Another person testifies that Jeff Crippen manipulated and controlled his congregants.

Another person who attended Jeff Crippen’s church has testified¹ that he manipulated and controlled people. Here is this person’s testimony:

 I too attended Jeff Crippen’s church for several years. I agree with what Sister has stated.

He was a former police officer. I thought this may have been where he learned some techniques to manipulate and control people.

He had leadership do his bidding for him much of the time. Chewing people up and kicking them to the curb while making all that were left shun those who were removed. You were not allowed or you’d be under church discipline being accused always of 1 or more of 3 things… 1. you are being divisive 2. causing division among the brethren and / or 3. rebellious against authority.

They would read bits and pieces of letters of those who left while inserting their spin on things.

It was subtle in coming like the frog in the pot of water slowly heating up. Then out of nowhere you were next in line to be picked off. Leadership had spies. They collect information on people to use against members. Crippen kept files on everyone.

Since we’ve left most of the leadership have left. The leadership that left have all gone to different churches and quickly began teaching and gained leadership status. These too were abusers and now in other churches. It’s disturbing to me that some are still doing the same things they did at Crippen’s church.

The healing process is still in progress for me. I have to remind myself that it is not about others but about MY relationship with Jesus Christ that is in play here and the enemy will use what and who is available to try and destroy that. We can’t let that happen.

The other sad part of this is that leadership / pastors stick together so it is extremely difficult to find a safe place to go to heal and seek true godly humble objective counsel.

The person who wrote this used the screen name SIL in their comment (December 27, 2023) at Sister’s blog post Jeff Crippen is Unsafe.

I appreciate SIL. I imagine it took courage to publicly give this testimony.

May God console and help you, SIL, as you continue healing. I’m sending you cyberhugs from Australia. And I’m offering you a passage from the Psalms, in the hope that it might shine some comfort.

Psalm 146:7-9, Myles Coverdale’s translation, 1649 Book of Common Prayer

The Lord looseth men out of prison : the Lord giveth sight to the blind.
The Lord helpeth them that are fallen : the Lord careth for the righteous.
The Lord careth for the strangers; he defendeth the fatherless and widow : as for the way of the ungodly, he turneth it upside down.

A bit of news about me

I apologise for taking so long to put this post together. I’ve been through heaps over the last several months, including formally submitting my resignation from church membership. I had taken membership of a small Presbyterian church in my nearest town. But after being a member for nearly a year, I decided to resign because things the leadership did caused me such concern that I felt I could no longer submit to their leadership. I felt unsafe in that church. I felt disrespected by some (not all) people in that church. But the ones who did respect me did not take a strong stand against the dis-respecters. And because I still live in this community, it would be unsafe for me to say more.

I’m doing better since I stopped attending that church, and I’ve been able to work harder at drafting blog posts. Several more posts are in process, and I have one about the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward that is nearly ready to publish. Also, I’m working on a series about the narratives of sexual abuse in the Old Testament. It will be a long series.

My greatest grief is that I will never have enough time, before I leave this mortal coil, to write all that I have been inspired to write. I keep getting new insights into Scripture. I never run out of ideas. The problem is that it takes such a long time to put the insight down in words that are comprehendible to others.

¹ The person, SIL, gave their testimony in a comment on Sister’s blog post “Jeff Crippen is Unsafe” on December 27, 2023, but SIL’s comment wasn’t seen by Sister until March 21, 2024. In case the above link to SIL’s comment gets broken, you can read an Internet Archive copy here [Internet Archive link].

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Further reading about Jeff Crippen

Tillamook speaks — September, 2021, Sister’s blog. This post features a testimony by Chris who attended Jeff’s church in Tillamook, Oregon.

Tillamook testimony concerning Jeff Crippen — September, 2021. My post featuring Chris’s testimony and explaining why I am convinced that Chris’s testimony is truthful.

Response to my detractors and apology to ACFJ followers I’ve hurt — November, 2018. The post I wrote after Jeff Crippen and others vilified me on the A Cry For Justice Facebook page.