Education

Learn about the Patterns of High Control Churches

• Six Warning Signs Your Church Culture is Toxic
• Churches that Abuse by Ronald M Enroth
• Spiritual Abuse Resources: Guidelines for Spiritually Abused Persons

About Dwell

• Xenos is a Cult
• Dwell Community Church is a Cult
• The Daily Beast: Inside the Megachurch That Has Ex-Members Screaming Cult
• NBC4 Investigates: Former, current Dwell church members respond to cult accusations
• Spiritwatch Ministries: An Organic Deception: The Xenos / Dwell Heresy Briefly Examined
• Exploring How Well-Meaning Individuals Cause Significant Abuse through Religious Dogmatism, by Katie Reinaker

Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire

The following questions are from a dissertation: Development of a Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire, by Kathryn Hope Keller. Reflecting on your time in Dwell Community Church (or other group), consider these questions and how they may be indicators of a high control group that may cause you or others spiritual harm:

• Is it acceptable to express my true emotions in my church/group?
• Have leaders in my group acknowledged harm they caused to others?
• Do some leaders share information about other people (through prayer requests or otherwise) that should have been kept private?
• Do I feel that God’s love and acceptance of me is dependent upon my performance in the church/group?
• Do I find it hard to trust religious leaders or other churches?
• Do I trust myself to find a good spiritual community?
• Was I harshly criticized by religious leaders or church group members?
• Do I feel like a spiritual failure and depend on my leader or church group to “get it right”?
• Do I feel like God will punish me if I don’t do what my church group encouraged me to do?
• Do I now feel cynical about church or other religious groups?
• Do I feel freedom to ask questions or express concerns in my church group?
• Am I dependent on the church group?
• Do my religious leaders used fear to control people?
• Are myself or others expected to get information about other members for our leaders?
• Did I or other members get scolded by a leader and made to feel ashamed and helpless?
• Do I feel that if I could be totally surrendered to God if I did everything perfectly according to the church group’s instructions?
• Do I now feel lonely and misunderstood because of my church/group experiences?