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This book is long overdue! It reveals the lowdown on the Potter's House CULT and hopefully, it's only the first of more books like it yet to come which will expose even more about that church. There's a lot to cover in a book like this and Joel Crosby's book 'Escaping the Potter's House: An Anthology of Memoirs by Former Members' covers a lot of ground. In less than 250 pages this book is packed with vivid recollections and intimate personal testimonies from 10 former PH members, both men and women of different ages who are from many parts of the world, some of whom were in ministry in the PH, some who grew up in it from birth.
All of them have a story with varying lengths of time in their experiences and all reveal the same bucket list of CULT tactics used in the PH which include control freak pastor manipulation of the members, as well as varying degrees and types of brainwashing, bait and switch tactics and mixed message psychology, guilt projection, shaming and shunning.
PH converts are expected to disconnect from their non-PH family and friends, as well as co-workers, neighbors, and any and all previous church experience. They are instructed to separate from them all and become isolated from everyone except their PH 'family' made up of the PH pastor and the PH congregation. Visiting other churches or socializing with anyone outside the PH fold is unacceptable and is not tolerated. The PH demands complete submission and total loyalty to their 'headship' PH pastor and its leaders and founder (Wayman Mitchell - now deceased - but loyalty to his vision for the PH church and his legacy is still required) and the succeeding leadership.
Above all they are expected and required to pay the ten percent tithe of all money they receive, as well as donate money in every offering taken and to honor any and all pledges made, which are also required. Nobody is exempt from tithing (except Wayman Mitchell who refused to pay 10% tithes on his Christian Fellowship Ministry churches which were under Foursquare until they kicked him out for non-tithing in 1983! He also refused to submit to any 'headship' or Foursquare leaders or anyone else!) Women are expected to submit to their husbands without reservation in every matter at all times, without exception. The Fellowship also has the last rights of refusal concerning job or career change, college enrollment, joining the military or moving to a new residence, dating or marriage and even divorce.
In one Potter's House church I went to I knew members who were forbidden to date someone in the church. One was forbidden to join the Navy (he did it anyway!), the same guy was forbidden to start his own business (he did it anyway & became the largest tither in the church!). Another couple were dating and were accused of fornicating (they hadn't!) and the pastor forced them to get married and forbade them to consummate the marriage for 6 months, in such time they were forced to live apart! Later they were punished for buying a used couch at a yard sale. One teenage high school girl suddenly lost her mother to illness (rapid onset of cancer) she stopped going to church, stopped going to school and started a steep decline emotionally. When she met the son of a famous country music singer at her school (who was already a Christian) he wanted to date her, so she brought him to the PH to try to proselyte him. He was basically mistreated by the pastor, accused and berated so he wanted nothing to do with them. She was shamed, shunned and treated like a common street walker. The guy wanted nothing to do with her after that and she crawled back to the PH begging them to let her back in the church. She was made to stand up in front of the congregation and confess a laundry list of sins they accused her of including taking drugs, drunkenness, fornication, witchcraft and everything but spitting on the sidewalk - none of those sins which she had committed and she stood their lying saying she had done them all just to appease the pastor so he would let her come back to the church. She was an emotional basket case for many years after that. She met and married a young man who was a recent convert to the PH and a real Christian brother, and they had a great marriage in spite of being forbidden to marry. They were together nearly 40 years up until she went home to be with the Lord a few months ago. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! All of them left the PH in the 1990 split led by Jack Harris & Ron Jones. Sadly, few of them will call PH a cult. They say it was good thing that went off the rails. The truth is PH was built on rebellion and founded and rooted in the Shepherding & Discipleship movement. Just more heresy from the Charismatic movement with plenty of false doctrine and unbiblical practices hammering legalism. CULT!
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2026Format: Hardcover
