I agreed to go back. The church chose Strand to succeed Pastor Bob Merritt who has retired. Abigail Mandville began cutting herself around the time she turned 17. The official Eagle Brook Church app connects you to a variety of resources, including live church services, on-demand messages, worship music, and other tools to help you grow in your faith. In this strange way it pushed you to be part of the community 24/7. All that's just to help people who've never been to church before or people who've gone away from church.". 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 . But a lot of it was I just didn't have any capacity to deal with the demands on my life. She realized after leaving the church that shed been suffering from depression for years by that point. And if you point out that somethings wrong or doesnt seem right? Merritt said he plans to take the next few months to quiet his mind to figure out what God is calling him to do next. The church staff turned an old K-Mart into an $18 million facility. As she grew older she tried harder to fit in and make people happy. Theyre being subjected to the same thing I was, but theyre also perpetuating it. Other voices: From the lab or nature, look to China for COVIDs origin, Jermaine Fowler: How forgotten Black history has been recovered by rogue scholars, Hastings delivers improbable rally to stun defending champ St. Michael-Albertville in 3A wrestling final, John Shipley: Timing on Lindsay Whalen decision seems odd, Two graduates allege in lawsuits sexual groping by fellow students, frat-like culture at St. Thomas Academy, Boys section hockey: Mahtomedi breaks away late from Chisago Lakes to earn state tourney return, How much is too much? I doubt that I am confusing it with the Brea Blvd. Mission: Empowered by God to reach others for Christ. Why bring this up? Sarah escaped when she was 19 and drove to the house of a friend whose entire family had left the church six months earlier. And the fact that Humboldt Countys mental health services are just not enough to address the need. Come for some fun, worship and fellowship. The church has six campuses across the. Back in the day when Christian radio stations played James Dobsons Focus on the Family and other talk programs (along with a smattering ofChristian Contemporary Musicby Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Carmen, et. Around 1999, Villareal said, leaders from Gospel Outreach Eureka began meeting more frequently with leaders from sister churches in Grants Pass and Olympia. She told me if I just put my head down and come under, if I became virtuous, then the Lord would give me a husband to take me away from all the abuse.. "They wanted to come back.". This employer has claimed their Employer Profile and is engaged in the Glassdoor community. We want to create an environment where you can be challenged and encouraged, find Christ-centered community, and grow in your faith. She took her pen to mark up my arm and then told me I wasnt allowed to wash it off. We never had a consistent science class. Youd have to spend hours searching your soul . Theyd say [to students], The sky is green? and wed say, Yes. The grass is blue? Yes. Youre supposed to repeat back illogical things to teach you not to disagree with what the leadership tells you.. Instead, there are lots of blue jeans. 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. Im hoping if someone is having doubts and they know about this article, Im hoping they can get some clarity, she said. Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. Thats you having independent thinking. Sometimes wed come back in the evening for more singing.. Back in May, two former members of Gospel Outreach of Eureka, a church that grew out of the Christian hippie commune at Lighthouse Ranch, contacted the Outpost to report a COVID-19 outbreak among the congregation. The writer serves on the Republican Partys 6th Congressional District Executive Committee as vice chair representing Anoka County. Eagle Brook is a satellite church and has campuses all over the metro and Rochester. According to himself he was just a servant through whom they had believed. Because he was a minor when the alleged abuse took place and has not been convicted of the crimes, well call him Todd (not his real name). After over nearly three decades of leading what has grown to become the largest church in Minnesota, pastor Bob Merritt has retired from the nine-campus Eagle Brook Church. Merritt led the church for . All of us were just constantly sick. And if you allow yourself to get close to a certain line, your emotions override your intellect, Merritt said. As for Todd, hes still a regular member of the church. Eagle Brook's thriving environment caught the attention of Augsburg religion professor Hans Wiersma. (This same passage was employed by Christian slavers as justification for human bondage. Its neat to see how far Ive come, not just physically but also mentally, she said. Do you remember this church on the hill there? Abigail Mandville no longer cuts herself, and shes feeling better about the world and her place in it. If it is the first time you login, a new account will be created automatically. The very first weekend the Anoka location opened, 6,545 people showed up, with some watching from the hallway as the venue flooded with visitors. 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. There wasnt any pressure from him. What was the story? [3] In 1995, the church was renamed Eagle Brook Church. My teacher from agegrades five through 12 would laugh at us and berate us, Villareal said. When youre told that college is evil and you dont have any transcripts, so much prevents you from doing things, she said. She described her stepfather as excessively controlling and emotionally volatile, often having all-out screaming arguments with her mom and regularly spanking Villareal for such transgressions as getting an answer wrong in her multiplication tables. Hed accuse you of doing something . That was it. Christmas 2016. Because criticism and conflict are never comfortableand often we dont know how to deal with them. A self-proclaimed introvert, Merritt speaks from Lino Lakes. 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. I decided this is a cult and I left.. Hes very loving but Im always waiting for him to hit me or berate me. Shed make fun of how I dressed. (Though the school is only accredited through 10th grade, Villareal said, The boys generally continue taking classes until grade 12, [and] the girls will only take select classes if any at all past age 16, as theyre generally placed in teaching positions. You did go to any and all choir practices or else your zeal was questioned, he said. Never been there. Bitterness. Chauvin recalls watching the movie version of Taming of the Shrew because it fits into their theology very well, she said. I mean, its molestation.. He didnt show Moses, necessarily, what was ahead or Paul. Young women tend to accept their fate. Eagle Brook is one church with multiple locations in Minnesota's Twin Cities metro area. In the days that followed, other former members reached out wanting to tell their own stories. 1,892 talking about this. 2023 Lost Coast Communications Contact: news@lostcoastoutpost.com. Wed all be in the classroom early before school, listening to Bastille or some other emo music. From the parking lot attendants and front door greeters to the coffee shop and expansive kid play areas, the church offers a visitor-friendly experience. Its just a cycle of abuse.. We also sent emails and left voice messages asking to speak with church leadership for this story but got no response. But some churches are growing and one in particular is exploding. 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.. Now pursuing a career as a police officer, Villareal has gotten training in how to recognize signs of abuse. From the moment youre born you start memorizing catechism. She means Martin Luthers Small Catechism, a book published in 1529 to teach kids about the Ten Commandments, the Sacrament of the Eucharist and other elements of Lutheran faith. On Easter Sunday, Eagle Brook broke an all-time attendance record, with more than 51,000 people showing up at services, and 10,200 people watching online. And recently, she lost her national committeewoman position to someone more conservative, after serving only two years. The prior national committeewoman held her position for 22 years. MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Religion is evolving in Minnesota. Eagle Brook Church Overview 60 Reviews 32 Jobs 25 Salaries 4 Interviews 9 Benefits 9 Photos 18 Diversity Follow + Add a Review Employee Review See All Reviews ( 60) 2.0 Former Employee, more than 1 year A bittersweet experience in ministry due to poor leadership and negative environment. Im thinking about my siblings and the other kids going through what I went through. The phrase theyd use is, Dont uncover your fathers nakedness, Chauvin said. Most of us have. Because criticism and conflict are never comfortableand often 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. By year 10, Merritt said the church had grown to over 5,000 people. Therefore, He is ultimately the only one we should ever look to for spiritual sustenance, though we recognize He uses undershepherds. *Empowered by God to reach others for Christ* There was one or two times when I thought really seriously thought about giving myself just a ton of insulin, just go out that way, she said. Eventually she decided she needed to get out. al. church as I had never been to or seen anything like that church before a couple of years ago. Her dad followed her and tried to order her to come back home with him but she resisted, with support from her friends family. Dale is the pastor who in 1993 followed Chuck Swindoll as Senior Pastorat Fullerton Evangelical Free Church. Our values are to pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion both locally and globally. Well call her Sarah. You feel like you're truly connecting with people and sharing your faith. Theyre fallen from grace. The teachers were women from the church, none of them accredited. 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. 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. Can doubts and faith coexist? The women were always covering for the men, and if the men did find out about abuse that was happening, the women were told that the men would take care of it.. in Fullerton, CA sometime in 1982 thru 1984 (probably closer to 1984). We love THE Church. She was told that Sczepanski had a talk with Todd and warned him not to do anything like that again or else Sczepanski would be legally obligated to report him. They're not even allowed to drive from our office to our main campus, which is just a mile away from our office.. The church was founded in 1948 as a house Bible study group called the First Baptist Church led by Sam and Ethel Hane in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. It can ruin you, Merritt said. Almost all their money ($53million 2020-2021) goes back into the church, not back to the community. I taught pre-algebra. 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. It is affiliated with Converge. But I knew in my spirit that he was ready. These were guys I grew up with. An irregular but steady stream of young adults have defected from Gospel Outreach in recent years or escaped, as several of our interviewees characterized it. I remember that at least part of the building appeared circular. The employees who work every weekend, literally every weekend, are not afforded the same respite, sabbaticals, and time away to re group as the senior pastor or campus pastors. What then is Apollos? Eagle Brook Church is a Baptist Evangelical multi-site megachurch based in Centerville, Minnesota. 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 dont know anything about the location. Notably, Guatemalan dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt became a convert and, following a 1982 military coup in that country, he employed Gospel Outreach in the notorious rural pacification program known as beans and bullets. Church members supplied food, medicine and clothing to local residents before Montts forces came in and razed their villages, killing hundreds of indigenous Mayans and rendering survivors wards of the government. I literally thought my life was over because they tell you theres nothing outside, that if you leave, you will go crazy, do drugs, become a lesbian. You dont think of a cult as something you see every day you think of it as, like, sister wives and all that, she said. Copyright 2008-2023, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are registered trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. "They come into a church, there's a lobby, there's a caf, there's a bookstoreIt feels like a movie theater almost where you have comfortable seats. Many Gospel Outreach members live in the suburban-style homes along St. James Place. Most of us have. Like, Im 9 and I forget my notebook thats $20. She paid her debts by doing odd jobs like babysitting and car washing. I couldn't believe that I didn't see it. I can only speak for the first year, and Im not sure howI heard this (maybe a contact in the Free Church) but I always found it interesting. Two to three days a week that would happen.. 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. Church greeter Shelley Stelton has a more common backstory. The music is the best in the Twin Cities. Eagle Brook Church Locations Anoka Services Saturdays 4 & 6 pm Sundays 9 & 11 am, 4 pm Learn More > Apple Valley Services Saturdays 4 pm Sundays 9 & 11 am Learn More > Blaine Services Saturdays 4 & 6 pm Sundays 9 & 11 am Learn More > Ham Lake Services Saturdays 4 pm Sundays 9 & 11 am Learn More > Lino Lakes Services Saturdays 4 pm Sundays 9 & 11 am So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. There was this self-policing to find the one who was the most out of line so everyone could gang up on that person to explain why they were utterly failing and in sin and need to repent. Early life and education [ edit ] Merritt's father was Calvin Merritt, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Neshannock Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania . Petruchio also tortures her by withholding food and water until she becomes compliant and obedient. It's the type of music he says people listen to during the week -- so why not Sunday? She chose the woman whod been her regular teacher during much of her education, a stern and sometimes cruel woman the same one whod written on Villareals arm and mocked how she dressed but one who seemed capable of getting her way. Boys and girls were very much equals., Villareal remembers an elder or pastor from the church in Grants Pass questioning this practice. I would be willing to talk to you about the abuse I witnessed and received. She asked to remain anonymous to protect younger siblings still in the church. And this guy basically interviewed all my friends, my family members, my staff, anybody who knew me and asked two questions: What's good about Bob? Asked what she hopes for in telling her story, she just wants the kids still inside to have more information. 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. I was so relieved to have someone give me permission to do that, he recalled. And so what I would say to pastors in this area is, if you've never given yourself the gift of seeing a coach or a counselor, you got to do that because I guarantee that you got some blind spots, some dysfunction, and it's affecting your life, your marriage, your career. The mentality is that everybody is totally depraved, she said. He compiled 240 pages of feedback from all these people and spent three days reading it back to me. There was also a huge emphasis on music. If you werent daily giving your all for the glory of Christ, why were you even here? During Merritts tenure, Eagle Brook instituted strict rules for church staff to ensure they never get too close to that boundary. "Not everybody likes it, and that's OK," Merritt said, describing the sound, which is full of electric guitars and big drum beats. Villareal said sometimes a young man will initiate matters by going to his father and saying hes ready. Little white lie or major fibdishonesty can happen to the best of us. April 17, 2017 / 10:10 PM He says he brings students to services so they can see what's attractive about it. 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. And in the last couple of weekends, we've had 31,000 people [attend] and 25,000 watch online. I also wasnt eating properly. Eating disorders were common among girls in Gospel Outreach, Mandville said. 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. Ive worked a lot on that, and now Im able to pursue things I like. | Photo by Andrew Goff. Our church was climbing but I was failing, personally, in every way just trying to survive, he said. Much of the education at Gospel Outreach reinforced the churchs strict gender roles, which call on women to be subservient, according to the former members we spoke with. Allow this non-statistician to hazard a guess myamateur interpretation of the data tells me that the mature people were primarily there forJesus, not Chuck, and they stayed and kept giving. Stelton was raised Lutheran. [4] In 2005, it inaugurated a new building at Lino Lakes, Minnesota, with a caf, a bookstore and a 2,100 seat auditorium. Then I went back the next day to get some of my clothes and theyd already changed all the locks, she said. At Gospel Outreach, an all-male group of elders sits atop the hierarchy. Were just trying to reach people for Jesus Christ so that they can see their lives change as they begin to follow him. The other campuses have their own campus pastor but watch the message from Merritt or another speaking pastor on a big screen. She said something like, Remember, we dont put care into our appearance for ourselves; we do it because there are people here who have to look at us.. Although Eagle Brook will still be his family church, Merritt said he is now just a church member. She asked if anything was sexual, Villareal said. Im always checking on people around me.. My stepdad makes me do my chores naked and youre asking me if this is sexual? Jesus asked the people around him some tough questions while he was on earth. Eagle Brook is great for people scratching the surface of Christianity, and really, getting people to hear the Word is a good thing. So far all I have is nobody else remembers it.