Testimony from Candlelight Congregants
Candlelight Fellowship in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, alarms former members who call its atmosphere cult-like, fueled by pastors' extreme behaviors and attacks on fellow Christians. Testimonies expose a community where fear-driven dispensationalism and political activism eclipse love and unity, with relentless pressure to conform breeding division. These raw accounts explain why so many have fled, trading speculation and schism for a faith anchored in historic Christianity.
These stories from former attendees aren't attacks. They're shared journeys of concern for friends still at Candlelight, calling us all back to Jesus' love.
“My husband and I attended candlelight for one year. In that year we encountered a number of disturbing events. I’ll try to get to the point, first we started attending a Sunday school class held upstairs on Sunday mornings. This class was led by an individual, that talked nonstop abut his dislike of a philandering mother and an inconsiderate wife this individual is divorced yet somehow is on staff at candlelight as a “assistant pastor” that is a direct violation of 1st tim. 3:2. This person made a threatening remark, and “stared me down” to one of my questions during a Sunday morning class, when I talked to the head pastor, I was told “he didn’t mean it” when I told the head pastor that this assistant pastor “stared me down” in a threatening way, I was told it was ok, the head pastor then walked away, this altercation was all on video.
The next encounter was at a “home group” the leader was not teaching from the bible at all, in fact he never spoke of the bible, but rather taught from a slim paperback book no-one ever heard of, when I confronted this leader in the home group about the off teaching in this paperback book, I was shouted down by the leader, he did this in such a ferocious way it scared me, I was subsequently told by another homegroup attendee in so many words to:” keep my head down and my mouth shut” or get out. There are many more details but, not enough room, this “church” is really more of a cult, many other intimidating, threatening and controlling events occurred in our time there. I told the lead pastor about this homegroup teaching out of a random book and not the bible, I gave all the info to the pastors personal secretary and was told someone would talk to this homegroup leader, The head pastor feigned concern, but when I called back (two times) two months later to find out what happened I was ghosted.
Apparently this church is ok with group leaders teaching from random books and ignoring the word of God. When a church is all about power and control as this “church” seems to be, you know the work of Jesus is not being done, if the messiah were to come into this church and started to speak, He would be told: “To keep His head down and His mouth shut” or get out. I would not recommend this “church” to anyone.”
“This church IDOLIZES politics and political figures. The Lord God is sovereign over ALL. The spirit of the Lord is not fear & Jesus is our savior-not a president or a law or a political party. This approach to Christianity is not biblical.”
“Candlelight‘s head pastor has a strong reputation of being a control freak; everything that happens at that church goes through him. He boasts publicly about this to his congregation and anyone that listens online.“
“Very creepy experiences with several leaders from this church.”
“I wanted to like this church because there is such a following but be extremely careful. This pastor uses HIS opinions on scripture and political views to lead this church. This place reeks of fear and covered up by “take up arms” and “Vote for trump” politics. Look, I conceal carry and I am conservative but this place….is verging on a cult mindset. Please let the Holy Spirit guide you if you are considering this church, led by a man…”
“Seriously don't waste your time - it's bordering a cult. I was born and raised in the church and have a pretty firm faith... This is a place I'd never touch with a 10 foot pole. I went for 3 months and experienced the worst religious abuse in my adult years I'd ever seen by leadership. Never again.”
“I used to find this church so peaceful and such a joy, now I'm just disgusted by their leaders blatant hatred for fellow human beings. They judge without understanding, they feed fear into the minds of those who are already fearful, and they harbor hatred in their hearts. They are not a church of God, they are a cult and should not be trusted.
These testimonies can be found on the web, including Google and Yelp.