A public meeting was held in Winkler, April 18, 2011 where Pete Reimer and others shared personal life experiences as ex-members of a Church. Posted with permission.
http://vid.ly/2h4a3y
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Irvin's Story
Hi there,
I have recently left the Pembina Valley Baptist Church. A number of things resulted in my finally deciding to leave. Firstly I have a desire to find a mate someday. At PVBC if I want to go out with someone I have to ask Pastor Sullivant first for permission to ask someone. They usually point to the Abraham story in the old testament where he sends his servant to find a wife for his son Jacob. Then they tell me that we have to go through the proper channels like them (Church Leader) and then the parents of the other party. Abraham's servant was not a priest or pastor so this reasoning is ridiculous. At PVBC only the Pastor gets to decide who goes out with who. People that he favors get the people that they would like to pursue. Others who don't fit the preacher boy image because of race or some other reason get shafted and in my case I was told by my friends that I would never be able to find a wife there. Some of my older friends did not believe that I should even attempt it.
Secondly my contact with other leaving members to find out why they were leaving led me to these other blogs of people who have escaped the crushing legalism in the IFB fold. There are many stories of heartache caused by the leaders in the PVBC. I myself have gone through spiritual abuse which I will not document here to protect the identities of people Pastor Sullivant has used to perpetrate it. My mother was also spiritually abused at the Hands of this Preacher. She was good friends with Mrs. Doris Kelly but according to the cult edicts no one is allowed to have close friends and sometimes people need to be separated.
I have very few friends in the PVBC. Four couples sometimes would spend time with me.
Most of my time was spent in crushing loneliness at home or even in church. They say to have friends you must show yourself friendly. Then why don't they?
I found that if I would ask the pastor questions about topics he did not approve of me studying he would criticize me and tell me to study in another way. Information is strictly controlled in the upper echelon of the cult. Any information sharing is denounced as gossip and people who are bubbly and like to talk a lot are sharply criticized either in person or generally from the pulpit. If you asked the wrong questions at a business meeting you would get church disciplined and some other lame excuse would be given for it.
The only place you are allowed to ask unedited questions are at business meetings. All other public questions are scrutinized before being asked at other types of meetings. People that left the church were targeted with false reasons for leaving such as handing out pamphlets for seventh day adventist church and why it was wrong to show that it had some thing to do with 7th Day Adventism. Then rumors spread about the possible reason. The rumor was that some of my mothers long time friends at church left and became 7th Day Adventists. Of course this is baloney. They just attended a prophecy meeting at one of those churches. It may not even have been affiliated with Adventism. The reason they left was they asked one of the pastors about the number of Apostles in the New Testament. When what they said conflicted with what the pastor believed he became enraged. The leadership At PVBC shows no real desire to learn or seek truth just pass on baptist doctrine which may not always even be right.
Information control is a big reason that someone should leave this cult....don't wait to find out the hard way after being spiritually abused...get out now... Read a lot and learn the reasons that others have left....
The sooner you leave the better off you will be...
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Anonymous Story
As posted in the comment section
My family has learned a lot about shunning from this blog. I had previously thought that only the Amish had this ridiculous practice. Now I find out that Pastor Sullivant and PVBC appear to be spearheading this unscriptural tradition in “Dependant” Fundamental Baptist Churches. He sure is leading by example. What he did to Laura was awful, regardless if there is “another side to this story”. From what I read, her life appears to have turned out well. He and his wife should be pleased. How could any dad, especially a Christian, ignore three beautiful little girls!!!
We also have a story with similarities to Laura’s, but with an different outcome. Our then seventeen year old daughter left home to go to university. One thing led to another and she rebelled against the Lord and against what we had taught her. While she was living in sin in the world, we still did not cut her off; even going as far as British Columbia from Ontario to maintain contact with her. The door was still open and the porch light was still on, so to speak. She was the constant object of our prayers, and we definitely did not pray for God to take her life. After a time she returned to the Lord in a dramatic fashion. We opened our arms to her and welcomed her back home, as any loving father and mother should. No questions asked. Had we not done so, she would have gotten lost, maybe even forever, in Europe. Her life could have turned out to be an absolute disaster. Instead, the Lord got a hold of her. For this we will praise God forever. She now has an awesome husband and three beautiful children. I cannot fathom life without them. How can a father cut off his daughter for twelve years, and call himself a man of God? Incidently, our pastor has never even asked her for her testimony about how she got saved. He appears to be too busy on the hot line to Winkler.
We have also experienced shunning - from Pastor Sullivant’s deputies - from our pastor - and from his family. This whole action was obviously indirectly inspired by PMS. Our Pastor holds him in high esteem - away too high, I believe. He is a big influence in our small congregation. Our IFBC is in a small community in South Western Ontario. Due to a matter over which we disagreed with our Pastor, we (three families) were asked to leave our church and to start one of our own. We refuse to leave, and most of the church agrees with us. The matter at the center did not even relate to doctrine. We had the audacity to question a matter relating to a particular practice in the church, and the Scriptural basis for it. After having been given “soul liberty”, we were then shown the door. Anyhow, since that time our names have been passed around to numerous IFBC in our region and beyond. Our reputation is mud. We are learning what happens when anyone has the nerve to question a DFBC pastor. D means Dependent, not Independent. One must jump when he tells you to, and ask how high on the way up. Incidently, we have only had one deacon for the past three years.
From one disillusioned dad and mom and their families
*UPDATE
I am the one who wrote Anonymous. My name is David. In answer to the first comment, our constitution has no provision in it about removing a pastor. He calls and chairs all meetings. It is pretty simple. It is high time that DFBC members and pastors took their "winklers" off, so to speak. We have now left our former church; having been given the left foot of dissfellowship. Check out my web site at: www.willyouranchorhold.com
You will find it interesting.
My family has learned a lot about shunning from this blog. I had previously thought that only the Amish had this ridiculous practice. Now I find out that Pastor Sullivant and PVBC appear to be spearheading this unscriptural tradition in “Dependant” Fundamental Baptist Churches. He sure is leading by example. What he did to Laura was awful, regardless if there is “another side to this story”. From what I read, her life appears to have turned out well. He and his wife should be pleased. How could any dad, especially a Christian, ignore three beautiful little girls!!!
We also have a story with similarities to Laura’s, but with an different outcome. Our then seventeen year old daughter left home to go to university. One thing led to another and she rebelled against the Lord and against what we had taught her. While she was living in sin in the world, we still did not cut her off; even going as far as British Columbia from Ontario to maintain contact with her. The door was still open and the porch light was still on, so to speak. She was the constant object of our prayers, and we definitely did not pray for God to take her life. After a time she returned to the Lord in a dramatic fashion. We opened our arms to her and welcomed her back home, as any loving father and mother should. No questions asked. Had we not done so, she would have gotten lost, maybe even forever, in Europe. Her life could have turned out to be an absolute disaster. Instead, the Lord got a hold of her. For this we will praise God forever. She now has an awesome husband and three beautiful children. I cannot fathom life without them. How can a father cut off his daughter for twelve years, and call himself a man of God? Incidently, our pastor has never even asked her for her testimony about how she got saved. He appears to be too busy on the hot line to Winkler.
We have also experienced shunning - from Pastor Sullivant’s deputies - from our pastor - and from his family. This whole action was obviously indirectly inspired by PMS. Our Pastor holds him in high esteem - away too high, I believe. He is a big influence in our small congregation. Our IFBC is in a small community in South Western Ontario. Due to a matter over which we disagreed with our Pastor, we (three families) were asked to leave our church and to start one of our own. We refuse to leave, and most of the church agrees with us. The matter at the center did not even relate to doctrine. We had the audacity to question a matter relating to a particular practice in the church, and the Scriptural basis for it. After having been given “soul liberty”, we were then shown the door. Anyhow, since that time our names have been passed around to numerous IFBC in our region and beyond. Our reputation is mud. We are learning what happens when anyone has the nerve to question a DFBC pastor. D means Dependent, not Independent. One must jump when he tells you to, and ask how high on the way up. Incidently, we have only had one deacon for the past three years.
From one disillusioned dad and mom and their families
*UPDATE
I am the one who wrote Anonymous. My name is David. In answer to the first comment, our constitution has no provision in it about removing a pastor. He calls and chairs all meetings. It is pretty simple. It is high time that DFBC members and pastors took their "winklers" off, so to speak. We have now left our former church; having been given the left foot of dissfellowship. Check out my web site at: www.willyouranchorhold.com
You will find it interesting.
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