This church, like many others, fits the criteria of a cult and is no way, shape or form serving the "god" they claim to.
I don't even know where to begin regarding my experience here but I will say there are a handful of truly genuine people here who do wish the best for others and have beautiful hearts, but it is a rarity here.
This church encouraged me to stay in an abusive situation and refused to help me. They had so many resources and when I finally had the courage to speak up about what I was going through, I was judged and referred to a leader. He made me send him an email of my issues, and then quite literally ghosted me. It came to my attention that these "leaders" were also discussing and mocking my very private and personal situation with others.
I did not fit in to their "mold" of what a woman should be and look like, so I was very harshly judged by everyone but especially by the women (mostly the 18-40 crowd) of the church. To say that it felt like I was in grade school with "mean girls" is an absolute understatement - it was petty, childish, immature and extremely overt. They didn't even try to hide their judgment, just overt looks of disgust, glaring and outright othering me and my son. This othering was also apparent when I attended a membership meeting and applied for membership TWICE only to be completely ghosted both times while others who applied at the same time as me were given membership. I am thankful for this blessing in disguise now. I also think it had something to do with the fact that I had no monetary value to offer them, and it is apparent that they go after people who can bring them money and status. The first thing they asked my ex was what he did for work, it was another overt tactic. I did volunteer regularly though but I guess my physical appearance and inability to provide money to them at the time made me worthless to them. That was quite evident.
Most importantly, my son attended the separate daycare here for about a month, 2 days per week, for a half day each time. He came home one day completely inconsolable, and when asked what was wrong, he alleged that a teacher had touched his private part inappropriately and hit him. I followed my pediatrician's instructions and took him to the hospital, where the doctor agreed that something must have happened to him because 3 year olds don't just make that up. The hospital opened up an investigation into the school, and I notified the school immediately about what my son alleged. CPS and the state did an investigation but the incident was alleged to occur in the bathroom, where there are obviously no cameras. The local police were part of the investigation as well but quickly dismissed it because the investigating police officer was a leader and attendee at the church....definitely not a coincidence. He sat with me and my son for 10 minutes and basically tried to say my son probably just misunderstood what happened. It was a disgusting and absolutely disgraceful display by an agency that is supposed to protect the community and especially its children. More of that story can be found on Quora here:
https://www.quora.com/Have-you-ever-been-betrayed-by-your-pastor/answer/Christina-Celeste-8?ch=17&oid=398474322&share=b20bda2e&srid=u8FcC0&target_type=answer
But because there wasn't any substantial physical evidence to prove the allegations nor camera footage to corroborate my son's allegations, the case was closed and I was left to pick up the pieces.y som definitely experienced something and I believe him. But not one person in leadership ever tried to contact us or discuss it despite my very generous and gracious attempts at speaking with them about it.
This place is just another religious cult that seeks a certain demographic to help line their pockets and give themselves status in the community. I wouldn't at all be surprised if sexual abuse was rampant in this church and victims are too afraid and too brainwashed to come forward. Let's not at all mention how they humiliated one of their youth pastors publicly and put his marital issues on blast after firing him. This place is disgusting and is not safe for anyone that is LGTBQ+, with mental illness, victims of any kind of abuse or women who don't fit their white, Christian nationalism mold for what a woman should be. Stay far away from this place. read more