CREEDE HINSHAW: When a church leans more toward becoming a cult

A cult may be in the eye of the beholder, but some churches seem to be auditioning for the role.

I’ve recently examined the website of a congregation that seems to fit this profile. This church, founded in 1979 by a husband-wife team in the former textile town of Spindale, N.C., seems to invite controversy. One website describes Spindale as a “charming community,” and I’m sure it is. But the Word of Faith Fellowship is somewhat of a blot on the community for many residents of that city and county.

For the past three decades, the church and its members have been served with various legal summonses. Former church members have leveled charges of verbal and even physical abuse. The 2020 book “Broken Faith,” by two investigative reporters, described the church as a frightening place. Based on hundreds of interviews with former church members, law enforcement persons and others, the book documents accusations of inflicting physical and mental cruelty and engaging in various alleged illegal activities.

The Word of Faith Fellowship has often been described as “cultish;” one observer noted that church members see “demons behind every rock.”

The use of the word “cult” calls forth images of grungy, tattooed, emaciated, ramen noodle- and popcorn-eating dispossessed young adults who chant and keep time with finger cymbals. But not this place. Photos and videos of church members reveal well-dressed, well-fed, well-coiffed middle-class people.

The church returned to the unwanted spotlight this week in a national news article noting that some followers are actively involved in the 2024 election campaign. That part doesn’t bother me. Wackos are often involved in politics. Depending on the candidate, the loonier the office-seeker, the crazier the supporters. Everybody has a right to participate in election campaigns or run for office.

It is not political engagement that is troubling. When I examined the church’s website, I found video after video defending the church’s behavior. Most churches ignore defamatory circumstances; the leaders of this church seemed to relish the fight. Apoplectic and righteous, dismissive of most pastors and congregations, two Bible-pounding church members savage those they deemed persecutors, describing them as outrageous liars and agents of Satan. Not surprisingly, the Bible verses they quoted were all about the “last days” and the many afflictions of the righteous. Deception, they said, has taken over the church.

The real tipping point was when they debunked a former member who had complained about the church’s very restrictive rules. “We have no book of rules, we only have rigidly righteous convictions,” they boasted. “Our accuser is a liar. The only rules we have are the Bible.”

That last statement told me all I needed to know. A recipe for disaster in a church is to empower a small team of people, maybe even just a pastor and spouse, to interpret all the rules according to his/her narrow and abusive reading of God’s word. People like this eventually eat their own.