CLOSE TO THE EDGE, August 1993 Issue 1 TOLC, PO Box 348, Morden, Surrey SM4 6ZD, United Kingdom Tel: 081-646-7477 Fax: 081-646-8151 Twenty four hour hotline: 0860 579211 Triumphing Over London Cults is a group of former members of the London Church of Christ, and also the Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Tokyo, and International Churches of Christ HOME OFFICE PROBES LCC'S BOGUS SCHOOL ------------------------------------- A secret investigation by Home Office officials has discovered that the LCC has set up a bogus school so that American evangelists can bypass strict immigration laws. The International School of Evangelism was set up by the church in the late 1980s after leading evangelists Douglas Arthur, James Blough, Douglas Jacoby and James Lloyd faced in-depth questioining about their activities in the UK from officials at Heathrow Airport. Faced with difficulties in gaining entry to the UK, Douglas and the other Americans set up ISE so that they did not have to apply to the Home Office for visas. They claimed to be 'students' at the school - which meant they automatically qualified for a three year stay in London. However, Douglas still faced problems in persudaing the authorities to allow him to stay. He had to explain how he was going to fund his stay in England. Step forward the Boston Church of Christ which transferred up to $100,000 a time into the UK Bank accounts of the American leaders. Once the Home Office was satisfied that Douglas and the other evangelists did not have enough case to finance their studies they were allowed to stay. But, unknown to the authorities, as soon as they gave their approval all of the monies that had been deposited in the evangelists UK accounts by Boston were immediately transferred back to America. The exercise was a con, designed simply to dupe the unsuspecting officials in the immigration department. And so it did until this abuse of the law was highlighted to the authorities earlier this year. Now Douglas and others could be barred from the UK indefinitely and have their permanent residence status revoked. "A report is being prepared. It could be very serious", said a Home Office official. COMMENT ------- It is with great pleasure that I am able to introduce the first issue of Close To The Edge - a newsletter that chronicles events within the LCC and its sister churches throughout Britain. With the number of critics of the church growing on a daily basis I feel that it is important to keep you informed about all of the things that have made the headlines, whether they are good or bad. I also hope to reveal some of the things that have been taking place within the movement that you may not be aware about. All of the articles in CTTE have been written by current or former members of the LCC; all of the articles are based on fact and personal experience gained whilst involved in the LCC. You may find some of the articles distasteful or even shocking. I hope that you do! For it's up to you to start asking questions of your leaders. A lot of abuses have been committed by those in power. People have been psychologically damaged because those in authority have embarked on an orgy of abuse. Those that stand accused of these acts still retain absolute control of the church. Their power goes unchecked and YOU could be one of their next victims. My arguments are not with the rank and file members. I do understand that you ALL have a common desire to serve God. But whether you are serving God, or not, is not really the point. Abuses are being committed while you and I have stood and watched. Because of my concerns - and those of my associates - official investigations have been launched into the church's activities by: * the Inland Revenue's Special Office in Liverpool. The inquiry is looking into specific allegations of tax avoidance and abuse of Deed of Covenant forms. * the Charities Commission in London who are deeply concerned by the activities of the church. * the Home Office at Heathrow Airport who are investigating claims that the International School of Evangelism is nothing more than a front organization. These inquiries could last for months. And one thing is certain: their findings will cause the LCC acute embarrassment and could lead to criminal charges being brought against the leaders in the movement. Please believe me when I say that I still endorse many of the teachings of the church and value the friendships that I forged with many of you while I was an active member. But I cannot stand by and watch people suffer, too frightened to speak out against the abuses that are committed every day. You must keep your eyes and ears open. Some of you will already have doubts about the financial propriety of those leaders that are charged with handling the church's accounts. If you have questions then do not be frightened to speak out. If you do not receive a satisfactory reply then go along to the Charities Commission yourself and study the church's accounts. I can promise you that they make very interesting reading. It's up to you to find out for yourself the truth about the London Church of Christ. You don't have to accept my word. Lots of you have told me that you will only believe the allegations laid against the LCC when you see evidence of wrong-doing. Well, take it upon yourself to visit the Charities Commission or speak to the Inland Revenue. You will be horrified by what you discover. LETTER EXPOSES TAX FRAUD ------------------------ Church administrator John Partington has revealed that LCC members have been guilty of submitting fraudulent claims to the Inland Revenue. In a letter sent to a former member of the London Church on 14 June John - an LCC leader and the man responsible for co-ordinating the church's annual Deed of Covenant claim - admitted that evangelists are aware of at least "one" such fraud taking place. "There was an instance where a brother signed a [tax form] for someone else," revealed John. "This was dealt with very strongly and that brother has had no dealings with finance since". But research undertaken by former members of the LCC has, however, uncovered a far more disturbing picture. Several complaints have been lodged with official anti-cult organizations about Deed of Covenant abuse. The LCC depends heavily on the Deed of Covenant process, raising 70,000ukp every year from the tax man. John Partington's letter goes on to say: "Often in the past we have not always done things in the best way. I personally have grown and learned a lot in doing DOC [Deed of Covenant], but at no point have any illegal acts been done - to the best of my knowledge". Inland Revenue officials will be extremely interested to read John's admission - especially as in the past he has consistently denied allegations that tax abuses have been committed. One former LCC member said: "It doesn't matter if one or 100 have been fraudulently completed. Just one false claim is enough to make this a very serious matter indeed". TOLC SET TO ISSUE WRITS ----------------------- Up to 30 former members of the LCC are about to issue High Court writs against the London Church of Christ. The action is being co-ordinated by the TOLC group. The matter, which will go before the civil courts, is being brought for alleged "financial impropriety" and defamation. One non-member, the Reverend Graham Baldwin, is also joining the defamation action. A TOLC spokesman said: "We have been forced to take this action because the church has failed to change the error of its ways. It's a drastic form of actio. But we are confident it will succeed. If the church's leadership had changed their ways none of this would have been necessary." The spokesman said writs will be issued shortly. AVAILABLE LITERATURE: The Boston Movement: Analysis, Commentary and Media Reports; Rick & Sarah Bauer. Churches that Abuse; Ronald M. Enroth. Combatting Cult Mind Control; Steven Hassan. Cults: What Parents Should Know; Joan Ross & Dr Michael Langone. Damaged Disciples: Casualties of Authoritarian Churches and the Shepherding Movement; Ron & Vicki Burks. "A Diary": Why I left the Boston Movement; Susan Condon. "A Time to Speak": A Personal Journal of My Years in the Boston Movement; Sarah Bauer. The Discipling Dilemma; Ed. Flavil R. Yeakley. Discipling Ministries: An Inside Look; Danny Dixon. The Emperor's New Clothes; Susan Condon. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism; Robert Jay Lifton. Toxic Faith: Understanding and Overcoming Religious Addiction; Jack Felton and Stephen Aterburn. What Does the Boston Movement Teach? (Volumes I - III); Dr Jerry Jones. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those solely of the writers and are not meant to be indicative of editorial policy or TOLC as a whole. Close To The Edge is a non-commercial venture, produced for current and former members of the LCC by current and former members of the LCC. We have made every effort to ensure that the information in this newsletter is correct, but we welcome notification of change in case of inaccuracies. Published August 1993. Close To The Edge welcomes contributions from readers and writers, but unsolicited mail is sent at the sender's risk. Copyright (c) TOLC 1994, All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: To ensure you don't miss an issue send a stamped addressed envelope to Subscriptions, TOLC, PO BOX 348, Morden, Surrey, SM4 6ZD, UK for further details. Alternatively email us on aakshar@cix.compulink.co.uk THIS NEWSLETTER COULD NOT HAVE BEEN PRODUCED WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF A LARGE NUMBER OF CURRENT AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE LONDON CHURCH OF CHRIST. Close To The Edge urges all members of the London Church of Christ to speak out against financial and psychological abuse.