Community Chapel: Was it a Cult?

Was Community Chapel...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Chapel_and_Bible_Training_Center

(Discussion over the content of this wiki page is here ["onesimuss" is me] ):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Chapel_and_Bible_Training_Center

...a cult?

Depends on how one defines “cult.”

Here are some possible responses to the question when considering seven different definitions:

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS (incomplete list);

1. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.

Well, we had the authoritarian leader and were generally considered a cult by most.

So any group with pyramid government that does poorly in the polls, so to speak, is a cult.

Ergo, the Catholic church is not a cult (scandals over homosexual and pedophile priests notwithstanding) - but the Fundamentalists are a cabal with potential to turn America into an oppressive theocracy.

2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.

Liturgical churches are cults, too.


RELIGIOUS DEFINITIONS GLEANED FROM COMMON PARLANCE

3. A group claiming to be Christian which denies the doctrine of the Trinity.

That's enough for the Bible Answer Man. Of course Community Chapel was a cult; what further need have we of proof?

4. A group which claims to have revelation from God apart from the Bible.

All non-cessationist (in regards to utterance gifts of 1 Corinthians 14) churches are cults.

5. A group whose members become separate from their families.

Remember the cult leader who came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law?

Excluding those who deserted spouses for "connections," (I knew dozens who did that) Community Chapel members were much more often ostracized by their families than the reverse.

Some relatives not only regard former members as second class citizens, but - as I know from experience - feel complete liberty to interfere in their personal lives. My meddling kinsman (“meddling” - meaning he undermined my efforts to place my wayward son in a Christian program for troubled boys) formed his own sect that, relative to number of members, was more extreme than Community Chapel (more elitist, more sensationalist eschatology – obsessed with proving that Arnold Shorts-n-sneakers {sp?} is the Anti-Christ, and my kinsman even had a “spiritual” relationship with a woman not his wife – over which he mistakenly sought counsel/ support from former Community Chapel members who never endorsed such liaisons.)

My testimony is that cultic behavior towards family members was evinced by a family member towards me, but not vice-versa.

6. A group which falls into sin and deception.

Did you hear about the church which acquired a bunch of gold and followed their leader into the wilderness? Then when the leader mysteriously disappeared, his brother made a golden calf and led the people into an orgy - a cult for sure. Eve was beguiled by the serpent. When our brothers and sisters are beguiled, they don't get set free by being labeled a cult!


DEFINITION (falsely) ATTRIBUTED TO ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO, but which likely describes the beliefs of many statists:

7. “A cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the second coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; who has a high level of financial giving to Christian causes; who home schools his children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the 2nd Amendment; and who distrusts big government.”

The term “Christian;” was originally a pejorative term applied to followers of Christ. Could post-Christian America become a place where Christianity is considered a cult?

COMMENTS

In modern vernacular “cult” is a highly charged term with broad implications. I submit that casual use of the term can only hinder effective communication because of the wide variety of connotations. Motives of those eager to label others as a cult are suspect.

The tabloid television show West 57th Street featured former members of Community Chapel in an episode, c. 1989. One of our former elders was filmed as a regular family man, playing ball with his kids and then decrying the cult that he had left. No mention was made that those weren't his kids with whom he was tossing the ball - he had left his own wife and daughter to marry their mother. But who cares about the truth when there's a cult to expose? A member of my brother's cult, who never attended the Chapel, publicly described Community Chapel as JUST [about]wife swapping. Ask Constance Cumby about the Chapel, and I bet you'll learn it was JUST “new age.” Can't other Christians be regarded as “deceived,” or “prideful,” or just “wrong.” Must they be pigeonholed - JUST “wife swappers,” JUST “new age,” etc. God called people there at the same time He led others away..even after connections started. Note - this is important - the level of involvement of individuals ran the gamut - from those who consciously practiced witchcraft, to those involved in “mega connections” to lesser “connections” to those who didn't “connect” at all.

For what its worth, my own definition, subject to change - of “cult” would include some elements of most of the above (not #7) with the qualification that for a group to be considered a “cult” there must be a prolonged and determined refusal to receive clear corrections, warnings, and/or instructions, and an explicitly stated belief that the group alone is chosen by God above all others.

My testimony

I loved Jesus Christ before, during, and after my involvement with Community Chapel.

My heart was right before God before, during, and after my involvement with this church - even when I was in deception.

Spiritual growth continued in my life before, during, and after my time there.

Community Chapel was a great experience that I would not recommend to anyone!