Wednesday, February 15, 2023

The Gladstone Report by Ernie and June Stickler: Courage At The End Of A Weary Day

In 2018, a Christian couple who had come into the fellowship of a band of young disciples helming their own church found themselves compelled to leave it. They loved these young men and women as their own spiritual children whom they tried to offer guidance and light to throughout their time among them. But even though they were initially dazzled by their vibrant spirituality and pragmatic approach to applying their faith to their lifestyle, they learned after 4 years among them that there were profoundly troubling things going on there.

Sadly, these tidings were so disturbing that, conscience torn, they felt bound to admonish the community of what they perceived to be profound errors they were laboring under. They then, heartbreakingly, chose to leave it altogether, knowing that the group was resisting their warnings. This community was the Gladstone Community, now calling itself the Madison Place Community Church of Cincinatti, Ohio as led by a self-proclaimed "elder" named Zac Kijinski. This couple, Ernie and June Stickler, did not leave the community until they made sure that the chronicle of their findings was sent to the entire community's membership by a mass e-mail. We've found that the Stickler's letter is one of the greatest efforts by truly compassionate Christians seeking to warn people bound by the wiles of cultic deception. It is a wonderful epistle filled with heartfelt Scriptural warnings and uncompromising calls for them to change their ways.

With their permission we are providing the full text of what we call "The Gladstone Report", which first surfaced in the inboxes of all of the community members in 2018. Click HERE to download it. 

We will be producing a full report on the Gladstone cult in the near future on our website and in our "Where Are We Going" podcast, we've had guests we've interviewed on the program who were survivors of the group telling their story.  These podcasts have shaken a lot of institutions in Cincinatti, beginning with the Gladstone group themselves and we know more exposes are on the way.

You can hear more about the Stickler's experiences in this episode of our podcast from last summer when we interviewed June about their time there.