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"...I'm not sure of what kind of damage Kip is capable before someone stops him. The fact is he is so charismatic makes me concerned that he will go on leading people in this farce for a long time."
-- Susan McGunnigle Condon, August 1989; The Emperor's New Clothes: “A Diary”: Why I Left the Boston Movement
A cult’s leader is crucial to understanding the group itself, as psychologist Margaret Singer describes it:
In my study of cults, I find that the personality, preferences, and desires of the leader are central in the evolution of any of these groups. Cults are truly personality cults. Because cult structure is basically authoritarian, the personality of the leader is all-important. Cults come to reflect the ideas, style, and whims of the leader and become extensions of the leader. (1) (1a)
In this chapter, we therefore take a closer look at International Churches of Christ (ICC) founder Kip McKean. Although individual psychology can't fully be “diagnosed” from a distance, the similarities between McKean and the profile of a cult leader are concerning.
[July 2007 Update: Kip McKean currently leads the Los Angeles-based City of Angels International Christian Church and a group of other churches he refers to as the "Portland Discipling Movement". He has been opposed by many International Churches of Christ and disfellowshipped by the many of the ICC's core leaders.]
In their book Captive Hearts, Captive Minds, Madeleine Landau Tobias and Janja Lalich profile 15 cult leader characteristics. (2) They compiled these characteristics from the work on psychopath traits by researchers Hervey Cleckley and Robert Hare. Here we will compare excerpts from the Captive Hearts, Captive Minds profile of a cult leader to Kip McKean, using McKean’s own words, personal accounts from former leaders who have known McKean, and other RightCyberUp material.
The term “psychopath” has been replaced, where it appears in Captive Hearts, Captive Minds with “cult leader” in [brackets]. (Tobias and Lalich use the two terms interchangeably to make the case that cult leaders are essentially psychopaths.) For a full reading of these characteristics, read Captive Hearts, Captive Minds.
Source: Captive Hearts, Captive Minds © 1994 by Madeleine Landau Tobias and Janja Lalich. Exerpts reproduced with permission from Hunter House Inc., Publishers. To order the book, please call (800) 266-5592, fax (510) 865-4295, visit the website at www.hunterhouse.com, or write to Hunter House Publishers, PO Box 2914, Alameda CA 94501.
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Trait 1: Glibness/superficial charm Glibness is a hallmark of [cult leaders]. They are able to use language effortlessly to beguile, confuse, and convince. They are captivating storytellers. They exude self-confidence and are able to spin a web that intrigues others and pulls them into the [cult leader’s] life. |
One-time Crossroads Church of Christ member Robert Hach described Kip McKean’s confidence and speaking ability, evident already by 1972-73 when McKean was in his late teens:
Kip . . . would ask Chuck [minister Lucas] if he could say a few words to the congregation. To everyone's surprise at first, Chuck would acquiesce, and it soon became a ritual for Kip to preach a three-minute sermonette whenever he ‘went forward.’ If he ever had any sin to confess, it was typically lost in the message the Lord had laid on his heart to deliver to the congregation. Quite clearly, self-doubt had no air to breathe in Kip's world. He was defining the fast track to leadership in the movement while the rest of us looked on in wonder. (3)
Most of all, they are persuasive. Frequently, they have the capacity to destroy their critics verbally or disarm them emotionally. space spacespace space |
Former Church of Christ elder and ICC Bible Talk Leader Marion Owens depicted McKean’s persuasiveness:
Leaders tend to stand in awe of Kip; his influence over them seems almost hypnotic at times.
Kip’s style of leadership is a skillful blend of velvet glove treatment with just enough display of the mailed fist to keep its memory alive. Preferring to use gentleness and persuasion, he can nevertheless summarily dispatch those such as [former Indianapolis evangelist] Ed Powers who do not respond or stay in line with his policies.
On occasion I have seen his anger flare as he has addressed a group of people. With blazing eyes, fierce demeanor, and roaring tones he can strike fear – or at least fearful respect – in the hearts of his listeners. (4)
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Trait 2: Manipulative and conning Cult leaders do not recognize the individuality or rights of others, which makes all self-serving behaviors permissible. The hallmark of the [cult leader] is the psychopathic maneuver, which is essentially interpersonal manipulation “based on charm. The manipulator appears to be helpful, charming even ingratiating or seductive, but is covertly hostile, domineering…” |
Former Nashville Women’s Ministry Leader Susan Condon described McKean in her published diary The Emperor's New Clothes: “A Diary”: Why I Left the Boston Movement:
I think Kip is the most intelligent, persuasive person I have ever met. He is an artist at manipulating people to his means. Intelligent, strong, God-fearing men can easily crumble under Kip and be totally used as his puppet and at the same time think they are only pleasing God. He honestly makes you believe that his way is the only way of pleasing God – I know – he did it to me several times. Oftentimes during the six years I worked under him, I had strong doubts about his motives and sometimes even his sanity – yet I kept being persuaded back to the fact that my doubts and lack of trust in him were a sin on my part. (5)
A warning letter from the Seattle Church of Christ leadership in 2005 pointed out that Kip gave the appearance of repentant man when in fact he had no intention of changing his ways:
(We have) gently confronted Kip... In each case, Kip has at the time been gracious, listening, and seemingly affected, but after each case, the tone and type of writing has continued, culminating with last week's unacceptable, disparaging column. (5b)
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Trait 3: Grandiose sense of self The cult leader enjoys tremendous feelings of entitlement. He believes everything is owed to him as a right. Preoccupied with his own fantasies, he must always be the center of attention. He presents himself as the ‘Ultimate One’: enlightened, a vehicle of god, a genius, the leader of humankind, and sometimes even the most humble of humble. He has an insatiable need of adulation and attendance. His grandiosity may also be a defense against inner emptiness, depression, and a sense of insignificance. |
In a 2005 letter published by the ICC's core leaders, McKean is quoted as saying, when asked whether he was willing to be a team player in cooperation with other leaders, "You don't understand. I am the star." (5c)
Susan Condon described McKean’s need for attention in one incident:
Kip rebuked me and went about breaking me because I had not worked my way through the crowd and say hello to him at the Southeast Evangelism Christian Conference in Atlanta. He lectured and drilled me for half an hour until I said that I was sorry and admitted that I had actually sinned. He glared at me and I glared back. Then he said that I did not really look sorry and started all over again. I was tense and tired. I put my eyes down and said I was sorry. Then he accepted my repentance. (6)
Paranoia often accompanies the grandiosity, reinforcing the isolation of the group and the need for protection against a perceived hostile environment. In this way, he creates an us-versus-them mentality. |
McKean described how, in his view, new members of the movement are at risk of “persecution” from outside forces:
“So, you’ve got to talk about persecution, and in fact you see, you know Satan’s going to go after them [new converts]. They may be suddenly persecuted by someone injecting doubt into them about the doctrine. Or they may be overtly persecuted, ‘You became a member of that cult? I’ve got to get you out of there – there’s some people I’ve got to get you to, there’s some books you’ve got to read.’ Let me tell you something, you better warn them.”
Kip McKean, First Principles: Follow-Up Study #1: After Baptism, Now What?, DPI, Tape # 10076, recorded circa 1989.
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[Cult leaders] lie coolly and easily, even when it is obvious they are being untruthful. It is almost impossible for them to be consistently truthful about either a major or minor issue. They lie for no apparent reason, even when it would seem easier and safer to tell the truth… |
Another form of lying common among cult leaders is pseudological fantasica, an extension of pathological lying. Leaders tend to create a complex belief system, often about their own powers and abilities, in which they themselves sometimes get caught up. “It is often difficult to determine whether the lies are an actual delusional distortion of reality or are expressed with the conscious or unconscious intent to deceive.” |
McKean believes he is "God's man" on earth today, appointed to bring "God's message" to God's movement (see God’s Man)
Susan Condon relates a disturbing conversation about McKean believing he was an apostle:
Chi Chi’s restaurant – London, England – dinner with Doug and Joyce Arthur. Doug laughingly told us that a few months before Kip actually thought he was an apostle and that he (Doug) had to talk him out of it. [Women’s World Sector Leader] Pat Gempel later confirmed this, but said the important things was that Kip was talked out of it. (7)
McKean publicly interprets even the harshest setbacks as signs that God is trying to lead through him, such as taking a job in Portland after being asked to step down from leading the movement:
"I believe God sent Elena and me to be into a 'satellite church' where all the sins and mistakes of the movement were exaggerated so we could learn and understand how to rebuild the movement."
Kip McKean, The Portland Story, upsidedown21.org, August 2005.
These manipulators are rarely original thinkers. Plagiarists and thieves, they seldom credit the true originators of ideas, often co-opting authorship… |
Many of McKean’s supposed “innovations” actually came from others:
Much of McKean’s doctrine and practice came directly from mainline Churches of Christ, which McKean later said were "dead” (see Fellowship with the Mainline Church)
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Trait 5: Lack of remorse, shame or guilt …[cult leaders] see those around them as objects, targets, or opportunities, not as people. They do not have friends, they have victims and accomplices – and the latter frequently end as victims. For [cult leaders], the ends always justify the means. Thus there is no place for feelings of remorse, shame, or guilt. Cult leaders feel justified in all their actions since they consider themselves the ultimate moral arbiter. Nothing gets in their way. |
Susan Condon describes a change she observed in McKean over time:
The thing I did see happen in the six years I was with the movement was Kip’s gradual change from being dedicated to God to being dedicated to the movement. The movement has become so important to Kip that he will go to any means to protect it, and he will not allow anything or anyone to stop its growth. Love, people’s feelings, humility from leaders have been replaced by loaded terms such as “sentimentalism,” which means not putting the movement before your love or concern for someone. (10)
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…Hiding behind the “mask of sanity”, the cult leader exposes feelings insofar as they serve an ulterior motive. He can witness or order acts of utter brutality without experiencing a shred of emotion. He casts himself in a role of total control, which he plays to the hilt. What is most promised in cults – peace, joy, enlightenment, love, and security – are goals that are forever out of reach of the leader, and thus also the followers. Since the leader is not genuine, neither are his promises. |
Susan Condon writes:
It’s amazing how many good, intelligent people can love someone one day and the next day consider them from Satan by just one word from Kip, and the final word does come from Kip and only Kip. I have been with Kip when he’s heard of someone’s dissention in an area. His usual reaction is a hostile “Nail him!” and then “We will not tolerate disloyalty!” Kip will not tolerate anyone being disloyal to him which means everyone must be in one hundred percent agreement with him. This is the stage I believe the movement is in now [1989]. Things are not going well, Kip is scampering to protect and many people are being hurt. (11)
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As the “living embodiment of God’s love,” the leader is tragically flawed in being able to either give or receive love… …The leader’s tremendous need to be loved is accompanied by an equally strong disbelief in the love offered him by his followers… space spacespace |
McKean in one sermon described his feelings of abandonment following the highly critical ABC 20/20 news report about the movement:
“You say, ‘Well, I’m not really ashamed of anybody.’ You know, it’s amazing to me, when that show 20/20 did something on our churches, how few people gave me a call or said diddley-squat. Talk about a feeling of loneliness – you’ve been persecuted, you know how it is.”
Kip McKean, Evangelization Proclamation, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape #8275, 1994.
…hence the often unspeakably cruel and harsh testing of his devotees. Unconditional surrender is an absolute requirement… space spacespace space |
Susan Condon describes McKean using rebaptism as a loyalty test for leaders during the 80s:
In 1987 Kip studied with me and tried to convince me that I was not a disciple at the time of my first baptism in 1970. I believe Kip was going through a very insecure time as far as feeling like he had peoples’ loyalty, and almost everyone in leadership who had not been baptized in Boston was baptized again. (12)
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Thrill-seeking behaviors, often skirting the letter or spirit of the law, are common among [cult leaders]… space spacespace space |
McKean’s public words showed his willingness to defy legal authorities – or to condone other leaders doing so – in order to plant ICC churches around the world (see Lying and Church Plantings). He stated his willingness to throw himself into dangerous situations:
“If I’m going to be sending people to places they don’t want to go in their flesh, places they can get diseases, physically hurt, or even killed, then I will put myself and my family on the front lines first.”
Kip McKean, Malachi: God’s Radical Demand for Remaining Radical, Manila, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape # 9104, 1994.
Cult leaders live on the edge, constantly testing the beliefs of their followers, often with increasingly bizarre behaviors, punishments, and rules. Other mechanisms of stimulation come in the form of unexpected, seemingly spontaneous outbursts, which usually take the form of verbal abuse and sometimes physical punishment. The [cult leader] has a cool indifference to things around him, yet his icy coldness can quickly turn into rage, vented on those around him. |
Susan Condon reports an episode of McKean’s rage:
Saturday morning at nine we had our weekly Zone Leaders meeting. I could tell from Kip’s face that he was furious. After prayer and songs we anxiously waited to hear from Kip. He was furious. His eyes squinted, he scowled. “Would you believe that some of you failed to say good-night to me last night?!” A tirade followed, then silence. Little by little most people in the room confessed their sin to Kip and repented. (13)
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Trait 9: Callousness/lack of empathy [Cult leaders] readily take advantage of others, expressing utter contempt for anyone else’s feelings. Someone in distress is not important to them. Although intelligent, perceptive, and quite good at sizing people up, they make no real connections with others. They use their “people skills” to exploit, abuse, and wield power. |
Former Boston Church of Christ leader Rick Bauer writes of McKean disgracing a senior leader in meetings:
Like many other leaders, Gordon Ferguson knows that to challenge Kip McKean is to risk his employment, position and security. I have seen Ferguson publicly humiliated by McKean in leaders’ meetings, reduced to abject tears; this is one of the methods that McKean uses to keep any potential challengers to his power at bay. (14)
[Cult leaders] are unable to empathize with the pain of their victims… space spacespace spacespace spacespace space |
McKean at an ICC leaders’ conference spoke with apparent disdain for members having bad experiences in his movement:
- click here to hear this quote in
“People are going, 'Gee, I wonder what's wrong with the church?’ ‘Oh, they're stressed.’ No, they're tormented. ‘Oh, they've been abused.’ No, they haven't forgiven when they've been wronged. They're flat bitter, they're in sin, they have malice and they need to be rebuked. I am sick and tired of the way we've dealt with these people.”
Kip McKean, The Dream: Super Churches, Part 1, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape # 7762, 1992. (about audio clips)
Even after many churches in the ICC began questioning the practice of one-over-one discipling because of the abuses it causes, McKean brushed off discipling abuses, saying that all relationships have "sins" and "mistakes:"
“Yes, we too [in Portland] realize there have been many mistakes and sins. As in all of our sister congregations, individuals have been hurt by the sins of others in discipling, as there are sins in all human relationships.”
Kip McKean, Won't Give Up, upcyberdown.org, December 15, 2003.
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Trait 10: Poor behavioral controls/impulsive nature Like small children, many [cult leaders] have difficulty regulating their emotions. Adults who have temper tantrums are frightening to be around. Rage and abuse, alternating with token expressions of love and approval, produce an addictive cycle for both abuser and abused, as well as create a sense of hopelessness in the latter… Who could possibly control someone who believes himself to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and entitled to every wish, someone who has no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for the impact on those around him? Generally this aberrant behavior is a well-kept secret, known only to a few disciples. The others see only perfection… |
Susan Condon reports more of McKean’s behavior she witnessed in the inner circle of Boston leadership:
Sunday Night House Church Leaders Meeting. Kip began rebuking us. A tirade followed. He appeared to be out of control and close to totally losing it. Jim and I were concerned and Jim decided to go to him and talk to him about it. He told Jim that he appreciated his concern, but he was fine and no, he was not out of control. The next day at staff meeting Kip said, “Someone in this group, who I am not particularly close to, was concerned that I was out of control in my lesson.” He said that was ridiculous. Kip laughed – then everyone else laughed. Then came a tirade about overweight people – especially overweight people on staff. Kip scared me during that Sunday night sermon. (15)
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Trait 11: Early behavior problems/juvenile delinquency [Cult leaders] frequently have a history of behavioral and academic difficulties. They often “get by” academically, conning other students and teachers. Encounters with juvenile authorities are frequent. |
Equally prevalent are difficulties in peer relationships and developing and keeping friends, marked control problems, and other aberrant behaviors such as stealing, fire setting, and cruelty to others. |
In a mid-1980s class on teaching the Light and Darkness study, McKean said that "obviously I had some problems with fits of rage" while growing up. By example, McKean says of his high school football teammates that "I would just cuss them up one side and down the other" for making a mistake, and mentions beating his brother's head against the floor after his brother beat him at ping-pong (17).
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Trait 12: Irresponsibility/unreliability Not concerned about the consequences of their behavior, [cult leaders] leave behind them the wreckage of others’ lives and dreams. They may be totally oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they inflict on others, something which they regard as neither their problem nor their responsibility. |
McKean dodged a CBC TV reporter who asked him about negative experiences of former ICC members:
- click here to download a 1.3 MB Real Media file of this interview playable in RealVideo p
Interviewer: “Mr. McKean? I’m Trish Wood from 5th Estate. I believe you were talking to our researcher on the phone; could we ask you a couple of questions.”
McKean: “Well, you know we have no comment, I appreciate….”
Interviewer: “Could you just maybe explain to us why so many of the ex-members of your church are suggesting that there was mind control involved in their time in the church – can you explain why people are saying that?”
McKean: “We have no comment at this time.”
Interviewer: “But the questions really are about you and your role in the leadership of the church. And many of the ex-members would like to know why these things happened to them.”
McKean: “Well, I think you’ve talked to many of the ex-members, so you have the information.”
Interviewer: “But they would like – and I think some questions are appropriate for you to answer. Why are all of these people suggesting that there was mind control being done to them, sir, while they were in your church. Mr. McKean?”
[McKean ducks into elevator and avoids further questioning.]
Canadian Broadcast Corporation, “A Matter of Control,” 5th Estate, December 1993.
[Cult leaders] rarely accept blame for their failures or mistakes. Scapegoating is common, blaming followers, those outside the group, a member’s family, the government, Satan – anyone and everyone but the leader… |
While McKean has admitted to personal failings -- being held up to members as a model of humility such as after his resignation -- he has been especially quick to blame outside influences for his movement's failings:
Even after he fell from the ICC's top leadership position and a subsequent wave of reform spread to some of the ICC's churches around the world, McKean seemed to depict the changes in the movement as evil:
“We in the Portland Church have felt the vicious counterattack of Satan to our worldwide fellowship's bold advancement to evangelize the world.”
Kip McKean, Won't Give Up, upcyberdown.org, December 15, 2003.
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Trait 13: Promiscuous sexual behavior/infidelity Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, polygamy, rape, and sexual acting out of all sorts are frequently practiced by cult leaders. Conversely, there is often stringent sexual control of the followers through such tactics as enforced celibacy, arranged marriages, forced breakups and divorces, removal of children from their parents, forced abortions or mandated births. For [cult leaders], sex is primarily a control and power issue… |
There is no public evidence of sexual misbehavior behavior by McKean. This is the only one of these traits with which he cannot be reasonably charged. However, the movement McKean founded has placed strict control upon dating (see Control of Dating Relationships), sex and even marriage relationships and (see Marriage).
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Trait 14: Lack of realistic life plan/parasitic lifestyle The [cult leader] tends to move around a lot, making countless efforts at “starting over” while seeking out fertile new ground to exploit… |
Kip McKean's career shows a clear pattern of “starting over” in new territories:
I really fear for people because I'm not sure of what kind of damage Kip is capable before someone stops him. The fact is he is so charismatic makes me concerned that he will go on leading people in this farce for a long time. (24)
The flip side of this erratic life planning is the all-encompassing promise for the future that the cult leader makes to his followers. Many groups claim as their goal world domination or salvation at the Apocalypse. The leader is the first to proclaim the utopian nature of the group, which is usually simply another justification for irrational behavior and stringent controls. |
The leader’s sense of entitlement is often demonstrated by the contrast between his luxurious lifestyle and the impoverishment of his followers. Most cult leaders are supported by gifts and donations from their followers, who may be pressured to turn over much of their income and worldly possessions to the group… |
ICC members were expected to sacrifice to give money to the group (see Weekly Contribution and the 10% Myth). By contrast, McKean in 1998 moved into an expensive (by 1998 standards) condominium purchased by the International Churches of Christ (see Kip McKean Condominium). McKean’s three children, according to a TV news investigation, attended a prestigious Los Angeles area prep school, the Brentwood School, with their combined tuition approaching a reported $40,000 per year. (25) To date, the ICC has not made public McKean’s salary, benefits or expenses during his time as the ICC's top leader.
Relying on the members who provide his livelihood, McKean nonetheless chastised members reluctant to give money according to the organization’s standards:
- click here to hear this quote in
“You know, we’ve got a lot of people that have gotten bitter and stingy when it comes to weekly contribution. My question is, what are you giving your money for? We have special contribution for world missions, and we have to plead with you and plead with you and plead with you and beg with you and and beg with you and beg with you. I’m tired of it. You need to give because you want to give.”
Kip McKean, “The Kingdom of God,” Jubilee 2000: Even Greater Things, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape # 14024, November 11, 2000. (about audio clips)
After the ICC had dissolved many of its corporations, former ICC evangelist Henry Kriete called for McKean to finally open the books and show how their donations had been spent:
Kip thinks he is fooling everyone by stating, "With no central leadership to answer further charges such as the misuse of money…" Why do you need a centralized group for that? Good grief! Do it now! Prove your innocence to the world and to the Christians who sacrificed so much! (26)
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Trait 15: Criminal or entrepreneurial versatility Cult leaders change their image and that of the group as needed to avoid prosecution and litigation, to increase income, and to recruit a range of members. Cult leaders have an innate ability to attract followers who have the skills and connections that the leaders lack. The longevity of the group is dependent on the willingness of the leadership to adapt as needed and preserve the group… |
Although there is no documentation of any criminal behavior by Kip McKean, his entrepreneurial skills are obvious. Starting from a small group in Boston, McKean used his personal gifts of organization and leadership to build an enormous and financially successful movement. He recruited many talented men and women to lead beneath him in a massive pyramid structure and implement his ideology. Having been removed from leading the group he founded, has has worked actively to build a new movement reporting to him.
Kip McKean’s public words can at times disturb. Closing this page are several quotes which seem to reveal McKean’s megalomania (the entire world is seen to revolve around his movement), his apparent self-belief in a unique relationship with God, and his unsettling words on death and martyrdom:
McKean says ICC actions shape world events:
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“Don’t you see it? We go to Johannesburg, apartheid gets lifted. We go to Berlin, the wall comes down. We go to Russia, communists totally fail. It’s time to go to the Middle East, and now they’re talking peace in the Middle East – the time is now, let’s get radical.” (about audio clips)
Kip McKean, Malachi: God’s Radical Demand for Remaining Radical, Manila, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape # 9104, 1994.
McKean says God paves the way for the ICC:
“I am mesmerized by what the Lord has done in China. In 1987 we sent out a group of 20 disciples from the Boston church to Hong Kong. Because we realized that in 10 years, that little British colony would be ceded back to mainland China [via the 1897 contract between China and the British Empire]. And we knew we just had limited time – we knew that that contract, that was drawn up almost a hundred years ago between the British and the Chinese was not something of man, but it was of God. It was God’s timing. God knew his movement would be coming.”
Kip McKean, Singapore sermon, February 24, 1999.
McKean on making history:
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“Abraham Lincoln was the author of what we have now come to know as the Emancipation Proclamation. In this week’s bulletin, I have written prayerfully a document that also will be viewed as one that had historic impact. If you would open to the centerfold of it, this is called the Evangelization Proclamation.”
Kip McKean, Evangelization Proclamation, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape #8275, 1994. (about audio clips)
McKean and the ICC as the focal point of human events:
“[Leading a prayer before his own World Missions Conference speech] Heavenly Father, we realize that this indeed is the place that your angels and you are most focused at this hour. No other meeting on the face of the earth can compare with the magnitude and the importance of this hour.”
Kip McKean, Malachi, 1994.
McKean speaking for God:
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“And so I beg you to, take down these scriptures. And if you see that they are used inappropriately or not of the Lord, then you forget anything that I would say – I’m of no issue right here. But if these scriptures truly parallel the situation that we have faced these last few weeks, then this isn’t some man that’s preaching, this is God speaking to us individually and collectively.”
Kip McKean, Indianapolis message, audio tape, March 17, 1994. (about audio clips)
McKean as a conduit to God:
“In the summer of 1982, Chicago and London were planted. Shortly thereafter, the Lord put on my heart (Nehemiah 2:12) a plan to evangelize the world.”
Kip McKean, Ten-Year Report, Boston Bulletin, June 11, 1989.
McKean predicts evangelists being shot:
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“'Known but to God.' Brothers, I don’t know how well known you’ll be in the movement. You accountants, most of you guys, praise God, that’ll be what people will say. So what. Some of you evangelists will be well known because you’ll be shot first. But, amen. And some will not.”
Kip McKean, Financial Leaders Meeting, audio tape, November 1988. (about audio clips)
McKean apparently predicts martyrdom for himself and others:
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“And yes, my friends, some of the high-profile people in here [The Boston Garden] will be martyred, like Stephen [a New Testament martyr]. Or else the movement will not be preached to every person -- we’ve got to pay the same price, it doesn’t come any cheaper in the 20th century. I know I will not see a natural death.”
Kip McKean, Why Do You Resist the Spirit?, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape # 4207, August 28, 1987. (about audio clips)
McKean on prison and death:
"I’m telling you in the movement, we’ve got a fear of prison. Now, I appreciate all the administrators that want to keep us out, for reasons that are wrong. Jesus went to prison on trumped-up charges of tax evasion and subversion to a nation. The apostles all went to prison. Now if you’re going to reduplicate what Jesus did and the apostles did, you think you’re going to do it better so you escape going to prison? I think there’s a fear in our fellowship of radicalness to the point that leads to prison and to death.”
Kip McKean, Preach the Word, World Missions Leadership Conference, Johannesburg, audio tape, August 9, 1995.
(1) Margaret Singer & Janja Lalich, Cults in Our Midst, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1995, Introduction page XX.
(1a) Robert Jay Lifton also writes that psychological disorders can feed cult leaders’ need to lead in the first place. Lifton says that a guru “needs disciples [followers] not only to become and remain a guru but to hold himself together psychologically. For the guru self often teeters on the edge of fragmentation, paranoia, and overall psychological breakdown.” [Robert Jay Lifton, Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Sinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism, Metropolitan Books, New York, 1999, p. 13.]
(2) Madeline Landau Tobias & Janja Lalich, Captive Hearts, Captive Minds: Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Abusive Relationships, Hunter House, Alameda, CA, 1994, pp. 72-79. To order the book, please call (800) 266-5592, fax (510) 865-4295, visit the website at www.hunterhouse.com, or write to Hunter House Publishers, PO Box 2914, Alameda CA 94501.
(3) Robert Hach, The Way Up and the Way Out, exicoc.org, 2000.
(4) Marion D. Owens, Time to Go: A New Look at The Boston Movement, Star Bible Publications, Fort Worth, 1995.
(5) Susan McGunnigle Condon, The Emperor’s New Clothes: “A Diary”: Why I Left the Boston Movement, self-published, 1991.
(5b) Ministry Staff & Deacons of the Seattle Church of Christ , Response to "The Portland Story" - A Letter to the Seattle Church , Seattle Church Website, 2005.
(5c) Letter to Kip McKean from various Elders & Evangelists, October 3, 2005.
(6) Idib.
(7) Idib.
(8) Alvin Jennings, Disciple Partners’ Weekly Report Form, Star Bible Publications, Fort Worth, TX, 1968.
(9) Gary & Marylyn Underwood, First Principles: Topical Studies for Converts, Quality Publications, Abilene, TX, 1978.
(10) Susan McGunnigle Condon, The Emperor’s New Clothes…
(11) Ibid.
(12) Ibid.
(13) Ibid.
(14) Rick Bauer, Toxic Christianity: The International Churches of Christ/Boston Movement Cult, Freedom House Ministries, Bowie, MD, 1994.
(15) Susan McGunnigle Condon, The Emperor’s New Clothes…
(16) Kip McKean, Forcefully Advancing the Kingdom, DPI Archive Cassette Series, Tape #4013, 1987.
(17) Kip McKean, First Principles: Light and Darkness, Part I, Tape # 10069, DPI, Woburn, MA, recorded circa mid-80s.
(18) Kip McKean, Preach the Word, World Missions Leadership Conference, audiotape, Johannesburg, August 9, 1995.
(19) Kip McKean, “Revolution Through Restoration: From Jerusalem to Rome: From Boston to Moscow,” Upside Down, Issue Two, 1992, p. 6.
(20) Ibid., p. 7.
(21) Los Angeles Church of Christ, Kip McKean and Elena Garcia-McKean biography, losangeles.icoc.org, 1998.
(22) Ibid.
(23) Kip McKean, God Is Really Among You!, upcyberdown.org, October 12, 2003.
(23a) Kip McKean, This Is The Church I Was Baptized In!, cityofangelsicc.org, May 12, 2007.
(24) Susan McGunnigle Condon, The Emperor’s New Clothes…
(25) KSAZ-TV Phoenix, November 1998.
(26) Henry Kriete, "Still Honest To God" a.k.a.Response to a Friend (PDF), September, 2005.
Copyright © 2002-2005 Dave Anderson. All rights reserved.
