Hindsight is 20/20
From cougster.com:I used to go to that church, for my entire freshman year. From what I've heard since, they take notes on what you say and do there. From what I've experienced, they want you involved with everything you could possibly do...if you don't come, you get a barrage of phone calls. One friend of mine signed up for a Bible study but decided not to get involved, and, no joke, someone would call her EVERY DAY and ask if she wanted to go.
There are so many other things about that church that just freaked me out. As for the guns, I don't know about that, but I highly doubt it.
Oh, one other thing. They are inSANE about relationships...people are always butting into your business, no one will make a decision without meeting with a "leader" or whatever, and most couples I know there wouldn't even do things alone (like go to Spokane for a day) because of what others might think. And if you start dating someone, they're immediately pushing for you to get married.
I am so glad I'm out of there!
Another ex-member's story from cougster.com:I went there for awhile as well. SOO glad to be out of there. They all have plastic smiles that never fade. Seriously, it's creepy. They want you to be super involved in everything they do but they say that they don't. Pretty much if they say it is one way then it is probably another. It probably sounds ridiculous but it's true. If you know anyone from there you know exactly what I'm talking about. Ask them about the Pastors that left. They really hate that subject.
8 comments:
Thanks for tagging my site. To repeat: I am very, very shocked and dumbfounded. Perhaps LFF has strayed, but unintentionally.
I'm with Emmanuel Baptist Church now. Yes, a dour group, but faithful, at least. =P
What a novel idea. The internet can be used for good. I heard about this site from a friend and after reading it, I couldn't agree more. My experiences at LFF were similar and leaving has helped my marriage, family life, and spiritual life. I hope others find this site before ever setting foot in LFF. If even one person is spared the heartache and abuse that the pastors perpetrate on unsuspecting members, your efforts are worth it. Thank you!!!
Wow!!! I went to CCF for the first time on Friday then to church on Sunday. Something felt slightly off but it was hard to place, I thought it was me. Now I know what it was. I was told of this blog by a friend at Emmanuel and I now know it was God protecting me. I was shocked to learn of all you have spoken of. It is so sad and I feel bad for all you have gone through. I pray God will touch those you speak of at LFF before they hurt others.
I was born into the LFF "community" and spent most of my early life immersed in that church culture. Thankfully my family made its exodus befor I could be effected in the same way that my sibilings were. However, that church has left it's heinous mark on my mind and is still a painful subject for my entire family. I hope anyone that reads this will keep his/her distance from those heretics.
I got married there. No one pushed to get married after I started my relationship, and we've never had a "leader" making decisions with us.
Were you able to have as many attendants (brides maids & groomsmen) as you wanted without them charging you more? Did it cost approximately $1000 just to hold the service at the church? Did you have a choice when it came to having a quartet sing in the beginning? Did they require you to have a receiving line? It cost me $1000 just to reserve the building and then it was $300 more to have a small reception afterward. That $1000 fee only included 2 bridesmaids and 2 groomsmen, and so because we couldn't afford to pay more ($200 each), I wasn't able to include some of my closest friends. Why would they charge extra to have extra people in your wedding? I still haven't figured that one out. I'm pretty sure they can dress themselves and get themselves ready. And I'm pretty sure that those little dot stickers that they use to mark your "spot" on the platform don't cost that much. We also weren't given the choice to deter from the normal vocal quartet at the beginning of the wedding. And the "special" songs that I chose for the lighting of the unity candle and the vows, had to be limited to a certain time, so we had to cut out a whole verse. Also, when we wanted to skip the receiving line and just mingle with everybody at the reception, that was immediately shot down. Now whose wedding was it? I'm pretty sure it was mine, but sometimes I wonder. It seems that shortly after our wedding, the "policies" began to change, but I'm not sure how much. Maybe you can enlighten me.
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Our wedding coordinator did try to push for traditional stuff, but when we told her we were doing it our way we didn't have any problems.
Consider yourself lucky. It was very shortly after our wedding that the light came on and things started to change, but not until after they called my mother a b**** for questioning things and not agreeing with everything the wedding coordinators said, and said that if I wasn't careful I would turn out to be just like her. And not until after they told me that the song that I was singing at my OWN wedding was too long (as if 3 minutes is too long), and that I had to cut out an entire verse. And not until after they refused to allow more attendants without adding another $200 for each one. You would think that you would get to make your OWN decisions for YOUR wedding, but boy was I ever wrong!
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