Exposing Grace Fellowship Church - Davenport, IA

He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds. - Psalm 147:3

"Regrettably, it is not always possible "get through" to people already caught up in abusive churches. They do not see themselves as being manipulated, or in any danger of spiritual abuse. Hence, the frustration of parents, relatives, and friends who try to reach or "rescue" them. There are no easy solutions to this problem."

Ronald M. Enroth Churches That Abuse

"Some of us when we first were Christians were in circles, perhaps fundamentalist circles, some of you. Where there were all kinds of rules, and if you followed the rules, you were regarded as one of the elite, as a better Christian than your brethren. More holy. But the problem was they weren’t God’s rules, they were ascetic rules, don’t handle, don’t touch, don’t go, don’t see, don’t this, don’t that, things that God had not required, and things in the end of the day were of no value in helping you mortify your remaining sin. That was exactly what was going on in Colossae.”

Robert Paul Martin

"Legalists always believe themselves to possess a high view of God's law. In truth, they have a high view of their personal application of God's law which they equate with God's law. In so doing, they hypocritically 'void' the very law of God they claim to revere (Mk. 7:14)."

Jeff Wiesner

Dangerous Teachings

Church Authority 

GFC teaches the authority of the elders is virtually limitless, and this allows the elders to question everything within the personal lives of their congregation. Nothing is off-limits.

Sin  

While we believe sin must and should be taught, and dealt with, the elders of GFC make sin a top priority. The effect this has on the congregation is joylessness and consistently questioning their salvation.

We will be working on resources to evidence the listed claims of dangerous teachings. There is a tremendous amount of information to sort through as we seek to shine a light on these practices. This link provides member and attender testimonies as to their experiences at GFC.

Excommunication 

One identifier of a cultish church is the need to excommunicate former members. According to GFC theology/philosophy, it is sinful to leave GFC, except under strict guidelines. The stated reasons for leaving are death, sending, mutual consent, or excommunication.

Summary

There are many more dangerous teachings, these serve only as a summary. The invasive nature of the eldership strives to follow the shepherding model of church leadership which was popular back in the 1970's under men like Bill Gothard. The administrators are firm believers in shepherding the flock, but the elders of GFC believe this is nearly unrestricted.

”I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.”

- 3 John 9