Expert describes "abusive church" warning signs ... all fit Generations
If you have experiences with Generations Church, please post them to this blog. You can submit your postings anonymously if you desire.
Dr. Ronald Enroth presents characteristics that serve as reliable warning signals:
- There is strong, control-oriented leadership.
- The use of guilt, fear, and intimidation by the leadership to manipulate members and keep them in line.
- Followers led to think that there is no other church quite like theirs, and that God has singled them out for a special purpose.
- Other, more traditional churches are put down as being less "holy."
- Subjective experience, especially public or group testimonials (sometimes coached), are encouraged and emphasized.
- Many areas of members' lives are subject to scrutiny, and the church standards established are usually based upon the life-style adopted by the leader.
- Rules and legalism abound.
- Members not following rules established by the leadership (or threatening exposure of the manipulation and abuse) are often labeled "reprobates" or "dupes of Satan," and are dealt with harshly. Ostracism of former members and excommunication of dissenters are common.
- For members choosing to leave a spiritually abusive church, returning to the realm of normalcy is difficult.
For more information on abusive churches and religious cults, visit the International Cultic Studies Association
It frightens me how many similarities I can find in this article to my experience with Generations!
The problem arrises that the indoctrination process is slow and steady- the pressure consistant... that one doesn't realize how much they have bought in. It's all done in the name of the Lord, so coming to the church not really knowing any better, you figure since it's in the name of our Lord that's it's safe. But how many instances can we look at in history are done in the name of God? They are not all blessed by God!
Reply to this
You know, I am so flippin sick and tired of this church- and I don't even go there anymore. Haven't for a long long time. I've had discussions with other former members and the stories they tell me anger me so much. Stories of those high and low on the food chain who have left- broken relationships, division within families. When people leave they tend to question everything they know about Christianity- questioning is good, but I wonder how many have turned away from the Lord because of the bad experience they have had with this church. The thing that irritates the hell out of me is that those who are sold out and die hard to the church and their pastor don't see that there may be a problem. Those who have voiced an opinion are wrong, they are being influenced by satan and they are backsliding. It just builds their mighty ego's higher- they are special, they are committed, others just can't hack it. It's just manipulation- in the name of the Lord. One who questions or simply doesn't want to open a cell is willful, or disobedient. It's all a bunch of crap.
Individuals and families simply get burnt out. Husbands and wives and childeren each go to numerous classes or meetings that are mandatory. If you don't go or simply don't want to take another class or don't want to open a cell, then you'd better have a damn good reason and they will work and pray for you to have the right heart. Makes one feel that they aren't good enough unless you jump thru each and every hoop they throw at you. And if you do back away and decide for whatever reason to get involved again, you need to start all over. It's the most damaging to the kids and teens because those ages are seeking approval so they tend to comprimise themselves more and have a tendancy to believe the crap they are told.
Everything they do is self serving to add to their G12 Pyramid. Just pisses me off.
Reply to this
I just watched the video on your myspace site. It's frightening when you break down Generations to it's basic level, they are exactly like that video!! I'm a strong minded person and I felt for so long that I was always bucking the system ... it's slow & you don't even realize it. Now that I'm gone it ticks me off! During the post encounter class they use the analogy of the frog in a pot. They say that you must always be on guard because the "worldly" things that we are constantly exposed to will slowly creep back up on us and drag us back down. You put a frog in a pot of water while it's alive turn up the temperature one degree at a time and slowly, very slowly the frog will boil and die. That's how the view the world and warn the new members. In truth, it's exactly the opposite the members are the poor frogs and Generations turns up the heat one degree at a time and before you know it..... they have you.
Reply to this
I had never heard of Generations and I had been worried about the church I was in for the past few years. I'm not young, but I'm single and still struggling to build a career. I've been a Christian only around nine years. [Church] was my second church.
I felt drawn to it by the Bible reading, street outreach and SWEET people. They helped me a lot.
It started changing.
Outreach stopped; poor turnout. We learned we needed to go to encounters. It wasn't required but strongly pushed. I read books while I was down that put extreme paranoid thoughts in my life. People ministering in [Church] urged them on folks, as a source of healing and help.
I asked for counseling and got a session of what turned out to be an exorcism of my flaws and even my personality.
They started the G12 system and School of Leaders, Pre-encounter classes, Post-encounter classes, and more emphasis on authority. As for tithes, we had always been expected to give them, and offerings, but soon I saw how many other pressures to give were added. It was OK when it was for missions, charity, outreach.... But when the company came in with the presentation for the new building and I hated it and so did a couple of my closest [Church] friends but no one asked us what we wanted, that hurt me. I never wandered into a seeker-friendly megastadiummallchurch as a seeeker. I wandered to churches that looked like churches, seeking a church and God. I joined the building prayer team to influence the plan through prayer and I felt right about it. The leader of that group was stretched so thin she collapsed and after a while her aide also was losing stamina. I worried, for some people were doing everything while others offered to help out and were told they needed to be "more healed" or "more delivered" to be able to work for [Church]. I heard this after my 2 deliverances.
No one was insulting or forceful to us at all. No one invaded our privacy. I just didn't feel right about the changes. I wondered if I should go to another church. I saw a Catholic site with explanations of some Bible verses I'd never heard anyone explain at all. I felt rocked off my seat, and I read on.
I bought a book of Bible verses that back up Catholic teaching and rang the three main pastors and other church leaders, asking for a meeeting with one to discuss why [Church] saw these verrses in another way and how so. Finally I heard through a 3rd party hat a pastor would talk to me after churhc. I brought the book. She wasn't smiling. She said she thought they'd told me they had no time to talk about these things. she asked me to read the faith statement the other pastor had handed out on the membership form we were being rallied to sign and hand in. I had not handed mine in. It looked dark and cloudy all around. I said I wanted to know why we believed what we did. she was angry and said I should just go to the Catholic Church if I wanted then. I did.
Reply to this
It just hit me that I don't have to be afraid I'm in a state of rebellion and thus of witchcraft by having turned my back on the Vision because not all "rebellion" is rebellion against God -- not every "disobedience" is the same as witchcraft. The Pentecostal movement itself happened when a lot of Mehtodists defied their own leaders' instructions by continuing the Azusa Street Revival after calls to return to their own churches and go home. Were they "in rebellion"? No. So neither am I. Making one's own decision isn't wrong. What a relief!
Reply to this