Gissel dyed her hair red for the first time during the week after she left home. | Photo: Ashley Kavanaugh In July 2014, Ashley came over to my apartment to visit one Saturday morning. While we were talking, Ashley got a text message from Gissel, one of her friends from the First United Pentecostal ChurchContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: Gissel’s story”
Tag Archives: Apostolic Pentecostal church
Cult-like control is subtle, some not encouraged to think independently
This article was originally published in The Scribe, UCCS’s student newspaper, on March 9, 2015. By Eleanor SkeltonNews Editor One of the first friends I met at UCCS believed her hair was under angelic protection. If she cut it, she thought her body and soul would be open to demonic attack. My friend attended an Apostolic Pentecostal churchContinueContinue reading “Cult-like control is subtle, some not encouraged to think independently”
The UnBoxing Project: Ashley’s story
Editorial note: Although Ashley is a survivor of a Christian fundamentalist cult, unfortunately she became abusive herself. She has been reported to several law enforcement agencies for human trafficking others from 2017-2019. She is the abusive partner mentioned in this post from 2022. I keep Ashley’s story on the blog as a reminder that thoseContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: Ashley’s story”
The UnBoxing Project: Racquel’s story
Eleanor and Racquel hiking the Incline near Colorado Springs in fall 2013. | Photo: Eleanor Skelton Content note: religious manipulation, forced starvation Racquel grew up attending the First United Pentecostal Church of Colorado Springs, now known as Heritage Pentecostal Church. This is Racquel’s story, in her own words. Somehow I never imagined that the innerContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: Racquel’s story”
The UnBoxing Project: The trouble with freeing people
My friends and I often felt like Katniss in the Hunger Games as we left behind the high control churches we were raised in and rebelled against those systems. | Source: Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1. Continued from Being an angel with a shotgun. Content note: suicidal ideation, pastoral authority doctrine “Eleanor, does your churchContinueContinue reading “The UnBoxing Project: The trouble with freeing people”
Eleanor Skelton 