An article on the ICC in "Christianity Today." It has interesting testimony from the people involved in the Rhode Island issue (there's an extensive thread on this in ICC DF, see link below), Henry Kriete, and non-ICC christian authors commenting on the possibility of ICC change from authoritarian rule to "mainstream evangelicism." They say very nicely, fat chance... at least for now.

'Boston Movement' Apologizes
Open letter prompts leaders of controversial church to promise reform.
By John W. Kennedy | posted 06/04/2003

A London leader's 39-page confessional open letter detailing abuses in the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) has further shaken a movement that has been controversial since its beginning 24 years ago. Whether the movement, an offshoot of the mainline Churches of Christ and known for its aggressive campus recruiting, is unraveling or reforming is hard to say.

The February 2 letter followed the resignation of founder Kip McKean in November (CT, March 2003, p. 26). Evangelist Henry Kriete, an influential leader in the Boston Movement (the informal name of the ICOC) in six countries and ten churches, wrote the letter. Kriete said the ICOC's viability was at stake. He said leaders have engaged in financial mismanagement, legalism, dishonest statistical reporting, and abusive teachings, and have ignored critics.

Kriete's letter pulls no punches, but he continues to identify with the church. "The devil has his fangs deep in our neck," he said, "and I am afraid that unless we repent, many of our churches and thousands more of our Christians will be devoured."

According to Kriete, a turnaround won't happen unless leaders denounce structural evils. "The main problem is that Kip never addressed the specific 'sins of our
system,' " Kriete wrote. "He did not even mention them, let alone repudiate them."

For the first time, ICOC leaders have acknowledged the calls for reform that have originated from within the movement. On February 25, 42 ministry leaders at the
Los Angeles Church of Christ headquarters issued an apology. They admitted to staff arrogance, legalism, authoritarian discipling, and improper teaching (for
example, that the ICOC is the only true church).

"These sins have not just been isolated events, but a culture that was created and allowed to continue in much of the LA church," the letter states. "We are committed to changing this culture to become more Christlike."

With the autocratic McKean gone, leadership now is in the hands of 10 elders ruling by consensus. One is Al Baird, longtime spokesman for the ICOC in Los Angeles.
"Most of the churches have basically seen how much leadership has been out of touch with the rank and file," Baird told Christianity Today. "We've done a lot of apologizing for things we've dropped the ball on." He said several leaders have left. Some are gone because they no longer agree with church teachings. Others were released because of financial cutbacks caused by a drop in contributions.

"We're trying to get back to motivating people from the heart rather than by rote," Baird said. "We've been too narrow in saying we've got a corner on the truth and we're the only way."

Before the upheaval, the ICOC had 130,000 members worldwide, down from a claimed high of 185,000. More than 250,000 people have left the movement.

Jay Guinan, 41, and his wife, Deanna, illustrate some of the ICOC's problems over the years. They joined the Rhode Island ICOC in 1994. Guinan, a small-business
owner, said he had been a volunteer choir member and a children's ministry worker. He persistently raised questions about what he believed were the lavish lifestyles of leaders and unbiblical financial demands put upon church members. A year ago, church leaders asked him to leave.

"Basically, I was told not to speak to anyone regarding financial issues of the church," Guinan said. "People were told privately to stay away from us."

Last June the Guinans started a small Bible study for former members of the ICOC. Bible study members gradually found local church fellowships with which they felt more comfortable. Guinan and his wife eventually joined an independent Protestant church in Attleboro, Massachusetts, where they live.

Guinan, however, has been forwarding news of recent developments, including Kriete's letter, to interested parties. He said leaders in the Rhode Island church so
far have shown a willingness to confess wrongdoings, but not an eagerness to repent.

Churches in at least a dozen large U.S. cities have issued online apologies. Some congregations have sponsored open forums in which members may express
frustrations. Others, however, are ordering members not to read accounts on the Internet.

Moving on requires more than rhetoric, says Carol Giambalvo, who has conducted more than 60 interventions for families connected with ICOC. Her organization, the American Family Foundation in Naples, Florida, is a nonprofit research center and educational organization founded in 1979.

"I know people who will never attend a bona fide church again because they have been so bashed by this group," she said.

Erol Dogan of Vancouver, British Columbia, is encouraged. Although he left the ICOC 12 years ago, Dogan said he has received five phone calls of apology from members of the church since the recent changes.

Ronald Enroth, author of Churches That Abuse, told CT it is extremely difficult for an aberrant Christian group with such an authoritarian structure to move into mainstream evangelicalism.

"It remains to be seen whether the International Churches of Christ, with its remaining power structure, can truly make major changes," Enroth said. "If it does so, it won't happen overnight."

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information. June 2003, Vol. 47, No. 6, Page 23

One way to look at it...
Kip generated some Great PR for himself in the Boston Globe article. How is this possible? Is he just a clever -- no, ingenious -- charismatic leader? Actually Kip uses a persuasive technique called NLP in his preaching, and specifically, in the Boston Globe article. Don't believe it? Read on.

The following is from a discussion on Kip's use of NLP techniques. The article is modified, but can be found on ICC DF.

In the Globe article, the reporter asks Kip:

REPORTER: "Kip, are you staging a comeback?"
KIP: "We're praying that God will lead us to a new ministry. You might say, 'What is that?' I don't know."

The reporter directly asks Kip if he is making a "comeback." A simple "Yes" or "No" question. Right? So why can't Kip simply offer a simple "Yes" or "No" answer?

On hearing the question, you might think, "Ha ha, yeah, Kip wants a coup," or "Kip wants his money back," etc.

Kip's response, however stops that thought process. With one sentence, he gets the reporter -- and the reader -- to think that the "comeback" = "new ministry." He then buries that sidetrack by having the reader ask himself: "What is that?"

By then you've forgotten all about your own thoughts. Very tricky. Further, Kip also quickly answers the question himself. "I don't know!" Making your amnesia complete. "I don't know" -- a great, mysterious phrase to use, so you'll think the force behind everything is God -- not KIP! -- whose intention no one, not even Kip, knows.

As Kip always has, he implies it is the unseen, unknown God inspiring the events and history of the ICC, not him, just a humble preacher from Indianapolis.

This is an NLP technique, called an "embedded command." You lead -- or "plant" as others might more cynically say -- a certain thought, emotion, or way of thinking into the mind of another person. It is so subtle, that the opinion becomes fact, beneath the person’s conscious awareness.

NLP is short for Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a technique that uses language patterns, repitions, phrasing, etc. to manipulate the way a person thinks about an issue, idea, etc. being discussed. It is used again and again by Kip in his quotes from the Boston Globe article.

Much of NLP codifies techniques that salesmen have been using for centuries. In the article, Kip uses some of these techniques to lead the conversation. This is done through implying certain assumptions. For example, in the ICC we often command people to come to church without seeming to do so, by not allowing them the room to say "No."

Typical example: "When you come to church on Sunday...." vs. "Would you like to come?"

The purpose of using embedded commands is to move your target’s mind in the direction you want it to go without seeming to be intruding or ordering in any way.

Another Globe example.

REPORTER: "Kip, are you staging a comeback?"
KIP: "We're praying that God will lead us to a new ministry... "

Here Kip is indirectly talking to ICC members. You can easily replace "we" with "you", making this an embedded command for ICC members, if not the reporter.

Notice how Kip answers the reporter's question in a way so that both now and later on, people will view the events of Kip's coming coup as not being generated by the man Kip, but by God himself. The article itself is helping lay the groundwork for the Kip-engineered coup that is to follow. Why else would Kip break his long-standing unwillingness to talk to reporters?

One anti-ICC minister and exit counselor Kyle Degge spoke at a L.A. ex-ICC support group and reported that Kip has secretly studied, mastered, and employed --and has secretly had his leaders also master and employ NLP techniques to "advance the ministry" -- without ever informing the rank 'n file members that he/his staff was actually doing so.

Indeed, Kip's First Principles, Kip's past speeches, Kip's past writings, etc. are chock full of NLP. Anyone who wants to do the work to identify and ferret them out, has their work cut out for them!

The idea that Kip "doesn't know" what he is doing is absurd.

Spread the word.

-----------------------------------
More Background on NLP

NLP first emerged in the early '70's as the brainchild of Richard Bandler and John Grinder. Cult expert Steve Hassan makes reference to NLP in his book COMBATTING CULT MIND CONTROL, but does not believe the NLP organization itself to be a cult. While studying under Bandler and Grinder, Hassan became alarmed as he saw that that NLP techniques--- codified and made available by Grinder/Bandler---were being misused by various cult leaders to control the minds of their followers.

Tony Robbins' PERSONAL POWER infomercials and seminars are all based on NLP. After studying NLP, Robbins crafted his own mass market version of NLP. (NLP purists deride Robbins' version as a fast-food version of NLP.) Ross Jeffries applies NLP to the task of "getting laid".

Tens of thousands of companies have sent their sales staff through NLP training, resulting in millions of slick-talking, highly-successfull salesman hawking their wares around the country while using these phenomenally potent techniques---ICC Evangelists were among those trained in NLP.

Responsible NLP practitioners will say the following:

To employ these techniques without the informed consent of the people you use them on---as Kip & the ICC does---is monumentally unethical, and psychologically destructive.

The ICC has employed NLP in the following areas:

1) one-on-one persuasion (hypnosis)
2) group persuasion (4-on-1, etc.)
3) mass meetings (mass hypnosis)
4) self-hypnosis.

For example, NLP teaches laughter creates a "blank slate" and a relaxed state in the person's mind. That's why the ICC sermons all start with a stand-up comic-like schtick, so the audience's mind is "blanked", their mental defenses are put down, and their critical thinking is suspended.

Repetitive singing also creates the same effect.

NLP is the "dirty secret", and the the missing piece of the ICC puzzle, the one that none of the sites----REVEAL, TOLC, RIGHT-CYBER-UP, this forum---has ever dealt with in detail. It's a huge reason for the ICC's phenomenal success and growth.

Interesting side note: NLP is also used by Landmark/est, Scientology, and the motivational speaker guy on Mr. Personality.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/ICCdiscussion/messages?msg=6388.1 "Kip's uses of NLP in the B.Globe Article"

---------------------------------
AN NLP EXPERT'S RESPONSE

I ran your thoughts by an expert in NLP who trains others in using these techniques. This is what he had to say.

"The writer is correct in that NLP codifies everyday communication patterns. The purpose of codifying is so that communication can be broken down to the smallest component for analysis. There are many reasons why analysis might be desired.

The point is, NLP simply codifies what people do/say. I am immediately concerned that the writer does not understand NLP by way of the explanantion of a mind control trick or manipulation. NLP just codifies -or puts labels on - what people do naturally. This allows the analysis of conversation as has been done with Kip. Having said that, people who are aware of the techniques can purposefully structure communication to be persuasive. Much of that last sentence actually uses hypnotic language patterns. A naturally persuasive person would use the same techniques even if they were unaware of NLP. In fact, we all do unconsciously all the time.

I wonder what might be said of Jesus/ the Bible if we were to analyse his communication the same way? Eg. John1:1, Mk 4:11-12, Most of the parables, The entire book of Revelation.

The inference the writer makes is that NLP is sinister and Kip is aware of it and using it. NLP is not sinister - it just allows the analysis of what sinister people say or do. Whether Kip is NLP trained, I don't know. His analysis is correct, though. But remember, we do all use this stuff unconsciously (and sometimes on purpose) ourselves, too, you know. Just think of a time you have argued to get your own way. Everything we all say is "choked full of NLP" if we want to scrutinise.

For what its worth, Kip is naturally very persuasive. I am not surprised he said what he said. I personally wonder if he is not a little....deluded...loony. As if God only works through him. Remember all the "I am a prophet of God" stuff? Didn't Joseph Smith say similar stuff? Wasn't the Morman church founded on this stuff?"

http://forums.delphiforums.com/ICCdiscussion/messages?msg=6388.12 "Kip's uses of NLP in the B.Globe Article"

The Boston Globe article on Kip and the ICC is up on the web and in the paper!!
http://boston.com/dailyglobe2/137/metro/A_Christian_community_falters+.shtml

A Christian community falters
Loss of leader, governing body hurts group formed in Boston

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff, 5/17/2003

It was one of the fastest-growing and most controversial churches in America, banned as a cult from dozens of college campuses while boasting 135,000 members worldwide. Its followers were known for spending their free time recruiting new members and waiting on doorsteps at 4 in the morning, hoping to persuade those who had ''fallen away'' to come back to the fold. But now the central organization of the International Churches of Christ, a strict religious body founded in Boston, is collapsing.

Thomas ''Kip'' McKean, its charismatic founder, has stepped down. Its world governing body has dissolved and dozens of local church leaders have resigned or been fired, in part because churches can no longer afford to pay their salaries.

Behind the story of a teetering church empire is the tale of the autocratic visionary who built it and his independent-minded daughter, now a Harvard senior, whose decision to leave the church sparked turmoil in the already troubled group.

''It caused her father to have to step aside and it caused the group to reexamine itself,'' said Michelle Campbell, executive director of REVEAL, a nonprofit organization that provides information and support to former members of the church. ''It was sort of inevitable that Kip would fall. The standards he set, no one could meet. Not his children, not even himself. The very thing that he created came back and bit him.''

McKean, who was forced to resign his post because of his own rule that church leaders must step down if their children leave the church, said in a telephone interview that he participated in his own demise.

''I think I hurt people's feelings in some areas,'' said McKean, who still belongs to the church. ''I do think there is some bitterness and some hurt.''

Years ago, few could have imagined the church without McKean, a wiry, gregarious self-described ''prophet'' whose followers filled the Boston Garden -- or without his daughter, Olivia, a straight-A student, a promising junior tennis player and beauty pageant contestant whose life successes filled the pages of the church's many publications.

''They are like celebrities,'' said Jim Procanik, a former church leader, of McKean's three children, Olivia, Sean, and Eric. ''It would be like the president's kids. They had to be the best at everything.''

The son of a strict Navy admiral, McKean began preaching in the 1970s as a chemistry major at Florida State University. At a time when other students were partying, he led Bible studies in fraternity houses and gave inspiring religious speeches to crowds. McKean went on to study at a Baptist seminary, but grew disillusioned and dropped out after ministers criticized his strict interpretation of the Bible.

In 1976 he married a fellow Florida University student and took a job as a campus minister at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill., working with one of a network of 15,000 autonomous Churches of Christ. Hundreds of college students flocked to his congregation, but he quickly became controversial. In 1979, months after a local newspaper explored accusations that he used coercive tactics to pressure people to join and donate money to the church, McKean moved to a church in Lexington.

There, McKean constructed a new kind of church based on a hierarchy some have likened to an Amway sales pyramid and others have compared to the military. Every church member has a superior called a ''discipler'' to hold him or her accountable for sins. Known as the Boston Church of Christ or the ''Boston Movement,'' the church attracted tens of thousands of members from all backgrounds, who later moved on to form the Manhattan Church of Christ, the Chicago Church of Christ, and hundreds of other churches, spreading to London, Sydney, Moscow, Nairobi, and other cities. Wildly ambitious, McKean's goal was a church in every sizable US city and in every country within a few decades. But the system had a dark side: Those who failed to give 10 percent of their income or who couldn't recruit enough new members were publicly humiliated, according to former members. Those who questioned authority were shunned or kicked out.

''Any major life decisions would have to be run through your discipler,'' said Procanik, who led churches in Boston and Los Angeles before quitting the church three years ago. ''Vacations, going home. . . . If you are spending too much time with old friends, that would be frowned upon, unless you are recruiting them. All your free time is accounted for. Dating has to be pretty much approved. You can only date people in the group.''

Some say McKean grew more uncompromising over time. In the late 1980s, he officially broke with the mainline Churches of Christ, preaching that his church was the only true church. Thousands of his members were rebaptized and all were told that outsiders, even other mainline Church of Christ members, were destined for hell.

As dynamic as a rock star and as hard-driving as a drill sergeant, he required meticulous record-keeping of baptisms, attendance records, and money tithed, and he erupted into anger when the numbers failed to grow, according to former and current leaders.

''It was not just like a church; it was like a corporation,'' said Rick Torres , a former leader at the Manhattan Church of Christ. ''If your numbers were going negative, they would come up with a reason that God is not with you.'' McKean could be generous, buying expensive clocks, artwork, and dinners for his closest followers. He knew how to lavish praise from a pulpit. He knew how to make you feel you were the only person in a room. But he also knew how to humiliate you. Former leaders describe him as a man who would throw things and yell if he lost a Ping-Pong game, a preacher who might ask you to repent if you failed to work your way through a crowd to greet him.

Thousands left the church, going on to seek out support groups or contribute to the half-dozen websites that post negative information about the group. Still, others stayed, hoping for reform or unable to leave.

''A lot of the upper-level leaders who I was friends with had tons of doubts about the group, and would even joke about it being a cult,'' said Procanik. ''They knew there were serious problems, but they felt trapped financially. They had kids, and a house. . . . They had no other job skills. No other church would hire them.''

In the early 1990s, McKean moved his family to Los Angeles to build the church there and enrolled his three children in Brentwood School, which currently costs $19,500 a year. There, they became academic achievers constantly spotlighted on Kingdom Network News, the church's official media arm.

In church literature, the date of Olivia's baptism is listed as a milestone, alongside the opening of the first church in Moscow and the first urban ministry:

''First second-generation disciple born, raised, and baptized in the Movement,'' it reads.

''I coached Eric's basketball team, and the Lord blessed us with the championship,'' McKean wrote in the KNN newsletter. ''All three have made straight A's this year and have been active in a tennis academy where they have reached out to and baptized their coach.''

Teased as ''cult kids'' by the same peers they were forced to invite to church, they spent their Friday nights -- known as teen nights at the church -- in another spotlight. They received special treatment and were envied for their lofty positions.

McKean let his children know that their successes were ammunition in his war for the Lord.

''I'm convinced,'' McKean told followers in Washington, D.C., in 2000, ''that when a teen falls away [from the church] . . . there are some sinful dynamics in that family, and that family, that mom and dad, need to repent.''

But Olivia had just left for Harvard University, and she was already tasting the freedom of life away from home. For a while, she attended the Boston Church of Christ and even gave dynamic speeches to crowds of hundreds. Although the church paid for her discipler, a young woman from Los Angeles, to move to Cambridge with her to guide her spiritual growth, by January 2001, Olivia stopped coming to church and told her friends she no longer wanted to be a member.

''She finally just stood up and said, `I'm sick of the whole thing; I'm leaving,' '' said one former church leader who knew her personally. Her father ''was pretty brokenhearted.''

Olivia McKean declined to comment for this article. But her father acknowledged that mistakes he made as a leader and a father led to his departure in November from the church's leadership.

''I am very, very sorry,'' he wrote in a resignation letter posted on the church website. ''My most significant sin is arrogance -- thinking I am always right. . . . I take full responsibility for how my sins have spiritually weakened and embittered many in our churches. I also take full responsibility for the spiritual condition of my family.''

In a recent interview, he said he and his daughter have overcome their differences.

''She's doing awesome,'' he said. ''We're very well-connected. She has no bad feelings toward the church. . . . We're cranking on as a family.''

McKean's resignation, pushed by some who had long resented his leadership style, opened the floodgates of demands for reform, including a widely circulated letter from one leader who charged the church with ''coercive giving,'' violating individual liberties, and inflating its growth rates. Dozens of leaders apologized for their sins, and the central body that governed the church dissolved, leaving churches across the country to declare autonomy. Financial problems due to reduced donations prompted massive firings, and missions abroad are declaring that lack of funds might shut them down.

''We are going through a challenging time,'' said Gordon Ferguson, an elder in the Boston Church of Christ. ''Some of the critiques we have received are valid. We are trying to reexamine things we have done and not lose the good things.''

Now the future of the International Churches of Christ is as uncertain as the future of its founder, who is planning to release a new letter to the world congregation in the coming weeks and who has been attending whirlwind meetings with church officials and old friends.

Asked if he is staging a come-back, McKean said, ''We're praying that God will lead us to a new ministry. You might say, `What is that?' I don't know.''

Farah Stockman can be reached at fstockman@globe.com.

This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 5/17/2003.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

About article in Boston Globe and Kip's letter -- has been postponed til next Sunday. We got pushed back... for a Catholic Church article (?!!)

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE:

I just received this email from a friend who was interviewed by the Globe--"FYI, just talked to the Boston Globe reporter and the ICoC article will not run this Sunday because it was preempted by an article on the Catholic Church. Hopefully, the ICoC article will run next week.I'll notify you when I know for sure."

Sorry, I'm sure the suspense is killing a lot of you. I actually think this is better, as I know the reporter is getting a ton of information and this will give her more time to process it. Perhaps Kip will make his move or his letter will surface before the newspaper article comes out.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/ICCdiscussion/messages?msg=6179.321 "Extra! Extra! Kip's Comeback"

from Keith Bonner (an ICC member)

Hello All!
FYI The supposed BG article has been postponed, and more info. is being gathered before it is published. Still no concrete evidence of Kip's letter. I must admit that the ICC forum has been very informative, although the bulk of the info. should be no surprise to anyone who has been around for awhile. Still, be careful with the info. There is so much of it that is speculation. If there is no back up, ie, published confirmed letters, direct source instead of secondary, tertiary, etc., I would wait for something solid. I am concerned about Harlem and the Bronx. Their ignorance will truly hurt them. Still, if we are not strong, we cannot help anyone else. I have been focusing on my relationship with God, digging deeper into my Bible, and trying to encourage others to do the same. If we all stick together, and put God first, none of this madness will affect us one way or another. It's the body of Christ that I am in love with, not the organization. With or without the church's cooperation, we will follow God's format, and they will just have to look for some other suckers to pay their salaries. God will hook us up. He always has. Let's keep our eyes and ears open.
Take Care!

Yes, the writer got MUCH more than she bargained for. I know of another major publication writing an article about the ICC, that was also pushed back.

...Anyway, the reporter reports being happy about this because unbeknownst to her, she got way more than she bargained for and is now chasing down leads on latest developments. Its supposed to be out next Sunday.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/ICCdiscussion/messages?msg=6226.2 "Where is the article"

RELEVANT HISTORICAL LINKS:
ICC DF: Extra! Extra! Kip's Comeback