Our Stories - Escape From Cloverdale Bibleway

I was introduced to the message through my grandfather who has been a long-time member of Cloverdale Bibleway. I had freshly left the Exclusive Brethren (another cultish church group), and been told that other churches were just hypocrites and not true Christians; they led "double lives", so church was the last place I wanted to be.  So in the early days of my attending Cloverdale, I really didn't understand what was being said (it was like hearing a foreign language).  I honestly had no interest in it either, so I'd go sit in the Sunday school hallway and go to sleep. 

At some point, things changed for me.  I started reading Owen Jorgensen's books, The Church Age Book and The Seven Seals.  I soon found myself believing that I had truly found "The Bride" church.  I got pushed into getting baptized, which I did, but knew that I couldn't live the life.

I had a problem with William Branham saying no one would want a "mulatto baby" — a term I found quite offensive and quite untrue.  I got very involved with the church, handing out tapes to families before service and singing in the choir.  I remember having a conversation in the office of the associate Pastor about my grandfather losing his temper with me, and I was told that I should consider it a privilege; I should respect my grandfather, and that "even the dogs get crumbs from the master's table". 

Once I graduated from college and got a job, working nights made it quite difficult to go to church.  I quit going once I gave birth to my daughter.  I was told (indirectly) that I could no longer sing in the choir and if I ever went, I felt very judged.  On one occasion, I was stopped in the hallway by a deacon and told that I wasn't to take communion because I would "damn myself".  I was so shocked, because there was no way of me knowing that they were having communion — not to mention that deacon had no clue as to my spiritual walk. 

Several years later I heard that the Pastors daughter, who had conducted the Choir, had found herself in some trouble with the congregation and the law. I didn't appreciate knowing that all that time she had been singing and playing the piano, never once told to sit back.  What a double standard!  Here I was making "bad choices".  Once I started hearing about Believe the Sign, I would read the occasional entry.  The more I read it, the more it became the stick that broke the camel's back. 

I told my grandfather, never would I step inside a message church again.  It's back to like listening to a foreign language.  I just can't listen to it anymore. 

Jewelie