REPLY TO CORNERSTONE MAGAZINE
by Ronald Enroth, Professor of Sociology, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, Calif.—June, 1994

Dear Editor:

Never before has one of my books received such advance publicity--especially by people who had not yet read the manuscript. I want to comment on some of the articles you printed concerning my work and particularly my book, RECOVERING FROM CHURCHES THAT ABUSE. Since you devoted more than two dozen pages to my work in your recent issue, I hope that you will print this response in its entirety.

In the first paragraph of the lead article, "An Acid Test for Christian Accountability," you make a statement which sets the tone for the subsequent essays. You refer to "charges made against us by Dr. Ronald Enroth." I know that you will disagree with me, but it is my conviction that it is both inaccurate and misleading to use words like "charges" and "accusations" and "attacks" to describe the concerns I spell out in the book. Why? Let me quote from page 151 of the book:

"JPUSA pastors and Covenant administrators have reconceived my research findings as 'accusations,' 'charges,' and 'allegations.' Unfortunately, this inaccurate redefinition of scholarly research may give some the impression that I am personally bringing complaints against a Covenant congregation. It unfairly casts me in an adversarial role, something I reject."

Your editorial staff approaches the content of my book (even though they had not seen the content at the time of their writing) from the perspective of investigative journalism. I am not an investigative reporter; I am an academic person, a sociologist of religion, a scholar and researcher who is sharing findings and conclusions with a largely non-academic audience. As a Christian sociologist, I am attempting to help victims (I know you don't like that word) of emotional and spiritual abuse find healing and wholeness through God's grace and his loving concern. I am not interested in bringing "charges" and "accusations" against anyone....

...You write that "Throughout this painful process, we have tried to maintain a loving and respectful attitude toward those who once lived with us." I view this as official rhetoric, just as I see much of the content of your lengthy "Open Letter to Dr. Ronald Enroth" as expected, appropriate, official rhetoric, sometimes not matched by practice. The ex-members whom you claim to love and respect view this kind of statement with skepticism, sometimes cynical skepticism. However, it sounds impressive to the uninformed and sympathetic Cornerstone readership.

Uninformed because you do not mention that at our January 5, 1994 meeting, leaders of JPUSA named several ex-members who had talked with me and then proceeded to repeatedly discredit them, attacking their integrity. I felt that these former members were subjected to insult and that their feelings of pain were not recognized, even though you may not acknowledge the reasons for that pain. I also received a lengthy letter from one of your editors, Mike Hertenstein, about one of these ex-members. It was very long on condemnation and very short on Christian compassion. So your claim of respect and love for all ex-members strikes me as rather hollow.

On another matter of importance, you claim that I accuse JPUSA of "purposely and/or continuously doing damage to those within our fellowship." Such a statement grossly misrepresents what I say in my book. But then again, the Cornerstone staff did not READ my book before they came to such unwarranted conclusions. On page 17 of RECOVERING FROM CHURCHES THAT ABUSE, I raise the general question, "Do the abusers intend to inflict hurt? In most cases, probably not. They usually are unaware of what they are doing to people in the name of God." I quote pastor and author Ken Blue who notes that "spiritual abusers are curiously naive about the effects of their exploitation. They rarely intend to hurt their victims. They are usually so narcissistic or so focused on some great thing they are doing for God that they don't notice the wounds they are inflicting on their followers."

This observation is echoed much later in the book (p. 153) when I am specifically talking about JPUSA. "Leaders may sincerely not recognize that their leadership style and policies are experienced by many members as a spiritual elitism and an authoritarianism that borders on 'speaking for God.'" I then quote a former JPUSA member who illustrates my point. "I believe that the leaders themselves have become victims. . . . They have no idea how much pain they have caused in hundreds of people's lives."

I agree, and the highly defensive tone of the many pages of Cornerstone's current issue devoted to the "controversy" gives credence to the sad fact that JPUSA's leadership (and that of the Evangelical Covenant Church) may be totally unaware of the damage they have inflicted on some (note that I say "some," not "all") members.

You state: "Many of the accusations Dr. Enroth raised . . . are flatly contrary to our written policies and community teachings . . ." Again, I make no accusations of any kind. That is JPUSA's reconfiguration of my work, not my intent or practice. If I were to tell you that most of my respondents also reported that they had some very beneficial impacts while at JPUSA, would you also term that finding an "accusation"? Or are only the findings you dislike called that? I try in the book to convey what ex-members feel about the disjuncture between official community policies and teachings and what sometimes occurred in real life situations. Note my comment on page 153: "JPUSA may well be an instance in which a significant distance has developed between the official teaching of the organization and the reality experienced by many rank-and-file members. This is what sociologists describe as the differences between 'ideal culture' and 'real culture.'" In other words, ex-members claim that JPUSA leaders do not always practice what they preach or what is proclaimed in their published statements.

This important dimension of daily life at JPUSA must be kept in mind when reading the lengthy "Open Letter" to me published in Cornerstone. That letter indicates that I will have to "produce verifiable statements from our leadership or publications endorsing such things as public humiliation, spiritual elitism, double standards, etc. . . . You must prove your allegations with valid evidence or documentation which shows that our leaders supports, endorses, or willfully ignores abusive behavior."

I think that most reasonable people would understand that I don't know of a single church anywhere that officially endorses or openly promotes public humiliation; I know of no church whose publications proclaim, "Yes, we are indeed spiritually elite and proud of it!" Likewise, I know of no church whose formal, written ministry policies advocate "insensitivity re pastoral care" or whose bulletin says, "Welcome to our abusive church." But do such behaviors occur at some churches despite their public protestations to the contrary? My research indicates that they do. I'll let my readers decide whether the consistent, convincing evidence presented by a multitude of independent witnesses is worth taking seriously....

...JPUSA leaves your readers with the impression that they are the "good guys," the people who hold to "biblical standards of evidence, sound logic and reason," while I'm the "bad guy" who refuses to be held accountable for his "very strange" and backwards" research methods. Whether it is an indicator of your unfamiliarity with the world of academic scholarship or a deliberate attempt at damage control, the staff of Cornerstone has done a disservice to truth and accuracy by attempting to distort and discredit my credentials as a Christian sociologist and author.

An inaccurate and uninformed understanding of my very conventional interview methodology has led to both JPUSA leaders and Covenant administrators making reference to my use of "nameless people," "unsubstantiated, anonymous quotations," and "anonymous characterizations." The president of your denomination, Dr. Paul Larsen, in a letter to me speaks of my use of "secret informants." He makes it sound like I've been conducting some kind of furtive investigation, lurking around in dark shadows, talking with "secret informers" and plotting the downfall of a Christian organization. Not true! Instead, I see administrators who are more concerned about image than about the possibility that real people have really been hurt. To quote a letter to the editor which you received (and I was sent a copy), one observer noted, "I don't believe that orthodoxy gives one the license to hurt others or, if the wounds are unintentional, to dismiss the hurting ones of your community because their pain is inconvenient to your public image."

That hits the nail on the head. The lack of sincere compassion for those ex-members of JPUSA who just might be telling the truth about their hurt is demonstrated over and over in the words and attitudes of the denominational leaders at ECC with whom I've interacted and corresponded. If one is in total denial about a problem situation, how can there be compassion for those who have been hurt?

A case in point concerns Rev. Herbert Freedholm who is named in your piece, "Kaiz Replies." Regarding the role of the Evangelical Covenant Church and their investigation of the alleged "charges" being made against JPUSA, "Kaiz" states: "Several denominational leaders have made respectful but quite detailed inquiries over every charge . . . I would say that they have been very thorough." Mention is made of Rev. Freedholm, Central Conference superintendent of the Covenant Church. Because Rev. Freedholm and others had made much of my refusal to provide names etc. of my respondents, I decided to ask a number of those respondents for permission to release their names and phone numbers so that I could share them with Rev. Freedholm. I wanted him to hear their concerns first-hand, as I had. This I did, and Rev. Freedholm agreed in writing to contact them. Seven months later I contacted each person who had willingly agreed to speak with this Covenant Church administrator. Not one of them had been contacted by him! Rev. Freedholm was willing to fly to Los Angeles airport with a colleague for an urgent discussion with me about the "charges," but when I gave him the opportunity to follow up and check out my information, he did nothing for more than seven months. The "Kaiz" comments about respect and thoroughness should be evaluated in this context as well.

Speaking of "Kaiz," he claims that "JPUSA is about as closed as a Denny's Restaurant!" I recently received a letter from a former member who was sent a copy of the current Cornerstone by a current member with the admonition that the ex-member learn about the "real Ron Enroth." When the ex-member suggested to the current member that she telephone me to talk with me directly, she refused. "It's against the rules," She said. No, not quite like Denny's, Kaiz...

I have no qualms whatsoever about publishing my findings about cults, authoritarian churches, or abused women based on carefully conducted interviews and consistent date drawn from those interviews. I'll let the reader decide whether my comments and concerns about abuse are valid. And I'll let Dr. Backus and his colleagues decide otherwise, as they already have....

One final important omission in your discussion of me in the various Cornerstone articles. You failed to mention that I asked one of your senior editors, Eric Pement, to provide me with a list of names and phone numbers of former JPUSA members who had left your community with positive feelings about their time there. I told him that since I was focusing my research on those who had left the organization, that I would be willing to interview the "satisfied customers" as well as those who were dissatisfied. I told him that I would be willing to devote space in the book to their reports. Zondervan Publishing House extended my manuscript due date so that I could obtain that and other pertinent data. I repeated my offer to you folks at least once. I never received the name of a single individual from Eric. Your readers need to know that too.

In conclusion, I have only one request to make of Cornerstone readers: Before you cast stones in my direction, have the courage t read my book first--with an open mind--and then compare the overall tone of my message in that book with the tone of the Cornerstone articles.

I regret that you feel the need to refer to me as "former colleague in cult watching." Just two years ago in Cornerstone (vol. 21, issue 98), you refer to me as a "Christian leader." It's sad that you now consider me to be a hostile adversary. I bear no ill will toward any of you and I reaffirm what I say in the book: "But JPUSA has also had a wonderful ministry to the margins of society in the inner city of Chicago. The organization has had a positive impact on the Christian world through Cornerstone magazine and REZ band. . . . I pray that through the good services of the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Alban Institute, JPUSA will become a shining example that reconciliation with former members and genuine change are possible." Maybe I should insert a footnote about Christian authors in that part about hoped-for reconciliation....

Sincerely,

Ronald Enroth, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Westmont College
June 1994