Whistleblowers’ story
In June 2023, we were Growth Group leaders at Hockliffe Street Baptist Church, also running a toddlers group, a youth group, and leading services. A young couple confided in us about being mistreated by a senior leader and his wife. Their experiences, which resembled Spiritual Abuse, deeply concerned us.
We reported this to a leadership member and the Safeguarding Officer. Together, we agreed to help the couple and remove them from harmful settings. However, the senior leader was tipped off and, with another leader, pressured the couple into a late-night four-hour meeting which left the couple traumatized and coerced into retracting their disclosures.
We lodged a complaint, but the church’s investigation was led by someone under the senior leader’s authority. The process was biased, ignoring the young woman and absolving the senior leader while blaming us for the meeting.
Refusing this outcome, we requested an external review, facing anger and abuse in response. Emails later revealed leadership referring to us as "Wolves in the Pen" and "in the grip of Satan." Eventually, one leader acknowledged flaws in the narrative and supported an external review. This decision led to six of eight leaders resigning—some in protest, others due to exhaustion.
During this time, church members supportive of us faced backlash. One couple was ostracized, receiving a letter warning them to stay away from Growth Group. In January 2024, we attempted to return to church but were told via email we weren’t welcome. When we shared this with friends, leaders accused us of causing problems by following “secular safeguarding policies” instead of relying on the Bible.
A Baptist Union report criticized the leaders’ actions as unacceptable and inappropriate but was suppressed and discredited by the remaining leadership. Efforts to reconcile failed, as leaders refused to acknowledge cultural issues or accept responsibility, demanding we submit to their “Spiritual Authority.”
The leaders were determined to bully us into submission. In one instance, our eight-year-old daughter was invited by a friend to read Scripture during a service but was replaced by another child at the leaders' request, citing "safeguarding concerns." She was deeply upset at this exclusion.
Eventually we, and many other people in the church left, including a number of other growth group leaders who had supported us and faced abuse.
In October 2024, the church preached a sermon labeling departing Growth Group leaders as blasphemous and “making disciples for Satan.” See the link below for an edited version of the sermon.
