Church denies coming between woman, family

The Vancouver Sun, 2 January 1998.
By David Hogben.

The Vancouver church of Christ denies it has come between a young woman and her Coquitlam family.

Minister Peter Kwong of the Vancouver Church of Christ has stated in a letter to the Vanouver Sun that they do not use aggressive recruiting techniques or attempt to isolate church members from their families.

"We are interested in reuniting, not separating families. We are not only open to members visiting families, but encourage it," Kwong wrote. His written comments come after the family of Ti Chung, 25, told reporteers the church had broken up their family. The family said Ti Chung would not communicate in any meaningful way with them after joining the church.

And Arizona-based cult interventionist Rick Ross, who was in the Vancouver earlier this week attempting to help the family re-establish contact with their daughter, said the isolation from family and friends is a technique used to control members.

Kwong said Ross' claims that the church barrages potential and new members with telephone calls attempting to bring them into the fold was ridiculous. "We obviously are looking for people interested in studying the Bible to teach them the principles of Jesus, but in no way are we interested in harassing them, which would be counterproductive anyway," he said.

Critics of the Vancouver Church of Christ claim it uses aggressive recruiting techniques to bring people into the organization. They say the potential disclosure of confessed sins is used tokep members from leaving.

Ross has returned to Arizona without succeeding the bringing Ti Chung and her family together for a lengthy discussion of the church and its impact on her life.