The important newspaper “Primera Hora” of Puerto Rico, publishes complaints from pastors and former parishioners to the G-12 system, below we present the full note.
How much control could a church exercise over its parishioners?
For some former followers of the Government of the Twelve (G12), a model of principles that is taking root among followers of some Protestant denominations, control is sometimes excessive.
The churches that use the model or “vision” organize their congregations in cells of 12, in the image of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. Each of the members can, in turn, “recruit” the same number of people. Some religious warn that the movement goes against the traditional hierarchies of some Protestant churches.
Other former believers of the model, adopted by more than 20 Puerto Rican churches, ended up dissatisfied with the intrusion of other cell members into their private lives, as well as the amount of money that was requested for many of the activities that took place outside the normal hours of worship. In G12 churches, members can contribute a tithe, as in many other evangelical churches, and they also have to contribute money for spiritual retreats.
«It is a monopoly, since everything is a matter of getting your money. They make you go to church every day to pray. If there is a social activity there is another offering, with each activity they ask you for more money,” said merchant Abnel Berríos, owner of a security company and who decided to leave a church that adopted the system because of the way it tried to interfere with some of his financial decisions.
“If you wanted to buy a house or a car, you had to talk to them first. If you are a merchant, they ask you for many special offerings and they give you offering envelopes so that your miracles can be given. In church, you couldn’t sit where you wanted either. You had to obey the rules of the cells,” he added.
Despite the parallels that could be drawn between the religious system and businesses based on a pyramidal structure, other former believers deny that more money is contributed in G12 churches than in other temples of worship. There are some, however, who do denounce the high degree of secrecy that surrounds some of the religious groups.
“There are pressures of all kinds. You could only go out with his group. At first I didn’t feel pressured, but over time you begin to realize that they are trying to control your life,” said a former parishioner who decided to switch to a church that does not practice the G12 model, due to beliefs in the system that “distance of Christian dogma.
Many Christians who attended churches identified with the model prefer to remain anonymous in order not to hurt their relationship with their current congregation or pastor. Some unconfirmed versions claim that the G12 have been involved in spiritist practices or heresy by participating in mystical trances, among other activities that have been rejected by their parishioners.
The G12 preach “generational curses”, a concept that could be defined as a sin or evil that comes from an ancestor and that can only be canceled or neutralized through a type of exorcism. As in other Christian churches, believers externalize this purification process through crying, shouting, body tremors. In some of these ceremonies, one or another believer has come to vomit as a way of “purging” himself of his sins.
For others, the pyramid structure of the model creates unfair and harmful competition among members of the congregation. “In my opinion, the pastors who practice the model are entering into a lot of competition and that has created undue pressure among the members of the churches,” indicated another parishioner who was dissatisfied with the model.
What is unquestionable for many is the excessive growth that the churches that have adopted the model have had.
“Many have joined the G12 church out of ambition for growth, but it is a sect. It personally worries me because it has many heresies, since a cult is built around a man or a vision. Our foundation, as Christians, is Jesus Christ and his word and everything that is taken from that framework becomes something sectarian, that divides, “said evangelical pastor Pedro Cotto, of the Family of Faith Church, in Bayamón.
The growth of churches that practice the model has also raised questions about their degree of political influence. For example, Reverend Cotto pointed out that the model’s founder, Pastor César Castellanos, has clear intentions of becoming a prominent figure in the political arena.
«Castellanos wants to establish ties with the Government and wants to try to help the Government around its economic crisis. This is like a multi-million dollar company that works through a pyramid system. They try to manipulate people through curses and say that a curse will fall on anyone who tries to speak ill of them,” Cotto stressed.
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