Is It a Cult? - A Fellowship of Fear.

A high level of defection

The church leaders have denied controlling their members. Mitchell has been quoted in several interviews as saying no one is chained to their pews. Members are free to come and go as they choose, he has said.

Not so, critics say. They say the gospel-laced fear tactics used by the pastors and leaders leave the members dependent on the church. And they accuse church leaders of saying one thing publicly and doing another behind closed doors.

"We know there are no perfect churches. We know there are no perfect pastors. We know there are no perfect people," Stubbs said. "We know that everyone, myself included, I have my faults, my failures, my upside, my downside, and I am not critical of others for that.

"But there seemed to be a growing gap between the public and the private ;image," Stubbs said of his experience in the church. "It just makes you think, you know, how could this be going on?"

These pastors say they are coming forward with their stories not only to provide an accurate insider's view of the church, but also to warn others of the dangers involved in joining.

"People that have left, I mean, if it were only two, three, four, 10, but you're getting people now," Montes said. "It's not 20, 30. It's 150, 250, 300. Over the course of time, you begin to see something's wrong here.

"You're always going to have people who are unsatisfied. But when you have the same story?" Montes said. "Something's got to be wrong there, and people need to know that."