A GREAT WOUNDING of God’s People in GCx Churches

Welcome to De-Commissioned, a place for former members of the Great Commission movement (aka GCM, GCC, GCAC, GCI, the Blitz) to discuss problems they've experienced in the association's practices and theology.

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[Janet Easson Martin]

Does everyone who leaves GCC churches get excommunicated? My husband and I just received our excommunication letter yesterday. A meeting was held at our old church to excommunicate us, at which all of our former friends were present. Most will never speak to us again. In addition to the accusations made by my pastor (that I am gossip and slandering - although telling the truth), the committee also contacted an old pastor from my youth and a family that disliked me as a teen for some sins I committed then (lying in particular). Has anyone else gone through this? Is it common for them to also bring up accusations from your past as they excommunicate you? On what Scripture could they POSSIBLY base this on??

Horrified, hurt, and humiliated.
-MarriedWomanPhD,   2010

[Janet Easson Martin]

WITHOUT LOVE

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love,
I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.

A few have defended the wounding of GCx members with the reasoning that McCotter and many other GCx leaders had no time to love and care for their own people because they had an overwhelming task of trying to reach the world in their own generation. Scripture does not appear to support that attitude, nor is it clear about the particular timeframe for world evangelism. Jesus’ own life and ministry doesn’t support that.

Perhaps if Jesus hadn’t stopped to heal so many people; or taken time to teach people like Martha life lessons; or defend and protect “sinners” (like the woman in the temple courtyard caught in adultery) from a heavy weight of shame and being condemned to death; or pointed out praise for the poor widow’s faith who gave more than all the others; perhaps then He would have reached more people, gone to more countries. So, this reasoning of not having time to love and care for God’s people is not biblical. Everything Jesus did was out of cooperation with The Father’s plan.

Trusting and obeying God supernaturally inspires us to love others at least as much as ourselves. God IS love. If he is working through us that is the preeminent FRUIT (according to Galatians 5:22.)

I heard a very interesting commentary from (an old broadcast of) Elizabeth Elliott on her response when often questioned about the number  of people they reached with the Gospel on their evangelistic mission to the Huaorani people of Ecuador. She says her husband, Jim Elliott, never got to share the gospel with even one tribe member. Sometime after her husband and the other missionaries were killed by the tribesmen, she and her daughter returned to live among that same people group there. Though there have been rumors that all the tribe members came to know Christ as a result of her second visit, she says she doesn’t know how many. Ms. Elliott said it wasn’t about the numbers —it was about obedience.

So, the first and greatest commandment is still to love God above all else, which results in loving others.

[Janet Easson Martin]

When I was in [a GCx Church in] DesMoines, a young man had to be talked off of a roof because he couldn't take the pressure. I am aware of a person who has recently sought professional help for the same reasons. The sad thing is, there is spin put on these incidents and in some twisted way, leadership seems to feed off of those incidents.
-DevastatedTC,   2013

[Janet Easson Martin]

When getting people into their GCx Churches by any means often resulted in fleshly schemes, disingenuous friendships, and even downright shaming; unknowing victims are painfully wounded in the process. This was not the intended method of Jesus’ transformation of us to become fishers of men. Manipulative marketing was not part of his plan. That is a worldly and prideful means to supposedly accomplish a divine end. God does not bless that. Jesus did not come with cunning, but with grace and truth. This was the glory that attracted and compelled others to follow him.

If schemes instead of spirit are what persuaded you into a church, then the same will be used to keep you there.

I am SO GRATEFUL for this Forum site for exposing the ungodly schemes of “GCx” Churches and many of their leaders. Otherwise, people may conclude this is what God’s Spirit is about - conniving and abusing; and therefore be turned off to Christianity altogether.

Here is an abbreviated story of one unknowing Indonesian person (graduating from an American college) getting caught in the ungodly and injurious net of GCx.



sorry my english isn't really good but i want y'all to know this spiritual abusive experience. ...

i left the gc [GCx alias] church because of intimidation by the members and they [their] so called "pastor.”  i was introduced [to] this church by an "ex-friend." at first she was really kind and a polite person. ... i had no intention to join gc because i'm a member in other church. I think [thought] the fellowship was just about like i came and nothing happened i mean i didnt have to be the member of their church. so i came to several their fellowship but not too often it was like 2 or 3 times. Then to celebrate the independance day of indonesia they held a race and she asked me to join. ... my team won  and then we got $100 food voucher. but then they asked me to attend the church on Sunday. ...  i participated on this race and i didnt want to make them feel like i just want their voucher.. so i attended their church, they gave me like BIG welcome, i was feeling kinda awkward and in the end of church service there was "welcome to 'my name' have a blessed sunday" ... then they asked me to register, i had to fill like name, place and date of birth, address...  so as time goes by i attended the church occasionally...

at that time i just graduated from collage [college] and she (my ex-friend) [with GCx Church] offered me to work on her startup, so i worked for her for about like 2 months, and it was 2 months of hell, she treated me like i was her robot and asked me to come to the fellowship every wed after work... then i'm out of her startup and it was some kind like altercation between us. then 2 weeks after i quit, on sunday i attended the church, the pastor was give [gave] a sermon to THROWING SOME KIND A SHADE AT ME saying i'm not grateful that i wanted higher salary, i took advantage from [of] her etc...  i felt so dissapointed that she talked behind my back with the pastor and accused me of those things and also what kind of a pastor took [a] side?  ... I mean she accused me of so many negative things... and give a sermon of that he doesn’t know what the truth is

at that time i knew something [was] wrong with this church, this gc church system is like multi level marketing, they want to recruit people as many as possible, they want to save many "souls", they do whatever to make people come to their church, in fact only few people come to their church, they used their outside activity like "sunday hangout" to recruit young people, sometimes when i couldnt come or i reject their offers, they wanted me to tell them "why?", like i had to give them every explanation to the "NO" answer. i feel intimidated, i started to not going to their fellowship but they kept insist[ing] and reminding me every wednesday. and she (my ex-friend) labelled me as 'not a humble person' by not going to church and fellowship regularly...  and there are many more story [stories] but its too long to tell.

what they did to me:  labeling, shaming, intimidation, ask[ing] me to recruit my friends,

i attended their fellowship and church just only few times and i know they judge me and shame me because i dont want to be one [of] them. i never ever want to come back. ...

i felt like this is more like a cult than a church. i was shocked to finding out about gcx and gcwarning. i regretted to ever enter this church

-miranda123,   2016

[Janet Easson Martin]

Before I post specific names, a specific [GCx] church, a location, and the “evil doers”, and “purveyors of pain”, from a specific situation, I must exhaust “Scriptural Due Process.” ...

I would only hope, that after communicating with them and confronting them that they repent... GCC nationally dissolved….  Why?  The leaders did not listen.  What next?  Local churches?  We shall see after direct communication.

There is no civil protection when they “go beyond what is written.”  (I Cor. 4:1-6, Duet 12:32, Rev. 22:18). Especially when people attempt suicide as a result of their “counsel.”

-Daniel

[Janet Easson Martin]

Fellow believers have been harmed in big ways by this [GCx] group for many years. I understand that some of you don't see or know the extent of the damage. Some is really bad. Depression and PTSD requiring hospitalization. Suicide attempts (I know of a few.)

-Linda


I had a friend who had severe depression in that [GCx] church and the elders counseled him not to seek therapy but to get more involved in leading (he was a deacon).  He was suicidal and eventually needed to be hospitalized.  They shunned him and didn't believe it was anything but sin in his life -- he was told he was selfish.  He found another church and now is doing wonderfully but with no help from that church who he was a part of for over a decade.

-wastedyearsthere


Many ex-members [of GCx] have faced long years of therapy trying to recover from their experience in this group.

Some have attempted suicide. Still others, some ten years later, sustained such psychological damage that they have been unable to get on with their lives, often taking jobs well below their educational and intellectual qualifications.

-Paul Martin, “Cult Proofing Your Kids”


The pastor had a heart for the lost but doctrinally was a mixed bag which resulted in nothing but confusion and YEARS of spiritual and mental agony for me. Despite being one who truly hungered and thirsted to be righteous before God, within a few years I was reduced to despair, despondency, apathy and temptations to suicide. By God's grace I know now this was mainly for one reason: the pastor (and he's hardly alone in this) never taught exactly who and what a new believer has become in Christ...likely because he himself did not know of it.

-musterion


I am gone and am still concerned about people that remain. It was hard to break the ties. Was I in a cult? All I can say is that some days it sure did feel like it. I know I'm not the only one! I had serious talks with people who began suffering from depression and some had even contemplated suicide. I wish this wasn't true. That's why I'm writing. If you are in and need to get out, you can! If you have ever had that sinking feeling that something wasn't quite right, it's because it isn't!

-Time2Write


Portraying happy Christian on the outside was the most important thing.  As a teenager, some of my sins were so “bad”, I had to apologize to a pastor bc I was told that my sin hurt the body of Christ as a whole. [b Never mind that I was dying on the inside[/b].  Gc [GCx] squelched my individuality and dreams and crushed my spirit.  My eyes became completely dead.  There was no light, I was so lost and confused and very sad.  I contemplated suicide on a regular basis.

-Shamednomore


After some attempts to break bonds in peace, I found myself still in the group 6 months after I first tried to leave and wondering at that point if I would ever be able to get out. ...I once contemplated suicide as a way of escape because I didn't know how to get out of the [GCx] system. ...I was not the only one who contemplated suicide as a way out. I know that others did too.

… I hope more people begin to speak out so that it never comes to something like...

-Outtathere

[Janet Easson Martin]

... I was told not to see a psychiatrist or a therapist. ... saw a "counselor" that was a member of the [GCx] church that had no experience in psychology and was basically told that my mental health wasn't a problem with my brain, it was a problem with my soul. I was told that I wasn't reading the bible enough, meditating on scriptures enough, fellowshipping enough, or praying enough. I was chastised for having a job that I desperately needed to pay for college because it was interfering with my time in fellowship and time spent with the Lord in general. I was reproved constantly, and I became so depressed that I started cutting. I became increasingly suicidal and had to be hospitalized on multiple occasions due to suicidal ideation and self-harm. Eventually, I started to see that what I was a part of, what was around me completely encompassing my life, [GCx] was not true Christianity. Christianity is not meant to make you hurt so bad that you want to kill yourself.  I was a victim of spiritual abuse by GCx.

-jcrash27   [left ~ 2010]


ive given my bible study group everything i had. me and my son were emotionally hurt by a man that took interest in us then pursued another girl. i was blamed for my hurt. when i tried to talk to people i was given a lot of attitude told to forgive and forget. i was told i was slanderous, deceitful, defensive, promblem causing, ungrateful,unforgiving, lashing out,victim playing etc. im not perfect and i have been working through a lot of things. i felt like i was talking to a group of judgemental mouthy passive aggressive teenagers. i felt so broken ive also considered killing myself although i would not do that to my son. i feel like a worthless failure despite how hard i have tried. has anyone else had similar experiences? i have no other friends now because ive given my all to this group of people.

-annb729,   2012


My life in GC did end in a kind of martyrdom. I was dead by the end of my time in the faith. Maybe that is why I came so close to killing myself, I was already so dead inside.... I am so happy to be out of there and free.

-Captain Bible


This sort of thing still happens today. I know several people who had mental health issues who were discouraged from seeking outside councilling. A girl who said she was thinking of killing herself was told to "pray about it" instead of seek medication or councilling. This happened several times to people with depression, actually.

-Valley Noir

[Janet Easson Martin]

I want to thank G-Prince for explaining some of the impact of the abuse those of us raised in the GCI experienced. ...  In short I will say many of us suffered so much physical and psychological abuse growing up in this cult. It's devastating frankly. I am on a path now in recovery at 52yo to have as complete a remembrance [as] I can have. I have to fight the "cloud of denial" as I describe it, that so quickly blocks my vision every time I get near this stuff. ... I have also come to believe that denial plants the seeds for things to continue in the next generation. So I want the truth to be made known and for it to be clear. I entered the church as a 2yo on the blitz. It's been a long journey so far.

-Mark C,   2021

[Janet Easson Martin]

The following excerpt comes from the author of the very helpful Blog Site, “Liberty for Captives.” What he has learned in overcoming the spiritual abuse he grew up in is invaluable —especially to some who grew up in GCx Churches. Following his post are excerpts from three people growing up in GCx. I pray they will receive the understanding, compassion and healing they so need.


I spent most of my life in a Bible cult. When that church fell apart six year ago, I had to come to grips with my own distorted view of God, my legalistic worldview, and a brittle sense of self which relied heavily on rule-following to feel secure.

Though outwardly I appeared normal, inwardly I was wrapped in chains.
I spent most of my life in a Bible cult. When that church fell apart six year ago, I had to come to grips with my own distorted view of God, my legalistic worldview, and a brittle sense of self which relied heavily on rule-following to feel secure.

Though outwardly I appeared normal, inwardly I was wrapped in chains.

-Steve Smith, Liberty for Captives, Blog Post



My father was caught up in the Blitz movement and became a pastor under Jim McCotter. My dad followed the teachings of McCotter and followed every word he said.

Spanking: This was not spanking. This should have been referred to as beatings. The method taught to my parents was to pull our pants down, exposing our bare ass, and to be bent over a toilet and then being beaten with a wooden rod. Typically a thick wooden rod, you could always see the blood on it left over from my sisters. We would be beaten to where we would be hugging the toilet begging them to stop. Our tears falling against the white porcelain, mixing with the piss and dirt on the floor. Afterwards, to justify it, we would have to say "thank you for correcting me I was wrong. Children obey your parents in the lord for this is right, honor your father and your mother for this is the first commandment with a promise that it may be well with you and may live long on the earth." I personally was spanked 1300-1400 times like this. ...

I don't think these men [GCx Leaders] are right in the head, and they did irreversible damage. ...

I spent 10 years being a drug dealer, seeing the absolute worst you could ever want to see. Finally brought down by a narcotics squad. I was really good at being a drug dealer because I have no empathy. ...

GCM did a number on my parents. ... I kicked the drugs but am a full blown functioning alcoholic at 35 years old.

-gcmcultsurvivor,   2021


I was the perfect daughter, they spanked every bit of assertiveness out of me, beat the word "no" out of my vocabulary. This led to my utter submission and compliance with every authority figure, which made my parents proud but had catastrophic results: my sisters and I were sexually abused by a family member for years. And our education was so restricted that we had no idea what was happening to us.

-childofgcm


I grew up in a gc [GCx alias] church in the 90s.  I attended youth retreats, faithwalkers, LT’s, mission trips and even home church. ... As a child, I was more reserved and shy than most, and my quiet nature was easily manipulated. I know very well the shame based gospel. Spanking was everywhere.  Wrong looks, bad countenance, you name it. Growing up in my gc Church, the god I knew was a rigid, angry, righteous, rule making, shaming, impossible to please god.  There were so many rights and wrongs I couldn’t keep them straight.  It wasn’t fun or beautiful or applicable to my life. ...

As I got older, I engaged in a lot of self destructive behaviors and got involved in extremely abusive relationships.  The effects run deep.

I know about authority figures asking about my sins and I was supposed to confess everything.  It would pour out of me like vomit.  I was so afraid they would find out if I didn’t and I would be labeled deceitful.  I was afraid all the time.  I thought there were gc spies everywhere watching so they could report my sin back to my authority.  I don’t think they ever were, but there was such an unhealthy amount of fear and guilt at all times. ...

- Shamednomore


Again, from Steve Smith

For those of us from fundamentalistic or spiritually-abusive backgrounds, obedience to God’s commands can feel like a painful impossibility. Our old way of trying to obey God’s commands didn’t work, and we haven’t figured out a new way to please him. ...

What if the Christian life is not about right and wrong, but rather is a matter of heart?

Because that’s what it is.

In Jeremiah 31:33-34, God says that no longer will people teach one another about God or about his law, but rather God will write his law on their hearts.

-Steve Smith, “Liberty for Captives” Blog Site

https://libertyforcaptives.com/

[Janet Easson Martin]

When someone treats you as an object they are willing
to harm
for their own benefit, abuse has occurred,
and that person has become an abuser.

-Wade Mullen

[Janet Easson Martin]

I recently was part of [GCx] Candlewood Church in Omaha, NE, which I left immediately upon finding gcmwarning.com. … I was chastised and disciplined for my anxiety issues. People genuinely did want to help me, but they were being misguided by the pastors… Both are extreme sociopaths and very intrusive and abusive. … I needed help and prayer, but instead I got chewed to the floor. …

One big huge problem is how they are able to fool people, especially already devout Christians. … Despite several parents calling out the pastors for their hypocrisy around the turn of the millennium, they are still standing. …

I believe what this cult does is a crime against humanity. Pretty much every success story I've heard at Candlewood involved someone who was taken advantage of… That is not a church, that is a den of wolves.

-Child_of_Arkham,   2017

[Janet Easson Martin]

One person that left our group after a summer program told me over coffee that she can't even pray anymore, much less read her Bible. I listened and sympathized, but couldn't really relate until I left. It took me a long time to try to start praying again. I rarely open my Bible, unless I'm looking up something very specific.

It's terrible what this group leaves with people.

-margaret,   2023