Looking For a Church?

Then you probably want to know about the Greater Cleveland Church of Christ...

...because if you know the truth, you probably will want to avoid them.

This church won't tell you until after you become a member, but they believe they are the "One True Church," "God's Modern Day Movement on Earth." Many non-members who have had dealings with them, however, are convinced they're a cult. Their aggressive and deceptive recruiting practices, and the way many of their former members have reported being treated, have caused their movement to have been banned from many colleges across the United States, including Harvard and Boston University. They just dismiss this as, "The Bible says the Church will be persecuted," but critics say this church has done much to deserve this.

They will tell you they're "non-denominational". But they are really a member of the International Churches of Christ (formerly called the "Boston Movement"), which qualifies as a denomination by almost any definition except their own. Even from the very first words they may say to you, they are being deceitful. On other campuses, they have even been known to recruit through front groups with such secular sounding names as the "Chinese Engineers' Society." Here, they have been known to invite people to worship services while claiming they are activities such as Super Bowl parties, and not even mentioning any church at all.

They are known to take Scripture out of context and distort its meaning. For example, they will tell you that "bearing fruit", a metaphor used in several Bible verses, means recruiting more members for their church. This definition of bearing fruit is not used anywhere in the New Testament.

Using these questionable interpretations of the Bible, they will try to convince you that you're not a "true" Christian, and can never be until you join their church. In fact, they preach that members of their church are about the only people who are saved and that to leave their church is to leave God.

They do not like members to question their interpretations, no matter how distorted. When a member invites you to "study the Bible" with him or her, you often won't find yourself in a one-on-one study. Instead, you'll find several members there to back each other up. They will ignore or dismiss any objections you bring up in these studies and insist that you accept their interpretation. Several ex-members of the International Churches of Christ have reported that the leaders tell members it is a sin to question the leaders' teachings.

In order to make sure you follow their teachings, they pair you with a "discipler", a more "spiritually mature" church member who you are expected to confess any and all your sins to and obey unquestioningly in many matters. They have, however, stopped insisting that you must obey your discipler in matters of opinion, a doctrine they once taught.

They will demand that you give them large amounts of your time and money. Rather than the traditional 10%, they have been known to expect 15% or even 20% of their members' annual income. Attendance at church services is also mandatory - and these services, including what they call "Bible Talks" and "House Churches" occur three times or more a week. In addition, they expect members to perform volunteer work for "HOPE", a group which does some charitable events but also performs many fund-raisers. Meanwhile, many preachers in the International Churches of Christ make $80,000 per year, and the denomination's founder, Kip McKean, owns a $409,000 residence in Pacific Palisades, California.

If you are looking for a church which holds questionable interpretations of the Bible, uses deceptive recruiting practices, demands unquestioning loyalty to their leadership instead of to God, and separates you from your money, this is probably the church for you. If not, you are strongly advised to avoid the Greater Cleveland Church of Christ!

For more information on the International Churches of Christ, look up www.reveal.org, a web page maintained by former members.

Disclaimer: The views presented in this leaflet are not endorsed in any way by the International Churches of Christ, REVEAL, or any affiliated organizations. The International Churches of Christ are not to be confused with other Churches of Christ.