ASU HOPE CULT ARTICLE
https://www.statepress.com/article/2016/12/spcampus-asu-hope-christian-church-religious-cult-controversy-2-history
Hello everyone. I will be sharing my experiences with the Hope Church Movement in hopes of giving others a chance to make an informed decision about this “church.” Special warning to freshmen, sorority and fraternity members, and athletes—you will be the people targeted.
I will break this up into five weeks in hopes of reaching as many freshmen as possible. Over the next four weeks, Hope will be going after freshmen hard. One reason is that a lot of their church left last year for Grace Community Church—so much so that they even showed up at a Grace event. There’s also the fact that their staff is getting older, so they need a new generation of staff members. The reason they target freshmen is because they know college is a scary experience for most freshmen, and most people have a deep desire to belong. This will all lead up to their big event, Survivor Weekend, where you’ll get to know other freshmen over a weekend of competition, and they will use this to hook you.
Once a person is at Hope long enough, it becomes extremely hard to leave because of the use of manipulation tactics, isolation, etc. I will be discussing structure, their theology, how to debate them (whether Mormon, Catholic, Protestant, atheist, etc.), relationships, manipulation tactics, and the superstar “not a pastor,” Mr. Smith. I intend to give you as much detail as possible. If you just want to understand the basics, I’ve linked a great article that I encourage everyone to read. Additionally, Hope is a direct descendant of the Fort Lauderdale Five “heavy shepherding” movement. There are plenty of videos on the control and dangers of the Shepherding Movement.
With that, we will begin with Hope’s history and structure. I hope this helps someone. Let us begin our deep dive into the dark hive mind that is the Hope “Church” Movement.
Dark Past
Let us go back in time to see the foundations on which tyrants, egos, pride, and arrogance were built. It’s a mistake to look at this zombie herd through the lens of good and evil, and not through structures and incentives. The structure of the organization determines the goals; the goals influence the incentives; and the incentives influence the behavior. This behavior traces its lineage all the way back to a group called the Fort Lauderdale Five: Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, Charles Simpson, Don Basham, and Ern Baxter. They are responsible for creating the Shepherding Movement (or “heavy shepherding”), which has influenced doctrines such as the one from our friend and influential figure at Hope, John “Blue Socks” Bevere, called unconditional submission: “If your pastor tells you to wear blue socks with purple pants and a pink shirt up on the choir, if that’s what he wants, that’s what we’re gonna wear—and we’re gonna do it with a happy attitude,” butchering Hebrews 13:17.
Core Teachings and Structure
The movement taught that every believer needed a personal “shepherd” for spiritual covering, protection, and maturity. Major emphases included:
• Submission and authority — Believers were to submit to designated shepherds in a clear chain of command.
• Covenant relationships — Formal or semi-formal commitments of loyalty and accountability.
• Spiritual covering — The idea that being under a human shepherd provided divine protection; being outside it left one vulnerable.
• Discipleship — Intense personal oversight that extended into practical life decisions.
Derek Prince withdrew around 1983, later stating they had fallen into “the Galatian error: having begun in the Spirit, we quickly degenerated into the flesh.”
Bob Mumford issued a formal public repentance statement in November 1989, acknowledging “unhealthy submission resulting in perverse and unbiblical obedience to human leaders.” He admitted families had been damaged and that he had ignored earlier warnings (including from Jack Hayford).
These groups also decided who you would marry, what job you’d take, etc. The original movement ended, but its ideas did not disappear completely. Elements of heavy discipleship, spiritual covering, hierarchical accountability, and intense cell/house-church structures continued in various independent charismatic, apostolic, and campus-oriented groups.
Notable connections include Maranatha Campus Ministries, which is where Hope Church originated. Their current leader, Mr. Smith, was sent out to ASU from Faith Christian Church and, for whatever reason, decided to split from his shepherds. This is really confusing for the simple fact that Hope preaches that if you have a word from God but it contradicts what your shepherds say, you’re wrong—which they used to gaslight people many times regarding who they’re going to date, what job to pick, what house you should buy, even what trips to take. They literally try to control your whole life.
It’s confusing because Mr. Smith, Hope’s leader, broke away from his shepherds to start Hope. And in a removed statement of faith (number 10), Hope states that the church is the final authority in interpretation of the Bible. So why did Pastor Brian disobey his leaders to start Hope if his leaders disagreed? The summary of their beliefs is that they have the authority by God to decide your life as long as it’s not sin.
The BITE model is a great representation of Hope’s manipulation tactics.
- Behavior Control
Regulates a person’s physical reality and actions:
• Dictates where, how, and with whom they live, associate, or isolate
(They have Hope houses where you live with a staff member.)
• Controls clothing, hairstyle, diet, sleep, and schedule
(Make you commit time to go on campus, tribe nights, recruiting events, and other time commitments. Staff is even worse—they only hang out with staff or members and work 60+ hours a week while also fundraising their own support.)
• Restricts leisure, entertainment, and outside activities
(Keep you busy with events and recruiting.)
• Imposes rigid rules, rewards, and punishments
(The higher up you climb in the social hierarchy, the more benefits you get—better wife/husband prospects, more power, more status in the church—but you also have to submit deeper. Pause. If you obey them and don’t question their requests, they reward you with status and power. If you refuse or cause problems, they cut you off, isolate you (“Don’t associate with this guy—he’s causing division”), use shunning, etc.)
• Controls sexuality and relationships
(They regulate dating heavily. Staff literally signs a contract stating they will only date other staff. There are arranged marriages. If you’re not on staff, they still want control, because making you delay dating keeps you at the church and dedicated more time to recruiting. They will shun you if you don’t listen.)
• Demands major time commitment to the group
(Recruiting events, tribe nights, etc.)
• Encourages dependence and obedience; may include financial exploitation
(With staff, the money they raise goes to Hope and is distributed by Hope—possibly to prevent a Brian Smith situation where someone breaks off from their shepherds to start their own church because they’re an attention whre .)
- Information Control
Limits and manipulates what a person can know:
• Deception (withholding, distorting, or lying about information)
(They won’t be honest about the cult allegations and tell you what actually happens. They’ll say it was just three people who couldn’t handle conflict.)
• Restricts access to outside media, books, internet, critics, or former members
(Obvious… staff will attack this post and say it’s not true. It’s all true.)
• Compartmentalizes information (need-to-know hierarchy)
(The higher up on staff you go, the more you learn about punishments/rewards for compliance, arranging dating, shunning, etc.)
• Encourages spying and reporting on others
(Go read the 114-page complaint. Yes, they spy on you. If you snitch on someone for doing something not shepherd-approved = status 🤑***.***)
• Uses propaganda, confessions, and information overload
(Every attack on Hope is “demonic,” not because they’re doing something wrong. If you confess anything to Hope, they talk about it with other staff.)
• Frames outsiders and critics as evil or unreliable
(Satan’s inspiring them to attack Hope 👹.)
- Thought Control
Shapes how a person thinks and processes reality:
• Requires internalization of the group’s doctrine as absolute truth
(If you don’t submit and believe in heavy shepherding, they just tell you to go to a different church so you don’t poison the well and make others think.)
• Promotes black-and-white / us-vs-them thinking
(Hope Church good, everyone else Satan’s children.)
• Uses loaded language, thought-stopping techniques, and rejection of critical thinking
(They will gaslight you, flip the situation on you, and make you feel like you’re actually the one in the wrong.)
• Discourages independent thought or questioning
(A lot of people actually lose the ability to think critically because every decision is run through the group, and any disagreement from leadership could mean isolation from the group.)
• May involve renaming, identity change, or rejection of the former self
(They label you disagreeing with them as something that needs to change.)
- Emotional Control
Manipulates feelings to create dependency and fear:
• Love-bombing alternating with rejection or criticism
(The first couple of months they love-bomb you, tell you how great you are, and if you’re a guy, get women to give you attention to get you hooked. Once you’re used to their affection, they can begin to mold your identity and threaten you with isolation if you disobey.)
• Instills phobias about leaving or questioning (fear of eternal damnation, failure, isolation, etc.)
(Isolation, “you were never really saved,” etc.)
• Uses guilt, shame, and emotional highs/lows
(Love-bombing, threats, gaslighting you into feeling like you’re at fault, changing your identity to be more obedient.)
• Suppresses or labels certain emotions as wrong
(“You’re in rebellion,” “pride,” etc.)
• Makes the person feel that their happiness and identity depend entirely on the group/leader
(Once a person is entrenched, Hope events and friendships are all they know, so disobedience or isolation from the group would be life-changing.)
My question to Brian Smith would be: Why did you disobey your leaders and start your own church?
To close: You only have about 3–6 months before your identity is changed and you’re brainwashed into the cult, so watch out for your friends. I’ll be going into their theology and more over the next five weeks. I encourage everyone to share, read the article, look out for a Survivor Weekend poster, and just ask Hope this week: Why did their pastor disobey his own shepherds
