I first came to this church at a very vulnerable state. I had just lost my best friend and I was consumed with despair.
This church claims they fixed me. But that's far from the truth. The truth is that they took advantage of my vulnerability to align my views with their own and for months I'm ashamed to say that it worked.
But my second year of college the truth slipped through the cracks.
This church presents themselves as a "come as you are" setting. That is a lie, this church strongly condemns LGBTQ referring to it as "The greatest form of rebellion against God."
If you have children I strongly advise you to keep them far away from this church. One of their leaders, Brett Messenger is a convicted sex offender and has plead guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor.
You can try to reason them but they just won't care. Kind of like how I brought concerns of racist remarks directed at my last name as well as ableist behaviors including patronization that were being direct at me. It got so bad that I began faking sicknesses to skip out on meetings and I felt like I was being forced to hide certain aspects of my identity.
Their leader at the time, Jordan Howell did nothing to address these concerns and simply swept them under the rug saying that "Our leaders are human and capable of sin and shortcomings."
But the worst was yet to come, when my uncle took his own life one of the members posted a video to snap making jokes about his death, offered bleach to their partner. When I confronted them they once again brushed it off.
When I left the church they tried gaslighting me into thinking that I was bitter and was slandering them as a result. Not once did they ask if I was alright, if perhaps something was happening that they weren't already aware of, and they refused to admit that perhaps they were in the wrong.
I could go on and on listing every horrible thing this church has done not only to me but people I've met who have shared similar stories.
But I will close this review with this. If you are looking to grow closer with God, go somewhere else. This place feels more like a cult than a church. They view neurodivergent people like myself as "broken" people that need to be fixed. They only think about themselves and will do whatever it takes to convince others to follow their vision.
As stated on their own site: "We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal felicity of believers who are redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ and the endless suffering of those who deny His authority." This statement was evident when I was asked how I felt about people who did not believe in God and I explained that everyone has a right to choose. I could see the disappointment in their eyes as I shared this. read more
