20, gay christian, excommunicated by church & disowned by family.

Yeah went there again now and exclusive brethren doesn't come up.

It's just come on now. Todaytonight always take ages to load their shows.

Craig - G'day! I hardly ever watch the tabloid TV 'news' shows but just happened to see your segment last night. Had seen your initial post here but busyness meant I put it in the "must read some time" category. (Sorry!) Wasn't until the segment showed you in the parade that the penny dropped. You are so brave, but the courage will pay off - even 'though there will still be rought waters along the way. Enjoy the rest of your time here in Oz. When you get home, remember the problem is not you or yours . . . it's theirs and them. God bless

That car chase would have been scary. I am amazed that Kevin Rudd put his name on the same fire booklet that the ex brethren produced!? And as they said, strange alliance given ex brethren encourage members not to vote. But then they gave that sizeable donation to Howard too. hmmm.

I so admire you Craig as so many others do at f2b. Just know when you feel low that you have our support here.

Blessings,

Ann Maree

Hi Craig, I was very interested to read your story because it has some similar components to mine. About 20 years ago my girlfriend and I were ex-communicated from a pentecostal cult called the Revival Centre for being in a loving lesbian relationship. The Revival Centre believes it is the only church that holds and declares the full gospel message, including the belief that you must speak in tongues to be saved. All other churches are lost and delusional! The Revival Centre, as a religious system, appeals to people from broken backgrounds because they offer a sense of order and control that is quite a welcome relief to people who come from dysfunctional families and other chaotic situations. There is something reassuring about being told on a daily basis what to believe, what to do, and how to live your life in order to secure your eternal salvation! You are discouraged from befriending outsiders except with the intentional purpose of converting them. This is to protect you from being defiled and led astray by "worldly" people. As a consequence, all your close friends (and sometimes family) are in the church, and so being excommunicated creates this situation whereby you are completely alone in the world. The Revival Centre was also known for its strong stance on morality issues. Young people were ex-communicated and forced to marry for kissing too passionately on a first date! [I'm not kidding!] If the young couple agreed to marry they were returned to the fold. As you can imagine, the elders weren't quite sure what to do with us when we confessed our relationship to them. Of course, my girlfriend and I loved each other and would have happily married, but that wasn't an option! Anyway, we survived the experience and are still great friends today. It was a very difficult and bewildering situation to endure at the time, but as time goes on you learn to think for yourself and develop your own faith, values, morality and belief system, which is scary at times, but wonderfully enlightening and liberating too. Welcome to the outside world Craig! Sharon

Hi Sharon

Is The Revival Centre different to the Christian Revival Crusade churches? I belonged to one of those and their beliefs were similar to what you describe. Frightening.

I'm so glad you survived, are stronger and have lived to tell the tale

Blessings,

Ann Maree

Maybe this question would be better on a new thread. Exclusive Brethern are an ultra-fundamentalist, but quite anti-charismatic cult.

Christian Revival Crusades (CRC) is a small but quite evangelical/pentecostal grouping similar to A.O.G., CCC, etc. (Relatively small but a few larger churches)

Revival Centres of Australia (RCA) are definitely a pentecostal cult - don't have many churches. (The very fact that they claim "to have the complete truth" immediately - by definition - brands them as a cult.) Like the Exclusive Brethren (and in fact almost all cults) they are incredibly controlling of their flock and strongly into excommunication for any one who strays. They were very strong on "you are not saved unless you speak in tongues".

Sadly, these cults give others with similar labels a bad name and people don't/can't distinguish one from the other. For example: Exclusive Brethren / Open Brethren (the latter being almost like basic Baptists) ; RCA / CRC

All quite sad.

Hi forestgrey

Thanks for the info and suggestion of moving this to a new thread. I've done just that, pasting your reply above under Differences Between Various Churches and Cults in the discussion section.

I watched the Today Tonight segment last night and was just amazed.

It is a sign of our spiritual maturity how much like Jesus we are.

People only have power over you when you give it to them. While that is true, I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for you to come out and leave. I really admire you and what you have done.

We should also be praying for your friend Paul, still within the EB and gay. That must be so hard. I sure hope they haven't done anything to him.

As each day comes, may the Lord be very real to you Craig. He will delight to do that I know.

Exclusive Brethren @ Yahoo! Video