Study: Small Group Hazing At All-Time High
2 Dead, Some Churches Impose Outright Ban
CHICAGO - A new study to be published in Christianity Today magazine
exposes
a dangerous wave of church subculture that has built enormous momentum
over
the past decade. Hazing, which until now has been almost entirely
associated
with college fraternities and sororities, has made its way into our
churches
as a method of initiating would-be small group members and filtering out
those too weak to join. While most colleges have squelched hazing in
recent
years, a new surge in small group hazing-resulting in at least two
fatalities-is causing some pastors to follow suit and ban the practice
altogether.
"This has got to stop!" said Pastor Gene Appel of Willow Creek Community
Church in South Barrington, IL. "Even if there weren't any deaths, it's
difficult for me to concentrate during my preaching when there's someone
skipping on stage behind me wearing nothing but flannelgraph characters
taped over his privates! I'm sure that's not where cartoon-Moses wants to
be
poking his staff."
Events like this are occurring across the country.
The study, conducted by Christian Research International, found evidence
that services in every region of the United States are being interrupted
by
small group hazing. The McGeorge's small group at Hickory Square Baptist
in
Keene, NH required all of its 6 pledges to shout "bless you" or
"gesundheit"
every time their pastor said "Gethsemane" during their Easter service.
Arthur Culver, a small group pledge at Kendall United Methodist Church in
Miami, FL, was instructed to sit in the front row and eat and drink all of
the communion elements when they were passed.
Other re****ted instances of hazing stretch beyond Sunday morning and into
the daily lives of pledges. Sam Mills of Logan, MT was among the 4 pledges
woken at 3am and instructed to shovel 9 inches of snow off Logan Church of
God's 2-acre parking lot immediately and barefoot. Terri Wendt of Sonora
Bible Church in Texas was ordered to sign up for all 48 ****fts of SBC's
24-hour prayer watch in November.
"Who can measure the damage inflicted on the Kingdom due to things like
this?" fumed Pastor Aaron Vang of SBC. "The only thing less effective than
Terri's last 10 or 15 prayer watch ****fts is this hazing and its attempt
to
assemble quality small groups!"
Keith Hatter, 5-year "Alpha-Alpha-Omega" small group leader at New Faith
Community in Seattle, WA, disagrees.
"Maybe in the 80s small group pledging wouldn't have had as good a
purpose.
But some churches are so large these days that there are enough people to
make entire small groups out of just the cool people. There has to be a
way
to ensure that happens. C'mon, we don't want just anyone signing up for
Alpha-Alpha-Omega! They can go to the Forester's group, which still allows
sign-ups, thank God."
But the sobering fact, as the study re****ts, is that there have been two
recent deaths resulting from small group hazing. While some argue the
deaths, caused by an automobile accident during two pledges' "high-speed
drive-by evangelism" duties, are atypical, many elders use the fatalities
as
a basis on which to ban hazing in their churches.
Leonard Kindred, principal investigator for the study, explained to THO,
"We're
no longer just talking about doing the Bible study homework for the small
group leaders, speaking only with small group brothers and sisters, or
learning the small group anthem. We've recorded countless examples of
dangerous spiritual activities taking place. One poor pledge was forced to
eat nothing but unleavened bread for 40 days, which is the standard pledge
period. He ended up in the hospital with chronic constipation and fecal
impaction."
With this study's release, many church leaders are at a crossroads as to
how
seriously they will take the potential dangers of small group hazing.
Said Pastor Chris Malcolm of Sun Valley Episcopal in Fresno, CA, "I was
unaware that these dangers could exist in my church, but I've decided to
bring them up at my next small group meeting. My group has recruited like
all of the best Christians in the congregation so we'll stay on top of
this
issue!"
from http://www.holyobserver.com/detail.php?isu=v03i04&art=hazing
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