Complaint Review: Christian Fellowship Church Ministries International

I was a member of this church for nearly 17 years. I helped enable their cover-up of the founding pastor and his criminal activites. What really got my steamed was when I discovered that several things were wrong with this picture:

1. Pastor Peter F. Paine made a partial admission of guilt on the case of the late L.R. Davis, following nearly a decade of pleading for his innocence and release from state prison. We were required to wear yellow ribbons as a show of support for the founding pastor for seven years until his death in Dixon Correctional Center.

2. Questions arose concerning the supposed mountains of letters which were written to L.R. Davis. Rumors now are circulating that most of the letters were never read by Pastor Davis except for ones which concerned significant church-related matters, or a possible defection of one of the single men in the congregation.

3. Anytime questions came to the CFC leadership concerning pastoral misconduct, the member asking the questions would be "rebuked" or at times asked to leave the church, claiming he/she would "create division".

Enough of that. If your son or daughter is single, and comes to this church, let them beware of the church's dating policy. During my tenure there (12 of those years was as an ordained minister), there were very strict policies on dating. Couples at one time were only permitted to date for two hours a day, two Saturdays a month.

Single men in particular were "encouraged" to live in low-rate communal housing and give most of their paycheck to the church, being forced to live on a meager portion of their paycheck. The pastors, on the other hand, lived in new $250,000 houses and drove news cars almost all the time. Some single men were asked to make vows of "eunuchship" without full counseling as to why they wish to take vows of celibacy. A database was made for all members, but several different lists were created to control the activities of the single men - very much like muster sheets in the military, only more closely reviewed and scrutinized.

Military members were looked up on a daily basis by single men in the church, often without knowing who the individual was or where they stayed. This created uneasy feelings among the Naval commands, and sometimes the crew member would be asked if he or she was in a cult. I speak again from experience because I looked up people for many years during my involvement with CFC. Some military personnel even complained of harrassment by CFC members who would visit even the shipmate expressed no desire to attend CFC or join the church.

The hardest part for me after leaving CFCMI in March 2003 was apologizing to family and friends, plus realizing how blindly I had been ripped off over the years. I donated 80% of my re-enlistment bonus to CFC, thinking it was going to help build missions and schools. No new schools or churches have been built in the USA, and only a small number overseas. I could have owned a new home and new cars, plus have a nice account for my family had it not been for the CFC scam.

Pastor Paine, Pastor Edward Thomas (Norfolk), and Pastor Daniel Lantis (San Diego) all are very active in another ripoff scam - Quixtar. Pastor Lantis in particular has been known to coerce members of his congregation into joining Quixtar or leave the church. The pastors have been known to fly to Washington State on "ministering trips" which were really Amway/Quixtar conferences.

In March 2003, apparently upset with the allegations of financial abuse, Pastor Thomas kicked out nearly 2/3 of the congregation by "dissolving" the Norfolk congregation. He forced everyone in attendance to fill out 3x5 cards stating whether or not they wanted Pastor Thomas as their pastor anymore. Those who voted no were essentially kicked out of the church, and were forced to find a new church home. Many families and children were emotionally and spiritually wounded by this decision. At the time of the mass expulsion, 40 members of the Norfolk church were deployed fighting a war, and depended on the church for support while they fought Saddam Hussein. This decision was reckless and showed that Pastor Thomas was unfit to be a pastor.

If anyone approaches you about CFC, look up their website and AbusiveChurches.Com and make an educated choice before joining their cult.

John
Norfolk, Virginia
U.S.A.