In my previous post, I discussed Steven Hassan’s Bite Model and how I feel it pertains to Calvary Gospel Church. I am still working through the Behavior section.
- Regulate a person’s physical reality.
- Dictate where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates or isolates.
- When, how, and with whom the member has sex.
- Control types of clothing and hairstyles.
- Regulate diet – food and drink, hunger, and/or fasting.
Ok, that is a lot to chew on! I lumped these together because to me they all have so much to do with the material world. I think the first point covers most of the others. CGC plays a powerful role in where members reside and even which UPC church you can attend. I have heard stories of folks who have attended CGC being told they cannot move or cannot switch to another local UPC church. The church certainly teaches about who it is ok to associate with. If you are obedient regarding these things you will soon find yourself isolated with only the church as your support system. My mother was even told which jobs she could accept.
Whether you believe in premarital sex or not you cannot argue that the church dictates when, how, and with whom a member has sex. You must be married to have sex, period. If you are a woman and you break this rule you can be sure that you will wear the stain of your transgression for the rest of your life. Anything bad that happens to you may be used to point back to that time you had sex outside of marriage even if that was when you were 15 years old. Men do not wear this stain. Jesus may forgive but the church does not forget and if you are a woman you will be viewed as “fallen” forever.
I have discovered through communicating with other ex-UPC members that CGC is on the strict side concerning holiness standards. Again for men, the clothing and hair standard is not that different from what you might find in the world. They must have short hair and no shorts but that really isn’t a huge burden. Women on the other hand do not blend into the world at all, in fact, they stand out like a sore thumb. Now that I am out of the church I can spot them a mile away. Uncut hair, no pants, no makeup, and mostly no jewelry. For women, their appearance is highly controlled. As a teen, I spent a lot of time worrying about whether my clothing was right. After all that I was still judged for what I wore. I was trying but because my mother didn’t really care and I did not have an adult to guide me through some of the finer points, and boy do those finer points matter. Women within CGC are very cruel to each other regarding dress. It is used as a way to classify women and assign them a rank. How much can you spend on your clothing? Does it fall perfectly within the rules? There is also the complicating issue of depending on your rank you may be able to get away with more than someone lower down. Clothing and hair can be used as a weapon against women and it is one of the uglier parts of the underbelly of CGC. When I was a kid we did not have a lot of money, especially before 1983. My mom would buy me things on clearance and at Goodwill and then I would have to try to make it work within the standards. I always carried safety pins with me and my blouses and skirts were often all pinned up to make them compliant. My hair was fine and frizzy making it hard to recreate the fancy hairstyles synonymous with the UCP. I felt like I never looked right.
This brings us to the 5th point. You can’t drink booze that is common within the UPC. Fasting is encouraged and I did that with ease as a kid because I was well acquainted with hunger. I don’t know that they restrict any other food or drink but they do have a problem with food. This is my opinion and others may disagree with me. I feel CGC has a food problem or more specifically a gluttony problem. Food is like a sport to them. There are so many things you’re not allowed to do but eating is embraced with gusto, maybe too much gusto. Food is often associated with community and sharing food builds closeness. I feel it becomes an issue when all gatherings seem to center on food. That is how it was when I was a kid, it may have changed since then.
In my opinion, CGC hits all of these points, what are your thoughts?
D
Debbie McNulty 