>Her cousin recently moved to London to join the ICC.

You don't just pick up and move to join a church somewhere. That sounds culty as fuck. I mean "cult" in the social-movements sense, quite apart from any theological/doctrinal questions. They are by many accounts a high-demand, high-control group. They control people by exploiting their religious anxiety, and it is a mistake to think those vulnerable people can be talked out of their entanglement on primarily religious grounds. The first thing to do is to limit their exposure if at all possible.

Former member of the ICC here.

I understand what you mean about not experiencing the bad things Every church is different and is run by different people. Same goes for the positives. i.e. members of the LA church experiences different things than the Chicago Church and vice versa.

I was in it for a long time and made it high enough in leadership to have a perspective that the “regular member” would have.

What made me leave was the fact that “stepping up” is an inevitability that is expected of every member. For all intents and purposes, it’s a startup church that needs its every member to “step up” in some capacity. Whether it’s serving as an usher, singer, mercy ambassador, kids kingdom, discipler, Bible talk leader, then going a little higher deacon of something, evangelist/WML etc. it’s a need that needs to be filled and somehow someway you will be “encouraged” to step into these roles and refusal to do so means “you have weak faith” or that “you need to trust God more”. A small example is leaders meetings after services. Its purpose is to have a meeting between the leaders but more often than not people are encouraged to come so that they could learn how to become one.

It’s also easy to overlook the big picture when it comes to the abuse and stuff particularly when you don’t experience it. However the reasoning of “Oh that’s not happening in my section of the church” doesn’t negate the fact that it has happened and is happening elsewhere. I know in your church (as a whole), you condemn other churches like the Catholic Church as a whole for having priests molest children (just a more specific reason - there are other reasons of course like their doctrine). There may be a small percentage of that church that go through that but it is condemned as a whole. If you follow, what I’m saying is it’s difficult to justify the whole if parts of it is messed up.

It is difficult to see especially from the inside the perspective of what it means to leave. Inside the church, people are told leaving means choosing sin and going to hell and having lukewarm faith.

It’s a difficult choice to make and you may just read these as opinion but I’ll play. Here are scriptures to mull over.

“I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭BSB‬‬ -you have to be fully committed or not at all for your faith’s sake. Your faith in God that is, not in the church. But obviously, in this church, faith in God and faith in the church is synonymous. Which in that line of thinking, if you doubt the church you’re already doubting God. I don’t agree. You made Jesus Lord not Kip not your leader not the person who baptized you. This is the faith that needs to be solid - faith in God.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭BSB‬‬ -with knowledge of the bad things happening in the church as a whole, it compromises the idea that this is the only church or the one true church. As much as your little section of the wall is unharmed, it’s affected by the whole though sad as it may seem.

“You were running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth? Such persuasion does not come from the One who calls you. A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭BSB‬‬ -it is inevitable. The wrongs will eventually seep through the whole thing. The corruption that exists in the small section of the whole will eventually affect the whole itself.

My advice is to dig deep in your faith - in God - and see what you need to do in order to protect said faith. It really boils down to that anyway. It’s you and God and everything else is secondary to that.

I wish you the best regardless of your decision. I hope your faith can stand the test that is before you. And like anything, this too shall pass. Feel free to dm me if you have questions