9 Questions to Ask about Prophetic Presbytery
CFC encourages people to test the prophetic words against scripture and discuss them with pastors. Asking questions is an important part of this process, and to that end, we suggest that you also ask the following questions.
Confessions from the Inner Circle
You’ve experienced it, but I’m going to say it explicitly. CFC operates with a class system. There’s an inner circle reserved for just a few families. I know this because my family is one of them.
Open the ledgers
It means a reordering of resources and attention, a casting down of the powerful and exalting the lowly, an unflinching attempt to humbly engage something that isn’t crisply & mathematically defined—the unquantifiable wreckage of both individual and collective sin.
When holidays are hard
Once I left CFC, the holiday season felt strangely empty. I wasn’t sure how to celebrate without performing a very specific kind of seasonal joy. Many of the traditions that I used to enjoy with my family now trigger intense grief and physical distress. Holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas remind us that we are estranged from family and friends who are still at CFC.
Financial Abuse in the Church
Financial abuse takes on additional gravity when it is done in the name of God. Abusive husbands may be drawn to patriarchal religious communities because the gender hierarchy can disguise and enable their financial abuse. Choosing to be a stay-at-home wife or daughter is one thing – being forced to work without pay or to turn down opportunities for education or paid employment is another.
Betrayal Blindness
People in high-control groups cannot allow themselves to fully engage with reality. Why? Because acknowledging the truth would threaten the church relationships that they depend upon for survival.
The Danger of Inadequate Child Protection Policies
Inadequate child protection policies are often more dangerous than the absence of a policy because nominal policies allow church members to believe that they are safe when they are actually in grave danger.
I trusted you
One of the many parts of abuse of any kind is the betrayal. The trust broken. The belief of safety shattered. Even if what happened was a stranger there was still a trust that you were safe. You no longer trust safety. You no longer trust people. People you know or people you don’t.
An Introduction to Child Liberation Theology
In today’s world that sees children as having no rights themselves, but rather sees parents as almighty rulers over their property, Jesus’s point stands out. By lifting up children, Jesus really is making the last first. He is making clear that children deserve the same rights, and bear the same value, as adults.
Pigs in the Parlor
Understanding CFC’s approach to demon possession and how it serves as a tool for spiritual abuse requires a trip back to the 1970s when CFC first started.
Protests, Apologies, and Zaccheus
The role of the surface apology is not repentance or restitution. The purpose of a surface apology is twofold: to make the person you hurt go away and to absolve you of your own guilt.
So how do you issue a sincere apology and work towards restitution if you have wronged someone? And conversely, what type of apology and restitution should you expect if you are wronged?
Dear LGBTQ+ Survivors
We want you to know that we are a safe space for LGBTQ+ survivors and we value your stories and your partnership as we learn and grow. We are proud to stand alongside our LGBTQ+ survivors and support them as we all heal from our experiences at CFC.
Emotions & Abuse: Part 2
God created us with emotions. Our God-given emotions keep us safe, help us live an abundant life, and motivate us to take action based on our values and goals.
Emotions & Abuse
I was and still am a serious Christian, and it was important to me to obey God. But I thought that meant I had to do things that felt really bad to me. If it felt hard, that was probably God telling me to do something.
Leaving Well
Leaving a church is not a decision most Christians take lightly. It is especially difficult where intergenerational friendships have taken shape, discipleship, marriages, births, baptisms, and deaths have stitched a fabric which you were convinced kept you warm. This fabric has been a comfort. A barrier to outside elements threatening your safety and security. You feel safe.
You Are the Author of Your Story
When I first left, I didn’t tell many people about my past or background. I wanted to put it all behind me and move on with my life now that I had my freedom. But I had experienced so much disempowerment that I was struggling to move on. I slowly began writing down my story, and I discovered great healing in the process of putting my experience into words.
Why I Was Told to Make Them Worship
Too often, spiritually manipulative leaders want to ramp up worship in order to take the focus off what’s really going on underneath. Abusive leaders can use the worship time to keep their congregation preoccupied, to keep their eyes off the abuse occurring in the church. They use God’s name to lend authority to their own narcissism.
Broken Arrows: Abuse is not love
CFC explicitly teaches that physical violence, emotional neglect, and isolation are necessary tools if loving parents want to make their children become faithful disciples of Jesus.
Broken Arrows: Our Emotions
By “othering” personal thoughts, CFC trains children and adults to be constantly at odds with themselves in a state of passive indecision that looks for outside direction. CFC leadership then offers church-approved philosophies, practices, and opinions as though they are God-ordained truth, keeping members trapped in the vicious codependence of high-control authoritarian communities.
Broken Arrows: Obedience
Training children to respond to instructions with nothing but immediate and cheerful obedience (under threat of physical and emotional harm) leaves no room for a child to question whether the instructed activity is safe for them.
Training children to obey adults without questioning the why behind the command prepares them to do the same with any authority figure in the future.