Have you or your kids been to Soul Survivor?

[Coffeeandcards]

You might want to read this if so:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/12/mike-pilavachi-soul-survivor-charity-watchdog/

I asked you politely to stop deliberately causing distress. You've said several times you were going to go away out of respect, but you keep coming back to lecture us and act like a martyr.

Notification of a quote is down to MN design, it's not deliberate 'tagging', that's using the @ thing.

Hello, so that was a lot of post since yesterday.

I adhered to the no sex before marriage - in fact I did no kissing for two years with the guy who became my husband. So you can imagine how puffed up with purity we were…I think it crazy now and was not at all healthy.

This. It needs to happen. I am very much still part of institutional Christianity but I am white hot furious about what has been done to people.

I've been following this thread since the beginning as I hadn't heard about the Mike P scandal until this popped up in active.

I grew up in an Elim church and went to Soul Survivor several times (maybe 3?) in the mid to late 90s. I emerged pretty unscathed by it (due mostly to being an awkward got who will rebel against anything) and completely agree with the whole cult of personality thing. Some of the leaders were treated like celebrities, MP and Matt Redman in particular at that time, people hung off their every word and questioned nothing.

I was actually going out with the son of someone on the platform at that time so met some of the leadership "backstage", but never more than a passing hi with Mike. The whole dim lighting, captivating speeches about revival over emotional music, and like PPs have said being part of something big was very compelling. Fortunately for me by the time I got home my ADHD brain had moved on. I still remember the feeling we all had in those evening services though, like butterflies in your chest.

Does anyone remember that play "Heaven's gates and Hell's flames" that was so popular in the 90s? I think there was a couple travelling round churches and putting on the production using church members as actors. I was one of the "druggies" twice but the third time threw a strop about being type cast and insisted on being an angel!

This, 100%.

At one church I attended, where it subsequently turned out the minister was sexually assaulting young men, there was a huge antagonism shown towards the Internet and social media. We were repeatedly warned about it's evils. It's pretty clear to me now that the church was terrified of victims using it to tell their stories and get to find out they weren't alone. It was something the church couldn't control, and threatened to out the abuse going on.

Notification of a quote is down to MN design, it's not deliberate 'tagging', that's using the @ thing.

Was going to point this out. A good example of someone blaming another for something they themselves have done (ie how they have set their notification preferences)!

Everyone is perfectly free to adjust their own notification preferences so you do/ don't get notified when you're quoted, tagged, more posts get posted on threads you're on, etc.

It’s a shame this thread has been hijacked, it’s been really useful to most of us and was therapeutic. It’s a good example of how some victims were gaslighted and bullied by SS and the CofE though so shouldn’t be surprised.

I do!

I was given one of her books to read: Life in a sex mad world.

I remember the book relating the fantasies of what someone wanted her boyfriend to do. All very normal, but it was described as if it was very bad. I was very evangelical at the time but even then I could see this was hopelessly unrealistic advice.

I don't recall what she said about LGBT+. Either nothing, or negative. I would have remembered anything else.

Years later I actually met her and while she was very nice, she seemed taken aback, even scandalised, by the double-entendres some of us were using during a game of charades, and I was left wondering at how she came to write books on sex.

I haven't given my children any Christian books on sex to read.

A very influential book for me was "Teenage Survival Kit" by Pete Gilbert, which had some sections on sex. It's very extreme and guaranteed to make you feel guilty for existing. It made out that the sky would fall in if you wore clothing that was even slightly "gender-bending", and likewise you'd be opening a portal to hell if you were a guy with a fondness for makeup and earrings.

Where exactly did I say that posters don't have a right to complain??

I really enjoyed listening to Enya during my A levels as I found her music relaxing. My friend was very concerned that Enya (and Madonna)’s music could open a portal to the demonic.

I did carry on listening to it but that’s a horrible and scary thing to have in your mind.

The use of scary things/ fear to control behaviour is so awful looking back.

I quite fancy putting on some Enya now, actually. I'll let you know if I open a portal to the demonic realm. Pray for me, folks. :)

@Cherryana But yeah, people raised eyebrows when I told them I liked Enya as well. FFS! It's about the most innocuous music in the world.

I think Iona were considered the safe Christian alternative to Enya.

In fairness, Iona were actually really good!!

One of my better moments was actually at Soul Survivor. We had heard a speaker talk about how we should be our authentic Christlike selves.

I was very affirmed by this and told him so afterwards, and I also said I reckoned that meant we shouldn't be constrained by gender norms, which I felt didn't fit me well.

I could see, however, that he didn't know what the hell to make of me. At the time I (male) had long, wavy blond hair, dangly earrings, nail polish and quite possibly eyeliner.

There was such a double bind in these books where if you were too obviously feminine you were sinning by tempting men, and if you weren't feminine enough you were sinning by rejecting gods role for you as a woman.

They were, but sadly I can't listen to them anymore. I tried recently but found them triggering. Shame. I saw them live a few times and they were fantastic.

I am not 'deliberately causing distress', your reaction is massively over the top.

I said one time I would stop discussing a particular subject. I will not be bullied out of the thread, by you or anyone else.

No, not setting myself up as a martyr. I have been vilified for stating my opinion and sharing experiences from 'inside' the Evangelical church.

Sincerely hope you don't behave like this towards Christians in everyday life!

Had to laugh when I saw this.

I experienced this when I said I let my dcs read Harry Potter and some of the other mums in the prayer group were horrified

I felt irritated and don't believe in censoring reading material

@DustintheWindDude How dare you belittle me like that. You haven't got a fucking clue.

@PrimitivePerson 😂

That’s a direct result of you even thinking about playing Enya!!

Right mass play of Orinoko Flow at 10pm!!

• can I just say that was a response to the 666 picture.