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Guinan, however, has been forwarding news of recent developments, including Kriete's letter, to interested parties. He said leaders in the Rhode Island church so far have shown a willingness to confess wrongdoings, but not an eagerness to repent.

Churches in at least a dozen large U.S. cities have issued online apologies. Some congregations have sponsored open forums in which members may express frustrations. Others, however, are ordering members not to read accounts on the Internet.

Moving on requires more than rhetoric, says Carol Giambalvo, who has conducted more than 60 interventions for families connected with ICOC. Her organization, the American Family Foundation in Naples, Florida, is a nonprofit research center and educational organization founded in 1979.

"I know people who will never attend a bona fide church again because they have been so bashed by this group," she said.

Erol Dogan of Vancouver, British Columbia, is encouraged. Although he left the ICOC 12 years ago, Dogan said he has received five phone calls of apology from members of the church since the recent changes.

Ronald Enroth, author of Churches That Abuse, told CT it is extremely difficult for an aberrant Christian group with such an authoritarian structure to move into mainstream evangelicalism.

"It remains to be seen whether the International Churches of Christ, with its remaining power structure, can truly make major changes," Enroth said. "If it does so, it won't happen overnight."

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Previous Christianity Today articles on the International Churches of Christ include:

'Boston Movement' Founder Quits | Facing growth problems, controversial group changes leadership structure. (Feb. 26, 2003)

The Cost of Discipleship? | Despite allegations of abuse of authority, the International Churches of Christ expands rapidly. (Sept. 1, 1997)

Henry Kriete's open letter is available online.

The official website of The International Churches of Christ has posted responses to Kriete's letter. The site also has Kip McKean's resignation letter and a responses from elders.

Rightcyberup.org, a site dedicated to recovery from the ICoC, has posted an article on the current situation.

In the late 1970s, Timothy and Carla Williams saw the early beginnings of what would become the Boston Movement. Their book examining the problems of the ICoC, Bewitchment: You Foolish Galatians, is available at Christianbook.com.

The Watchman Expositor online site has a profile of International Churches of Christ.

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June 2003, Vol. 47, No. 6