Suggestions to help you avoid the Shincheonji Cult:
Be mindful of sharing your personal details with people you have just met.
If asked to join a Bible Study / Cell Group / Bible Class, always ask which church it is connected to and follow up with that church.
If offered to meet with a mentor / life coach always ask which church they are connected to and follow up with that church.
Avoid groups or people who try to coerce you into keeping the meetings/locations/names a secret.
Avoid groups that encourage lying (i.e. using 'wisdom') to cover up their activities.
If you are unsure about anything, please just ask one of the pastors here at City on a Hill.
Advice for churches in dealing with SCJ
Statement from City on a Hill Evangelical Church
Date: Thursday 12th September 2019
It was brought to our attention on Wednesday 11th September that for the past eight months a cult has been actively recruiting people from City on a Hill and a number of other churches in Wellington [update: we now believe the cult was recruiting people from churches in Wellington from at least May 2018]. This statement is to inform our church and others about the following:
The cult - Shincheonji
How they operate
How we are dealing with it
What you should do
The New Testament informs us many times that the churches will face attacks – some from outside in the form of persecution, and some from within in the form of false teaching.
Jesus said in The Sermon on the Mount, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matt 7:15)
Recently we’ve been experiencing ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ as people have come to our church claiming to be mature orthodox Christians when in reality they have been actively recruiting for a dangerous and secretive cult.
This is particularly hurtful for our church as we strive to be a welcoming and hospitable church where people are safe and comfortable to hear the Bible’s life changing message about Jesus. The cult has sought to exploit many of the best aspects of City on a Hill for its own ends – our open and welcoming culture, our love for sharing the gospel with others, and our deep desire to be learning and growing from God’s word.
In the face of such attack we are to build our lives on Jesus words, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matt 7:24-25)
We are also to respond in prayer asking the Sovereign Lord to protect His church, to expose falsehood and lies, to restore and heal those who have been affected, and to continue to see the great and saving news of Jesus to change lives in our city.
The cult - Shincheonji
Shincheonji (also known as SCJ, the “New Heaven and New Earth” church or Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony) is a dangerous and deceptive cult that originated in South Korea in 1984. In short, they believe that the founder, Lee Man-hee, is the second coming of Jesus and that only he is able to interpret the true meaning of the Bible.
A simple Google search of this group will reveal that they have all the hall marks of a cult. Features such as:
• Only they have the secret knowledge and way to salvation
• The 144,000 in the Book of Revelation refers specifically and exclusively to them
• Salvation by works – specifically recruiting/harvesting new members for the cult
• Special revelation outside and contradictory to the Bible
• The founder is believed to have divine qualities – more than human
• Only the leader can correctly interpret scripture
Generally, SCJ doesn’t ‘evangelise’ people in the traditional sense – trying to share with un-churched people the good news of Jesus. The way they operate is to send recruiters into existing churches to form relationships with people attending the church in order to remove them, establish them in the cult and then use them to recruit more people from the church/group.
The cult has been active in recruiting people from churches in Auckland in the last few years and has done significant damage to a number of churches. One church lost a number of families including worship leaders, kids and youth leaders, community group leaders and even an elder of the church. It has damaged churches and destroyed families.
Read more about it here:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115367268/pastor-issues-warning-over-religious-cult-shincheonji-operating-in-wellington
https://baptistmag.org.nz/10-things-i-wish-id-known-about-cults/
How they operate
We believe members of SCJ first visited our church in May 2018 having been sent from Auckland as missionaries. They attended for a few weeks, gave minimal and misleading details and stopped coming after a few weeks. From then we know that other cult members have been attending COAH sporadically in order to establish relationships with people attending City on a Hill.
It appears that the cults activities ramped up at the beginning of 2019 with SCJ members attending City on a Hill (both Morning Church and Night Church) as well as COAH social events on campus. Their attendance has varied from just a single visit through to one SCJ member attending for almost two months and also attending all four weeks of our evangelistic course.
Sometime cult members have made return visits after an absence of a few months. The last confirmed visit was within the last month.
A common approach they have adopted is to arrive in a pairs with one of them claiming they attend another well-known church in town and that they have brought along their friend who has just moved to Wellington and is looking for a church family/is keen to make some Christian friends. This has meant that as we extend hospitality to them (a coffee, a walk, a catch-up during the week, etc.) we have been thinking that we are welcoming a new person to church, but they are using the interaction to initiate a relationship, build connections in order to begin the process of introducing people to SCJ.
They have also initiated contact with other people they have met at church either before the service or at morning tea / supper. They usually have focused on those who are relatively new to our church, new to the faith as well as young and enthusiastic people eager to grow in their faith.
They have also attended our Newcomers Meals, made contact with other new people and then quickly drawn them away from church and into the cult's Bible studies and we have not seen those new people again. It has been confirmed that at least three new people to COAH have been drawn into the cult having been recruited at Newish.
Usually from the first contact leads to a coffee and they will be very friendly and seem like a great person. As the interaction continues, they will being introduce you to a ‘friends’ of theirs. This is sometimes arranged to seem like a happy co-incidence. ‘I bumped into a friend on the way, do you mind if they join us?’ but in reality, it is all planned out.
Real example - Jane* (a member of the cult) met Lucy* from at church on a Sunday morning. Lucy was at our church investigating Christianity and attending and evangelistic course. Jane invited Lucy out for a coffee and the person at the table next them in the cafe happened to be reading a Bible. Jane got chatting to the 'stranger', and she said she was a home group leader and then Jane arranged for them all to have coffee together the next week. They met for coffee with the 'stranger' for a couple times then she mentioned another friend of hers was starting a Bible Study group. Jane said she wanted to join but Lucy was reluctant as it was three times a week and she didn’t have the time. But Jane persuaded Lucy to try it with her as Jane said she was nervous to go on her own. (*Names changed)
We know that Jane and the 'stranger' in the cafe are members of SCJ and that the whole situation was engineered to draw Lucy along to the group.
Often there is an invitation to either meet with a mentor that ‘they have found really helpful’ or to go to a Bible Study / Theology Workshop. At the groups the first week they do a presentation on ‘What is theology’ and ‘How to read the Bible’. They get phone numbers, email addresses, ask you to join WhatsApp (so messages are encrypted and can be deleted in the future) and try to begin meeting up individually with a mentor or missionary. They often falsely claim that the mentor/missionary has trained at Laidlaw Bible College or works with YWAM to add credibility to the person.
The Bible Studies / Theology Workshops are an exercise in social engineering with the majority of attendees being members of the cult pretending to be other ‘new people’ keen to learn from the Bible. They give the group a really positive vibe, make it seem like the leaders really know what they are talking about and make it difficult to ask challenging questions. They use phrases like “Food at the proper time” as a way to deflect questions that might arise suspicion early on in the process.
The studies begin pretty normal but over time they become more unorthodox. They focus on making sure we don’t miss the Messiah and subtly begin the process of thought control and indoctrination. They are taught by the group to not trust their old church and pastors. The name of the cult is withheld until they are well and truly involved and they are discouraged to read online criticisms about the cult.
They are also taught, using the stories for Abraham & Isaac, Jacob & Esau and Rahab and the Spies, that it is ok to lie and deceive if you are doing God’s will. They call it ‘being wise’ and instruct the recruits to ‘be wise’ (i.e. lie) about who they are meeting and what they are doing. They're not to share what they're learning with outsiders until 'their cup is full', if they share then they will be pouring out their knowledge and it will take more time to 'fill'.
Over a period of time they begin attending ‘Bible Study’ three times a week with SCJ and begin to pressure recruits to priorities it over their previous church commitments and relationships. Many recruits end up pulling out of most of their other social groups and hobbies/interests and give vague answers when asked where they are or what they’ve been doing. They withdraw from family and friends and devote all their time and money to the cult and may be sent out by the leadership to harvest more members.
Even though the cult originates from South Korea, their members in Wellington reflect every ethnicity of our NZ community and the majority we have identified would be NZ European. They have come across as warm and friendly, arriving at church early, sticking around for a good amount after the service and being very chatting with people. Generally, they have all been single people in their 20s who are university educated or hold down respectable jobs. Most have said that they have moved down from Auckland this year for work or study. They seem to be mostly targeting people in their 20s and 30s with an emphasis on those who are single.
How we are dealing with it
As you can see, this cult is very dangerous and deceptive, so we are taking its presence in Wellington and interaction with City on a Hill very seriously. At our church there are a significant number of people who have had varying degrees of contact with SCJ.
We have been personally contacting all of those who we think may have been in contact with SCJ and trying to gather as much information as possible about their tactics and how far they have penetrated. For most it was just coffees with the invitation to Bible Study or to meet with a mentor. However we are very worried that a small number of people have been almost completely taken in and have already been active in trying to introduce SCJ to other members of our church.
None of the people who have had contact with SCJ members initially realised anything suspicious. Many of them are now feeling quite deceived and hurt by the experience and we are seeking to care for them and putting them in touch with trusted Christian friends and family to help them process the experience.
We have also been working with the pastors of many of the churches in Wellington to inform them of what has taken place, share information about the group and organise pastoral care for those who have been affected.
We also made a statement about this at church on Sunday 15th September 2019.
What you should do
If you have any contact with SCJ we recommend ending all contact immediately. Do not meet with them, their mentors, their missionaries or attend their groups. Ignore their messages do not respond. They are a dangerous and deceptive cult and you do not need to give them any warning or explanation.
Experience with the group has shown that they will try hard to make contact with you and for you to meet with a leader within the group who will be able to sort out your ‘confusion’ or that it must be some sort of mistake/misunderstanding that can be explained.
It would be very helpful if you could document your experience by taking time to write your experience along with names, phone numbers, addresses connected with SCJ.
If you are unsure if the people you are in contact with are SCJ, please contact me to talk about it.
If you are invited anyone to be mentored or join a Bible Study group, make sure do you due diligence and check they are affiliate with a known and reputable church. Do not just take their word for it but follow it up and check with the church they claim to be from. Also, ask to see the statement of faith and the qualifications of the mentor / leader.
Finally, if you have any questions or information that may be relevant in anyway please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please be praying for our church, the churches in our city, those lost in this cult and those who have been affected by it.
Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, come!
Grace & peace
Andrew Southerton
Senior Pastor
City on a Hill Evangelical Church
Further Resources
Advice for churches in dealing with SCJ
A pamphlet put together by a former SCJ Member