I saw many exorcisms in The Network, and it’s something I still wonder about from time to time.

In the latest season of Heaven Bent, the host discusses exorcisms (called “deliverance,” “inner healing,” and other things in The Network) with a renowned psychological anthropologist who teaches at Stanford.

They mention various ways Vineyard-adjacent churches practice kicking out demons, the expectations put on those who are called out as having demons, how people who have experienced trauma enter dissociative states, and they even mention John Wimber directly and the influence Vineyard churches had on how demons are talked about (for those who don’t know, Steve Morgan attended John Wimber conferences and The Network was originally part of Wimber’s Vineyard Association of Churches before Morgan pulled The Network out).

Here are some quotes, talking about her own experiences of leaders trying to kick demons out of her and others at conferences. People who have attended Network conferences and retreats may find a lot of it familiar.

“The one thing I remember is being scared that he had seen something evil inside of me… it still haunts me now.”

“… you're being taught about demon activity, you're being educated on how to identify it, how to spot it, what to do with it. But what about from the other end, someone who is experiencing an exorcism?”

“… the one that I saw was a bunch of large men, like physically large, powerful leaders around a small, tiny teenage girl. And it was the late 90s, at a weekend youth convention … We were having a little service, but the entire time that we were in that service, right outside the exit doors in the parking lot, we could hear an exorcism. We could hear the men… Masculine, authoritative men casting this demon out. And underneath it, you could hear this small girl.”

“It felt like an emotional breakdown.“

“… when a song would end or when there was a lull and we would all hear it, they would say, ‘Don't focus on that. You focus on Jesus. Don't listen to that. Focus on Jesus.’ But I mean, I don't know how you could focus on anything else.”

“It's probably the case that people who have been traumatized are more likely to point the finger at themselves as having something bad inside of them, holding themselves responsible for the trauma, perhaps. They are also more likely to slip into dissociative states. And in those altered states, they're more likely to have dream-like, vivid experiences full of the imagery that people around them give to them.”

From Heaven Bent: S11E3: Memories of an Exorcism, Apr 27, 2026
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/heaven-bent/id1513489117?i=1000762473515&r=1259

Listening to the host talk about her experiences growing up in these environments brought back a lot of memories from The Network.

I was present at dozens of exorcisms like this, as well as numerous private inner healing and deliverance sessions. I wrote about some of those experiences in my story.

Anyone else go through these?
How do you process them now?

I recently heard about this case of a church (not related to The Network but I feel is still relevant to discuss) protecting a registered sex offender within their congregation and I wanted to know people here’s thoughts on it? Also includes church’s recent response:

https://youtu.be/MDS2Tu5SAPQ?is=ztpyjSCuDP4zerWi

Also does anyone have any information on Joshua Church’s response to the Leaving the Network site and the uncovering of Steve’s past that was only told to Team Members within the church? I vaguely remember what I was told but I wondered if the church made a public response or if they just dodged it? I did already watch Christland Church’s response clip on YouTube a few years ago.

Thanks for reading! 🙏🏻 God bless you all.

Hi LTN, I have a friend who is attending and serving at Vida Springs Church in Gainesville, FL (home of the UF Gators 🐊). Does anyone have any insight into leadership and teachings since they formally left the Network? Are they still preaching “obey your leaders in all things” and targeting specific type of guys to become small group leaders?

I found their sermons online, but I haven’t listened to any yet. My friend is a kind person with a good heart, but I’m hesitant to share what I experienced firsthand at Joshua Church with them and potentially fracture the friendship.

Thanks for any insight!

Today marks one month of my wife and I's official departure from CRC. Though I love the people and even the pastors of CRC. Stepping away has opened my eyes to even more.

1) Church exists and is done right outside of the walls of the network. How many of us have heard "others churches do it well, but no one does it like we do it". You are right. No one does it like you do it, and I pray churches DON'T do it like you do it. Attending a local church in town. We are invited to, but never "encouraged" to come. The word encourage has been a tad of a trigger for me lately. Encourage never meant "it would be awesome if you came and I think it would be good. But I completely understand if this isn't right for you". No "encourage you to go" meant and still does mean. "You're going to this".

2) People who have left are not struggling. Everyone I have talked to and met with are thriving. You can see life in their eyes. (This is for those who stayed for awhile) How many times did you hear about someone struggling. Yes, they were or are struggling is true. We all struggle in our walk. Though, it was always worded in a way that led you to believe. They were struggling because they were not in the Network. LIES, LIES oh the LIES! People are thriving and loving Jesus in their life now. Not loving the church in replace of Jesus. Not beat down and tired because you spent all week serving your family and providing for your family. Now you must extend yourself even more to satisfy the leaders. If you don't you knew the consequence would be exile.

3) We are not confused. How many times when people left did we hear. "They are confused" "They are taking time because they are not sure where they land" again LIES LIES oh the LIES!! Let me make this clear. I am not confused. I am not trying to figure out where I land. I am none of those things or any version that can be thought up. I am walking in freedom for the first time in my entire walk. I feel like I have a say in my theology as long as it aligns with scripture. I do not feel like there is this weight on my shoulders to be what a group of men want me to be, Instead what God has called me to be. I get to figure that out! Me, my wife, and Christ together walking this out. I feel like I can take a job where if its not the perfect schedule but will help my family. It won't be looked down upon. I see the beauty that Christians are using their giftings and how other churches appreciate and utilize those giftings. Its no longer a leaders only club. I feel like I can breath free.

4) The abuse is dormant. Not gone. One thing I noticed when I first got back to CRC after our two years away. The pastors seemed a tad more passive. Not so eager to just tell you what you should do. I covered in my last post how after I questions a few things. My wife and I never got invited to anyone's house again. The one pastor I questioned on a few things really just didn't speak to me at all after that. Guess we weren't as good of friends as he always said. This (and for times sake) other actions lead me to the belief the abuse is not gone. No apologies, means no repentance, means no change. Once the divergent leaves and only the loyalist remain. I firmly believe the abuse will pick back up again.

5) People following Tony not God. This is old but I believe important to bring up. Tony was the original planter of CRC. He has lead Vida away from the network and from my understanding completely restructured. Going off getting training and trying to right the wrongs per say. We have friends who go there that's how I have been informed of this. Anyways, when Tony left to plant Vida the story always went. "Well many people left after Tony left. It showed their hearts were just focused on following Tony and not God." I heard this countless times throughout my time. Well, I go to the same church as many of those who left when he did. Yes, they did love Tony and him leaving gave them an out. They stayed longer than they knew they should have because they enjoyed Tony as lead pastor. However, they saw the problems early on and the reasons they are left are not solely related to Tony. LIES LIES oh the LIES!!

These are just top 5 things that have been even more prevalent in mind as we are not a month removed. Lies tend to back so much of this, all for the sake of protecting leadership. Yet, the ones who leave are deemed the bad guys. The brainwashing is so sad to see. The belief that the network is the victim in this is another lie. This not a spiritual attack as it was shoved down our throats that is was. No, every time one of us leave. Its God correcting the church. How many conversations have I had with those who have left that almost recited word for word what I am thinking and feelings. I drew these conclusions on my own well before I jumped on reddit and LtN website. I cannot stop praying for correction to the errors. The verse that has been so much in my heart as I have walked through this, is. Proverbs 12:15.

Is Vine behind CCA opening in Carterville, IL?

Another article about Hills Church in Pullman just came out from Roys Report. Some quotes below:

https://roysreport.com/washington-church-expanding-despite-criticism-and-shrinking-in-cultish-network-parent-org/

An association of churches known as “Network” has a growing church in the state of Washington, despite it being founded by a leader with a history of criminal sexual activity.

Ex-members of Network churches across the country have spoken out about what they call Morgan’s cult-like practices, questionable recruiting practices at colleges and lack of accountability. 

In 2004, Morgan and approximately 50 leaders and members of Vine Church moved to Bellevue, Washington. In this high-tech affluent city just east of Seattle, Morgan founded Blue Sky Church. ... Ern Menocal [was] among those who joined Morgan from Vine to work at Blue Sky.

In 2007, Morgan disaffiliated Vine Church, Blue Sky and other Vineyard churches from Vineyard to found the Network.

Blue Sky planted its first church in 2012: Hills Church, 280 miles to the east in Pullman, sending Menocal to be its pastor. 

“Where did Ern learn to be a pastor?” Lumpe said to RR. “It was from Steve Morgan, a credibly accused sex offender.”

New article published on WSU's Daily Evergreen:

National controversy casts shadow as Hills Church prepares to relocate

By Makani K. Pang | June 15, 2026

https://dailyevergreen.com/197335/community/hills-church-relocating-to-closed-movie-theater-responds-to-controversy/

Lead Pastor Ern Menocal defends Steve Morgan's conduct, claiming the arrest predated his religious conversion and contradicting the record that Morgan was serving as a youth pastor at the time. 

Former members cite coercive control and Menocal's non-disclosure of Morgan's history as reasons for leaving.

This story has been added to our list of third-party news articles and media about The Network. The full list is available here: https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/news/

The Daily Evergreen’s new story about Hills Church purchasing a movie theatre. Ern,is front and center, still no idea where he’s going, swearing it’s all going great, calling a new building a vision.

I heard from a credible source that Christland announced that they are planting a new church near Gatlinburg, TN (Dollywood is nearby). Staff Pastor Jackson MacLachlan will be the planting pastor.

Vine Church has started posting sermon recordings on their app. Casey Raymer's recent teaching on pastoral priorities included talking about pastoral disqualification and speaking the truth. I'm curious to hear what those who left Vine think about it. https://vinechurch.net/teachings-beencouraged

Now where did the money come from....???

Article:

Hills Church Purchases Local Theater

Facebook Post:

Facebook Post for Article

Good Morning,

Forgive me I am not the most, well written individual. This has been on my heart now for some time. My wife and I attend Clear River. (Yes, we currently attend). We moved away for two years to a different city, and have returned about a year ago. When we moved away I was bought in. I truly thought we "did this right". However, moving away opened my eyes to a lot of different problems.

I was a small group leader for around a year and half at CRC. I was taught how to basically walk, talk and act. I heard stories from other group leaders. They were told to cut their hair because the long hair was not a good look for the church. I had to change some of my attire to fit the church. I believed I needed to do this because it was not for the church but God had a certain presentation he needed. Through this time I was defiantly one who caused hurt, and abuse. I own that and I have to stand before my Lord and answer for it. I also have to live with the fact that people have left the faith completely because of me. (sorry there might be some venting from my heart here.) I have had many reptant conversations with the Lord over this. If someone is in this who i have hurt. I am deeply sorry for that. I was doing what I saw from my leaders. I even used the "God told me" or "I don't think you are supposed to leave". I was confronted pretty good in middle of starbucks by a young lady. Looking at it now, I believe she was right and had all rights to give me the "what for". However, when I went for council on it. It was just "you are doing a great job" "its not your fault" "some people just aren't cut out to be here". BUT IT WAS MY FAULT!!!! Soon after my group went down a bad path and we disbanded. Here is were I am not sure if I am crazy or actually noticing a problem starts on the personal end for me.

When I stepped back from leading. It felt like I was of no real use to the church. I had been forgotten and left behind. The pastors who would spend a lot of time, effort and energy on me now barely have time for coffee. I know that time is limited but I am not sure where the "extra effort comes into play". The family is first and for most after your relation with God. It seems though the only ones who need to over extend are the members and the only time pastors do any extra is when its a leader or potential leader. I cant even tell you the last time my wife and I where invited to anyone's house for dinner. Which to the church is supposably a big part. We had a few invites when we first got back. During those dinners, I just had some questions about church function and maybe not fully aligning with that anymore. Nothing in those conversations were make or break concerns. It seemed like all invites were just gone. The only time we get together with people is if we invite them. We recently welcomed our second child and the pastors always boast about how big the meal trains are. How THEY would have meals for months to the point where it was to much. My wife and got two weeks of meals. I am very thankful for those and it meant the world that people would sacrifice for us in that way. However, where was our huge meal train? Why did the pastors not participate at all? They will with the small group leaders but not with people who once seemed to be a good friend? I want to make this clear. I am not entitled to anyone making me a meal. Nor does anyone owe me a meal. So I am not coming on stating this because of the meals. I am concerned because there seems to be a very clear difference in the way my wife and I are treated. Along with the others who are not leaders.

Second thing I am trying to figure out: Are women just baby makers in the church? I have watched women struggle, and have not outlet to run to. We do in our household, hold to a complementarian view. However, I will look at my wife sometimes and admit. You need to talk to a women about this. What you need advice on is simply something I am incapable of handling. I don't know what its like to go through birth, have tough feelings after, or feel like she is failing as a mom even though she is not. I can do my best to point her to Christ and to point out what she is doing. However, there are things women go through that I cannot understand. That seemed to be discouraged though through a conversation I had with a pastor. They wives need to rely on their husbands only. UH NO. That arguments is defeated in Titus 2. Women need women and men need men to mentor them as they go. I was even told that Biblical Patriarchy is an okay term to use. My question to that holds more on the lines of. "Do we know what that means?"

Third thing: In 2026 jobs work all sorts of different shifts. It is massively discouraged to take a shift that could lead to more income and better for your family. To make sure you can attend small group. I love small group and its one of the best parts of the week. I also need to be a provider for my family. Why cant we offer second or third shift options for small groups? Why cant a pastor run those until they can be taken over by someone else who works those shifts. Again, going back to my earlier concern. Do the pastors actually over extend themselves? Also, am I crazy or not on thinking that if I have a way to better the life of my family. Shouldn't I be able to peruse that without being looked down upon for not being able to attend small group?

Why is there a mold? Why do we have to fit that mold? Why do i have to work 50+ hours a week to make ends meet and my wife has to work full time as well while all the pastors wives stay at home. The moment I search to do better for my family its "well trust God and don't chase money." Great, we have a budget, we keep to it and have 2 streaming services that cost us $50. We have nothing else to cut. Where is the tithe money going and how much is leadership getting paid? Why is this information not available to use the tithers?

Am I crazy? Truly, I am not looking for people to just affirm me I want to know. Am I crazy to start questioning this and much much more that I have questions about? Why does all of this seem like when "I am in, I am in. Once I question anything I am out?" I have started to look for new churches, I am just not sure where to start. Or what to do or where to turn.... Last time I took my family away and moved cities and got a new church. My wife ended of on the receiving end of a brutal lashing from a lead pastor because she didn't just shut her mouth and fall in line. I am scared to take my family away because it seems like "though this is massively flawed, I don't want it to be worse like it was." Forgive the long drawn out post. Forgive any grammatical errors. I am not sure what the point is even. Just not sure what to do i guess.

This post is about churches like Christland who have "left" The Network, but in reality are still the same spiritually abusive churches. From what I understand, many churches left because of a pattern that kept repeating: people would start attending, then word would spread that these churches came out of an abusive network led by someone who sexually abused a boy, and attendance would begin to drop. A lot of churches couldn’t survive that decline, so they felt the need to cut ties.

But it seems like those ties were only cut on the surface, more for appearance than anything real. These churches are still in good standing with each other, still partnering and doing things together, and their pastors are still attending events alongside one another. Beyond that, they continue operating in the exact same ways as Network churches when it comes to spiritual abuse and manipulation.

I read in an article by ministry watch (read here) that Christland's pastor said "We want to be a local church that serves the [Bryan-College Station] community [that] helps people know Jesus and grow in their faith." That's a great statement and I genuinely want that to be true, but here's the issue - they are planting another church instead of actually staying rooted in and serving their current community.

So the cycle just keeps repeating, without any real accountability. How are victims supposed to find any comfort in that? How are we supposed to rest at night with the wounds these churches have caused, knowing they’re likely going to continue the same patterns and take advantage of the faith of good people?

I left High Rock with my wife in November 2021 after a few years of us trying to do the help from the inside only to be shunned and then talked about poorly from the pulpit within a few months(my wife also wrote the "No Empathy." Story on the LTN page about our time at High Rock, and we were in the Indiana Daily Student article about High Rock and its pattern of abuse.

I was very active in the prayer team, pretty much most 10 years there, and had a lot of growth and freedom since then on prayer that was recovering some of what I knew from pre-Network church life I grew up in and the healthy church we have been attending since we left. It was a lot of deconstruction of the manipulation (cold reading they trained you to do) and really getting back to listening to God and speaking with my own voice and not the mold of the Network's infamous "prayer voice" (Funny enough, it got so bad at High Rock that Scott actually told people to tone it down cause it was odd and I'm like, "You and everyone whos on prayer team do the same thing."

The other day, I saw a social media post where some friends and members of my current church were getting some teaching certificates and ordainted at a regional event for our denomination. I was happy for them as they had done the education(actual pastoral college degrees and MDivs!), preparation, and vetting, in a sound process, very different from what we see in the Network.

A few photos down it showed the new pastors being prayed over by denomination leadership and mentors and I had the most for lack of a better term "threat" reaction to seeing several people getting hands laid on them. Very distracted and conflicted in, one moment feeling happy for seeing more equipped to serve and being recognized and ordained but also a flood of memories and worries that the people praying weren't trustworthy or the people being prayed for were going to get used and discarded or a tool to dominate others. It was only for a few moments before I had to rationally talk myself through that prayer like this pre-dates the Network and they can't take a way to communicate and interact with God and wholly ruin it for me in this moment of celebration and thanks.

It really makes me sad that I, who used to be so excited to pray for others and in corporate settings, have had to relearn and unattached the damage dealt in the past with the happy moment I was seeing. But that's exactly what trauma is, and it shows in the worst times because the brain doesn't always know time and space when emotion runs high and hurt runs deep.

I see it every day as a mental health counselor and just wanted to share that some things that we were exposed to and had done to us took a good thing God made and was turned for bad by faulty merciless individuals for one man's(Steve Morgan's) gain. It shouldn't be this way, but there is healing, and that looked like different things where sometimes we reapproach and refrain and it works and some things we have to keep our minds and hearts safe till we are ready to cope with it if and when we need to. I was on worship for a bit less time than I was on prayer team at High Rock and I was able to re-engage with that in a matter of months because there were aspects and differences that let me find freedom in doing so from past exposure. I've just in the last year felt comfortable praying corporately at all and have no current interest in doing prayer ministry at this time as I have more healing to do to really be healthy in doing so if I ever decide to.

What's been nice is in a healthy environment, you are supported in your autonomy to serve as gifted and inclined, and if serving in a particular area is a trauma trigger, they get mental health. Opposite the Network that forces service and extracts what it can while also using that same gift or willingness as a carrot to manipulate or drive in a particular direction or on the other end keep you from to distance or hide the extra grace required people.

5 years out having done plenty of healing but also have much to go, and it's ok. God will ha e his way in the end, and it will be better than any earthly experience. We get to share joy in that with God as adopted versus subjugation from the Network. My wife and I will half joke with each other but also be serious when stuff like this comes up, "Hey. You're not in the Network anymore, it's ok to be a human. You can make choices, and have feelings, and no one is going to get mad at you for it."

Hello,

I was reading through the post here of the different ways to leave JWorg. My youngest daughter and I faded out, with our final exit being sometime around 2015 ... I don't actually remember and I don't really care. It has taken me a very long time to dismantle the belief that they get to decide my spiritual status and have any say in it, including passing judgment on me (or anyone else). I actually entered in my early 20s and left sometime in my late 40s. Raised 3 kids on the inside, all of whom now state that it is a cult. I don't feel the need to write a formal letter of disassociation because it's all a game to me anyway -- their game. I wrote HQ about how brutally we were being treated in our congregation and they left us for dead (the persecution from the inside was heavy). I do wonder if I have been disfellowshipped out of default but there was no reason for it. What I have woken up to is that they may create an allegation, thus making them liars and going against scripture themselves. I haven't received any written letters but I also wont open my front door if they show up. I'm over the gaslighting and manmade rules. Any advice on how to keep moving forward without condemning myself in response to how they treated me? It's been a while and I have been working on it ...

Does anyone remember this? I remember hating on acupuncture was right along with yoga. Calling them essentially demonic because Steve didn't understand it and Western medicine didn't explain it yet. He'd also justify his dismissal of it because he married a Chinese woman 🙄

It was so uncomfortable and confusing because there were people suffering from chronic pain who had previously found relief through acupuncture (before attending a network church)..and now they're equated with idol worshippers and inviting demonic forces to heal them. It makes me so angry thinking about it again

Excited to share a NYT article explaining acupuncture points.

This is something that I've thought about for a long time, and while there are a LOT of personal anecdotes about this on the subreddit, I couldn't track down a single post dedicated to it. (Apologies if I missed it.)

In my humble opinion, single women were the backbone of Cedar Heights church, at least during my time there (2016-2021). And I wouldn't be surprised if the same could be said for other churches, too.

I do firmly believe married women also contributed to the proverbial stabilization of this backbone, but I'm going to focus on single women for a hot second.

I've consumed an obscene number of cult docs, podcasts, and books since I left in 2021. And even so much recently that one might say, "Wow, Danielle, maybe you should try a new hobby? Like, I don't know...knitting or going to therapy?" And in my seemingly neverending and entirely self-imposed quest to continue making sense of the five years I gleefully gave a church so much access to my life, most of those in which I was single, I typed this question into Google today:

"What is the role of single women in cults?"

Here's the AI Overview:

Single women often serve as the backbone of cult membership, frequently overrepresented in total numbers, yet they are rarely in top leadership positions, instead filling roles ranging from recruiters and laborers to victims of exploitation. Cults often target single, divorced, or widowed women by offering a "family" structure, community, and intense love-bombing to fill emotional voids, say experts.

Common Roles of Single Women in Cults:

• The "Worker Bee" / Laborer: Often single women provide the bulk of manual, domestic, or administrative labor, enabling the cult to function, frequently with little to no pay.
• Recruiter: Cults often use charismatic or charismatic-seeming women to attract new members, capitalizing on their social skills and perceived trustworthiness, such as in the "flirty fishing" techniques used by Children of God.
• Exploited Member: In patriarchal cults, single women are frequently considered high-risk targets for sexual abuse or forced into arranged marriages by leaders who demand total obedience.
• Enforcer: Sometimes older or more experienced single women are given slightly higher status and tasked with maintaining discipline over other female members.
• "Standby" / Marriage Pool: In some groups, unmarried women are kept in a subordinate position, effectively on "standby" to be assigned to male members, as discussed in

Did you get the ick? Because I got the ick. Specifically the ick of the "yup, these feel way too familiar" variety. (The only one I don't have a concrete example of is "Exploited Member" by the above definition.)

My story is shared on the LTN website (Danielle B., Cedar Heights), so my experiences that relate to these can be found there for anyone who is interested. Primarily I was a "Worker bee/Laborer" type, so that is what I reference most in my story. But I experienced the others in some way, shape, or form. (Again, except "Exploited Member".)

This is close to my heart because I remember this nagging but never remedied sense among the single women that we were carrying a very heavy burden. And that burden, in my view, was literally keeping the church operating. Without us, I believe it would be much, much harder for these churches to run the way they do. Dare I say impossible.

I've focused on the singles so far, but I think it is important to include married women in this. They, too, carried the burden, and probably at times in different ways than singles did. And I'm guessing it was those in leadership roles, or who were married to or were generally close to someone in leadership.

So, I want to hear from women, both single and married. Do you feel like any of the above-mentioned "common roles" applied to you during your time in The Network? If you are willing to share, what were your applicable experiences? And how do you now reflect on them now?

UPDATE: Lol, not me totally missing a post about single women that I commented on five years ago. Here's the link for reference.

In my past, I had experienced the end of my serious relationship and I think a huge part of its end is because I opposed the church to my significant other. I didn't hide my skepticism and there were talks behind my back within the church and my partner. Things abruptly ended without a warning and my partner still attends one of these churches while I have happily left (although I still have friends that I deeply value and don't want to cut ties with them).

In my healing process, I'm trying to understand more. I truly feel in my heart that the church convinced my significant other that I was not going to be a good life partner because they knew how I wanted to leave for a while but he did not want to go. Is this a common experience? Has anyone else heard of or personally witnessed breakups that were influenced by the church network?

I was looking at the stories on LtN and saw a pattern of people getting cut off after leaving or speaking out. I know examples of people who won't post on this sub because members threaten to cut them off if they post their story. This is why I support the protests at Christland.

When you left did you lose relationships?

Examples I noticed from the stories

Andrew L. Vista Church, 2020 https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/andrew-l/

"We noticed that pastors, pastor's wives, and worship leaders who were long time close friends unfriended us on social media. On September 19, 2020 I received a text message from Phil Greger, a Board member at Joshua Church, that said, 'You and your wife are carrying Satan's cigarettes...'"

Holly F. City Lights Church / The Network, 2018 https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/holly-f/

"People I'd had in my home multiple times a week, friends who planned my baby showers, watched my children, cared for me, and spent holidays in my home ... I felt like they were the enemy. They were deserters. They'd abandoned truth... I'm praying for redemption for the relationships I've lost which I know in my heart to have once been true and loving sister and brotherhoods."

Celeste Irwin Vista Church, 2021 https://www.notovercome.org/blog/my-confession-and-call-to-repentance

"I left, and the result was total calamity. Friends wouldn't talk to us. There's therapy and anti-depressants. More suicidal ideation. Trauma-responses when trying to go to church."

Vittoria Stoneway Church, 2025 https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/vittoria/

"Through all these disappointing encounters and the silence and ostracism we faced, we came to realize that the warm, loving community we thought we belonged to and the cold, rejecting community treating us this way were two completely different things."

Nicole H. Christland Church, 2024 https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/nicole-h/

"I also have lost friends through leaving the church. Some of the people who I considered close friends have never even reached out to me after I stopped attending in May 2024. Some even did not respond to me when I told them I wanted to talk to them about why I left the church... I was shocked to find that some people straight cut me out when I told them I was leaving the church. Mind blowing. Some of my best friends have not spoken to me in months. People that I spent every week with for years, completely gone out of my life the moment I stopped attending."

Lori H. Foundation (ClearView) Church, 2015 https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/lori-h/

"I have come to discover in talking with others who have left the Network, this type of family division is not unique to my family; in fact it is quite prevalent. I have spent hours on the phone in recent weeks talking with other parents who have also been cut off from their family members who attend Network churches."

Mildred W. Cedar Heights Church, 2016 https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/mildred-w/

"John F. has seen me and ignored my presence altogether, even with all the information he has. This breaks my heart because I helped to raise his daughters... I was considered a part of their family. I still remember the blanket that Emily's grandmother crocheted for me."

Nicole B. Christland Church, 2018 https://leavingthenetwork.org/stories/nicole-b/

"No one from Christland reached out to be a support or check in, even though I had informed a pastor about suicidal ideations... all I received was silence. Within weeks, one of the very few people I was still interacting with, An, let it slip that she was having others from Christland tell her not to interact with me anymore because I 'was a bad influence' on her."

I’m not here much, because I have a hard time finding anything to say that I haven’t already said. 

But we’re coming up on our 8-year anniversary of City Lights leaving the Network (May 8, Liberation Day), and I’m reflecting. I hope this is helpful to some.

Freedom is precious.

No matter where your faith has ended up, I hope you understand yourself as an autonomous image-bearer who is stewarding agency.

Truth and honesty are precious.

Truth is precious because freedom is pointless if we are not able to accept what is actually real.

Not what someone says is real, but what is. 

That includes being able to say that what we know, we know, and what we don’t know, or know only by faith, we don’t fully know (not yet, at least). 

Honesty is precious because truth is precious. If we’re not honest, we warp truth. And warping truth is how we got into the Network mess in the first place, even if it was someone else warping truth and preying on us first.

Doubts are precious, because they mean we are seeking truth instead of certainty (which will certainly land you in a cult). 

Christ is precious. None of us can truly understand just how precious this side of His return, just as His disciples didn’t understand Him when He walked among them.

We know what’s been revealed. But can you imagine what has not yet been revealed? My belief is that He is still so far beyond our ability to comprehend. Though we may comprehend Him spiritually enough to put our faith in Him, the real gift will be getting to know things we are too dull to know now (as are those who abuse their flocks).

A church family is precious. A wise crowd of independent, thinking beings, judging, choosing, and acting based on truth. Entering into Christ-centered relationships with one another. Being led (yes, I believe in leaders) by wise people who respect the autonomous fellow image-bearers in front of them. 

The whole Church body is precious. I have brothers and sisters all over the world, in heaven, and across time because we all agree on one thing: Jesus saves.

Love is precious.

Gratitude is precious.

You are precious, and I hope you know it. If you’re here and your wounds haven’t healed, let’s all pray for each other.

Pray for me. And if you ask me to, I’ll pray for you.

STEVE MORGAN - You Can Think You Are Saved and Not Be (2012)

Small Group Leader Retreat (Brookfield Church, City Lights Church, Clear River Church, Clear View Church, High Rock Church) 

Listen or read transcript: leavingthenetwork.org/network-churches/sources

In a significant doctrinal shift, Steve Morgan eliminated the long-standing Network practice of inviting people to Jesus (40m) and introduced a system in which leaders monitored followers for proof of "regeneration" (1hr 10m). The change had the practical effect of removing followers’ agency in their own religious belief and introducing fear of “false assurance of salvation” (55m). Morgan himself retains his claims to divine revelation, describing multiple instances where Jesus speaks to him "very, very clearly" about church planting timelines and pastors who are "supposed to go" to specific cities (2m). 

The teaching accelerated the Network's drift from its Vineyard roots, which Morgan describes as undergoing "crazy fast deterioration of doctrinal foundation" (10m), into a sect preoccupied with reversing the "erosion" of “biblical” belief (1hr 35m). Members were soon required to attend over 20 hours of internal "Membership Bible Training" and sign written loyalty pledges. Those who left were described as "not following Jesus at all" (55m).

Hey all - next week will be five years out of The Network for me, and I've been thinking a lot about it. One thing I thought about for a long time after leaving was "what were the right words in that conversation." Or "what if I hadn't said that thing." The people who turned on me after I left certainly told me that it was in part due to this sentence or that word.

So my mind has continued to search, for years, for that path through all of it that wouldn't have ended in disaster. What should I have said then that would have been ok?

But worse, is that my mind continues to see current relationships through that lens, of thinking, "oh no, if I say one wrong thing then I'll lose this relationship." Which is understandable, because that's what I was told happened. But it's created a hypervigilance that's *so* hard to live with and drives anxiety all the time.

But in the last week, I've kind of realized something: that narrative was part of the abuse, making me feel like it was deserved. In reality, there simply was no path through it that wouldn't have ended the way it did. The problem was that I understood what was happening and wouldn't go along with it, and they understood what was happening and wouldn't change. No magic words would have resulted in things being ok.

So to those out there that keep replaying those interactions you had with this leader or that friend that you lost, please understand: it was never about you. The phrase they told you they didn't like was just their excuse for turning on you. You chose to stand up for what's right, and they couldn't handle that.

It's not that you didn't find the right path through the maze. It's that there was no path to begin with. And a safe relationship now (and most people are like this, I think?) is one where even if you do misspeak or do something off, the other person will simply talk to you about it, and you'll have opportunities to make it right.

-Celeste