marcos@iwarpo3.intel.com (Marcos Camargo) (10/04/90)
I have a cousin who used to be married to this reverend (pastor) of the Four-Square Church. He established several branches of this Church in Brazil where I originally came. His behavior toward his family and the poor and humble in Brazil has been of exploitation. He promises them lots of "miracles" and the humble and poor people come to his Church and give him money. These humble people see him as a "Savior" to their problems. He takes their money and also he has had several intimate (sexual) relationships with his female followers. He has left his family (three children) and pays no child support. What I am very apalled is that the Four-Square Church still accepts and recognizes his "pastorship" despite all his totally non-christian behavior. Is this Four-Square Church only after followers so they can be exploited or they don't know about this person's behavior? When are we going to stop exploitation of the poor and afflicted in the name of Jesus Christ? If anybody knows of an agency of Four-Square Church in this country where complaints can be filed against such an impostor, please let me know. Marcos Camargo Intel Corp. marcos@iwarp.intel.com
mmh@cs.qmw.ac.uk (Matthew Huntbach) (10/07/90)
In article <Oct.3.23.41.45.1990.2224@athos.rutgers.edu> marcos@iwarpo3.intel.com (Marcos Camargo) writes: >I have a cousin who used to be married to this reverend (pastor) of >the Four-Square Church. He established several branches of this >Church in Brazil where I originally came. His behavior toward >his family and the poor and humble in Brazil has been of exploitation. > There appear to be several brands of weirdo evangelicals who specialise in "converting" Catholics. I used to try and be reasonably friendly to those evangelicals who stopped me and asked me if if I "knew I was saved" or words similar, but these days most of them seem to have a specific sales patter aimed at Catholics and can get quite unpleasant (sometimes straightforward nasty anti-Catholicism, sometimes pretend ecumenism "we're just Christians - so why don't you come along to our Church" (where you get the evangelical line rammed down your throat)). If I should seem at times to be over-sectarian in postings to this group, it is largely due to my experience with such people. It appears they are particularly active in Catholic countries like Brazil. I have never heard of the "Four-Square Church". Has anyone ever heard of it? Where does it come from, who are its leaders? The same could be said for many other similar groups. They claim to be "just Christians" but usually have a specific agenda, often a political agenda (usually extremely pro-USA) as well as a religious agenda. Of course there are bad Catholic priests as well as bad Evangelical pastors, but with the Catholic Church you know whose authority they are working under, and you know they are subject to the discipline of church order. Christianity should not be like a supermarket - pick and choose your brands, with the brand that has the most aggressive sales techniques winning. Matthew Huntbach [I don't know whether it's the same group, but the Dictionary of Christianity in America lists an International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, based in LA. It grew out of Aimee Semple McPherson's work. It is Pentacostal. The 4 squares are salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit, divine healing, and the Second Coming of Christ. Interestingly, it has episcopal polity. The description in the Dictionary indicates that it is mainstream Pentacostal. --clh]