As I previously posted, the people within the church are awesome, welcoming, friendly etc Behind the scenes I was accused by leadership (G.J.J) of abusing and neglecting my wife not to forget "self centered" "money orientated" "untrustworthy" "hidden motives" blah blah blah (I would class these allegations alone as psychological abuse) After highlighting a few legal issues we needed to address as a church I was told (again by leadership) that "it was a can of worms" and "the church could not afford to do it" (despite being a legal requirement) (above the law - another cult characteristic) Despite being untrue the church were under the impression that my wife and I left in "good heart" where as the truth is we had a number of reservation and concerns. We were encouraged to stick with the leaderships story for (in their words) "the good of the church" I had to interrupt a leadership meeting because it turned in to an anti-Abundant Life Church session and the resentment continued when I was asked not to play ALC (christian) music within the church building! The worrying thing is that various people have witnessed these personal attacks (not just on myself) and are too afraid to question what is going on (yet another characteristic of a cult) I was classed as a trouble maker for not wanting to operate a sound system during an open air event because it was raining!! 700+ volts in the end I did it because you dont question leadership. Sadly this is just the tip of the iceberg. Dont ask questions and you will fit in to this church just fine. Ask questions and they will destroy you. I continue to use my original account to post this as I feel I have nothing to hide and 15 years of experience with the church. My name for the record is Russell Jolliffe email: judgejolliffe@googlemail.com Previous post below: As a former member within a leadership role I can only state that this is an abusive cult. Biblically sound(ish) but psychologically abusive and manipulative. Finacial accounts raise some questions! As a registered charity the accounts are viewable online for free!! The members of the church are awesome, a real pleasure to know but thats where it ends. There are so many tragic stories that have come away from Airedale Church, dont add yours to the ever growing list. read more

It is so sad that someone has made a negative comment on Airedale Church on this forum - perhaps it is more of a reflection of that person than the church (I don't know who they are). Personally, my wife and I who have been attending for 2-3 years now find the church quite exceptional in every way. Yes, there are faults but if you find a perfect church don't join it or you will spoil it. We were made very welcome when we first went and have over many months come to be part of a lovely Christian family in which so much is being achieved of a genuine nature. The church is currently attracting many new people and there is even more growth in the strength and outworking of many peoples' faith already in the church. There are great links with other works such as the one in India which receives very substantial support and we are equally blessed by them in other ways. The church is very spirit led but firmly (in my opinion) based upon the Bible's teaching. On the financial front, full auditing is carried out by a fully qualified chartered accountant and the accounts are open to public scrutiny so I can't understand why anyone would want to bring fault in this area as it seems to me as a novice that there is always thoroughness in this area especially for a small church. I suspect that any genuine work of God will always bring some opposition as seems the case here. I can assure anyone who wishes to visit or join the church will receive a good welcome and sound teaching and example although the church is more interested in promoting Jesus and less interested in what church people choose to go to - always a good thing I believe. S and L read more