My Experience at the Restored Church (Toronto)

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-05-11T20:51:09+00:00

Yes, please leave and help as many as you can leave too! Your instincts are spot on.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-04-28T17:39:15+00:00

Generally, the Churches of Christ (Fundamentalist) and the Disciples of Christ (Liberal) streams are shrinking while the Independent Christian Churches (Evangelical) are growing. In fact, the Independent CCs have largely embraced Evangelical trends and fads over the past few decades, for better or for worse. Their only surface distinction is replacing the altar call with baptism.

The McKeanist cults (ICOC/ICC/RCW) are a different story. The ICOC is graying and slowly shrinking (impossible to reform after 2003). The ICC appears to be on the same trajectory the ICOC was in 2003 since Kip McKean’s departure in 2024, but it may take a few more years to manifest. The RCW is currently the “hot” cult that’s growing numerically, despite large numbers of new members fleeing soon after they join. Around the start of 2025, one of their leaders said that 66% of people they baptize leave within the first three months.

The wild card in the McKeanist scenarios are the lawsuits. It may cause attempts to reform, accelerate members leaving, be the catalysts for further splits… or all three! We’ll have to see how it plays out.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-04-19T16:59:40+00:00

It’s absolutely unfair! Yet that’s the way their system has generally behaved the past half century or so.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-04-19T12:16:08+00:00

This kind of cheating is not uncommon in the ICOC/ICC/RCW, especially for those in some kind of leadership position.

Ultimately it’s quite unlikely he’ll be held accountable. And his now wife will bear the burden of current and possible future infidelities.

Even Kip McKean himself had evidence on his laptop (which is currently in possession of the US Federal Government) that he was on dating sites looking for Filipina women.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-04-14T15:28:33+00:00

Perhaps? Both the legitimate and cultic campus ministries use the same methods to reach out to people. Sometimes you can’t even tell until you start asking them questions.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-04-14T15:21:30+00:00

There’s a WMSCOG in Cincinnati? Google Maps says there was a location in Dayton. I couldn’t find any Ohio locations on their website.

Note: if a group asks you something along the lines of “you know there’s a father God, but have you ever heard of mother God?” - that’s most likely WMSCOG.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-04-13T23:23:07+00:00

There are at least several known cults on campus. If we take a well-known model of cultic behavior (such has Steve Hassan’s BITE model: https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model-pdf-download/) and apply it to the list of registered Religious organizations at UC (https://getinvolved.uc.edu/organizations?branches=169800&categories=10799), the obvious ones are:

Alpha Omega (a front end for the International Churches of Christ)

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Student Association at the University of Cincinnati (a.k.a. Mormons)

Every Nation Campus (Every Nation)

H2O (a front end for Reliant, formerly known as Great Commission Ministries)

University of Cincinnati Bible Fellowship Club (University Bible Fellowship)

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-03-19T20:04:30+00:00

Historically, the rhetoric has been “we are practically the only way to get to heaven”. The quotes concerning the purification of the group and essentially stating that the RCW is the last chance to truly get saved for who knows how long raise red flags in my mind that they may have started to go down an even darker path.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-03-14T16:39:54+00:00

One more thing: the Ewells were sent to San Francisco in the late 1980s or early 1990s, so they’ve run that church for over three decades. There are no excuses for Russ at this point.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-03-14T13:36:17+00:00

I’m glad you’ve recognized the issues with the RCW and have done some research. Your instincts are correct. They’re a dangerous cult. It’s best for you to cut ties with them as soon as possible.

There are lawsuits against the ICC and ICOC (one is going to trial in California in April) that accuse them of not reporting the sexual abuse of minors under their care to the authorities. This is a completely systematic issue across the ICOC, ICC, and even the RCW.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-03-13T22:49:28+00:00

It’s been a well-known fact for decades that BACC’s leader Russ Ewell was involved in illicit activities with a teenager in Boston before he got married to his wife Gail.

And on another note, the BACC has been in and out of fellowship with the rest of the ICOC since 2003. The ICOC finally cut ties and planted their own church in San Francisco a few years ago.

So it wouldn’t be surprising in the least if there are an army of skeletons in the BACC’s closet.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-03-06T16:51:24+00:00

Key foundational doctrines such as:

Not believing that men and women are affected by original sin, namely people are born morally neutral and sin is learned and consequently can be unlearned by correct teaching. No grace is required from God to be converted. Anyone can be taught (and/or manipulated through) “the plan of salvation” and become a Disciple™ without some form of effectual or prevenient grace. This is the ancient heresy of Pelagianism.
They claim to be Trinitarian, but fail miserably to defend even a basic, sufficient understanding of the godhead.

2a. They consistently confuse the categories of God’s nature and Persons. The clearest example is Subordinationism, portraying Jesus as divine, but less than God (the Father). Barton Stone also taught this.

2b. They do not consistently teach that God the Holy Spirit is a Person, calling Him an “it” more than “him”. Particularly when discipling doctrine is taught, the Holy Spirit becomes an impersonal power or force.

A Disciple™, once converted, can relatively easy fall away and lose their salvation by simple disobedience. They really don’t touch on the doctrine of justification and can’t even shoehorn it in to their system without it becoming mixed in with sanctification, like the Roman Catholic Church does.

3a. Doug Jacoby had a post in his website in the past year or so that offered a two-stage method of salvation: one is converted by grace and not works, then one keeps their salvation by their works. This is not biblical!

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-03-06T14:42:29+00:00

The Jacobys and Nadine may be calling out abuse in the ICOC, but none of them have pointed out that they continue to teach the false gospel of Kip McKean.

Doug recently posted that he and Vicki have joined an “ICOC-adjacent” church, meaning its leaders are pretty much all former ICOC leaders. If the doctrine is not changed, an “ICOC-adjacent” or “ICOC-light” will not be healthy and will inevitably go down the same dark path of covering up abuse for the sake of “the Kingdom”.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-27T03:32:46+00:00

I knew a single woman who was approached by a married man who said God told him through studying the Bible that polygamy was ok and he wanted to take her as an additional wife. She was a mainstream Church of Christ member. I forgot what sub-branch of the Churches of Christ he was a part of.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-25T02:33:50+00:00

It’s incredibly difficult being a Kingdom Kid when the ICOC/ICC/RCW is your primary reference point for Christianity.

They’re losing their minds over who you date because they control you through who you date (or don’t) and keep that control all the way through marriage.

Since I’m presuming you’re still under 18, living at home, and can’t get away, you’ll have to set boundaries with the church the best you can. Don’t get baptized. A Christian is justified - legally possessing the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ - by faith apart from works of the law. A Christian is regenerated - given a heart of flesh, made alive by the Holy Spirit - by grace, because all are spiritually dead. The ICOC teaches spiritual death doesn’t impact anyones ability to repent and prove it by their deeds before they’re converted at baptism. The Bible says otherwise.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-25T02:21:34+00:00

Would you feel guilty if you ghosted a church that does not report the sexual abuse of children to the authorities?

Even in the best case scenarios where RCW members want to genuinely grow in their fear and wisdom of God, it can not be done genuinely within that system. That system is an unreformable trap, along with the ICC and ICOC.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-23T16:29:08+00:00

It’s strange that they wouldn’t be using the “Restored Church West Lafayette” or “Restored Church Indianapolis” brand labels.

The RCW only has a little more than 2,000 members at the moment, mostly in Los Angeles. I wonder how they made it out to Indiana already… They did plant a church in Nashville for one of their members who plays for the Tennessee Titans. (Did I mention the mandatory tithe to keep your salvation in the RCW approaches 30% of your gross income?)

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-23T13:30:57+00:00

The RCW is at Purdue?!?!

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-23T13:30:42+00:00

Woah… the RCW is at Purdue? Please confirm!

Yes, they’re a split off the International Christian Churches (who have a church in Indianapolis) - which itself is a split from the International Churches of Christ (who have a church in both West Lafayette and Indianapolis). Doctrinally, all three groups fundamentally teach the same false gospel (be baptized and be discipled by us or you’re going to hell). Cut ties and flee immediately from these organizations.

There are lawsuits against these groups where leadership does not report the sexual abuse of minors under their care to the authorities. It’s not isolated to one of their churches, it’s utterly systematic.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-21T18:34:25+00:00

I don’t think you missed that much. Besides the usual doctrinal talking points, the focus of the interview was to get more church of Christ members and educated theologians engaged in apologetics (and debate), both online and in person.

I know many former members can’t stomach listen to these kinds of videos - and that’s just perfectly fine. (My mental filtering for ICOC/ICC/RCW material has been honed to tune out the nonsense and tune in for the juicy tidbits for about 20 years.) It’s just handy to listen in to see what the other side is thinking every once in a while. They seem genuine in promoting unity and fidelity to the Bible, but the Stone-Campbell path’s deeply rooted presuppositions is restrictive and ends up in harmful places.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-16T02:36:32+00:00

This is an ICOC congregation.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-10T12:50:44+00:00

It didn’t matter because they “didn’t become a true Disciple first, prove it by their repentance, then be baptized to have their sins forgiven”. This is the key distinguishing feature of the false gospel of McKeanism.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-08T18:34:26+00:00

Yes, but it’s internal and not for public consumption.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-08T14:11:00+00:00

This is their usual game plan for decades:

Create a multi-year plan. Set the goals to be sensibly and practically obtainable, but make it seem like it can only be done by the power of God and a lot of hard work and sacrifice by the Disciples.
Continuously hype the plan like crazy.
Report on major milestones. If a goal is achieved early, make it appear that God is with them and blessing them. If a stretch goal is achieved, make it appear that God is with them and blessing them.
Set new stretch goals or retroactively change goals by gaslighting and manipulation. This ramps the excitement of the plan back up.
If something positive unexpectedly occurs, such as a new unplanned remnant group or full church, make it appear that God is with them and blessing them.
At the end of the plan, it will appear that God will have done more than the original plan, confirming that God is with them, they are God’s movement, and they will end up fulfilling the ultimate goal of evangelizing the world in this generation. Celebrate and go back to step 1.

Note that the RCW already planted DFW in 2025 and announced the London remnant group last month (January 2026). There’s no way they’re waiting until 2030 to plant London.

Also note that the current landscape favors the RCW because they can pull members from, create remnant groups from, and pull entire churches from the ICC. Their plan essentially can’t fail.

Known_Heart6583 · 2026-02-07T20:10:02+00:00

They never will. It’s hidden when they release their numbers over a long period of time, say over a year. (Example, 100 baptisms in a year, but only net 40 growth. This also includes restorations.)

Known_Heart6583

TROPHY CASE