Editor Note: This is Rose’s story. This was compiled from several interviews, and shared with her permission. I attended my first Narrowgate meeting in the fall of 1994. I was a new Freshman at Messiah, and wasn’t adapting to college life the best. Two people had invited me to check out Narrowgate, and so I…
A rather momentous anniversary today. One year ago I (Megan) made this super-controversial post in order to warn a local congregation that a convicted child molester was preaching at their church: Within the day, Dom also sent a detailed email to the pastor there with all the pertinent documentation and provided contact info for the…
Editor Note: This is Oliver’s story. It includes his journal which was written in February of 1997, as well as his personal journey over the past 25 years. This was written in his own words and shared with his permission. My account of the surreal week in Feb 1997 when the Narrowgate cult disintegrated. It…
by Megan Benninger *CW: sexual abuse There is blood on your hands, hands that took what they wanted, Spread her legs, grabbed her breasts, broke her heart. Said you’re sorry, of course. Spent some time behind bars. She forgave you, yet she never heals. What right did you have to play with my kids, with…
This is the first of several entries that are co-written by other Narrowgate members. The information was gathered through interviews and from original journals, notes, and letters written by Pooky at the time of Narrowgate. These first-hand accounts are fascinating to read, almost 25 years later. It is always refreshing to get another person’s perspective,…
The next morning I woke up and wondered if the past 24 hours was all just a bizarre dream. But reality reminded me that I was waking up alone in our King-sized bed. Pooky had fled with Emma and her Baby, and I was alone. Because I was the only one (that I knew of)…
Reaching & Teaching International Ministries (RTIM) claims that it “exists to reach the peoples of the world through evangelism and by meeting the great need for deep discipleship, pastoral preparation, leadership training, and theological education around the world.” A Godly, righteous-sounding mission. Yet incredibly, at one point in the not-so-distant-past, three men who were either…
There is a song by the popular Christian music group Casting Crowns, entitled “While You Were Sleeping.” The song takes a different approach to the classic Christmas carol about the Little Town of Bethlehem – while the town of Bethlehem was going about its usual business (which they correlate with “sleeping”), Christ the savior was…
The last entry was pretty traumatic for a lot of people and perhaps as a result of reading this, they were re-traumatized to spiritual abuse in your own life. One dear friend who was not in Narrowgate reached out to my wife this past week and said that reading our experience re-traumatized her to some…
Author’s note: This blog was quite possibly the hardest yet to write. Of all the experiences we’ve had in the Narrowgate cult, this is most certainly one of the most traumatic experiences of my entire life. It’s difficult to dig this up – several people who I have talked about this experience have blocked it…