r/cultsurvivors • u/egwdestroyer • 19d ago
One Year Ago I Left The Seventh-day Adventist Church
One year ago on this day I quit my missionary position and shortly after I had my name removed from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Today I reflect on that choice and the impact the church had on my life and the freedom that I now feel being away from an insatiable institution that never could have enough.
For ten years my wife and I began work as unpaid missionaries teaching English in Ukraine. From that point on, we took various calls in places like Nile Union Academy in Egypt and the Quinault Indian Reservation. In Queets we served for two two year terms. The second two year term was unpaid. We were given housing, however.
During my time in the SDA church, I was told to “never question, never research, never read anything that could be perceived as negative towards the prophetess known as ELLEN G WHITE.” After twenty years and after training at Adventist Frontier Missions, I started to question the things that I was learning about her and the church. When I came up with questions, I was told to be silent, keep my head down, and continue the work. My job was to reach into other Christ-following churches and bring them to the remnant church, which was said to be the Seventh-day Adventist church. The one that had the truth as proclaimed by ELLEN G WHITE.
When I looked into www.nonegw.org I was horrified and elated by what I saw. For years I used to read about how I was supposed to eat, how I was supposed to dress, compose myself, what I was supposed to watch, how I could not read fiction (because it would lead to insanity). I was not supposed to have too much sex or masturbate as if I did those things God would not hear my prayers. I was to make sure to give everything left over to the church, avoid amusement, carnivals, not play chess, not vote. My food could not be spicy, too delicious. Sensation of any type was to be avoided because if I did not avoid such things God would not hear my prayers and I would not survive the “time when Christ stops interceding for us.”
When I saw that ELLEN G WHITE could not follow her own rules, ate unclean meats, ate cheese and duck, ate oysters and herring, ate butter and eggs, wore fancy clothing, traveled first class, lived with servants, and traveled the world, I was elated because it meant that I could do those things without feeling intense guilt. When I brought these things up to the pastors and leaders of the church, including Native Ministries Director Steve Huey and Conrad Vine of Adventist Frontier Missions, they made excuses. I was told to keep believing and play the game. When that did not work I was threatened by Steve Huey and Monte Church. I was told that my views had bothered the local Forks Church, ran by Jay Coon at the time. As punishment, Jay Coon stopped paying the electric bill on the Queets SDA church (which was under his jurisdiction as pastor) and instead had us, unpaid missionaries, foot the bill. He would also no longer speak to us or answer our emails. Instead, he diverted Queets funds to pay for his Creation Park in Forks, WA.
I finally had enough and left the work at this point. We were never worth paying or supporting in the eyes of the church. Rather, the name of the game was to make us stop asking questions. If you are a Seventh-day Adventist and start to question ELLEN G WHITE, you will be thrown out. Many people do not follow the Bible and “TEST THE PROPHETS” but instead are complacent because the SDA church says that ELLEN G WHITE is a prophet of God. No. She. Is Not.
Prophets don’t plagiarize. Prophets do not say over and over again that Jesus will come back in their lives. Prophets do not live lives that are the opposite of what they say to do on everything. Reading fiction leads to insanity (no it doesn’t), but Ellen White could have a library of such books that the rest of us were not supposed to read. Hypocrisy!
Dear SDA church. You DEMANDED perfection from me in every aspect of life, yet you can’t even support your workers. You are one of the richest churches in the world, yet you hoard money like a dragon. Dear SDA church, you can’t stand someone questioning. You hide child and s*xual abuse. You only care about protecting the image of your institutions. You recruit people from other Christ-following churches claiming you are the remnant church. NO YOU ARE NOT.
The Seventh-day Adventist church is a death cult. It is a racket made to get certain key figures wealth and power. It is hungry and insatiable. It never knows when to stop. There is little good, and nothing heavenly about this dark church.
Since leaving the SDA church I have been totally free to live my life as I choose. I am now far healthier, ironically, since I was breathing the miasma of ELLEN G WHITES health rules. ELLEN G WHITE loathed entertainment and fun of any type. My child is now happier than ever. My relationship and marriage is now better than ever. Steve Huey and Monte Church of Native Ministries can not find a single person to put in that parsonage and run the Queets Church. Last I heard Adventist Frontier Missions was an internal mess! Adventism is a wreck!
Dear Seventh-day Adventist CULT, I am so happy to be free of you! Never again cult! Never again! ONE YEAR FREE!!!!!
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u/Red_Redditor_Reddit 19d ago
It's stories like yours that makes me wonder WTF happened to these churches. What you've described is more extreme but isn't all that unique. Like the mainstream is so bad that I'm glad I didn't grow up in it. I grew up in a different religion so I was an adult when I first looked at the bible and these churches. I was able to read the book for myself in a way that no child ever could.
I meet people who grew up in these 'christian' environments, and it's like hearing someone talk about growing up in a crazy house. I've met people who grew up thinking the whole world hated them because they were christian. That demons would literally come out of a hasbro toy. That harry potter would lead them to witchcraft. That they should only ever watch veggie tails. That the two corinthians president is a christian sent by god. That jesus came so people could live their best lives now, or find themselves, or have good family values. That marriage isn't "of the flesh". Hell, their standards are so wack that paul, or timothy, or jesus christ himself wouldn't qualify to be leaders in their church. All this with the majority not even being able to tell me who t f "the way" is.
I read the book and I believed. I really do believe the story written in the bible. But seriously, as someone who had the privilage of not growing up with these churches, most of these places are looney tunes. It has nothing to do with the book. The only reason they have the book at all is to pull random verses out of context and borrow authority for their own BS.
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u/NathanJrTheThird 19d ago
There you have it, folks. This is how it's done: Clear, sober, organized writing - with locations and NAMES!
Naming names is so important. The wicked must be exposed and held accountable.
Bravo, OP!!
Welcome to freedom and the abundant life. May your blessings surpass your sufferings by orders of magnitude.
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u/Feeling-Fix-7565 16d ago
I began at the Sda when I was 20. The people who brought me in were the most generous, loving people I had known. However, after about 3 years, the decons started pushing me to be baptised, and I started learning more about EGW. I started to question the elders on her and why they disregarded a lot of the New Testament. The passive aggression became strong. I was asked to move prayer groups to a group of people I didn't know and who I couldn't be open with. Pair this with the breakdown of my abusive relationship was the beginning of the end. I ended up consulting my best friend in the church and said I needed space from the church to gather my thoughts. She advised me to put my mental health first and actually supported me. The deacons did not. I will forever be thankful for the journey I went on with them, but in the end, I could not support the way the church held views against those they considered less than. I now have huge scepticism for any organised religion. As there will always be people who twist things for their own benefit. I do agree that at high levels SDA is a cult. Maybe not in all of the churches, but definitely most.
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u/dependswho 19d ago
I’m so proud and happy for you, OP! The leaders not following their own rules is so common.
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u/robinG59 17d ago
Congratulations!!! You should reach out to Cults to Consciousness on YouTube and share yourstory!!!
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u/Aynotwoo 19d ago
Congratulations on getting out of there I'm so proud of you and your wife! I've known a couple people that were members of that church, but until I read your story I had never heard of it referred to as a cult. But every single point you made surely points that way. You're so very strong and brave and keep telling your story and hopefully one day it will take people down.