CULTS AND SECTS: INTERNATIONAL CHURCH OF CHRIST
Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements
OFFICIAL NAMES: The International Churches of Christ (ICOC). Also known as The International Church of Christ. (Formerly known as The Boston Church of Christ or Boston Movement.) Local congregations are usually designated by the community's name. Two examples are the Atlanta Church of Christ and the Nashville Church of Christ.
FOUNDER AND CURRENT LEADER: Kip McKean (born May 31, 1954, Indianapolis, Ind.)
CHURCH ELDERS: Kip McKean, Bob Gempel, and Al Baird
WORLD SECTOR LEADERS (1999): Tom McCurry, Jim Blough, Vivian Hanes, Dan Bathon, Chris Jacobs, Don Lee, Jaime DeAnda
WORLD HEADQUARTERS: International Churches of Christ, 3530 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1750, Los Angeles, CA 90010, (213) 385-5434. Web site: www.icoc.org
ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS: In 1998 the ICOC claimed 175,000 people in weekly worship attendance in 333 churches in 140 countries worldwide.
MINISTRIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE ICOC: UpsideDown Magazine; Discipleship Publications International (DPI); Kingdom News Network (KNN); HOPE for Children, Inc. (Adoption Agency); Kingdom Kids; HOPE Worldwide; RADICAL Christian Rock Band.
INTRODUCTION
One of the fastest growing new religious groups in the United States, Canada, and around the world is the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) movement. For two decades religious observers have watched this offshoot sect of the mainline Churches of Christ grow from only 30 original members to tens of thousands of adherents.
Much has been published and said in the media about the ICOC's doctrine and practices. Consequently, the church has earned a reputation both in secular and religious circles as controversial and even at times abusive. NAMB Interfaith Evangelism team has received hundreds of inquiries from pastors, parents, and relatives of people who have fallen under the ICOC's sway.
This Belief Bulletin examines the history and controversial beliefs of the ICOC. It provides a biblical analysis of the ICOC doctrine and suggests specific principles for encountering and/or evangelizing ICOC members.
SHORT HISTORY OF THE ICOC
In the spring of 1972, 17 year-old Kip McKean was a freshman at the University of Florida. Though mildly religious, it was not until he was baptized that year into Gainesville's dynamic Crossroads Church of Christ that McKean says his life truly changed.
After three years of intense discipleship by Crossroads ministers and his graduation from college in 1975, McKean went to serve as a Churches of Christ campus minister at Northeastern Christian College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Disturbed by the lack of commitment of the school's students and faculty, he left the next year to begin a ministry at Eastern Illinois University. That campus ministry grew under McKean's growing disenchantment with what he saw as the shallow spiritual condition of most mainline Churches of Christ.
In 1979, the Lexington (Massachusetts) Church of Christ invited McKean to serve as pulpit and campus minister of their shrinking congregation. In June of that year, McKean and 29 others in Lexington committed themselves to restoring true biblical Christianity, as they saw it, to the world. ICOC leaders point to that event as the foundation of their "restoration" movement.
The next few years McKean and his team developed their philosophy of radical discipleship and designed an effective strategy for expansion, which they called the "key" or "pillar" plan for church planting. Thus, over the next two decades the church grew rapidly as ministers were sent from the mother church to cities worldwide including London, Chicago, New York City, Toronto, and Moscow. In 1983, McKean's church began to hold regular services in the spacious Boston Opera House, so it changed its name to the Boston Church of Christ. About that time McKean also began to teach that only those who were baptized by immersion and were submitting to his concept of discipleship were actually saved. Thus he required all new members of his movement, even those coming from other Churches of Christ, to be rebaptized.
Early in the Boston movement, leaders from many Churches of Christ visited the Boston Church of Christ to learn its techniques of discipling and missions. However, criticism grew due to disagreements over church organization and what many perceived to be the Boston Church of Christ's heavy-handed approach. McKean and his movement gradually disassociated from the mainline Churches of Christ. In 1988, the final cord was cut when the Crossroads Church of Christ in Gainesville, where McKean began his ministry, formally broke fellowship with his church.
The Boston movement continued to expand internationally, so in 1990, the church decided to move the headquarters from Boston to Los Angeles, CA. McKean turned over leadership of the mother church to his brother Randy McKean, moved to the West coast, and the next year officially named the movement The International Churches of Christ.
AUTHORITY
The ICOC's statement of belief declares, "The Bible is the only written message of God inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)." (From ICOC Web site: www.icoc.org/who/whatbelieve.html, 1/22/99.)
BIBLICAL RESPONSE
the ICOC and Kip McKean's concept of biblical authority is shared by most evangelical Christians. Indeed the Bible alone is our final written authority for faith and practice. However, the ICOC violates the standard of "no private interpretation" by requiring its members to reject all reasonable interpretations of many Bible passages except those of Kip McKean and the ICOC.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD
The ICOC rejects the historic creeds of the Christian faith, arguing, as do many cults and sects, that true Christianity was distorted and even lost in the early centuries of the New Testament era. Thus, they avoid as much as possible utilizing theological language or concepts not found specifically in the Bible.
The ICOC apparently is, nonetheless, in agreement with orthodox historic Christian doctrinal views of the nature of God (the Trinity), the deity and humanity of Christ, His sacrificial atonement, and the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; John 1:1-14; 5:17-18; 8:56-59; 10:30-33; 14-16; 1 Cor. 8:6; 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 13:14; Col. 1:15-20; 2:9; 1 Peter 1:2).
SALVATION: DISCIPLE = CHRISTIAN = SAVED
The ICOC maintains, as do other historic Christian groups, that mankind is corrupted by sin and is lost and bound for eternal separation from God in hell. However, unlike most evangelicals, the ICOC rejects the concepts of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. The ICOC maintains that faith in Christ is necessary but it is only one of the several ingredients in the salvation process listed below.
ONLY DISCIPLES ARE CHRISTIANS
The ICOC argues in its literature that salvation is only available to those who are deemed "disciples." Kip McKean states in his "First Principles" Bible Studies that Jesus demands his followers be "disciples" and that the term "Christian" is only applicable to those who are true disciples. True disciples are those who have consciously abandoned all other allegiances to that of commitment to Christ alone as McKean understands it.
Key elements of true discipleship, according to McKean, are total denial of self, baptism for the remission of sins, acceptance of persecution (even from family or friends), the practice of biblical stewardship (tithing), and above all, unquestioning submission to the ICOC church authority. Every new prospect and member is assigned a discipler by church leaders with whom they must speak daily. ICOC "disciples" are expected to confess all known sins (past and present) to their discipler and to submit all major decisions for them to counsel. The ICOC warns its members that willfully to disobey their discipler or to break fellowship with the movement puts them in danger of losing their salvation and going to hell.
BIBLICAL RESPONSE
Certainly Christians are required to follow Jesus' requirements for discipleship. however, the ICOC's understanding of that term goes beyond the biblical perspective. The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8, 9). The notion that every believer, in order to be assured of salvation, must submit to human authority violates the New Testament teaching of the priesthood of all believers and the direction of the believer by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:7-16; 1 Peter 2:5, 9). The ICOC's claim to exclusive church authority is presumptuous and arrogant at best, and blasphemous at worst.
BAPTISM: NECESSARY FOR FORGIVENESS OF SIN
The ICOC, in historic agreement with the mainline Churches of Christ, maintains that the New Testament requires baptism by immersion for the remission (forgiveness) of sins to be saved. However, unlike most Church of Christ congregations they require baptisms exclusively under the auspices of one of their congregations.
Kip McKean denies he teaches that one must be baptized into the ICOC to be saved. Nevertheless, he states, "However, I do not know of any other church, group or movement that teaches and practices what we teach as Jesus taught in Acts 2:41,42: One must make the decision to be a disciple, then be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit" (Kip McKean, "Revolution Through Restoration" on ICOC website: www.icoc.org/who/REVOLUTION1/boston.html, 1/12/99).
In other words, it would seem only those baptisms performed by ICOC ministers are deemed valid. Baptisms performed by other denominations and even those performed by other Churches of Christ are not regarded as valid. Only a true "disciple" is a legitimate candidate for baptism; and since the only true “disciples” are in the ICOC, then only those baptized in the ICOC are baptized correctly. Thus, logically, only ICOC members are saved.
BIBLICAL RESPONSE
Perhaps no issue has separated the Churches of Christ historically from other evangelical and Protestant denominations than that of baptism. Though they deny a sacramental understanding of baptism, the traditional Churches of Christ doctrine, and that of the ICOC, is that baptism by immersion, in addition to faith in Jesus Christ, is necessary for a person to be saved (For a biblical response to this view of baptism see Interfaith Evangelism Belief Bulletin: Churches of Christ by Bill Gordon [Product #: 0840086342]). (See also: Hershel H. Hobbs, The Baptist Faith and Message, Nashville: Convention Press [LifeWay], pages 72-75, 1997).
The ICOC contention that only those involved in its congregations are true disciples is without biblical justification. No one church or organization can claim exclusive identification as the Kingdom of God or the only possessor of saving grace. All those who have sincerely repented of their sins and received the forgiveness of their sin by grace through faith in Christ and His atoning work are His disciples and are justified (saved) (John 1:12; Acts 3:19; Romans 6:23; 10:9-10; Eph. 2:8-10). Those who have genuinely received Christ are assured of salvation and will endure to the end (John 10:28-29; Col. 3:5; 2 Tim. 1:12; Eph. 1:13-14).
POTENTIAL ABUSES OF ICOC DISCIPLING METHODS
The ICOC method of discipling is similar strategically to those employed by many evangelical churches and parachurch ministries. However, the strict requirement that each disciple obey his or her assigned personal discipler creates an environment for potential spiritual, physical, and/or emotional abuse.
Indeed, many former ICOC members have reported, that while a part of this movement, they felt they were under great psychological pressure to conform to the standards and doctrines of the ICOC. Intimidation, harassment, and even threats of eternal damnation are used to control members who may either disagree with ICOC teachings or who fail to measure up to its legalistic moral standards, time demands, and financial expectations.
RESPONDING TO AND EVANGELIZING THOSE IN THE ICOC
Christians who encounter members of the ICOC are told that they are not true disciples of Christ, not properly baptized, and not truly saved. As a result, Christians need to be prepared to respond to ICOC contentions and be ready to give a clear presentation of the biblical Gospel to ICOC members. Many ICOC members are trusting in their baptism and/or church association for salvation rather than in Jesus Christ alone.
Here are several specific principles for response:
Discipleship ministries abound, but before committing to the ICOC or any other of them, a Christian should ask several important questions:
A. Does each person have the freedom to make decisions for himself/herself under the leadership of the Holy Spirit?
B. Are disagreements on doctrinal issues tolerated?
C. Is more than one interpretation of biblical passages tolerated?
D. Is study of a variety of materials encouraged and utilized, or is only one author’s, organization’s, or publisher’s works utilized or permitted?
E. Do the discipling leaders have servant attitudes or seek to control their disciples?
F. Are family relationships enhanced or are those involved expected to place the movement and its demands above all family concerns?
No doubt, many people in the ICOC are sincere and dedicated followers of Christ. Unfortunately, they have been misled to assume that the ICOC is the only valid expression of Christian faith.
Christians should respectfully reject the unbiblical teachings of the ICOC while, as much as possible, maintaining a relationship of Christian love with those involved in it. Though ICOC members may reject them as their brothers and sisters in Christ, Christians have no basis to reciprocate. We must reach out in love regardless of the response.
Though many involved in the ICOC are true Christians, many are not. We must seek to determine the basis of each ICOC member’s hope of salvation. We should seek answers to the following questions of our ICOC friends.
A. Is he depending entirely on Christ for his salvation, or on his baptism and church membership?
B. Can she relate a clear testimony of her experience of knowing Christ as her personal Lord and Savior?
If the answer to either of these is unclear, the Christian should share his/her own testimony and explain clearly the Gospel of salvation, including the need for repentance, trusting in Christ as Lord, and receiving salvation by grace through faith in Him alone (Rom. 3:23; 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Eph. 2:9,10; John 1:12; 14:6; Acts 3:19; 26:20; Rom.10:9,10).
Each year hundreds of disillusioned people withdraw from the ICOC. Christians should be alert to those in their communities either wanting to leave or who have already done so. Encouragement and biblical teaching on the assurance of God’s love can help former members make the difficult adjustment to life outside the ICOC movement and to positive faith in Jesus Christ.
Tal Davis, Interfaith Evangelism Associate for Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements
The ICC came out of a conservative, Protestant Christian church originally, and many of its features still resemble the church it came from -- it does not usually appear abnormal or strange to most Americans or people who grew up in cultures heavily influenced by the United States and western Europe. Outsiders primarily notice its aggressive proselytizing, especially on college campuses, and its intensive "discipling", or "shepherding" practices inside the church.
Members are under the oversight of a "discipler", an older member who mentors them and to whom they are answerable. Members spend a great deal of time proselytizing to fellow college students, coworkers, and any other non-members in their lives.
The doctrines of the ICC are, with a couple of notable exceptions, the same as those of the Church of Christ from which the ICC came. The exceptions are:
| It believes that a person must be "baptized as a disciple" in order to be saved. This means that a person must have the correct understanding of baptism at the time of baptism, must have fully repented of their sins, and must have committed to living as a disciple of Christ, prior to baptism, or the baptism is invalid and the person unsaved. Effectively, the ICC believes that no baptism performed outside of the ICC is valid. |
| It believes that there can be only one church per city or town, so there are never two ICC-affiliated churches in a single city or town. |
|  Based
also on Matthew 28:18-20, the ICC believes in a system of discipling,
which means that every member is assigned another member as a mentor, to whom
he/she reports, confesses sin, and which he/she is expected to obey and
emulate. |
The ICC has a pyramid-shaped, hierarchical structure of authority. Local ICC congregations take their name from their town or city, most commonly followed by "Church of Christ", occasionally by "Church of Christ Jesus", "Christian Church", or even just "Church". For example, the ICC affiliated church in San Francisco, California is known of as the San Francisco Church of Christ. The ICC church in Manila, Philippines is known of as the Metro Manila Christian Church. The ICC church in San Antonio, Texas is the San Antonio Church of Christ Jesus, and the one in Orlando, Florida is called the Orlando Church.
Since the ICC believes that church unity means there can only be one church per city, there never are two churches in the same city both of which are affiliated with the ICC. This does not mean that the local ICC affiliate church always meets as one group in one location, though -- the local church will usually meet in a number of different locations at different times during the week.
The people most important in the life of a rank-and-file disciple, or ICC member, are his Bible Talk Leader (BTL) and discipler, or mentor. The BTL leads his Bible Talk, a small group Bible Study used as a primary tool for proselytizing. The discipler makes most important decisions for the disciple, hears his confessions of sin, and trains him to live as the ICC wants.
Members are expected to imitate their disciplers. "Imitation" is taken pretty literally -- at certain points in the movement's history members were expected to obey and emulate their disciplers in all areas of life, even in matters such as hair style, dress, and social mannerisms. They are expected to be in contact with their disciplers at least daily by phone, and meet weekly with them in addition to their other church activities. Families of ICC members often report that, when a member visits, he/she is on the phone at least once or twice daily talking to the discipler, and must check with the discipler before making most decisions.
Members have busy schedules. Each member is expected to have a quiet time, a personal period of prayer and Bible study, every morning. This usually lasts about an hour. There is a church service on Sunday mornings. In addition, an ICC member will have a zone meeting on Wednesday evening, a devotional on another evening (usually Friday), a Bible Talk (to which he/she is expected to bring visitors) once a week, assorted "social" events intended to help proselytize, and the Saturday night date.
Members spend a considerable amount of time and effort inviting to church, Bible Talk, and social events people from work, school, and any other part of their lives in which they come into contact with non-members. When one of these people becomes interested in the ICC, the member will spend a considerable amount of time "studying the Bible" with him/her, usually as a subordinate to his/her discipler or Bible Talk Leader. ("Studying the Bible" usually means going through the studies in First Principles, a study series written by Kip McKean in and used throughout the ICC.)
Recent former members report that they spent from thirty to forty hours a week on mandatory church activities, when all of this was added up.
The ICC has strict standards of personal conduct, and regulates the dating lives and marriages of its members closely. Single members are expected to date on Saturday nights -- the "Saturday Night Date" is an institution in the ICC. There are specific rules as to what behavior is permitted. Sexual contact between unmarried people is absolutely prohibited, of course, and most other kinds of physical contact strictly regulated. Members are not permitted to date anyone outside the ICC, and a couple can date only with the approval of both their disciplers.
Members are encouraged to date, and marry, people of the same "spiritual level" as themselves, usually meaning that the leaders believe they are suited for the same level in leadership. The ICC strongly encourages its members to marry.
The ICC practices strict tithing -- members are expected to contribute at least 10% of their gross income to the church. Single members with jobs routinely contribute 15%-20%. In addition, once or twice a year a "special contribution" is taken up, at which members are expected to pledge an amount from twelve to twenty-five times their weekly tithe.
Research 
Examine
Verify
Educate
Assist
Liberate
An
Organization of Former Members
of
the International Churches of Christ (ICC) (ICOC),
Boston Church of Christ/"Boston Movement",
and
Crossroads Church of Christ/"Crossroads Movement"
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Aislynn Madosik, a University of Nevada student, agrees that the ICOC demands a lot from converts. She began attending the Greater Reno Church of Christ (the ICOC church in Reno) and its campus ministry spring 2000.
Madosik, a 19-year-old sophomore, said that her involvement in the church her freshman year at Nevada was based on codependency.
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"You are around them a lot and you become dependent on them without really realizing it," Madosik said. She was baptized into the church after a Bible study period of two weeks and was a disciple for over a month.
Madosik first encountered the ICOC through the friendship with her Nye Hall Resident Assistant, Ann (not her real name), and an ICOC member. Ann became her discipler, which means mentor or teacher.
"And that should have been my first clue, because a cult -- you know -- has key names," Madosik said. "That is another way you lose your identity as yourself because you are disciple now of God."
She shared a close friendship with Ann, attending a bible talk and then studying the Bible one-on-one. The Bible studies continued, and she completed seven in all. Madosik's notes from her time in the ICOC showed a person committed to learning the Bible. She wrote out every Scripture given to her and color-coded the words of Jesus and then the interpretation.
Madosik said that in one of the Bible studies Ann said other religions were false. She said the ICOC had the right way to live, in this church and in learning the Bible this way.
In one of the first studies, called "Light and Darkness," Madosik said that her discipler went over a certain Scripture on sin, and then they made two columns, one for light and one for darkness. She drew a line on the piece of paper and asked Madosik which side she was on.
"And so they're like, you're either in the light or in the darkness, so where are you?" Madosik said. "Then I was like, I'm in the darkness obviously, you know there is no in between."
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Madosik was baptized at a Tuesday night devotional meeting for all the disciples held in the Children's World Learning Center in Reno. She became the 13th disciple at Nevada last semester. The 13th one to attend Thursday 6 a.m. prayer meetings around Manzanita Lake. The 13th one to do "Saturday dates."
Disciples are matched up to go on Saturday dates, usually in a double-date or as a group. Madosik said on her date they went to a nice restaurant. Her date opened doors for her and was very polite. The disciples do something spiritual, such as share about their faith with another person or talk about the Bible on these dates.
Madosik estimated that the church took up 95 percent of her time. In her journal, she began to count off the days she was a disciple, beginning with day one and continuing up to day 16. She said duties of "sharing" were non-stop.
"I had to write down all my friends' names and people who I would want to save, because to me they were not saved," Madosik said. "And it is important to at least get a couple of (phone) numbers."
Phone numbers were very important. Madosik said some girls would stay up late hunting up the number of contacts she said they were required to have.
"It is sharing what your faith is when you invite them to the church, or Bible talk, or, you know, some people you ask them to a volley ball game, or something like that," she said. "For most people it starts off with an activity. That way...they don't have any idea what they're doing. Oh, this is really fun, these are nice people. The next step is to invite them to a Bible talk, and the next step is a study, and the next step is church."
Sharing sounds like this: "We would just go up and say 'Hi, excuse me my name is Aislynn, what's your name?' Or stuff like that. And we go to this Bible talk on Thursday night and are you interested in doing it?' Or we say are you interested in studying the Bible, or would you like to go to volleyball?' Then we'd ask for their phone number and we'd give them a flyer."
Jess, a sophomore education student, said she noticed her friend change greatly after becoming a disciple. "She always talked about praying and doing quiet times," Jess said.
Looking back, Madosik is able to see how her discipler tried to make decisions for her, such as going home for spring break. Madosik was told that it wouldn't be best for her to go home to Pahrump, a small town outside Las Vegas, if there wasn't an ICOC church for her to go to.
She did end up going home because they found her a church, the Greater Las Vegas Church of Christ, about an hour away. Madosik said that all she was thinking during the drive home was that she wanted to go home to her discipler and that she didn't want to speak to her family because they were "pagans."
Mrs. Madosik, Aislynn's mother, said she was thinking while driving to their hometown whether the exit counselor she had hired was going to be able to get her daughter out of the ICOC.
Mrs. Madosik's curiosity about the new church her daughter had joined led her to attend one of the Thursday night Bible talks. Mrs. Madosik said she asked questions about why her daughter needed to be baptized again and got answers that "made it sound right." Mrs. Madosik said she also believed she was lied to about who leads the church. She said she asked the pastor's wife, Debbie Rosness, if that "Kip guy" was the leader, and she was told no. Her suspicions were allayed, but Mrs. Madosik's sister decided to do some investigating of her own. She found on the Web many personal testimonies of people who had come out of the ICOC, and grew worried.
On the Web the family found a man named Rick Ross, a consultant and intervention specialist, who had an extensive database on ICOC cases. The family arranged for Ross to come and see Madosik for three days during spring break, despite the large financial cost.
Unknown to Madosik, Ross came to the Madosik home while she was on spring break. Mrs. Madosik said at first her daughter resisted and wouldn't listen to him.
Madosik said several times she had wanted to run out of the room instead of listen to Ross. She said he talked to her kindly about the group and said that it was entirely her choice about staying in, he only wanted to give her information. She said she watched videos of church leaders being interviewed about misconduct when it came to tithing and breaking confidentiality. She was also shown a picture of the large house McKean is said to own in Los Angeles.
She denied everything for the first day, but by the second day she said Ross' message on baptism, tithing and the light and darkness began to make sense. Madosik said she decided not to attend GRCC nor the ICOC campus ministry at Nevada.
When she returned home from spring break Ann confronted her about leaving the church.
"She was like, you know you've sinned, you've lied, and you're deceitful and she said that to my face point blank," Madosik said, her voice was stern with each word. "The love is shown through the church but not in the people who leave the church. Because they are not very understanding."
Madosik said she did nothing else to warrant such a response from Ann but that she had discovered some new things about the ICOC.
Madosik said she was hurt by the ICOC but the experience helped her grow in her Christian faith. She said that she wants to tell the story so that other students will know everything about the ICOC, which is something she didn't, if they choose to get involved.
Few parents will consider it necessary to warn their children about the dangers of mind control cults as they leave for university this week, but perhaps they should. Cults and new religious movements are looking increasingly to university students as a potential pool of devotees, and autumn is the prime time for recruitment. Ian Haworth of the Cult Information Centre says that the numbers of cults recruiting from universities has almost certainly increased - they estimate that there are 500 cult movements active in the UK today.
"They look for intelligent, idealistic, spiritually curious young people who will have good earning potential, and students meet their criteria in every way. Add to that the fact that they will be disorientated, in a totally new environment with nothing familiar around them, and they are a perfect target for these groups.
"Universities need to be more aware of the dangers, because the groups will rarely identify themselves as what they really are until it's too late, and they can seem so plausible."
Involvement with a cult can cause lasting damage. Sarah Cope-Faulkner, now 34, became a member of the now disbanded International Church of Christ during her second year at Edinburgh University in the early 90s. A member of the Christian union, she lost friends after her first year when various fallings-out occurred and she found herself in a shared house with strangers. When "Jodie" invited her to a Bible study group, she found herself flattered by the offer of friendship from this slim, pretty young woman in jeans and trainers, and was touched by her apparent care and interest.
"The atmosphere at the events I went to was angelic," says Cope-Faulkner, "and I thought, 'Wow, all these people want to know little old me.' It was all 'Amen' and 'Come on, sister' and I wanted more. The only way to have more was to continue Bible study.
That's when they get you to make a sin list, and what they put me through was so black and bad I wanted to kill myself. They were still being lovely, saving me, and they said I had to redeem myself and repent which meant becoming a full member."
Baptised in a cold garage in a freezing paddling pool, Sarah thought she had cracked it and found the key to everlasting life. Instead, it was the beginning of a miserable two years that ended in her abandoning her studies, getting into serious debt through all the donations she had to make to the cult, and having a full nervous breakdown.
She remembers: "I attended 20 meetings a week and became estranged from my family and friends. I was up at 4am for Bible study, and I spent all my time trying to please everyone. If I recruited someone and Jodie liked me again, I would feel utterly elated. I fasted frequently because they said we had to understand the suffering Jesus went through for us."
Cope-Faulkner blacked out and came to on a train on her way to see her parents, to whom she eventually told everything. She saw a psychiatrist for three years and was put on antidepressants, and with help from cult experts she learned that she had been mind-controlled. "I still find it hard to trust people, and I can't get close to anyone," she confesses.
At least 34 campuses have banned cults from their premises, but somehow these groups still manage to recruit students, either by wandering in and chatting to people or by recruiting in town centres around the universities. Verity Coyle, vice-president of welfare for the National Union of Students, says, "Cults recruit in a sly way, and it's all about misinformation. We've had radical Islamic groups recruiting here where police have been called, and there has been a definite rise in 'Christian' groups, like the group formerly known as International Churches of Christ, who prey on vulnerable people. These cults are very good at distributing information, but universities don't always like to publicise the fact that they have a cult problem."
When a student sets up a group at university, which many do during an organised "Societies Week", they must create a constitution, and any sexuality, race or gender issues that run against the grain of equality legislation will prevent the group being formed. Most cults, however, are more insidious and recruiters are trained to recognise a good target whom they will court off campus.
It's only when a student leaves a cult that any warnings about cult activity may spread through university populations, but this happens rarely as the person is usually too traumatised to remain around other members and will often switch to another university or drop out altogether.
Jeannie Mills, former member of the People's Temple, famously said: "When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you have ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you've ever met, and then you learn that the cause of the group is something you never dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true - it probably is too good to be true! Don't give up on your education, your hopes and ambitions to follow a rainbow." After Mills left the group, she was found murdered.
| Chanting and singing: eliminating non-cult ideas through group repetition of mind-narrowing chants and phrases |
| Confession: encouraging the destruction of individual ego through confession of personal weaknesses and innermost feelings or doubts |
| Isolation: inducing loss of reality by physical separation from family, friends and normal society |
| Controlled approval: maintaining vulnerability and confusion by alternately rewarding and punishing similar actions |
| Change of diet: creating disorientation and increased susceptibility to emotional arousal by depriving the nervous system of nutrients through diets or fasting |
| Sleep deprivation and fatigue, creating disorientation and vulnerability |
| Removal of privacy: achieving loss of ability to evaluate logically by preventing private contemplation |
| 'Lovebombing': creating a sense of family and belonging through hugging, kissing, touching and flattery |
| Hypnosis: inducing high suggestibility by hypnosis, often thinly disguised as relaxation or meditation |
| Peer-group pressure: suppressing doubt and resistance to new ideas by exploiting the need to belong |
| Rejection of old values: accelerating acceptance of new lifestyle by constantly denouncing former values and beliefs |
