Letter from an Ex-Calvary Temple Member (September 26, 2015)
I am writing to those who have never visited Calvary Temple in Sterling, Virginia.
When first meeting members of Calvary Temple, they seem like normal, everyday church-goers. They are warm, friendly and inviting. In the beginning all will seem well. In fact, it will seem REALLY well. You now have lots of scheduled activities, an opportunity to use your gifts to minister to people, friends to hang out with, and you believe your kids are safe and happy. There is a youth group and a school where you believe your children can be educated. Everything you experience in the early days of attending Calvary Temple seems godly and biblical.
You would not suspect that they are members of an abusive, controlling, destructive and divisive church.
After attending Calvary Temple for a time, you begin to notice you are not with your family as much as you once were. You begin to notice that the kids are one place in the church, and you are in another. You start to feel like you are no longer sowing into your children like you once were. You as the parent know you have the God-ordained responsibility for your children’s spiritual training and yet it seems like the youth pastors and helpers are having more input into their lives than you are.
Recognizing the need to spend more time with you family, you begin to adjust your schedule to implement what God has shown you. Therefore, you may begin to miss some of the scheduled activities. The following will now happen:
Someone in leadership will approach you and begin to pressure you to attend ALL the scheduled activities. They will start to question you about your relationship with the Lord and where your treasure is. Sounds good, right? Your desire to minister to your children is taken out of context and used to manipulate you into doing what they say is best. Though you believe you have heard from God concerning raising your children, you are being told that leadership knows best and you must obey their rules concerning how to hear from God about your children.
If leadership has decided they want to hang onto your kids because of what they can offer to Calvary, they start the process of undermining the parent/s to the children. They will begin to sow seeds of doubt concerning their spiritual condition, even labeling them as rebellious. They start to tell the children that they should be willing to go live with another family if their parent/s do not obey the pastors.
This is a process that can go on for weeks or months, even years, in an effort to convince the children to shift their allegiance from their parents to those in leadership.
Some have cut off everyone in their family and their family members have no idea what they have even done. They are just cut off and never spoken to again. At times, the children do not even know what their parents have done to deserve being cut off.
Another method of control used in Calvary Temple (that most are not aware of) is profiling. Leadership identifies the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of its members in order to manipulate and dictate their behavior. This strategy is effective with those who are questioning leadership ( because they see something wrong in what is being taught). Even a strong believer with a solid understanding of scripture can find themselves questioning everything they thought they knew. It is also a way to deal with family members that are struggling with what is being said about their loved ones.
Thank you for reading and prayfully considering what I have written. Please pray for those still under deception and lies that they may be set free. Also pray for families to be restored that God may receive all the glory.
When first meeting members of Calvary Temple, they seem like normal, everyday church-goers. They are warm, friendly and inviting. In the beginning all will seem well. In fact, it will seem REALLY well. You now have lots of scheduled activities, an opportunity to use your gifts to minister to people, friends to hang out with, and you believe your kids are safe and happy. There is a youth group and a school where you believe your children can be educated. Everything you experience in the early days of attending Calvary Temple seems godly and biblical.
You would not suspect that they are members of an abusive, controlling, destructive and divisive church.
After attending Calvary Temple for a time, you begin to notice you are not with your family as much as you once were. You begin to notice that the kids are one place in the church, and you are in another. You start to feel like you are no longer sowing into your children like you once were. You as the parent know you have the God-ordained responsibility for your children’s spiritual training and yet it seems like the youth pastors and helpers are having more input into their lives than you are.
Recognizing the need to spend more time with you family, you begin to adjust your schedule to implement what God has shown you. Therefore, you may begin to miss some of the scheduled activities. The following will now happen:
Someone in leadership will approach you and begin to pressure you to attend ALL the scheduled activities. They will start to question you about your relationship with the Lord and where your treasure is. Sounds good, right? Your desire to minister to your children is taken out of context and used to manipulate you into doing what they say is best. Though you believe you have heard from God concerning raising your children, you are being told that leadership knows best and you must obey their rules concerning how to hear from God about your children.
If leadership has decided they want to hang onto your kids because of what they can offer to Calvary, they start the process of undermining the parent/s to the children. They will begin to sow seeds of doubt concerning their spiritual condition, even labeling them as rebellious. They start to tell the children that they should be willing to go live with another family if their parent/s do not obey the pastors.
This is a process that can go on for weeks or months, even years, in an effort to convince the children to shift their allegiance from their parents to those in leadership.
Some have cut off everyone in their family and their family members have no idea what they have even done. They are just cut off and never spoken to again. At times, the children do not even know what their parents have done to deserve being cut off.
Another method of control used in Calvary Temple (that most are not aware of) is profiling. Leadership identifies the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of its members in order to manipulate and dictate their behavior. This strategy is effective with those who are questioning leadership ( because they see something wrong in what is being taught). Even a strong believer with a solid understanding of scripture can find themselves questioning everything they thought they knew. It is also a way to deal with family members that are struggling with what is being said about their loved ones.
Thank you for reading and prayfully considering what I have written. Please pray for those still under deception and lies that they may be set free. Also pray for families to be restored that God may receive all the glory.
