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Each one is around 30 minutes. Eagle Brook . Robinson and others said that eventually Todd wound up admitting to at least some of the crimes hed been accused of, but his only punishment was that he wouldnt be allowed to marry anybody in the church. I decided this is a cult and I left.. Others too, she said. Twin Cities megachurch Eagle Brook reveals $17M donation Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. ), Swindoll was probably the biggest radio preacher of that golden age. And they unloaded. Its a lot more subtle.. "The first message that I heard the day I walked in I felt like I was the only person in the room," she said. Excellent fellowshp, all are welcome, friendly and truthful. The school is extremely emotionally abusive and taxing, she said. My boyfriend, Ill ask him every five minutes if he needs a drink or food. Thats you having independent thinking. 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. She asked if anything was sexual, Villareal said. What did you hear about it? "I do not feel judged, not at all," Resendez said. To Villareal, this hammered home a message shed been getting all along at Gospel Outreach that women are accessories who should look nice, regardless of what they may be feeling. Eventually she decided she needed to get out. Her mom suffered from gaps in her memory due to the emotional and physical trauma, Villareal said, but when she tried to talk to other women in the church about the abuse she was told to come under and stop gossiping. I dont know; that was my coping mechanism.. As for Todd, hes still a regular member of the church. Weekly church attendance was 25,340 people in 2022. David Sczepanski, the pastor and sole school administrator, was brought in. 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. Early life and education [ edit ] Merritt's father was Calvin Merritt, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Neshannock Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania . Return to homepage. 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. If your homework assignment was late you werent allowed to go to choir practice or play on the weekend. Merritt said that counseling not only saved his career but also saved his marriage.