The Academic Report
The Academic Report
…and you will know them by their fruits…
Written by Cults and New Religions Specialist Anna Kitko, this report draws from one full year of research, including interviews with over a dozen families from GCC (both active and inactive at the time of writing), ranging from elders and administrators to congregants and youth. It also incorporates discussions with representatives of the Master’s Seminary and the president of Founders Ministries. Over 1000 hours of therapeutic sessions and ongoing interventions inform these findings. At the time the report was written, more than 200 congregants had left the church due to GCC’s coercive and totalistic practices.
Commissioned by families recovering from their time at GCC and concerned by the ongoing harm to congregants who remain there, this report describes how the leadership structure at GCC has organized itself in a way that permits, facilitates, and perpetuates abuse toward the congregation, especially the youth.
The Academic Report
The Academic Report
…and you will know them by their fruits…
Written by Cults and New Religions Specialist Anna Kitko, this report draws from one full year of research, including interviews with over a dozen families from GCC (both active and inactive at the time of writing), ranging from elders and administrators to congregants and youth. It also incorporates discussions with representatives of the Master’s Seminary and the president of Founders Ministries. Over 1000 hours of therapeutic sessions and ongoing interventions inform these findings. At the time the report was written, more than 200 congregants had left the church due to GCC’s coercive and totalistic practices.
Commissioned by families recovering from their time at GCC and concerned by the ongoing harm to congregants who remain there, this report describes how the leadership structure at GCC has organized itself in a way that permits, facilitates, and perpetuates abuse toward the congregation, especially the youth.
Original Academic Report
Commissioned by families, reporting coercive control, abuse, and spiritual harm during their time at GCC, this report also offers suggestions for their continuing care and help in understanding what happened to them.
Clarified Report
With permission from the original author, this version aims to communicate the findings and intent of the original report in a way that is easier to understand. We have also included real-life and GCC-specific examples of terms used to describe coercive control and high-control groups.
“The Abuse Document”
One of the more disturbing policies GCC has been willing to put into writing is what the elders descriptively titled “GCC Elder’s Statement on Physical and Emotional Abuse in Relation to Divorce and Remarriage” (Appendix F in the Original Academic Report). This statement had been removed from the GCC website at the time of this writing, but we were able to recover a copy. We leave it to the reader to judge if this document represents a moral, biblical approach to issues of marital abuse.
Grafted Olive Trees
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Context for Analysis
Resources
Resources on this list have been very helpful for many Grace Community Church Maryville Refugees to understand that they are not alone in their concerns, and to know that there are reasons for what they’ve experienced and the way they feel.
Some resources describe how to recognize high-control groups, their structure and how they function, and the damage they inflict on the people in the groups. Others are helpful in the healing process; for understanding what happened and how to move forward. Some resources are produced by Christians for Christians; others come from a secular perspective. They all have benefit.
While each of the following resources is recommended, we do not necessarily endorse all of the content of each item. Please use discernment for what is appropriate to your situation.
Evaluation Tools
A cult is not so much about wacky theology and weird clothes as it is about the type of control the leaders hold over the people. A high-control group can be religious, secular, or political. It can be a very large organization or a very small group.
Dr. Steven Hassan is one of the world’s foremost experts on cults, mind control, and undue influence. He developed the BITE Model of Authoritarian Control, which evaluates a group’s or individual’s Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion control to determine if it is a destructive cult. If any organization registers anywhere on the BITE Model of Authoritarian Control, they meet the criteria for a high-control, coercive group.
Context for Analysis
Resources
Resources on this list have been very helpful for many Grace Community Church Maryville Refugees to understand that they are not alone in their concerns, and to know that there are reasons for what they’ve experienced and the way they feel.
Some resources describe how to recognize high-control groups, their structure and how they function, and the damage they inflict on the people in the groups. Others are helpful in the healing process; for understanding what happened and how to move forward. Some resources are produced by Christians for Christians; others come from a secular perspective. They all have benefit.
While each of the following resources is recommended, we do not necessarily endorse all of the content of each item. Please use discernment for what is appropriate to your situation.
Evaluation Tools
A cult is not so much about wacky theology and weird clothes as it is about the type of control the leaders hold over the people. A high-control group can be religious, secular, or political. It can be a very large organization or a very small group.
Dr. Steven Hassan is one of the world’s foremost experts on cults, mind control, and undue influence. He developed the BITE Model of Authoritarian Control, which evaluates a group’s or individual’s Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion control to determine if it is a destructive cult. If any organization registers anywhere on the BITE Model of Authoritarian Control, they meet the criteria for a high-control, coercive group.
Considerations
Considerations
