Church families pressured into tithing to the point of suicide
a lawsuit filed by five women in California
THE International Churches of Christ a racially diverse and theologically conservative nondenominational body of congregations Christians cooperating organizations, as well as their affiliated organizations, were accused in a lawsuit filed by five women in California of covering up child sexual abuse and pressuring members for money so much that some left the church and later committed suicide.
The five women include two sisters, Darleen Diaz, 33, and Bernice Perez, 31, as well as Ashley Ruiz, 31, Salud Gonzelez, 30, and Elena Peltola, 23. trial first reported by Rolling Stone.
The women alleged that ICOC, along with affiliates Hope Worldwide, Mercy Worldwide, the Church Christian international and the Church Christian International Society of the City of Angels, “indoctrinated” them and isolated them from the outside world while they were sexually exploited and manipulated by a “rigid” belief system.
Two church leaders, including founder Kip McKean and the estate of the late Charles “Chuck” Lucas, are also named as defendants in the lawsuit. The women further allege that churches and their leaders have created an “exploitative system that extracts all the value it can from members.”
Church members are obliged to pay 10% of their income to the church
Church members, according to the lawsuit, are required to pay 10 percent of their income to the church and also fund special mission trips twice a year until suicide and depression occur.
“If the tithing budget was not met, leaders or ‘disciples’ were required to contribute to the financial shortfall themselves, or members were required to locate the offending member who had not paid the tithing. tithing and sitting on their porch until they arrived home in an attempt to obtain their tithing funds before the end of Sunday evening,” the lawsuit states. “The pressure to conform to the rigid demands of the church was a source of anxiety and depression for many members. So much so that several ex-members committed suicide.
conversion quotas
Church leaders also allegedly imposed onerous recruitment requirements on followers who received conversion quotas in an effort to generate more tithing followers for the church.
In discussing their sexual abuse, the Diaz and Perez sisters, along with Ruiz, identified a man who is now a convicted pedophile, David Saracino, as abusing them at the same time. They claim the church did nothing to protect them from abuse.
They allege that Saracino would invite the children to his house to swim but as soon as they undressed “he told the girls they needed a bath and he took the opportunity to heavily caress their naked bodies while they were bathing,” the lawsuit explains.
The rest of this article is available via the Post source
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The article was written by: Leonardo Blair from christianpost.com
