Hi Sarah I can kind of understand where youre coming from to an extent. Although I wasnt bor into a cult I did have a short but very painful experience at the hands of a destructive churh/cult and that is what has brought me to this forum. I understand the dilemma in questioning your motives for exposing the work of cults and I think it is always going to be a two-way thing. I know it is fo
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I just wanted to pick up on another couple of points. The first is the persecution complex in Struthers. The Petitor mentioned this in an earlier post. Basically the argument put forward by SMC is that - We are right and we stand up for what is right - People don't like what we say or do so they persecute us - Persecution only goes to show that we are right. I have monitored in a Chris
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Lorna Welcome to the forum and thanks for your input. I am genuinely glad that you have had positive experiences at Struthers, particularly that you found Jesus as Saviour there. In my time there I found some really genuine people who clearly love God. However since my experience I have also met or spoken to some other genuine people who clearly love God, who have been terrribly hurt bu t
Forum: Destructive Churches

Just to pick up on a point thay anonymousfornow has said about asking questions. The reason that people have come to this forum or have written/read articles on the Latigo site is precisley because they have not had their questions answered and furthermore have been banned or ostracised for persistantly seeking an answer. They have then had many years of seeking answers to these questions. The
Forum: Destructive Churches

I have just listened to the same sermon that Archbishop Laud mention, also with great interest. Id like to pick up on a few points and ask a few questions of the Struthers Leaders regarding what I have heard. The first point Id like to make regards the speakers saying that they (I presume she means the leaders) may have made some mistakes. Do she mean by this, that there may have been mistakes
Forum: Destructive Churches

Uncertain Just to encourage you, since my experience of Struthers church and losing my then closest friend due to what happened I was very upset. I missed her friendship and still do. This was made worse due to the fact that I was living in Scotland, over 400 miles away from family and friends back in England and she was the only friend I had at the point I left Struthers. However I made
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi anonymousfornow Welcome to this forum. It doesnt sound strange to me at all how happy you are to have found this forum. I felt exactly the same. I searched for years to find a safe place to talk about my experiences and it was a massive relief over the following months to find out that I wasnt the only one and it wasnt all my fault. I think, from reading the posts of other ex Struthers
Forum: Destructive Churches

Id like to congratulate rmd imps and others who have had the courage to speak out about their experiences of New Harvest Church. Id also like to encourage them and others to continue sharing and finding support here. Ive had no experience of the church but did attend a very controlling and abusive church myself. I looked for years for a safe place where I coould share my experiences and Im grat
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I saw that there were definitely differnt personality types in Struthers. Like ThePetitor says they were those who were better academically or at sport or something else. I was a newcomer in 2006/2007 and found that the vast majority of people had been there for some time and my experiece was that quite a few had either been brought up in the Struthers movement or that Struthers was their only
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Jane If you check out their website it makes no mention of connections to churches in New Zealand. This quote was taken from the Destiny church Glasgow website "Today, Destiny churches are established throughout Scotland, Germany, India, Ireland and Kenya. These churches are inter-dependant, and work together as a family of churches." So it doesnt appear to be but I cant sa
Forum: Destructive Churches

Just to add a little to the earlier points made by Susan and The petitor. I can see both points. The last thing I want to do is go over and over the same old ground if theres no purpose or point to it. However I too waited for years to find a place where I could express how I felt and see if others had had the same or similar experiences and it was a relief to find I was not the only one.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Treetop You hit the nail on the head, thats exactly how it was for me. I brought into the promise that I would only find true freedom if I joined Struthers Church. Then only after I had moved to Scotland I began to get the message that the leaders should be obeyed and that certain things were expected. When what they asked was way off, I felt or was made to feel that if I left I was someho
Forum: Destructive Churches

Id just like to ask one question regarding whether anon or any other Struthers member has ever found the leaders to be wrong. Is it actually conceivable that any of the Struthers leadership COULD ever be wrong? One of my earliest experiences of being a part of the Struthers church was that the leaders are never wrong. Even if they appear to be wrong then they are actually right because they ar
Forum: Destructive Churches

Silentnomore Can I just encourage you to try somewhere else if thats what you feel you want to do. Like the moderator has said, the vast majority of chuches are safe and if you go to a church that is part of a larger organisation such as Assemblies of God or something else then there should be some external accountability if you are not happy. I was part of a destructive church and it does
Forum: Destructive Churches

Treetop made a valid point when he said "The original question in this topic was a request for more information about Struthers Memorial Church and whether or not it is a cult." Ive read other articles on this site and others regarding what constitues a cult or the warning signs of destructive churches. I think that through the personal stories and comments made by myself and others
Forum: Destructive Churches

Many thanks to the person who has had the courage to speak up via ThePetitor. I hope you find some answers soon and your confusion lifts. You raise another point when you touch on what Anon201062 first mentioned in his post. I am referring to not speaking to or asking advice of Christians who are not members of Struthers Memorial Church. Anon201062 stated "The reason there is a
Forum: Destructive Churches

Susan I also agree with you. Many of the posts on this forum are about churches who can probably provide a number of people who would say how wonderful the church is and how it has helped them. However this does not nullify the position of the many people who have had seriously negative experiences. In the run up to the seige at Waco Texas with David Koresh and the mass suicide of Peoples
Forum: Destructive Churches

Anon Thanks for your reply Firstly lets clear up a few points. Regarding the information regarding the 3 men in the church. The information I received regarding that was from another member of Struthers congregation who was also upset by what had happened. My apologies if the information they gave me was incorrect but that still doesnt nullify all the other accounts I gave to which I per
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi The Petitor Sorry I havet replied for a while, have ben quite busy with work and stuff. It seems to me, and this has become much more clearer the more Ive heard about other peoples experiences is that the Struthers leaders can change their minds on whatever they want whenever they want and if anyone questions their motive or decisions they are seen as doubting God. Im sorry to hear your
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi The Petitor You say you left SMC a while back. Im wondering how long ago you left because they dont practice the covering of heads for women now alhough I know they used to. Basically it refers to a passage of scripture in 1 Corinthians 11v 1-16. This basically says that f a woman prays or prophesies with her head uncovered it is dishonourable and she should have her head shaved. In tha
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Clive There are so many negative experiences and worrying things that happened in Struthers in such a small space of time. I guess one of the biggest things was how scripture and preaching from the pulpit was used to intimidate people. It was often used as a ploy for fear. The pastor at the cumbernauld church would often say stuff like "I know there are people here who have spoken
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Angley Sounds very much like a Struthers Memorial church I was part of. Sermons directed at those who asked questions, saying that anyone who questioned the pastpr would have to repent, that all other church members would go to hell and the shouting in tounges and repetitiveness. Add to that the deep control of members even to how one should wear their hair and that women shouldnt be allwo
Forum: Destructive Churches

Hi Clive 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 focus for them. My first experience wa
Forum: Destructive Churches