Traditional vs Boston Movement

[Scott]

Hoping someone can post the main differences between the two.
From what I can see some websites consider the Boston Movement a cult.

[agricola]

Yep, most people consider the Boston/Crossroads movement a cult. Quite a few people consider the Church of Christ a cult too.

[teresa]

The Boston CoC, now the International Church of Christ, is considered a cult for two reasons. The first reason is because they believe an individual must be baptized knowing that their baptism is for the forgiveness of sins in order to be saved. This, of course, is where they are the same as the hardline CoC. However, the Boston Church goes beyond the hardline CoC, insisting that even CoC folks must be rebaptized by the Boston CoC, because their previous baptism does not count since the individual was not fully committed to Christ.

The second reason the Boston Church of Christ is considered a cult is that they have a heirarchy, in which new converts are paired up with a mentor who controls every aspect of the new convert's life--what they do with their time, who they associate with, who they date. The mentor in turn has their own mentor, and so on up the ladder. They shun folks who leave their group, regarding such individuals as lost, or at least, no longer worthy of their friendship.

Petros and I visited the Boston Church of Christ when it was young. We had a meal in the home of someone we knew who attended the Boston CoC, where we saw how newer converts reported to their mentor how many new people they had spoken to that day and invited to a Bible talk.

Their Wednesday service (where the Boston CoC broke up into localized groups) was both dynamic and manipulative. The group's leader announced that their local group had met their financial goal for that month, the young adult attendees cheered and clapped, and then the leader added that to meet their goal the elders had to kick in a disproportionate amount of their own funds. That's a shame game.

During the prayer part of the service the leader asked folks to get on their knees to pray, and then chided them saying "If you are on your knees because I asked you, that's not the reason you should be on your knees". This is the classic double-bind used by cult groups to shame people and get control of them.

During the Bible talk part of their service, they broke up into groups of ten or twelve. The leader of the small group we were in talked about how he fasted and prayed weekly. Then others in the group talked about how they fasted and prayed weekly. No one who did not fast and pray spoke up, nor was it ever said that it was okay not to fast and pray weekly. I got the feeling this was intended to make those who did not fast and pray feel weekly feel like they were not as spiritual as those who did.

[Turtle]

I have friends who got involved in the Boston movement in college. Their social lives were uncomfortably scrutinized and structured by those higher up. They were told who they could date and when. They dated each other on the sly and ended up getting married and leaving the movement.

Also, a ? years long personality study was done on a group of members of the Boston movement by someone in mainline coc.
(Flavil Yeakley?) it was found that after a few years membership, each member's MBTI personality type changed to match that of Kip McKuen, the head guy over the movement. This is a sign of an unhealthy relationship of the leader to the members. When confronted, McKuen said that personality type must be the type Jesus had, and it was evidence they were all becoming like Jesus.

[Scott]

Thank you.

I guess need to get a grip on the notion that it was a cult I left 27 years ago.
Since I left the Church I always considered myself condemned.
It's actually nice to have a glimmer of hope.

[Lev]

Also, a ? years long personality study was done on a group of members of the Boston movement by someone in mainline coc.
(Flavia yeakley?) it was found that after a few years membership, each member's MBTI personality type changed to match that of Kip McKuen, the head guy over the movement. This is a sign of an unhealthy relationship of the leader to the members. When confronted, McKuen said that personality type must be the type Jesus had, and it was evidence they were all becoming like Jesus.

(emphasis added)

Nice comeback! That's some on-your-toes thinking there, McKuen!

Lev

[AtPeace]

Thank you.

I guess need to get a grip on the notion that it was a cult I left 27 years ago.
Since I left the Church I always considered myself condemned.
It's actually nice to have a glimmer of hope.

Oh Scott, you've got FAR more than simply a glimmer of hope...you've got the whole world at your fingertips once you've left a cult behind. Congratulations! Enjoy the exploring....

[Turtle]

Here is a report on the study, if anyone is interested:

http://www.culteducation.com/group/983- ... ter-2.html

Here is the "Jesus was an ESFJ" explanation:

http://www.culteducation.com/group/983- ... ter-3.html

[ena]

I was attending a Bible Church when the disciplining movement hit. I had a friend that was considering joining it. This movement was much wider than many realize. It did hit the CoC hard but then all the pieces were in place for the imprisoning of souls. The issue is personal buy in. You can literally become your own worst enemy. Or in other words at war with your beliefs. The beliefs have the wrong focus and are over focused in many ways. I dealt with a great deal of anger affecting my life in weird ways for many years. I have recovered a lot but it does affect outlook. Many years away from the CoC does help. I mention here because it may encourage someone as they might be going through this. It is not something that most therapists will pick up directly. Therapists not exposed to the CoC mindset can not fully understand in detail. Hence the real need for this board. Hope it helps!