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Catch & Release. We also sent emails and left voice messages asking to speak with church leadership for this story but got no response. The building sits at the back of a large parking lot down a dead-end street originally called Holy Spirit Lane. Jutting off Harris near Redwood Acres, the short road is now named St. James Place, though people familiar with the church even some of its members refer to it as the cult-de-sac. The suburban-style tract homes lining St. James Place are filled almost exclusively with members of the church. Services are Sat at 4 and 6 and Sun 9 & 11. And if God is the One who causes things to grow, then all of us (both full-time vocational ministers like meand volunteers) are only planting and watering, and even that we are doing only by His power and strength. I was just trying to keep all the balls in the air. [9], The Church has a Baptist confession of faith and is a member of Converge. *Empowered by God to reach others for Christ* podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZWFnbGVicm9va2NodXJjaC5jb20vbWVkaWFmaWxlcy9lYWdsZS1icm9vay1jaHVyY2gtcG9kY2FzdC54bWw=. Most of us have. He dug a little deeper and got to the real issues of where my anger was coming from and my unwillingness to forgive people and those kinds of things.. Now I think, Thank God Im out., Sarah said shes not surprised that most Humboldt County residents have no idea such a community exists right here in Eureka. As a child theres how I describe it is brainwashing, she said. At first my dad didnt think it was that big of a deal he thought it was just my hands, Abigail said. I remember that at least part of the building appeared circular. Robinson, meanwhile, was treated differently after word spread about her allegations. Thats when the big shift happened, when we became more cultish.. We never really got much science or literature. Watching. Have you ever lost sleep over a heated disagreement or harsh words? By year 10, Merritt said the church had grown to over 5,000 people. Her dad followed her and tried to order her to come back home with him but she resisted, with support from her friends family. Most of us have. But ultimately, the Lord is the only One who ever deserves praise. Bob Merritt | Message 25 of 127. But what about you? What is Paul? MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) The largest church in Minnesota is expanding from the suburbs into downtown Minneapolis. . Do you remember this church on the hill there? The thing thats really hard for people who grew up in this religion is knowing how to explain how its a cult. The message is beamed. In the first year, things were tough for Merritt as there was some contention among the staff and church membership with his hiring. My teacher from agegrades five through 12 would laugh at us and berate us, Villareal said. "They wanted to come back.". Then I became a teacher in the school for free, she said. I felt like the thing I told her was. Eventually, her dad asked her to get coffee with him and they had a conversation. Youd have to spend hours searching your soul . the Christian hippie commune at Lighthouse Ranch, the hippie utopia that was Lighthouse Ranch, registered with the California Department of Education, employed by Christian slavers as justification for human bondage, PARTY COMPLAINT 400 Block of BAYSIDE CT, Animal Hazard at Hillcrest Dr and Humboldt Hill Rd. My boyfriend, Ill ask him every five minutes if he needs a drink or food. PUBLISHED: December 28, 2015 at 11:01 p.m. | UPDATED: January 20, 2016 at 11:49 p.m. Minnesota's largest church has gotten a lot larger thanks to a $17 million contribution. DeSoto said the cruelty of these scenarios didnt really become clear to him until after he left the church and had some time to reflect. OBITUARY: Dwight Galen Griffith, 1990-2021, Quarantined: A New Law Is Disrupting California School Reopenings . We're not allowed to have a female or male drive in a car alone together if one or the other is married. And if you allow yourself to get close to a certain line, your emotions override your intellect, Merritt said. At the time, she explained, I believed I was respecting my elders. She eventually told her mom what happened but said her mom chose to keep it private. Kids wetting the bed way too old, kids with speech impediments past when they should. As of March 1, 2020, Pastor Jason Strand, 41, is leading Lino Lakes-based Eagle Brook megachurch. An stage adorned with American flags was recently erected on the basketball court across from the church. It is affiliated with Converge. Theyre listening to the devil.. If you werent daily giving your all for the glory of Christ, why were you even here? About a week later I attempted suicide, she said. Hes doing the work; were just trying to keep up. It was a mixture of clinical depression and the churchs lack of response, or inappropriate response to it, she said. What's bad about Bob? he said. I dont know; that was my coping mechanism.. Chauvin started college at age 30 and is now in the nursing program. She reported it to the Humboldt County Sheriffs Office, she said, and officers here contacted officials in Thurston County, Wash., but the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence. "I felt like I belonged, I felt instantly loved, I felt cared for.". It was not a large pool, she said. I doubt that I am confusing it with the Brea Blvd. So, instead of avoiding eye contact, let's face the tough stuff together, using the Bible as our guide. Many Gospel Outreach members live in the suburban-style homes along St. James Place. | Photo by Andrew Goff. One church with multiple locations in the Midwest. For more information about Eagle Brook Church, visit eaglebrookchurch.com. Almost all their money ($53million 2020-2021) goes back into the church, not back to the community. According to himself he was just a servant through whom they had believed. [8] According to a church census released in 2020, it claimed a weekly attendance of 25,340 people and 9 campuses in different cities. I will not be leading another church. Thats you having independent thinking. Its just a cycle of abuse.. Today, we have the advantage of learning from the conversations that followed. [10]. In addition to being the senior pastor of Eagle Brook, Merritt also taught at Bethel Seminary. The father is the ultimate authority. I decided this is a cult and I left.. I was just getting worse and worse and I realized the church was the culprit of those feelings the culture, the upbringing, the people there and the teachings. I don't mean that they should be entertained, because I think God's word is the most compelling thing on the planet, but so often we take God's word and we just bore people with it and to me that's sinful," Merritt said. Then I went back the next day to get some of my clothes and theyd already changed all the locks, she said. And with 240 staff members and 27 weekly services, the audience is growing. Eagle Brook megachurch opening Lakeville branch, its 8th in MN. Truxton, a member of the church since 1958, eventually confessed to committing the sexual acts. Excellent fellowshp, all are welcome, friendly and truthful. Its a lot more subtle.. Some of the safeguards we put into place for the church are that all of us have a lengthy floor-to-ceiling window in our offices by our door so that anybody can see into the offices when they walk by, he explained. In Shakespeares play, a man named Petruchio marries then tames a headstrong shrew of a woman, Katherina, by employing psychological torments telling her the sun is the moon, for example, until she agrees, at which point he says the opposite. You might be thinking, "No definitely notthe tree is up, presents are wrapped, Christmas music on repeat" Pause. Jesus asked the people around him some tough questions while he was on earth. Hey, are you missing Christmas? Chauvin actually wanted to get married, but I was looking around at my selections. My arms would just be bruised, black and blue, and my parents would be like, Dont antagonize him., The abuse didnt stop there. List of the largest evangelical church auditoriums, Growing Eagle Brook Church prepares expansion to Rochester, Thousands flock to Eagle Brook megachurch as pastor retires, Eagle Brook megachurch adds a site with Kmart buy, How Eagle Brook Became The Biggest Church In Minnesota. Theyre fallen from grace. "I do not feel judged, not at all," Resendez said. He would punch me, push me into the wall, this or that. Mandville recently went to visit their dad on Fathers Day, in part to prove to my sisters that Im not a demon spawn under the control of Satan, she said. I thought of them like brothers. Chauvins situation was different: She didnt leave by choice. Eagle Brook will pay $6.2 million for the church's campus, which spans an entire city block on the west side of downtown Minneapolis After [these meetings], church families would go up to Lighthouse Ranch, and thered be just hours of us kids doing whatever we wanted, she said. It messed with our immune systems, the stress and the amount of sleep we were getting it just wasnt good for your body.. Reported to multiple ministry heads and managers with some incredibly unpleasant, borderline abusive, managers. He plans to take a couple of days away alone to clear his thoughts. Merritt said there were times he verbally misbehaved at home and around the church staff. Its all very interesting, looking at it afterwards, she said. ), Swindoll was probably the biggest radio preacher of that golden age. What happens on the weekend is not always lived out in the office and meetings with upper management and leadership. Why bring this up? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. We exist to reach people for Christand that's the heart behind everything we do. He prayed over me and said I had unconfessed sins and that [my cutting] must have something to do with that., At age 11 shed been diagnosed as diabetic, a condition that required her to get regular insulin injections. Education Bethel University Psychology. Helping run various weekend and mid week programming, while stressful, was a big building block career wise 1 Corinthians 3:4-7 (ESV) Paul sums up this section with a not-to-be-forgotten truth: it is God who gives the growth, whether in an . What does a conversation with God sound like. Hes very loving but Im always waiting for him to hit me or berate me. And so what you got to do is you got to build safeguards and boundaries in your life that you just never violate because this happens in churches.. And in the last couple of weekends, we've had 31,000 people [attend] and 25,000 watch online. Born at Lighthouse Ranch, the Gospel Outreach movement aims to proselytize every last soul on Earth in hopes of prompting the Rapture. Im hoping if someone is having doubts and they know about this article, Im hoping they can get some clarity, she said. Eagle Brook is one church with multiple locations. / CBS Minnesota. Its 300 members exploded to 25,000 over the years, and the church took a new name, Eagle Brook. She was a proponent of pro-abortion, pro-gay rights Republican Arne Carlsons campaign for governor in the early 90s. What then is Apollos? And they began hearing things from the staff and they began digging deeper., Merritt said there was one board member in particular who went through similar issues and began to lean in on it., He saw my verbal misconduct, impatience, harsh language, those kinds of things. That probably saved me, saved my career. Two to three days a week that would happen.. By the time you got to a certain age, 11 or 12, you would be expected to join the worship team and the choir that sings every Sunday, Abigail said. Most of us have. What does that tell you? I remember as children being told that being grumpy because youre tired because youve been practicing choir for four hours, plus school and then choir for two hours after is not an excuse. I find it interesting that when the Republicans voted to put the two amendments to the state Constitution (marriage and voter ID) on the ballot for the fall elections, there was critical outcry for bringing up moral issues and side-stepping the real fiscal issues. Theres this divide: Thats the mens meeting.. Mission: Empowered by God to reach others for Christ. The last time I was there, Robinson said, he was teaching the kids Sunday school.. The mom came out [of her house] and saw that hed pulled her underwear down and was touching her in her private areas, Chauvin said. It is a high privilege, to be sure, but again, tempered with the truth whichPaul reminds us toward the end of the chapter: So,he will say in verse 21, Let no one boast in men.. I taught for the next three years. The tiredness is just showing your true soul, so you need to repent for being grumpy.. In a phone interview, Merritt looked back on his time at Eagle Brook with fond memories, though some times were harder than others. You may not even know what it is, but others do. About this app. Villareal, Chauvin and others said things grew even more regimented around the turn of the century when Gospel Outreach opened a full-time school. Im pretty sure it was a Promise Keepers event. Learning that I was brainwashed my whole life was interesting, she said with a bit of a laugh. Most of the marriages are arranged, said Anne Robinson, another former Gospel Outreach member. Others too, she said. The prior national committeewoman held her position for 22 years. Stelton was raised Lutheran. 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The strictly enforced insularity of Gospel Outreach acts as a containment mechanism, a way to keep members dependent and submissive, DeSoto said. I couldn't believe that I didn't see it. Esther Mandville said the only way to get off the hot seat was to admit guilt and show remorse, even if it was a performance. David Sczepanski, the pastor and sole school administrator, was brought in. I have a career. He was very physically abusive and my parents would tell me it was my fault because I was antagonizing him, she said. Wed be encouraged to brag about the spankings we got, Villareal said. With her mom stuck in the same cycle of abuse, she had gone to the only person she could think of who might be able to help and instead felt dismissed. "We've tried to eliminate all the barriers," Merritt said. In late March, the church opened its newest campus in Anoka. I would often get three or four hours [of sleep] a night because there was always a new recital or a project or a play.. 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He worked out an agreement with Strand that he will always be available to offer advice but will not do so in an encroaching manner. Youre no longer pure in the eyes of God.. And recently, she lost her national committeewoman position to someone more conservative, after serving only two years. Criticism & Conflict | Eagle Brook Church Message Criticism & Conflict Jason Strand | Nov. 26/27, 2016 Have you ever lost sleep over a heated disagreement or harsh words? In this strange way it pushed you to be part of the community 24/7. He told me there were four godly young men waiting in line to marry me. That failed to convince her to return. Most of these allegations concern incidents from many years ago that were not reported to law enforcement or child welfare services, making them impossible to corroborate via official records. Eventually someone cries and then we can go to choir practice., Myself and other former cult members jokingly say, Remember when theyd lock us in a room until we made another kid cry? he said. Eventually, we spoke at length with seven former members of the church, all of whom felt it was important for the larger community to know what goes on there. The church chose Strand to succeed Pastor Bob Merritt who has retired. Abigail Mandville began cutting herself around the time she turned 17. As a pastors kid from Pennsylvania who graduated from both Bethel Seminary and Bethel University, Merritt was brought on as the pastor of what was then the 300-member First Baptist Church of White Bear Lake in 1991. But one of the aspects of cults is that they push teens to make bigger ultimatums youre either all in or all out, he said. You feel like you're truly connecting with people and sharing your faith. Each weekend service lasts about one hour. Months after announcing his plans to retire, the 63-year-old Merritt officially stepped down as Eagle Brooks senior pastor on his March 1 birthday, giving way to longtime teaching pastor Jason Strand to assume his position. That never would have happened had I not dealt with my dysfunctions.. I dont know anything about the location. "It's not a suit-and-tie place.". Hed long been depressed, they said, and about a year after he left the church he killed himself. I told my parents and they were concerned about me but also kind of pushing me not to talk about it because his parents still go to the church and he has a lot of brothers and sisters.. Celeste Villareal was nine when, in 1997, she, her mom and stepfather joined Gospel Outreach after moving to Eureka from Mexico, where theyd been doing missionary work. Gospel Outreach of Eureka. I taught pre-algebra. "It's very comfortable, very comfortable here," said volunteer Phil Resendez of West St. Paul. Abigail said Joshs suicide continued to weigh on her, though she stayed in the church for more than a year afterwards. Pastor Bob Merritt of the multi-campus Eagle Brook Church in Minnesota. Members would be barefoot, running around with ribbons on sticks., Durkins death in 1996 had created a leadership vacuum and a power struggle within the organization. We've all been thereyoure in school, the teacher asks a tough question, and all you can do is avert your eyes and pray not to be called on. As evidence, she and others described a pattern in which children attend a church-run school, girls primary career path is teaching in the school, boys can aspire to work in a handful of businesses owned by church members, male elders confer to arrange marriages and family ties make the prospect of leaving feel nearly impossible. Traditional, non-traditional, doesnt matter. Ray DeSoto, who grew up in the church with his brothers, described Durkin as a positive character who would welcome homeless refugees from the beach into his religious commune. Merritt said the church graciously hired a counselor to serve as his leadership coach. It is affiliated with Converge. She took her pen to mark up my arm and then told me I wasnt allowed to wash it off. DeSoto said his older brothers disaffection began with typical teenage angst and questioning. We all have disfunction, he said. He would abuse us both, but instead of banding together, we would turn against each other, Villareal said. Eagle Brook is now the largest church in Minnesota, with more than 22,000 people attending services each weekend and 48,000 attending on Christmas. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. It starts with spanking but leads to much more and reporting it is considered uncovering your fathers nakedness., Sarah said she was beaten and molested by a younger church member. That was, like, a big rule: You dont talk to anybody that left the church, Abigail said. You Betcha: Real advice for real marriages. Abigail said Gospel Outreachs instruction used similar tactics. Because criticism and conflict are never comfortableand often Thanks to donors, they built it debt free. Regularly, our sources said, one student would be singled out for some infraction, such as having a bad attitude or failing to recite the Ten Commandments, and be made to confess and repent. What was the story? All of us were just constantly sick. The circle meetings usually end up with everyone fiercely berating one person, trying to get them to break and give themselves over, like breaking a horse, Chauvin said. Our values are to pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion both locally and globally. Eagle Brook Church Reviews 4.8 As soon as I left, everything got better. [1] The senior pastor is Jason Strand. I did it to my shoulders as well, she said. Put this image on your website to promote the show -, Report inappropriate content or request to remove this page. Perhaps the most unconventional part is the way the sermon, or message, is delivered. (It sounds like you might be harboring bitterness toward that grumpy neighbor) Time to let it goit'll lead to healing in you and your relationships. Church greeter Shelley Stelton has a more common backstory. Around 1999, Villareal said, leaders from Gospel Outreach Eureka began meeting more frequently with leaders from sister churches in Grants Pass and Olympia. Eagle Brook is one church with multiple locations in Minnesota's Twin Cities metro area. Abigail Mandville, Esthers younger sister, said instruction both in school and out was more about indoctrination than education. Which, I believe, is why it is so popular- nobody asking you where you were last Sunday, no committees and such to dodge, etc. Suggested duration 1-2 hours There is a real grieving thats going on in my own spirit.. Villareal agreed self-expression was discouraged. Eagle Brook Church is a Baptist Evangelical multi-site megachurch based in Centerville, Minnesota. So, what keeps people in it for the long haul? My teaching pastor, Jason Strand, has been with me for 12 years, he said. Questions and independent thought were discouraged. Butwhat if tough questions weren't the enemy, but the gateway to breakthrough? I just couldn't keep up.". In the first year, almost didnt make it, he recalled. Sarah escaped when she was 19 and drove to the house of a friend whose entire family had left the church six months earlier. Merritt did not believe First Baptist Church, which was the name of the church since 1945, was a good name to reach people. He sat on that opinion for about five years as he gained credibility and confidence with the congregation before suggesting that the name be changed. It messed with your immune systems, the stress and the amount of sleep we were getting it just wasnt good for your body., As a teenager, Sarah was prone to illness and infections, which she later attributed to stress. One case that all seven of the former Gospel Outreach members talked about involved a boy who, as a teenager, allegedly molested a number of young girls. We were charged $20 fines if we left something at home, Esther Mandville said. It's just dangerous. We are open with our plans, and the cost it will take to accomplish them, because they are God-sized plans, and every time weve opened a new building, its been because God has been a part of it. Sczepanski is the executive director and sole administrator. Eventually someone cries and then we can go to choir practice it was really so predictable like that. Worse was getting singled out for judgment. They left and financiallythe church didnt feela thing (All this is initial. I always wondered who they were, she said. Some readers may be unfamiliar with Chuck, but many will know that he is the longtime radio preacher for the radio program Insight for Living. The Outpost was unable to confirm the COVID outbreak emails and voicemails left with Gospel Outreach went unreturned, and when we knocked on the churchs doors, no one answered. Guest Speaker John Dickerson | Message 84 of 127, Guest Speaker Kyle Idleman | Message 98 of 127, Guest Speaker Jon Weece | Message 114 of 127, Guest Speaker Kyle Idleman | Message 116 of 127, Guest Speaker Bob Merritt | Message 117 of 127, A Time To Think About What Really Matters, To Have Relationships that Flourish (Greg Speck), Proven Biblical Money Principles (Dave Ramsey). She initially didnt tell her parents or anyone else about it. Eagle Brook is great for people scratching the surface of Christianity, and really, getting people to hear the Word is a good thing.