I was and I did I would bet the whole million that the Struthers leaders would not join such a group. Given that they have expressly forbidden church members to visit this forum and the Latigo site, I'm also guessing that no one
Forum: Destructive Churches

I honestly don’t understand what is meant by “the threshold of real abuse” I freely admit that I am not a social worker nor am I a legal expert. I accept that there may well be a difference between what constitutes abusive behaviour towards children and that which is legally defined or commonly accepted as ‘child abuse.’ I know that many here have testified that they still bear the scars of
Forum: Destructive Churches

HI Archbishop Laud Long-time no see. I do understand what you are saying and I know there is a fine line when bringing up a child with a fundamental belief system and how some people could perceive this as child abuse of some sort. My sister is a very staunch Jehovah's Witness and brought my two nieces up this way. I personally did not agree and was not happy when she did not allow them
Forum: Destructive Churches

Well it certainly sems that things have picked up speed since I was last on this site. One thing that comes to mind when reading about the investigation by the OSCR into Struthers, is the recent avalanche of celebrities that have been linked to child sex abuse allegations. Since September of 2012, after the allegations were made regarding Jimmy Savile, it seems like every other week we are hea
Forum: Destructive Churches

If the parents have/are in the process of, paying for these ipads, then surely at the point the ipad is paid for, it then belongs to the parent. I really don't think I would be appy if I had a child in Cedars school and as a parent, I was asked to pay for a ipad for my child. Then, a few years later was told, these ipads need updating, so we are going to give the ones you have already paid f
Forum: Destructive Churches

ThePetitor You have a point about restricted funds and you are right in your definition. My friend was the director of the UK office of a ministry that was based in Canada and much of the money that came in was classed as 'resticted.' Basically, in this case, people were responding to a request to support a particular evangelical mission i.e a 5 day gospel rally in Botswana. So any
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi growing123 Welcome to the forum, it's good to hear the opinions of both sides of the fence, as it were. I agree that the conversation about ipads might have seemed to have lost it's focus a bit. I think the original point about them was not should they be used but should the church congregation be paying for them through the church offering. I don't pretend to know enough ab
Forum: Destructive Churches

Lol Clive A real 'blast from the past' there. I was not at Struthers in my youth (but still went to a very legalistic church and I can identify with numbers 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and nubers 21 through to 30 with the excption of number 27 (number 24 was McDonalds, if that counts) I particularly remember number 9 "You burned all of your secular CDs at a church bonfire but
Forum: Destructive Churches

B4U You seem to have some very strange ideas of what church is and what it should be. I admit I've never met this man Mike Neville or been to the church but I have been to an abusive controlling church and this thing of the leader wanting to brainwash people is a common theme. Surely as a Christian it is up to the leaders to teach and the Holy Spirit to change people as they study the bi
Forum: Destructive Churches

I think that SMC leaders would take great comfort in one thing alone regarding this forum. That is, that we all stop posting and let this forum dwindle away into nothingness. That the problems in Struthers are allowed to be swept under the carpet and for everything to be 'nice' again. Contrary to Clive's suggestion that the leaders will sit up and take notice if more people ne
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi folks I've no posted on here for a long time. I guess I felt I didn't really have anything to say for a while. I think the biggest problem with the few responses given by those who are 'Pro Struthers', is the instant dismissal of anything said against SMC on the grounds that the person who is raising 'an issue' and therefore everything they say is invalid.
Forum: Destructive Churches