Central Church of Christ in Huntsville Alabama

What is up with these people at the Central Church of Christ in Huntsville Alabama. My son was told by adult members that we are not Christians. Some BS about we have to be a member of this church! Telling children this sort of crap is wrong. I had to explain to my son that there are a lot of wackos that want to control people by any means.

Check out the cult awareness and information center listing, you will find the central church of Christ of Huntsville AL listed
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Rick wrote:

What is up with these people at the Central Church of Christ in Huntsville Alabama. My son was told by adult members that we are not Christians. Some BS about we have to be a member of this church! Telling children this sort of crap is wrong. I had to explain to my son that there are a lot of wackos that want to control people by any means.

The "Crossroads Church of Christ" philosophy was expunge from just about all the local C of C's in Huntsville in the mid to late 70's. A Nashville pub. The Gospel Advocate nationally gave a heads up for local church members to lookout for signs of crossroad philosophy. Central C of C was the local holdout of this group they went underground for a couple decades but like poisonous mushrooms their misguided philosophy needs to be brought back to light of truth. This cancer caused a split of Mayfair in the late 70's. However, the church never got rid of the elders that brought in the Crossroads program or had them answer the charges of lying brought against them during the coverup. Wealthy intrests seemed to take presidence over truth and a wonderfuul minister that would not go w/ the program was ousted. I don't know if Mayfair's meteoric expansion (which mirrors Gainsville's Crossroads) is still in the program like Central but many of the same people are in charge.

I was in the Church of Christ in the 80's as a very young man. They end up brainwashing you as they try and take over your very soul. A friend of mine in another CofC church quit after being summoned before 3 elders of the church who kept yelling at him "you will obey". Another friend of mine was made to feel guilty for going away on a vacation instead of doing jobs in her time off for the CofC. These people are very dangerous. Violence is inevitable somewhere.

I have asked about this institution and found that you are correct Charles. These practices are pretty odd. I think we can understand that anyone can follow any faith that they want but to try to force it on others, like my children, is not only rude but also disturbing. Strange that a cult like this is right here in Huntsville Alabama, then again, maybe not. Brainwashing. I really expected to see this only in the movies. So we will avoid this Central Church of Christ group like a disease. Thank you for your response. We have spoken to our children in length about how to handle this situation.

My boss is a member of that church. She spends her time working for the church all day and charges it to contract defense funds here at redstone. She is always trying to get anyone to join central church of christ and uses federal property to conduct bible studies for her followers on a regular basis. We can only wait till shes promoted to somewhere else and we can get a normal person in her place but until then its to hell with the rest of us.

Rick wrote:

What is up with these people at the Central Church of Christ in Huntsville Alabama. My son was told by adult members that we are not Christians. Some BS about we have to be a member of this church! Telling children this sort of crap is wrong. I had to explain to my son that there are a lot of wackos that want to control people by any means.

BS is right, that is typical 'Church of Christ' dogma, at least in this region. It's good that your son brought that to your attention, you should have known it before you subjected to that doctrine.
The worse 'CoC' dogma, is that the blood atonement is reached only by water baptism in a certified 'CoC' pool and not by grace through faith alone.

I was browsing around on the web and stumbled across these comments. As an active member at Central since spring of 1989, I am quite surprised at some of the these comments. From what I understand, there were some questionable practices in the past, some of which are addressed here. To set a few things straight, Central and the Crossroads/Boston/ICOC group parted ways in the late 1980's. Many of the practices which they taught are generally rejected and are a fairly sensitive subject with some still. Those who still believe that Central is involved in this group are mistaken, and I would recommend they track down facts firsthand and in a thorough fashion.(Note about that cult link - check out the asterisk next to the Central Church of Christ name, note the editor's note. Has something changed?)

Is it possible someone at Central might suggest that blood atonement that is salvation is found through baptism? That I certainly believe! Do I believe that brainwashing was involved? By no means! If anyone believes that people from Central use abusive practices of any sort, I would recommend that they confront the abusive person first hand. If they can't get any headway there, then I would recommend approaching the leadership of the church. If that is unreasonable, then I would be willing to meet with someone online or in person to help figure out what problems there may be, and if necessary confront them.

Now let me add, that having an opinion different than yours is not cultish, brainwashing, or abusive, even if that viewpoint is shared. If someone is interested in why I believe that "water baptism" is so important, I would be glad to discuss it, but I would not force it on anyone.

Lastly, I doubt that you would find many if any at Central who would suggest the use of federal government computers at the work site outside of the acceptable use policy is okay. Please consider folks are generally imperfect and imperfect.

God bless you all!

There must be something to hide. Looks like it must be real if a representative has to submit a counter claim. Caught you!

That's an interesting conclusion. It would seem reasonable to be willing to answer questions if there is nothing to hide. I believe the exercise of the right to remain silent is available in order to prevent self-incrimination. This is the first time I have observed someone impute guilt simply because someone was willing to answer a question.

Based on the lack of a meaningful response up to now, I assume that no one has a real desire to have a meaningful discussion. Like most folks I do have better things to do than trade flame bait. I'll leave an email address (JamieAtCentral@gmail.com) for anyone who may want to drop a line.

If someone want to entertain a discussion then I'll post again; otherwise, I'll just sit quietly off to the sideline.

I've never been to this specific Church but when I was a child, I was taken to a COC in Moore's Mill and I remember the preacher saying that if you were overweight for any reason you were going to hell because gluttony was a sin and that if you have nice things for yourself you are going to hell because that money should have gone to the Church and greed is a sin. It scared me to death because my mother was overweight because of health problems and we had just got a pool for our backyard and I had nightmares about my parents being dragged off to hell for weeks on end. I'm not saying this goes on in every COC but I know that it does happen in some of them.

Well that settles it. Mind control, fear, scolding members for spending money that was expected to go to the church, mental punishment, all the things necessary for a cult. Monsters.

Each church of Christ is independent and autonomous, so it may be difficult to make generalizations in each specific case. Men should not make rules beyond what Scriptures warrant. However, Jesus did say the gate is narrow and difficult (strict) is the way to life, while the way is broad to destruction (Matt 7:13-14. Also, Jesus said there will be religious people, who recognize Him as Lord, will be lost because they were deluded to go beyond what He authorized (Matt 7:21-23). As to who is a Christian and who is saved, this must be determined by a careful study and compliance with Christ's word and not our feelings.

Peace!

Rick, you sure seem hysterical and dramatic. I am not a member at Central, but Jamie's responses seem very reasoned and rational to me, while yours are fairly brimming with hatred. You don't seem to have factored in the possibility that your son either misunderstood, or misrepresented to you (with a view to siccing his drama-queen dad on someone) what was actually said to him. I imagine your son's school hates to see you coming, if you call anyone who disagrees with you a "monster". How silly.

I, having actually attended services at Central can say that those people I have dealt with at Central do have cult-like ways. Not only do they have a rather strange belief system, their ways of trying to persuade people to adopt their beliefs are a bit creepy.
I am in no way saying that the people at Central are bad people, I am merely suggesting that anyone who is thinking about attending their church services or bible studies should go into the situation knowing what they believe or they may run the risk of being led astray.

Steve wrote:

<quoted text>
BS is right, that is typical 'Church of Christ' dogma, at least in this region. It's good that your son brought that to your attention, you should have known it before you subjected to that doctrine.
The worse 'CoC' dogma, is that the blood atonement is reached only by water baptism in a certified 'CoC' pool and not by grace through faith alone.

Please do not paint every "church of Christ" with the same brush. Each is autonomous. However, if they are following the New Testament pattern of Salvation they ARE teaching the same water baptism that Peter did in Acts 2:38. One can read 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 to see how the gospel was enacted. The gospel is re-enacted in baptism as explained in Romans 6: 3-6. This is how one “obeys the gospel” and becomes a member of Christ’s church Ephesians 4:4-7. Many will believe (have faith) but will be lost because they do not follow God's will (obedient faith)Matthew 7:21. To reach Heaven we have to follow His commandments.

By the way, I’ve been raised in the church and have never heard of any certified coC pool. You can be baptized in any water with sufficient depth for immersion.

Please see www.whybaptism.com for some outstanding SCRIPTURAL information.

...rightly dividing the word of truth...2 Timothy 2:15

Steve wrote:

<quoted text>
BS is right, that is typical 'Church of Christ' dogma, at least in this region. It's good that your son brought that to your attention, you should have known it before you subjected to that doctrine.
The worse 'CoC' dogma, is that the blood atonement is reached only by water baptism in a certified 'CoC' pool and not by grace through faith alone.

The web address I meant to leave with you in my earlier post is www.whybaptism.org

Sorry for the confusion.

When joining a new department and meeting my new supervisor, I was asked to join the Central Church of Christ, which I politely declined.

I started experiencing a sense of avoidance and isolation between myself and department members. I find out that everyone there are members of the Central Church of Christ in Huntsville Alabama and that they view me as an outcast.

Every week there is a suggestion that my life at work would be better if I joined their church.

The work atmosphere is almost as if they are some kind of cult with statements like god this and god that.

This makes me feel uneasy and I wonder just what kind of people these are. I suppose it could be worse but I will not be suprised if these people end up like Waco Texas. Very extreem.

Dede Hamilton wrote:

When joining a new department and meeting my new supervisor, I was asked to join the Central Church of Christ, which I politely declined.
I started experiencing a sense of avoidance and isolation between myself and department members. I find out that everyone there are members of the Central Church of Christ in Huntsville Alabama and that they view me as an outcast.
Every week there is a suggestion that my life at work would be better if I joined their church.
The work atmosphere is almost as if they are some kind of cult with statements like god this and god that.
This makes me feel uneasy and I wonder just what kind of people these are. I suppose it could be worse but I will not be suprised if these people end up like Waco Texas. Very extreem.

If I were in your position I would be doing everything I could to find a new job. I wouldn't want to work in those conditions. Call me extreem if you like but for that matter I wouldn't want to work for a family member either.

I'm not saying that the "Central" folks are or are not extreme. I don't know. I admit I have in no way examined the facts associated with the Central chruch in Huntsville. What I am saying with certainty is that the church of Christ as established in Acts 2 is not a "cult" that anyone should fear.

A true church of Christ will speak where the Bible speaks (scripture-based) and REMAIN SILENT where the Bible is silent.

I wish cities in Alabama spent half as much on infrastructure and beautification (of roadways and such) as the religious crackpots do on their churches.