Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 50
Church of Bible Understanding (COBU)
COBU Numbers Diminishing
The Church of Bible Understanding has dwindled to a few hundred members at most,
according to observers. Some of them live in and around the group‘s large Scranton, PA,
architectural artifacts business warehouse. Ex-members, supported by psychiatric
counselors, say that COBU, which also runs three orphanages in Haiti, remains a destructive
cult devoted to founder Stewart Traill. (Christopher J. Kelly, Scranton Tribune, Internet,
2/9/03)
Hare Krishna (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
Airport Solicitation Restrictions Re-imposed
A federal judge has refused to continue blocking enforcement of the Los Angeles
International Airport anti-solicitation law despite appeals from the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna). Authorities say that the Krishna solicitors were
annoying passengers and required them to remain in small, cordoned-off ―booths‖ in the
passenger terminals. The Krishnas claimed that the law was unconstitutional because the
booths were in out-of-the-way places. (AP, Internet, 3/18/03)
Seeking Chapter 11 Reorganization
Eleven temples of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna)
were to have filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy reorganization on April 30. A $400 million
lawsuit against them for abuse in their boarding schools in the 1970s and 1980s was
dismissed in 2000, but similar charges were filed in Texas State court in 2001. The temples
say that the damages sought are greater than their collective assets and if awarded would
destroy their religious communities. The reorganization plan provides compensation for
youths who were abused at the schools but chose not to sue. (Business Wire, Internet,
4/29/03)
House of Prayer
Lawsuit Filed
The House of Prayer, some of whose members were convicted of child abuse last year,
have filed a federal lawsuit charging that when the state took some of its children into
protective custody, it sent them to foster homes and institutions more abusive than their
families‘ homes. The suit details the alleged abuse and says that police used excessive
force and injured some children when they took them into custody.
Meanwhile, authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of the House of Prayer Leader,
the Rev. Arthur Allen, Jr., because he has not complied with the terms of his court-
ordered counseling. (Jill Young Miller, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Internet, 3/1/03)
Rev. Allen Still Missing from Probation Hearing
Rev. Arthur Allen, head of the House of Prayer, convicted of cruelty for his punishment
of children in the church, has been ―missing‖ for two months and recently failed to attend a
probation hearing. Nor has he been in touch with his probation officer in Atlanta. (Kevin
Rowson, 11 Alive, WXIA, Internet, 5/13/03)
International Churches of Christ/Boston Movement
Reforms Announced
The South Florida branch of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) [in the wake of
the resignation of worldwide leader Kip McKean] says that the ICOC ―discipleship‖ policy, in
which senior members shepherd more junior members, became less a matter of ―advice‖

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 51
and more a matter of ―law.‖ In a long open letter, the branch says: ―Effective immediately,
we are ending the practice of a discipleship tree, or one-over-another discipling [sic] ...
and also the practice of assigning discipleship partners.‖
The letter also says that the branch will not continue to press members to give more
money in order to meet extended financial goals and that it will try to rely more on the
elders rather than on ―one-man leadership‖ of congregations. As to the strict dating rules
for unmarried members: ―We reject and refute these types of rules which are an attempt
to ‗legislate‘ morality and wisdom. ..The bible should be the only thing that governs how
we conduct ourselves in dating. From www.southflchurch.0rg /apology.htm, Internet,
posted 3/9/03)
The Los Angeles Church of Christ sent out a similar letter dated 2/28/03 and posted on
www.upcyberdown.org/GV/LA/ 2003/02/24/LA–Apology_Letter.htm
Kip McKean‘s resignation as leader of a church with hundreds of congregations around the
world came when his daughter, a Harvard student, spurned the ICOC, saying that she‘d
―had enough.‖ He had preached that if a child left the church, there must be something
wrong in the family, and that parents of an apostate ought to retire from the ministry.
Former members tell how followers who failed to give 10 percent of their income, or who did
not recruit enough new members, were publicly humiliated, and those who questioned
authority were shunned or thrown out. ―All major decisions would have to be run through
your discipler,‖ said a former leader. ―Vacations, going home ...If you are spending too
much time with old friends, that would be frowned upon, unless you are recruiting them. All
your free time is accounted for. Dating has to be pretty much approved. You can only date
people in the group.‖ (Farah Stockman, Boston Globe, Internet, 5/17/03)
Reform Doubted
Critics of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC, sometimes known as the Boston
Movement) doubt that the resignation of leader Kip McKean, who cited his own arrogance
and family problems for the move, means that the group will abandon ―troubling‖ practices,
including an extreme form of Christian ―discipling‖ that many say is abusive. McKean‘s
resignation letter does not say his teachings are wrong, but that he did not live them
himself, says Don Veinot, Jr., president of Midwest Christian Outreach, a Chicago
apologetics ministry.
A few years ago McKean‘s daughter said she wanted to leave the ICOC, which has been
banned from numerous college campuses, because ―I thought that the only place I could
find true freedom would be outside the church.‖ McKean said in his resignation letter that he
had created an atmosphere in which people ―were afraid to speak up‖ and that he caused
―others to stumble‖ by focusing ―more on numeric goals than on pleasing God.‖
An ICOC spokesman said that changes do not concern ―doctrinal issues‖ but rather ―growth
issues, and emphasize teamwork and consensus, thus reducing dependence on one
individual.‖ He added that ICOC churches would become more autonomous thanks to a
―maturing of the movement.‖ (Timothy R. Callahan, Christianity Today, March 2003, p. 26,
Internet posting 6/26/03)
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Proselytizing Conviction Upheld
The conviction of 26-year-old road worker and Jehovah’s Witness Murat Mudarisov for
inciting religious hatred has been upheld by an Uzbekistan appeals court. Prosecutors said
that Mudarisov had a pamphlet that argued the superiority of the Bible over the Quran. He
received a three-year suspended sentence in November for ―stirring up religious hatred,‖