2020
StStory One: “They put me in harm's way. Xenos leadership needs to learn to stay in their own lane.”
I was in one home church or another for roughly 10 years. While a member, I was directly confronted on issues concerning both my own and a parent's mental health.
On more than one occasion I was spoken to about taking antidepressants. I can't remember the reasoning and a whole lot of detail Major Depression tends to do that, you have permanent memory problems. I went off my antidepressants for several years, letting my depression get a nice and solid foothold. I came into Xenos with depression, I will own that. Pressuring me to stop taking my antidepressants for so long, it did me no favors. When I was placed in partial hospitalization at Harding I had "drifted" away sufficiently Harding counselors could pull me back from the edge.
I'm saving the best for last! My mother has been diagnosed, and rediagnosed with Antisocial Personality and Narcissistic Personality Disorders. I tried to explain she is dangerous; my mother's social worker said she is dangerous, cut all ties. Not good enough for my home church leaders. It was only after I invited my mother to a Sunday meeting, my mother sufficiently scared the shit out of my home church leader, THEN they backed off. Really? This was before I had my bout with suicidal ideation, I still wanted to live at that point. They put me in harm's way. Xenos leadership needs to learn to stay in their own lane.
Story Two: “Xenos is scared of what this website and the article in the Columbus Dispatch has done to their reputation. So badly that they're changing their name to "Dwell". Keep it up. I pray for the day where Xenos was only a memory and it's no longer able to victimize and manipulate vulnerable people like me.“
Hi there. I'm currently a high schooler in Xenos, however a friend and I are planning on leaving due to their treatment of both her and another member who just left for both being LGBT. While I haven't been in Xenos for very long, I can see why they get their reputation as a cult. It's because they are one. A cult forces group think on an individual, destroying any sense of individuality a new member has in the process. Their secretive prayer groups make me uncomfortable as there have to be more groups that I don't know about. My friend was even specially invited to a dinner with the leaders and the members of the high school group that are deemed as being the most devoted. This secretive behavior and the manipulation I've seen is irreparable, and I can't look at them in the same light. I'm not worried about leaving. I'm smart enough to understand that I don't need Xenos to follow God. I am deeply saddened to know that the friendships I worked so hard to build are going to be for nothing, but I'd rather maintain my individuality. When I first started going, the leaders would always find a way to corner me to discuss how I felt about religion and God to try and push me into accepting "God's Grace" into my life. The leaders push the students to bringing friends out, which I've been incredibly lucky to both not have the courage to ask friends to come out most of the time (mainly because of my anxiety), and the few times I did, they couldn't make it out. I'm writing this with the plan of discussing my thoughts and doubts about the church and its beliefs, and then my friend and I are saying goodbye. That's it. This website really opened my eyes, and encouraged me into doing my own research into what a cult actually is, and I can say, without a doubt, that Xenos is a cult. The work this website is doing is God's work, not Xenos's emotional, spiritual, and financial manipulation of vulnerable people. Xenos exists to take advantage of people and preaches beliefs I cannot be associated with because of my own morals. Thanks to this website, I've been able to convince a close friend of mine who's also in the high school group to leave with me, even though they've been in it longer. I'll say it again, you're doing God's work.
Also, Xenos is scared of what this website and the article in the Columbus Dispatch has done to their reputation. So badly that they're changing their name to "Dwell". Keep it up. I pray for the day where Xenos was only a memory and it's no longer able to victimize and manipulate vulnerable people like me.
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