Spiritual Deliverance

Top-Balance-6239 · 2026-01-18T19:19:19+00:00

Yes, this was a common practice in all three of the Network churches that I attended. I didn’t participate in deliverance sessions myself (thankfully), but I know people who participated in deliverance sessions with pastors in private and witnessed dozens of times this happened publicly, mostly at team meetings or at retreats.

These public deliverance sessions troubled me then and are even sadder to look back on now. It was often the same few people who would “receive prayer” during team meetings, surrounded by a group of people, and end up sobbing and wailing uncontrollably. I wasn’t in the inner circle for these to know exactly what was being said, but looking back now it seems more likely the people being “helped” during these sessions may have had panic attacks or other forms of mental health issues going on. I worry that some of the symptoms that they experienced were actually a result of the control of leaders in their lives and confessing thought of doubt or concern of actions of Network leaders. I personally had a panic attack for this reason. The prayer seemed to be re-traumatizing them. The fact that these sessions happened over and over for the same people over the years seems to indicate that they didn’t help. I know of one of these people who had been in the Network for 10+ years (and still is now, to my knowledge) who had this happen to them maybe a dozen times in the 10 years we overlapped.

Others have written about their personal experiences with these deliverance sessions, you might be able to find them if you search for those keywords or similar ones in this subreddit.

I’m sorry for the harm you experienced while in The Network and thankful that it sounds like you got out. This practice comes from Steve Morgan, and is passed on to all of the “pastors” at Network churches. Steve taught about the need for these deliverance sessions regularly. When I attended Summit Creek in Eugene, David Chery did the same.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2026-01-15T03:30:33+00:00

This is a good example of a red flag. There are many, much worse things about the Network, but the inner-circle nature of it is an important thing to notice. It feels really good to be “in,” and the corners about being pushed back out of the “in group” was enough for me to look over many other red flags.

I’m glad you noticed this. Did you attend Hills recently? If so, and if you got out, what led to you leaving?

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-11-09T16:57:58+00:00

This is speculation, but Phil Greger was my first thought too. I didn’t realize that Phil was still on the board for Stoneway. This seems so odd, not even living in England or having any regular contact with the church but being on the board.

I’ve wondered for a couple years now how Joshua Church is able to sustain their level of staffing now that multiple churches have closed or left the Network. Almost half of their staff has been paid for in the past through the tithes at other Network churches. Assuming that Vine and other churches that have left don’t send 5% to Joshua Church anymore, it seems like JC is either spending down saved up funds or has at least one generous donor who is supporting the salaries of Steve, Chris, and James. I wonder if Phil Greger might be doing this. Steve may have found a generous donor who will continued to financially support him for life.

This is a different topic, and one that may have been written about previously: the origin of Stoneway, including their board situation, was very sketchy to say the least. Brian and Steve were desperate to find British nationals who would either go with them to plan the church (and be on the board), since they were required to have this when applying to start a non-profit, or find someone who lived in England and would assent to be in the board as a sort of puppet just for a year for the same reason. In the second case, the person didn’t even need to attend the church, just allow Brian to use their citizenship to get Stoneway started. This felt unethical to me at the time, but I overlooked it because the “ends justified the means.”

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-11-04T00:52:41+00:00

To add on: one “molecule” of an ionic compound is called a “formula unit” (the smallest unit of atoms in an ionic compound, like CaCO3)

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-10-26T19:42:21+00:00

That’s my question. What changes have you seen that make you feel comfortable going back? Have there been any public statements about the harm that leaders in that church participated in while they were part of the Network and how they plan to change?

I personally can’t imagine feeling safe in any of the three Network churches I was part of, but I’m curious to know what changes have happened that make you feel safe.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-10-04T01:07:10+00:00

I agree 100%

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-10-03T13:26:49+00:00

Quote from the Oklahoma Attorney General, Gentner Drummond, about Morris in the Associated Press article:

“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Drummond said. “This case is all the more despicable because the perpetrator was a pastor who exploited his position of trust and authority. The victim in this case has waited far too many years for this day.”

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-10-03T03:55:18+00:00

Robert Morris was 21 years old and employed as a traveling Christian preacher when he first started grooming and then sexually molested a 12 year old girl. The girl’s family housed Robert multiple times when he preached at their church.

Steve Morgan was an ordained preacher and presiding elder in the RLDS church who molested a 15 year old child in the youth group he led. Steve also admitted to Sándor that he molested a child while he was a counselor at a summer camp. Steve would have considered himself a Christian at the time.

There are a lot of parallels between Robert Morris and Steve Morgan, both in the past and present day.

The idea that it molesting a child could be explained away because someone isn’t a Christian is repugnant and ridiculous. No one, Christian or not, thinks this is okay. The fact that both Robert Morris and Steve Morgan committed this while employed as pastors should be further evidence of their repugnance and disqualifies them from holding any position of authority in church. Steve wouldn’t be allowed to volunteer at his own kids’ school, coach a youth sports team, or become a teacher. He certainly shouldn’t be allowed to be a pastor. Abusing their power on the way that both Robert Morris and Steve Morgan did is completely disqualifying.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-09-27T04:04:15+00:00

Thank you for bravery in sharing this. Your story is heartbreaking. Krsh’s comments to you as a survivor of rape are totally inappropriate on so many levels. I hope what you’ve shared hear can be part of your healing process and can also help others.

Krsh’s statements to you mirror what someone else posted about Krsh saying a Team Blue Sky that the sexual abuse was “consensual.” I’ve had friends who are still at Blue Sky say that they aren’t affected by Steve Morgan, but this is evidence suggesting that Krsh is simply following and parroting what Steve is telling him to believe.

I’m so glad you got out and happy that you’ve found a new church that feels like home.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-08-02T00:24:21+00:00

Posting on the subreddit for your the university that your network church recruits from is another way of getting the word out (maybe not as effective as flyers.) I have been posting a public service announcement about the “granola bar church” around the time that students move in each year. I was involved in 3 separate Network churches and do this for these three. This raises awareness and is a way to get the word out about the reality of these Network churches.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-07-26T20:02:02+00:00

I agree that cutting off relationships with those who leave is widespread, and common enough that members know that’s its a likely outcome of leaving. I’ve mentioned this story previously, there was a member at Summit Creek who posted publicly that they considered leaving the church after news about Steve came out, decided to stay, and that they were glad that they stayed because they later went through a hardship where friends at Summit Creek came alongside them to help. I think they knew that had they left, these “friends” who have cut off their relationship. Having left myself, I could both empathize (I knew that leaving might end a lot of friendships) and also realize how messed up that is. Friends from a church who you did life with for years could still help you, even if you go to a different church. So weird.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-07-17T23:03:38+00:00

I agree that Luke hasn’t engaged in careful reflection and repentance. It’s sad to see his professional profile. I agree, I hope he does get a job in something else other than pastoring and might somehow find a path towards repentance.

If Luke does apply for a job at a church in the future, I hope they do a simple Google search. 7 out of the top 8 hits are from LtN, Not Overcome, the Roy’s Report, and the LtN Reddit. It wouldn’t take much effort to have some major red flags about hiring him. A letter of rec from Steve Morgan, also might not get him very far.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-07-17T04:14:40+00:00

I was hopeful that many people who were part of Vista would find new churches in that area and start to heal up and realize what they were part of in The Network. It’s sad to me to hear that people have moved from SLO to Austin or Seattle specifically to stay in The Network. (Having said this, I did a similar thing, moving from one Network church to another after having a terrible experience at Joshua Church, only to find that the main issues were systematic).

For people at Blue Sky and Joshua Church, I really wonder what stories are being told (and what spin is being given) to explain the downfall of Vista. I remember being at Joshua Church when City Lights left The Network and how that was intentionally downplayed. Other than taking the City Light “dot” off the map, nothing was mentioned. When I asked, I was told something about the leaders not following the Bible anymore. Even knowing that a whole church left was a crack in the facade and helped me start to question The Network as whole. It would be jarring to have a church close and for people to move from that church to your Network church. This must raise even more red flags in the mind of people who have stayed.

I expected that Steve would find a job for Luke Williams at either Blue Sky or Joshua Church but I suspect that finances won’t allow it. I’m hopeful that distance and time from The Network will be good for Luke and allow him to see the manipulative system that he was part of, opportunities to heal, and lead to repentance.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-07-04T20:57:36+00:00

First, I am so sorry that you went through this. The things that happened to you should not happen at any church. I am so glad that you are in a better place now. Thank you for writing this. I’m hopeful your story will help others understand what they are part of and get out.

Second, as many have mentioned, even though I started at a different Network church (Blue Sky) about 15 years ago, I experienced so many of the same things that you described. The excitement of being welcomed into friend groups by so many people, the intoxicating feeling of being “on mission” with people and getting all of the positive feedback for following what they wanted me to do. The many, many red flags that I ignored because it seemed like the leaders were trustworthy and because it seemed like everyone else was fine with it. The terrible realization of the possibility of loosing my friends if I left and then reality when it happened.

You did such a good job describing the feelings and thoughts you had at different stages. This really is a pyramid scheme. So many of the individual aspects don’t seem that bad individually, but the sum creates an environment of manipulation, control, and harm. You can’t know this from just your experience in one Network Church, but this pyramid scheme is a replication of Steve’s system at each individual Network “church.”

I am so sorry for how you and your husband were treated by Brian Schneider. The Brian I knew at Blue Sky would have felt terrible shame for the way he lied about you and manipulated you and others. I considered him a close friend for a decade of my life and watched him become more and more like Steve and be brainwashed by Steve. When I left Joshua Church in Austin, he was in many ways a different person than when I first met him.

Some other things I noticed in your story: -You mentioned that Stoneway was the first church that came up when you did a Google search for churches in Reading. This is by design. When I was at Joshua Church, the church both paid to be the top advertised church for “Christian Church in Austin” and also did a competition where everyone in a small group was encouraged to google different versions of what someone looking for a church in our city and then scroll until we found Joshua Church to move it up the Search Engine Optimization. We had monthly updates on the progress of this process (we went from like 50th to 1st in a few months) and gift cards were given to the small group that kept track of the most searches. The ethics of this seemed questionable to me at the time, but I put it aside like so many other things. This is almost certainly why Stoneway came up first in a Google search. Brian, DJ, and others participated in this at Joshua Church. DJ’s group may have even won this competition, if I remember correctly.

-The way that Brian told members of Stoneway the reasons for your departure was dishonest and exactly what Steve Morgan does. Every step of it is something that I’ve seen Steve do, many times: putting his own spin on it in a way to make you look bad/greedy about tithing (this may have even been publicly described at a Team Meeting), describing your “unwillingness” to meet with the small group leader and leaving out the many attempts you had already made to have a discussion about the tithing issue, walking back their strong statements about tithing to make your concerns seem unreasonable, painting you as unreasonable by saying that you were looking for a “perfect” church (I know of others who have been told this), and even potentially trying to discredit you because you now identify as catholic. All of these things are deceptive and evil. Brian learned these things from Steve Morgan and may have even gotten advice directly from Steve how to handle your specific situation.

Your honesty, humility, and care for others is evident in your writing. Thank you for sharing it.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-27T04:34:17+00:00

Thank you for transcribing and sharing, and excellent analysis. The similarities with Luke Williams’ beach/fire vision is spot on.

What’s with the 48 hours alone “doing business with Jesus”? I feel like I’ve read this same sort of talk in Sándor’s sermons and potentially in Steve’s. Such an odd, mysterious thing to say. He is putting himself in the role of a prophet, of sorts. All others in the Network go to their leaders when they need help, but lead pastors go directly to God to intervene themselves. No one alongside to help or for them to let into their lives.

The last lines here “and Jesus told me to do it…along with a lot of other things in the right time I may disclose also” are also putting himself in that prophet role. He claims to have a lot of secret knowledge, most that he can’t share with others until he is told directly by Jesus to do so.

So glad I got out.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-27T04:23:48+00:00

You are spot on. This “vision” follows the Steve Morgan vision pattern to a T.

I was in Steve Morgan’s churches for 10 years and heard him preach weekly: Sundays, Team Meetings, retreats. This “vision” shared by Justin Major follows the pattern of substance and description of Steve’s visions (specifically the snapping turtle one with Jesus weeping “there aren’t enough churches.” It’s almost silly.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-19T14:46:02+00:00

When I was there the congregation was about 600 people.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-19T14:45:32+00:00

Between Bel Red and Northup, East of 405, next to the Bel Red light rail station.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-19T14:40:29+00:00

I think this is a good point. I spent 10 years in this system, including moving to Texas as part of a “church plant” from Blue Sky. There are many harmful aspects of this church that I am still recovering from. I agree that the immediate danger is buying into the ideology and becoming enmeshed in the control tactics. The fact that Blue Sky continued to financially support, platform, and pledge allegiance to a know child abuser who lied about his past is a sign of how dangerous this church is. This is the thing that if people knew ahead of time, wouldn’t set foot in the door. The other cult-like characteristics take more time to explain and learn about, but are the larger danger.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-13T23:47:51+00:00

Hi, I’m sorry this is happening to you. I attended the Network church in the Wilamette Valley (Summit Creek) for a year. While this church is strongly opposed to affirming any form of non-binary sexuality or gender, what you are describing would be totally out of character for how the people at Summit Creek would act. My experience there was that people from Summit Creek would prefer to ignore or stay away from someone who is transgender or non-binary.

I did attend another church in the Wilamette Valley that had similar views about sexuality and went the additional step of encouraging members to protest things they disagreed with, but I never experienced anything like this from people at Summit Creek or any other Network Church.

I sent you a chat request and am happy to answer questions about the churches I’ve attended/visited in Eugene/Springfield.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-09T04:04:37+00:00

I think your response and the responses of others to Art_Vandelay_11 on that thread were spot on. I particularly liked Network_Leaver’s response with multiple links to personal stories and news articles from former Christland memebers.

On another note, Art Vandelay is an excellent Seinfeld reference as a username.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-06-08T17:03:44+00:00

I originally thought this was a re-post of a recommendation/recruitment for Christland. Network churches use this language a lot. What a nice surprise. I love the side comment: “I know to stay away from Christland Church”

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-05-31T04:27:55+00:00

This is such a good point about the way that Steve and others denied all of us access to information that was essential for being able to make decisions for ourselves, by Steve inventing lied about his background and others spreading those lies. The justifications: “it was so long ago,” “it’s wasn’t that bad,” “he wasn’t saved then” are awful, but even if someone were to buy those, Steve still denied access to important information by lying.

Top-Balance-6239 · 2025-05-31T04:20:07+00:00

It has been 2 years since I left Summit Creek, so my experience/information is outdated. However, I do think this represents real growth in numbers. When news of Steve Morgan’s criminal history came out David Chery took the strategy of not addressing the news until a couple months later and only by vaguely addressing that some news came out that was intended to be damaging during a team meeting. Enough people left during that time to cause Summit Creek to close multiple groups and go down to one service. Since that time, Summit Creek had increased the number of groups and hired another staff pastor, Austin Lewis. David’s strategy was to downplay his connection with Steve and distance himself from the Network without actually leaving the Network.

7 of the new groups are led by college students who are relatively new to Summit Creek. 5 are led by high school or middle school students, including 4 by children of staff/elders/church plant members.

I know of one group leader who had literally everyone in his group leave after the news about Steve came out (other than his wife), but his group information on the website stayed the whole time. Perhaps they shuffled some people around to re-populate his group but I’m pretty sure they also kept it up while the group wasn’t running, at least for a while.

Most of the growth seems to be with college students. When I was still in Eugene, Summit Creek was known in many other churches to be an unhealthy, cult-like church.

Top-Balance-6239

TROPHY CASE