I’ll keep my story/experience short and sweet as it’s not as in depth and painful as some of the other stories shared here. I began attending Grace Church during my freshman year at CMU. I was extremely vulnerable coming from a dysfunctional upbringing and had limited exposure to Christianity, hence having limited knowledge regarding red flags to look for within a church community. Continue reading
Tag: Stories (Page 1 of 3)
It has been roughly 15 years since I attended YC/GC. Renaming YC to GC is fitting considering what I endured there when I was a student at CMU. At the time, I was a young mother of two that was heavily devoted to prayer, serving others, and a dedicated Christian. Months into joining YC my daughters became very involved in children’s ministry events and I started testing out the various ministries I felt lead to participate in. It was at that time that my children and I faced homelessness. Continue reading
In 2003 my daughter was a CMU Sophomore. She ended up on the front row by ‘BF’s wife, SF.’ The BEST thing that ever happened….she heard my daughter worship Jesus, and her prayers were used against her. She was called in & grilled by a group of ‘imbeciles’ — men lording over a 19 year old with a ‘Holier Than Thou’ attitude, questioning her salvation & motives for ‘prayers’ like that in ‘their church. She had poured her heart out to Jesus, during worship. It was the beginning of ‘Her Shunning’….. Continue reading
My story with Grace Church (then The Young Church) started over 17 years ago. While most of the damage done to my heart occurred in the earlier years I was involved, I’ve continued to have red-flag experiences when talking to friends still heavily involved at GC. Though I’m on the outside now, my most recent negative experience with GC was yesterday. Continue reading
When I think about my time at TYC/GC, I have so many mixed feelings, but one thing always comes to mind; It is the place where I made the 3 best, most important, defining, God-directed decisions of my life…
- To put my faith in Christ.
- To marry my spouse.
- To LEAVE.
I have been thinking of how and if I should share my story for the last week now. I don’t have a bunch of specific memories or quotes from my time at Grace Church but I think sharing some general impressions and situations that I do remember as well as the things I have been unlearning since leaving may be helpful to some. Continue reading
I’ve been encouraged to share more of my experience so here goes, but know these are just snippets of my story and experiences and I can only speak to my own experience:
I started attending what was then the Young Church in junior high. They hosted these events call The Event/The Next Event. These were lock-in style events with lots of games, food and fun while running around the Ward theatre. Continue reading
I attended Young Church with my husband and 3 children from about 1998 to 2003. I served on the hospitality team. I enjoyed the kids and the friendliness of the church. Then the more I got involved, the more red flags I saw. At first, my kids had a lot of fun and I felt they were growing in their faith. But then things started to change. Continue reading
I wasn’t involved long with GC, but I did see a lot of what other people are saying happen. For a year I lived in a house on campus with a few other guys from the church. 2 were what I would call devout members for lack of a better term, then there was a guy quite a bit older and me. I think we were the projects trying to get us more involved in the church. While living there, it came to light that the older guy was struggling with alcoholism and thoughts of suicide. He was taking our money for lights, and I noticed some of my stuff missing, and he was buying booze with it. This was all coming out about the time I left the church. Continue reading
I would like to start by saying that I am celebrating everyone’s freedom from Grace Church, and I am happy that your lives have improved from the separation. When you read what I’m about to say, I hope you don’t write me off as bitter. I admit that I’m angry. I admit that I’m angry at a lot of /you/. But I hope that you will read and respect my story as I have with yours and recognize the validity in what I have to say.
I was raised into this church without a choice. Continue reading