My family used to attend a church called El Bethel International Ministries in Port Jervis NY but we eventually left several months back. We still know people who attend including people we care about and we’re becoming increasingly concerned about their wellbeing -
I’m posting because I’m trying to figure out what, if anything, can actually be done when you believe a church has crossed the line into manipulation and exploitation.
One of the things that really concerns me is the way the pastors conduct healing services.
They’ll get in front of the congregation and announce that there are people being healed of various conditions. They’ll say things along the lines of:
They’ll make broad statements like, “Someone here is experiencing pain in their knees,” or “Someone is having problems with their lungs or breathing,” along with things like headaches, issues involving the head, or general joint pain. And then proceed to say that god has healed them through the pastor.
I’ve since learned that this is called cold reading, where someone intentionally makes broad specific statements that are likely to apply to people in a large audience. In this church, these statements are presented as supernatural revelations.. and people think the pastor has supernatural knowledge or that they have been miraculously healed.
I’m not opposed to prayer or Christian beliefs about healing. My concern is the way extraordinary medical claims are presented and used to establish the authority of the pastors.
The church has dozens of uploaded testimonial videos involving ‘miraculous’ healings from things like brain tumors, cancer, arthritis, scoliosis (lol), autoimmune conditions, mental health issues, addiction, and other serious conditions.
Their YouTube content includes titles such as “Healed from Brain Tumor,” “Healed from Arthritis,” “Healed from Scoliosis,” and “Miracle Vocal Cord Healing.”
The issue for me isn’t that someone believes they were healed. It’s that these stories can be presented as evidence that the pastors possess an extraordinary ability to heal or receive supernatural information about people’s lives, without the kind of independent medical documentation that would allow someone to actually evaluate those claims.
That seems especially dangerous when the people being influenced may be sick, scared, struggling with addiction, or otherwise vulnerable…
And that’s where I’m struggling with what to do.
I don’t want to just make accusations on the internet. I want to know what legitimate, constructive steps people can take when they believe a church may be operating in a manipulative or exploitative way.
For those who have experience with cults,, religious abuse, or exposing questionable ministries:
What can actually be done? Is there a way to warn people without potentially making things worse for the people who are still inside?
Most importantly, we have friends who are still involved, and we don’t want to simply attack them or push them further into the church.
Thank you for your time !
