Live recording #1: The ostracisation policy being implemented by the congregation above. Video

Live recording #2: The ostracisation policy being implemented by the congregation above. Audio only.

At the MCF meeting of Sunday, October 27, 2024, a man from the congregation was asked to testify about how he had ostracised his own daughter, telling her to leave the family home. The man’s testimony is too long to include on this webpage; however, copies of his entire testimony are available by request.

In brief, the man’s testimony contained the following points:

• He acknowledged the many occasions the Presbytery had repeated their directive to ostracise family members who had left MCF. ‘

‘Most of what I’m about to say has already been said to us many times through the word of the presbytery.

• He understood he was required to tell his daughter to leave the family home because she would not return to MCF.

He said, ‘The Lord… is addressing us on… ‘unclean cultures that we are allowing to remain in our homes.’

• For many years, he did not believe this directive applied to his family.

‘I would say to myself, after all, we have a loving, caring daughter who does not bag the church, and if she met anyone from church, she was very friendly to them We thought that showing love was what God would want us to do and this would eventually save her.

• But after being sent to have ’a talk with Richie and Dan’, he obeyed the Presbytery Word, saying

‘And from that point we talked with our daughter, and we made her aware of the decision’.

• The reason he gave his Daughter was, 

‘that we were being obedient to the word of the Lord’.

• He said;

‘Tough times lay ahead, as we had hurt and offended, but we knew that we were obedient.’

• The man then encourages other families to ostracise any of their loved ones who have left the church.

‘Now I am aware that there are families who have a similar testimony as I have’, because they too have responded to this word. But there are many families who have not yet responded to this word. Perhaps you are still blind and you just can’t see.

• He asked the men of the congregation:

‘if you will receive this word today, men, we can stand up in our homes and commit our home to be a worthy home so God can begin to unlock and release those things that are bound up in our homes and just to men, men start a conversation with your prayer hosts and your elders.’

• And to the women in the congregation, he said,

‘Can I say to the ladies… submit yourselves to the order of headship and trust your husband in the direction that he finds for your home and give your full support to your husband’.

• The man is referring to the Principle of ‘Headship’, in which the Presbytery directs women to obey their husbands, even if they disagree. He is asking the women to obey and participate in ostracising loved ones who do not attend MCF.

• Finally, the man explains how the congregation trusts the Presbytery’s and believes the Presbytery is acting in the congregation’s best interests.

‘We can trust the word of the Lord without understanding… and we can trust the word that is coming to us. And we can trust the shepherding administration that God has given to us and placed us under. These shepherds and the elders… who watch over our souls. So, we can just trust the Lord with his word.

• When the man finishes his testimony, another man comes to the microphone and endorses the content of the testimony as being the Word of the Lord and exhorts the congregation to embrace the message by saying,

‘Thanks, Wes, for sharing that. Are you hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd this morning? As we’ve heard these testimonies, are you hearing that voice? Is it penetrating into your heart through your ears? Because he’s speaking this morning, and this is how he speaks to us, if we only open our ears and allow it to penetrate our hearts. He’s speaking to us both corporately and he’s speaking to us individually, and what a blessing that is. Will you receive that as a blessing?

In our opinion, ostracization is taught and practiced by MCF’s Presbytery. We believe this goes beyond what is reasonable in the context of church behaviour. We believe the conduct to be coercive and controlling and therefore may actually amount to illegal behavior in the circumstances. We seek a police investigation into the conduct.