This site

For many years, I’ve felt called to write what I know about Merie
Weiss and the history of her involvement in a little-known sect of the
Church of Christ that I call the Stanton Church of Christ. This sect has greatly impacted many families and lives in a negative way, but
when I last felt bold enough to confront the true history of the group online, the blowback was too
severe from close family members. There was too much hurt, and I felt
compelled to take it down. I don’t think I did anything wrong by putting up what
I wrote–it was purely the truth written in love, as I’ve experienced
it growing up in the sect. But maybe it was the wrong timing. Maybe,
just maybe, my relationships with family members still in the group are
strong enough to withstand some truth-telling now. I hope and pray that’s
the case.

The truth doesn’t need to be afraid of a lie

One
of my favorite lines I heard growing up in this sect is that “Truth doesn’t need to be afraid of a lie.” If what I’m saying is not true,
call me out on it. I won’t take down anything that is both true and
important to the history of this group, but I will gladly remove
anything that is untrue.

So friends and family, please don’t be offended by what I write here. Let’s just have a frank discussion of
the history of this group, and let’s be completely honest about it. The truth has no agenda.
That’s all you’ll find in my writing: no gossip, slander, character
assassination, nothing like that. Only hard facts and history directly
from my childhood and early adulthood, along with Biblically supported articles that address some of the many doctrinal errors I’ve seen over the years. Most commenters have contributed positively to the site, but occasionally there are those who cross the line of good decorum and good will, and I try to stop it without completely shutting down dissent. So when in doubt about something you read here, please understand the distinction between my writing and the comment section.

What I write
here is in NO WAY designed to hurt anyone, and to the contrary, is
written purely out of love for the many whose spiritual lives have been
rocked, damaged, or destroyed by the sect’s practices. I know and love
many people who are still associated with the sect, and let me say this
clearly: I love you with the love of the Lord, and my heart bleeds
for you, because I’ve tasted the goodness of the Lord, and He’s so much
better than what this sect portrays.

Let me share a little parable:

There were a couple of men fishing on a beautiful
river, enjoying God’s creation, when they suddenly spotted a woman
floating downstream, struggling to keep her head above water. One of the
men quickly jumped in and swam out to pull the woman to shore. Before
long, a boy was seen floating by, struggling to stay afloat, and the
other man quickly jumped in to rescue him.

It
was only a few minutes before they started coming faster and faster,
and the men couldn’t keep up. It was at that moment that one of the
friends took off running. His friend yelled back, “What are you doing? I
need your help getting these people out of the water!” His friend
yelled back, “Stay here and help who you can, I’m going upstream to try
to stop whoever is throwing them into the water in the first place!”

That’s
about how I feel right now. For too long, I’ve remained silent, doing
my best to help those who I spot floating downstream, but unwilling to
run upstream and boldly address the source of the problem. The source is
the completely unbiblical, legalistic, authoritarian teaching of the
sect. Right now, I feel that if I don’t speak up, the rocks will cry
out. There are too many families and relationships at stake, and I don’t
want to see the cycle keep repeating itself in family after family, generation after generation. It’s time to draw a line in the sand and call them out on their unbiblical doctrines, publicly but in love.

My
goal right now is to boldly address head-on the history
and many myths surrounding the group in the belief that sunlight is the
best disinfectant. Too much of the history of the group is shrouded in
secrecy, because there is some embarrassment about some of the church’s
early practices–and for good reason. Cassette tapes of Merie’s early
teachings used to be passed around the “brotherhood” freely, but now her
abrasive teaching is kept out of the hands of the newly minted
converts. Why? It would clearly show the roots of the sect to be based
on faulty Bible claims and a cult-like following.

If
truth doesn’t need to be afraid of a lie, why keep those tapes hidden away? Why not publish them boldly and freely, right on the web? Why not have a “May Week” channel on YouTube, or a church website where they can publicly defend their doctrines? Instead, they discourage anyone from starting evangelistic websites, because they know their teachings can’t stand up to even the simplest scrutiny.

Stanton claims special wisdom from God and the Holy Spirit that no other church has, but their Bible knowledge turns out to be largely bluster, having the appearance of wisdom and deep thinking, but wholly unsupported by an accurate reading of the Word. As a result, open debate and honest history would rock the faith of all but the most entrenched members of the group. Fortunately, the faith that will be rocked by this site is faith in a man-made institution. My goal is to replace that misguided faith in man’s doctrines with true faith in Jesus Christ himself.