University of Arizona Investigates Allegations That a Campus Church Group Is an ‘Insidious’ Cult

[Panich52]

University of Arizona Investigates Allegations That a Campus Church Group Is an ‘Insidious’ Cult

Faith Christian Church has been accused by ex-members of public shaming and financial coercion.
By Tom Boggioni / Raw Story

The University of Arizona has opened up an investigation into an on-campus church after former members and staffers have come forward accusing the church of being a cult, according to Arizona Daily Star.

Faith Christian Church, which rose out of the ashes of former Tucson chapter of Maranatha Christian Church,  has been operating on the UA campus since its founding in 1990.

In an investigation led by the Star, former members and staffers accused the church of hitting infants with cardboard tubes to encourage submission, using financial coercion to hold onto members, compelling alienation from parents, and public shaming of members, including shunning former members who leave the church or question its leadership.

Former members claim they suffer from panic attacks, depression, anxiety, and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after escaping the clutches of the church.

Faith Christian is led by founder and head pastor, Stephen M. Hall, a self-professed former criminal who boasts of being busted for running a marijuana farm as well as working as an enforcer for a Florida drug lord. Hall has not responded to a list of questions submitted by the Star.

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[Warpy]

1. Let's see,

Charismatic central figure with a criminal history, check
Going after college kids who are lost, check
Abuse of children, check
Threats against people who want to leave or have left, check
Alienation of friends and families outside the cult, check.

What they need to do now is follow the money and check who Hall is fucking.

[JonLP24]

3. Everything but the criminal history

Don't know about the charisma but I have met him faced to faced, he sat near the back while someone else preached in a yearly event or for some reason we had to travel from Flagstaff to be at the mother church in Prescott.

After pastoring several churches in Foursquare, Wayman Mitchell was given the pastorate of the Prescott, Arizona Foursquare church in December 1970. The church had approximately 35 people attending. Mitchell picked up some ideas from other church groups on how to evangelize young people, including the "hippie" generation. One of these ideas included "Music Scenes," or "Coffee Houses." As Mitchell began to see a lot of young people coming into his church, he started up these music services on Friday and Saturday nights. Some of those who joined his church were talented musicians who even had professional experience related to playing in rock bands. This enabled Mitchell to see even more young people come into his church as "new converts."[citation needed]

The Foursquare leadership agreed to allow Mitchell to plant Foursquare churches within Mitchell's Foursquare District, the Southwest District. The Southwest District, at the time, was under the leadership of Dr. John Holland. Mitchell and Holland had no real friction over Mitchell's sending out of men, whom Mitchell had personally trained, to start churches.[citation needed]

Mitchell's plan of discipleship also included having the men who were sent out also disciple the male converts in their churches. Mitchell envisioned a geometric multiplication of churches that would "reach the world," and this was emphasized as being urgent as Jesus was coming back very, very soon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayman_Mitchell

I can vouch for the rock/rap concerts. The one in Tempe have ripped of 2pac songs but replaced with Christian lyrics.

I haven't seen my aunt & uncle in quite awhile but the only way they hang out with us is if they do their fair share of convincing us to come to church or the "when was the last time you were saved question" was often asked

In 1989, a father who accused the group of being a "mind-controlling cult", convinced social workers to prevent his 16-year-old daughter (who was in the custody of the state) from attending a Potter's House church. After several months, however, a Juvenile Court commissioner ruled that she could go unless her father or the county could show she was being harmed by the church. The girl's mother, Renee Collin, disagreed with the father, saying she had no objection to her daughter going to the church.[22]

In January 2002, Charisma News, a Christian news magazine dealing mainly with Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity, reported a major exodus of some 160 churches from the Potter's House Movement in the United States.[23] The reason for the split, according to Charisma News, was "because of unhealthy control, and after (members) leave they are afraid to talk about their experiences." A former pastor interviewed in the Charisma News article, when asked about allegations of abuse, said "There are families who have not spoken for years, brothers who are pastors all the way to the Philippines who were separated by this group and had years of not even speaking, churches that have been deliberately split, children who don't talk to their parents."

In November 2010, Australia's Nine Network reported that Potter's House in Tasmania, Australia was performing a theater stage-show involving "scenes of suicide and drug use, and ended with a pastor telling the audience that 'the devil's children' needed to give their lives to God to be saved from Hell."[24] Ads for the show stated that the performance was MA-rated, however it did not state that it was run by Potter's House or had religious content. A pastor of the Potter's House, according to the report, stated that a press release warned audiences of "violence, mayhem, suicide, the occult and of course death."[24]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter%27s_House_Christian_Fellowship

I forgot how many churches they had worldwide for something started in Prescott, Arizona but I can vouch for the elaborate horror shows. That horror house in Prescott on Halloween scared the hell out of more than any other horror house & at-the-end, it was explained this is what hell was like. Religion was hard to buy into but I was convinced I didn't want to go to hell which led to a "just in case" thought into being fully converted but I realized either way I'd be pretending. The whole tongues thing was very weird to me.

[JonLP24]

2. Potter's House AKA The Door has been publicly labeled as one

Geraldo did a report on them with Rick Ross on there, the thing I noticed about the Flagstaff church in the 80's episode is it doesn't exist anymore. I don't know why but the same Door church in the report is no more because I went to The Door in Flagstaff in 2001 which was tiny room rented out near a famous Flagstaff bar (famous for people who later fell asleep on the railroad tracks behind the bar). The Tempe one is large which is my aunt & uncle went to as a college students at ASU which my grandma was active attendant.

I got go over their beliefs & differences but I'll point my aunt & uncle bought into more than usual, my aunt more so than my uncle who had to restrain cursing around her. Cursing is no-no, television is prohibited officially in doctrine, "lukewarm" Christians & Catholics are going to hell. Smoking, against their beliefs. You're preached that you constantly have to convince "lukewarm" or less so family events I stopped attending because I was constantly invited to church, was "saved" numerous times because "backsliding" requires another one. In Tempe I avoided as often as possible.

The small Flagstaff one I enjoyed going to though, I was the only one that was a teenager but the rest of us was college age & don't think it any of us bought into as much though there were times at his small NAU apartment he'd hurry us home afraid of breaking the being in the same room with a woman or women you aren't related to after midnight but we often hung out on our own. Went to Sedona at 2am, went to the Navajo nation fair which was a blast. I liked the pastor oddly enough. I like how during a sermon he said "broke all 10 of the commandments" which grabbed my attention but he knew what he said right away by arguing that his past drug abuse qualifies as killing himself so he broke "thou shall not kill". He justified the no alcohol by prohibition by asking when Jesus turned the water into win, "what is new wine?" "Grape juice".

9/11 happened, he made the claim that the US is lucky to have "military man" with Bush in charge & if Gore was in charge we'd still be in war with China or where ever that spy plane crashed. He also argued his Christian beliefs were important for this country in the time of need which followed sermons on how Islam followers are going to hell.

All this was founded in Prescott and I have been to mother church, they have some of the scariest Horror Houses or whatever they call those places during Halloween which overloads on the Hell rhetoric, I never bought into religion or realized I'd be faking it. Reminded me of Santa Claus and I never felt, saw, or heard anything that so many people claim they have but I was scared of going to hell that day. A few spoke in tongues and I couldn't see myself doing that unless I was just randomly spouting gibberish. The pastor claimed some who is of Japanese descent claim that someone speaking in tongue was speaking "perfect Japanese". Lying was a big no-no so I thought the story was probably true at-the-time.

I was obviously followed because I noticed "Rick Ross notes & cult info" on the door that I didn't see anyone put on there which creeped me the hell out. Why was it done like that? Someone followed me from the church to the apartment so for the door thing. Eventually life circumstances changed & never went to church after that (not counting Basic training).

I'd certainly say it is a cult in how much cutting off friends & families who are "lukewarm Christians" or less are preached to cut off ties from or you're going to hell. Even if you go to church everyday, read the bible, etc but still smoke cigarettes or cuss you're going to hell.

My aunt & uncle (knowing my aunt I'm pretty certain this was her idea) didn't vote for McCain in 2008, naw the 3rd party dude because the felt Sarah Palin should be at home taking care of her kids. She probably doesn't even realize she lost a vote due to this reason.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Why is a church on school grounds?!?!