Solid Rock, Columbus, 1977-78

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[theresearchpersona]

Current.

[theresearchpersona]

Verse 26: "She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."

Reminds me of the wife of Nabal, who went-out to greet David, and appease his and his men's wrath; now, she would truly have been an idiot if she went-out to appease men against whatever her husband's will would be if he had been right about this or that, but as his name's signification also means, Nabal was a fool (Nabal=fool).

When Nabal died, and David heard of it, he quickly sent for Abigail (Nabal's widow); Among his choices of wives, Abigail was surely a very wise one: a gem.

[John]

I was a member of the Solid Rock Fellowship at OSU from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1980.  To this day it still affects me. 

I recall in the beginning being so full of happiness and joy.  The group seemed so alive.  The brothers and sisters were caring and trying so very hard to live the Christian life.  We went to upstate New York one winter and Iowa State University one summer.

When I meet them, I was living in the dorm, but soon I moved in with three other brothers in an old rented house on 57th Street.  It was after I moved in with them that trouble began.  The pressure to live the pure life was almost unbearable. The small in-house bible studies were fine, and I loved the Sunday meetings in McDonalds but my housemates thought it was their duty to instruct me in every thing I did and think.  Nothing I did was good enough for them and thus God.  I recall one time being criticized for walking on the wrong side of the street for there was a movie theater on that side and it may have the wrong image on the posters. They thought my mind might become infected by the wrong images.

Depression started sitting in.  I didn't go to the elders to discuss as depression would be seen as a weakness.  By this time I was a junior studying civil engineering.  In the spring of my junior year I dropped out of school and went to help my family.  It took two years for me to get myself back together enough to finish up my education at a different school.

Originally, when I left the group it was only to be temporary for a few months.  I was amazed that no one from the group ever contacted me.  The longer I was away the more I started to get myself back together.

I have often wondered about Solid Rock and how they were doing.  Try as I may, I never can find another religious group that I fit into. I have some very good memories and some not so good.  I do think I was brainwashed to believe nothing matters except following Jesus.  Since I am not a Jesus freak and am doing all the things they taught, there is a sense of loss and feeling of my disappointing Jesus.

I would be interested to hear from others that belonged to the Solid Rock Fellowship and thanks for this message board.

John       

[AgathaL'Orange]

Welcome, John.  I'm so glad you are here.

Your experiences are not uncommon in that other religious groups didn't "do it" for you after GC.  Many people find that after the emotional intensity of shepherding groups, other groups seem to lack that spark (the spark that probably caused the problems to begin with!)  I get it.  I get exactly what you are saying.  There is this emotional, mountaintop, almost dependent existence we can have with an unhealthy church. 

I hope you find a spiritual home someday.  We looked for a very beautiful, sensory rich church with little drama and lots of quiet.  The "noise" and nagging and "people in our business" kind of unhealthy church was not good for us, for me, spiritually, and I too am healing, questioning, thinking, searching.

I know we've had other people here from there a time or two, but whether they still read I don't know.

Hopefully, you can make some connections here.

Again, welcome.

[Huldah]

Hi, John. It sounds like I narrowly missed meeting you at SR. I left just before Spring Qtr '78.

So much of what you've written sounds familiar: the aliveness of the group, the love and zeal of the brothers and sisters, the unbearable pressure to be perfect in every tiny detail of thought or deed.

Like you, I've never found a church that can equal the high of SR at its best, but I've found churches where the trade-offs more than make up for it: churches where sound doctrine is taught by competent teachers, where you aren't held to rigid account for every moment of your time, and where the side of the street you walk on or the amount of food on your plate or whether you made your bed that morning aren't considered major indicators of your spiritual health.

Welcome to the forum.

[pvitartas]

The isolation, the being alone in a crowd sticks out in my mind while involved with Solid Rock, 1976 - 78.

Huldah and I were in Solid Rock roughly at the same time.  After sharing names, experiences, we don't remember each other.  I lived on North Campus, she on South Campus.  As I remember it, they were almost like two different churches.  I wonder in retrospect if that isolation between home houses was by design?

Regarding discipling - when I left Solid Rock in 1978, my discipler dumped me like a box of rocks.  I was no longer a "priority" for his time.  It occurs to me now that I was treated like an object.  I was usable as long as I was malleable.  I tried to contact him through Facebook, no reply.  I'd not be surprised if he doesn't remember me.

[Outtathere]

I remember Tom Schroeder ran GCM before Jeff Kern. He seemed to have left somewhat abruptly and with finality. I saw on his counseling website that he lists many years of experience and degrees, but doesn't mention GCM at all. I thought that was somewhat odd, as if you were the CEO of a major corporation but never listed that as a credential.

He gave a message on the life of Joseph that was wonderful. I still remember it to this day.

[pvitartas]

Do you happen to remember Mike and Mark from N. Campus.  Both appeared to be on the fast track to be become elders, favored sons of Terry B. then an elder.

Mike married Cindy.

Thanks to hear the info about Tom Schroeder.  Glad he likely got out.

[pvitartas]

Outathere -

Not sure about Tom being out.  I hope you're right. 

I looked at his ad film on YouTube and at his public counseling web site.  The film was apparently done by R. Lamp. 

I pray R Lamp and Tom Schroeder are both out, but it raises a question mark.

[EverAStudent]

Good question to ask.  Simply because a person distances himself from GC by hiding the fact that he is or was affiliated with them does not mean he has left them.  GC leadership OFTEN deceive others by hiding their affiliations to GC; in fact that is one of their hallmarks.

In a profession like counseling, it would be highly damaging to one's reputation (and thus income flow) to be associated with GC in any way since GC is seen as an abusive organization if not an outright cult.  Imagine a prospetive client who was abused by a church checking out your counseling credentials online to see if you are credible only to find you spent years abusing people yourself in a highly controlling religious group.  

It means nothing that he is hiding his past.  Someone will have to ask him to find out if he did indeed leave and is going to a truly independent church.

[tmd]

I pray R Lamp and Tom Schroeder are both out ...

Rob Lamp was a pastor at Valley Brook Community Church in the Washington DC area in the 1990's when Valley Brook officially left GCx. Rob is doing great, and currently lives in Florida.

[BTDT]

I pray R Lamp and Tom Schroeder are both out ...

Rob Lamp was a pastor at Valley Brook Community Church in the Washington DC area in the 1990's when Valley Brook officially left GCx. Rob is doing great, and currently lives in Florida.

Very true about Rob.  I couldn't find Tom's web site or YouTube video for some reason, but I heard years ago from reliable sources that he had left GC.  These sources were still in GC at the time, so I kept my smile and relief to myself.
-Ed-