Team

Natalie Edmonson is the executive director and founder of Berean Holiness. She is a graduate of Free Gospel Bible Institute (2017) and Hobe Sound Bible College (2019, BA in Christian Counseling). She holds a Master’s degree in Biblical Exposition from Liberty University and is passionate about serving the Church by cross-examining harmful theology and providing resources for those who are disentangling and rebuilding faith.

 

Hello!

I’m Natalie, a cofounder and now executive director of Berean Holiness. I was raised in independent, Trinitarian, Pentecostal, Holiness churches—attending six total. My father was an adult Sunday School teacher, my grandparents were Holiness pastors for around thirty years, my uncle is currently a Holiness pastor. I also have dozens of Holiness aunts, uncles and cousins. I grew up surrounded by this culture, and as a homeschooler, I knew little else.

As a little girl, “Holiness standard” pamphlets were kept handily zipped into my Bible, bringing security and confidence.  At seven, I heard a non-KJV version read in VBS.  When my teacher explained that KJV is hard for little kids to understand. I boldly confronted her, showing that while her version used the word “resurrected” in our memory verse, mine only said, “raised”.  “Which is easier?”, little me asked.  Two years later, I specifically remember evangelizing to a lost person at around 9 years old. I went through just about everything from makeup to pants to TV. I really thought I’d convicted the lady when I explained wedding rings were wrong because “Aaron made the golden calf out of jewelry.”

As I launched into my teen years, I continued studying my beliefs. Apologetics was a huge interest; I loved studying out the arguments for God’s existence and proof of Christ’s resurrection. I emerged strongly convinced that Christianity was true beyond reasonable doubt. However, the more I studied doctrines unique to or rare outside my movement, the more questions I had.  Why did we sell unisex T-shirts at camp while condemning women’s pants for being similar to men’s pants? Why did we call jewelry sin and not wearing clothes when the same sentence that says not to let our beauty come from jewelry also says for it to not come from “the putting on of apparel”?  Why did we say every believer has to speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit when 1 Corinthians 12 is very clear that the gift of tongues is not for every Christian? I did what any rational 14 year old would do, I started asking my questions. Unfortunately, I was rarely answered. One person informed me that a devil was trying to possess me, and in a different incident I was told that my questions would disqualify me from a ministry position.

At age seventeen, I moved to Pennsylvania  to attend Free Gospel Bible Institute. Ironically, I wrote in my testimony letter (part of my application) that I “have a special burden for cults that claim Christianity.” By this time, I’d already decided that my Christian friends wearing pants and purity rings were no less Christian than myself. Scripture certainly left them that liberty. As I grew closer to the Lord and continued studying over my three years, my focus increasingly turned towards evangelism. If I was going to wear skirts even though the Bible never states to do so, then I definitely must share the gospel because that command is blatantly clear. I became overwhelmed by the fact that nearly every child I spoke to in the Bible School’s local community had never heard the gospel, and yet, there was no plan in place to change that. If we couldn’t reach our Jerusalem, why talk about winning the world? I loved the school, I loved my time there, I loved the teaching I received; but at the end of the day I wasn’t satisfied. Love is the greatest commandment; where was our love for our lost community? Where was our love for local churches?

During my senior year, I decided to forfeit my Christian liberties, even though I knew they existed, in order to serve and minister among holiness churches. I honestly couldn’t have cared less whether or not I ever wore a necklace or brushed on mascara. Looks have never been my strength, nor my focus, so I was happy to stay the same way I always had been in order to obtain more influence, respect, and opportunities within holiness circles. I continued to place large efforts into spearheading youth outreaches. The going was tough, and it was soon apparent that in order to be able to lead and teach outreach successfully I was going to need to train under Christians who had done so themselves.

I moved to Albania to serve a couple who were some of the first missionaries in after communism. When they arrived, they only found four Christians remaining. Twenty-some years later, that four had grown to ~1,500 Albanian Christians; Christians who not only professed Christ, but who had pioneered around fifteen churches, were running a street kids center, an elderly home, a girl’s safe-house, and plethora of other outreaches. During my time in Europe, I visited thirteen other nations and had personal conversations with Christian ministers in over half of them. I witnessed incredible unity among denominations, and attended firsthand inter-denominational outreaches and prayer-meetings. I also saw an amazing emphasis on outreach, not at one or two churches, but at every single one!  I saw them share in the streets, preach by the Amsterdam red-light district, ride college buses to witness to international students, open evangelically-purposed bookstores and thrift stores, teach free English classes, visit the mentally ill and orphanages-all in order to spread the gospel. Many churches had weekly evangelism days, on top of weekly prayer meetings, and home-fellowships. I cannot think of a single church I encountered which did not have a weekly Bible study.

A Personal Note from Megan (Assistant to the Executive Director)

Megan currently serves as assistant to the executive director, Natalie. She graduated with a BA in Child & Family Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God University in 2022, and shortly thereafter served as a service specialist for her alma mater and started her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. When not working for Berean Holiness, she enjoys trying out new recipes, reading books about other cultures and hyper fundamentalist movements, planning adventures, and spending time with her family.

Hello!

I’m Megan, assistant to Natalie, the executive director of Berean Holiness. I’m very excited to work for Berean Holiness, as it has become my passion to help others disentangle from unhealthy churches in pursuit of the true gospel of grace. 

I didn’t grow up in a hyper fundamentalist, high-control environment. I was very blessed to be raised in a conservative Christian home with praying parents. I decided to follow Jesus at the tender age of four, while attending a Christian preschool program.

 When I was in high school, my family moved states. During that time I was not your typical American teenager—I preferred to stay home to learn old-fashioned skills like canning and sewing, and I was obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie book series and the Amish. I became legalistic at the same time, and looking back, I’m not entirely sure what factors caused it. It was probably because I was a teenager trying to figure out the world, one who had come to the conclusion that the world would be better off if everyone was more strict. I also don’t think that I had a good grasp of the gospel. 

Fast forward to my college years. I was encouraged to start my higher education at a community college to save money, but the one that I attended felt like a very spiritually dark place. Since I had recently moved, I found it hard to make friends and I was lonely. One summer day, a couple of acquaintances and I were driving down the highway when we saw the sign for a yard sale. We pulled into the driveway, and little did I know that the simple decision to check out a yard sale would change my next several years and mark the rest of my life.

One of my friends pushed me to ask for a guy’s number at the yard sale, and when I did, he invited me to come to the church services. He seemed interested in me, but what ensued over the next few months was a “flirt to convert” situation. Adapting to the church environment wasn’t hard for me. In fact, I felt like I fit right in. I had found a place in which I finally belonged, along with a bunch of instant friendships. I was excited that all of the ladies wore skirts full-time, “just like the Amish!” I was more comfortable in a skirt anyway. Even in my middle school and high school years I’d chosen to wear a skirt over pants due to my comfort and convictions. 

Early on I noticed that the other ladies in my church didn’t wear jewelry, so I ditched that. My pastor and his wife complimented me on how fast I was getting hold of the “truth.” I thought it was odd that when I first started attending, they praised me for “getting ahold of Jesus” even though I told them that I had decided to follow Jesus early on when I was four years old. I was thrust into all of the church activities, attending church up to five times a week—Sunday service, Tuesday night prayer service, Wednesday service, Friday night youth service, and sometimes if we had a special event on a Saturday. I was allowed to join the worship team after a couple of months and consistently sang almost every service. I also joined and graduated from my sect’s missions program, Hope Corps, and attended the Intensive Training Week in the Philippines in fall 2019. I hopped in the church van and attended different youth conferences and ladies’ conferences, first “receiving the Holy Ghost” (speaking in tongues) at my sect’s big conference, PEAK. 

When I first joined, I didn’t know what “Apostolic,” “WPF,” or “Oneness Pentecostal” meant. I just knew that I felt like this church was my home, these people were my friends, and I loved the dress standards and the exciting atmosphere for worship. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that, when I stopped to think about my experience, small things didn’t quite add up right. I often found myself frustrated that I was told what to do, as if I was still a sixteen year old instead of a twenty-one year old. I felt like my pastor and his wife were trying to be a second set of parents, which was also frustrating because being in my twenties meant that I was trying to gain independence from my own parents. I had to deal with a mental tug-of-war as my pastor and his wife cautioned me against spending time with my Christian, non-Apostolic family and friends, telling me that they were not really saved and I needed to convert them. I found myself constantly stressed about whether I was measuring up with my church’s standards, and obsessing over my plans for my future, hoping that God would be as proud of me as my church family was. I dated within the church, and confided in my boyfriend that I was questioning some of the standards. He told me that if I didn’t follow the standards exactly, he’d have to break up with me, because his pastor would tell him to. It was devastating to realize that a person’s love could be conditional like that, but it was only a taste of what was to come. 

Living in the South means that snow is a rare event. One February, my college classes were canceled, and my dorm had to be evacuated, so I stayed with a friend in her apartment to weather out the snow in a comfy pair of sweatpants that my mom had given me to use as pajama pants. My (non-Apostolic) friends and I went out to play in the snow in our pajamas, and one of them recorded a video to post on social media. Immediately, I thought, “but what will my pastor think?” After that I realized that no longer was the way I dressed about pleasing God, but it had become about keeping my church’s approval, fearing their rejection. 

Months after that, I quietly left the church, and my pastor’s wife sent me a lengthy goodbye text. She warned me, “some people fear that they’re too far gone after leaving the Apostolic church, but all it takes is a Holy Ghost infilling.” I was baptized in Jesus’ name, spoke in tongues, and repented— in their eyes, wasn’t I saved? She texted me, “if you ever need a refuge, our arms are open,” but later on would only reach out to me to invite me to church services. After that, I tried reaching out to my former friends, but they got in trouble for associating with me, and then I stopped hearing from them.

Shunning is a heart wrenching experience, and I found that I no longer dreamed about becoming Amish. I suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, wondering if they were right, that God would leave me as they did. God worked through a non-Apostolic, Christian boyfriend (now husband) to gently remind me what unconditional love should look like. I started to study Galatians and realized that I had been trying to please God on my own terms, totally ignoring Christ’s sacrifice. Once I learned to rest in God’s grace as my safety net instead of my behaviors, I started to feel peace. (Disclaimer: Grace does not mean “sin all you want.” If someone uses that word so that they can pursue after sin, then do they really know what grace means?)

I learned about other Christians who had experienced exits from different hyper fundamentalist, high-control groups, and I was surprised by the similarities. There were quite a few common denominators; a couple of them being the “one true church” (restorationist) doctrine, fear tactics regarding leaving or not following the doctrine entirely, and social shunning of those who leave the group. I discovered verse after verse regarding how we are saved by faith alone and not by works. (Note: A living faith produces actions, but those actions are not what saves.) I began attending a church with expository preaching (preaching verse by verse through the books of the Bible rather than preaching on a topic), which was instrumental in my healing and disentangling journey.

I am passionate about teaching the gospel and helping others from hyper fundamentalist groups to pursue healing in Christ. As I work, I think about my former pastor and his wife who had the best intentions, my friend who joined the church at the same time as I, that boyfriend who was conditioned to have ultimate loyalty to the church, the visitors I befriended who consistently struggled with feeling like they were enough, and my other friend who left the church and experienced shunning on a deeper level than I did. The heart of Jesus is not what my church painted it to be. A couple of years after I left, I went on a mission trip to Honduras, and stood inside of a safe house that was soon to be opened for human trafficking victims. Tears ran down my cheeks as I realized, God wants wholeness for all of our lives. His love is redemptive; He loves us so deeply. He does not push us away, as people do. He does not leave us.

I had been learning to fear Him and His disapproval more than follow Him out of love. I was crying out after I left, “will I ever be enough for you?” I had started to think that God only cared about my behavior, and not who I was. He desires a heart fully surrendered to Him, pursuing after His heart; not blind obedience to the traditions and expectations of man. 

God wants wholeness for our lives, and that includes spiritual wholeness. Spiritual wholeness begins with a true understanding of the gospel. 

Grace and peace to you in Christ,

Megan

Cole currently works in B2B marketing and strategy for a financial services company and previously served as the Marketing & Communications Coordinator for the Portland pregnancy resource centers in his home state of Oregon. He is an active member of his church and enjoys building award-winning LEGO creations, reading, listening to music, hiking, and spending time with friends, especially his wife Natalie.

Hey there!

I’m Cole, and it’s my great honor and pleasure to serve as graphic designer, website editor, and a contributor for Berean Holiness. (And yes, it’s also my great pleasure and privilege to be married to the website’s lovely editor and founder, Natalie.)

A native Oregonian, I was raised as a conservative Christian homeschooler in several non-denominational, Protestant churches and (through life’s varied circumstances and the Lord’s leading) have visited about a hundred different churches in the Pacific Northwest prior to moving across the country. As I’ve grown in my walk with the Lord, He’s given me multiple opportunities to preach and teach at some of these churches, and I’m increasingly aware of the need for renewed growth and active discipleship in the American Church.

I live in one of the most unchurched states in the country and one of the most politically ‘progressive’; therefore, I have a front-row seat to many of the cultural shifts and trends that people in the rest of the country have yet to fully experience. It is so important that, as Christ’s bride, we wake up to what is happening around us everywhere and thoughtfully apply everything we know about God’s Word. We must put it into practice… as our religious liberties continue to be attacked and we see the complete erosion of society’s basic moral fabric, we as Christians must live like we know Him. We must let our light shine and stand up for what is right, keeping our eyes fixed on Christ and not getting swept away in what the world would call ‘social justice.’

After I graduated summa from Portland State University with a bachelor’s in graphic design and business, the Lord blessed me with a full-time position as the Marketing & Communications Coordinator for the Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) in Portland, OR for three years. I was pleased and privileged to apply a wide range of creative skills and strategy to the PRCs’ long-term vision… I got to support the greater Church’s fulfilling its God-given role of Gospel-centered transformation and healing, especially in the lives of people who have been hurt by sexual brokenness and abortion in this fallen world. They need our Savior so much… they need us, the Church, to step up and live out His love in touching their lives.

If we don’t all personally, actively, and conscientiously study God’s Word… if we don’t dwell in His presence and let His love guide our churches’ every decision… if we don’t truly bring His light to bear on this broken world but instead just gaze inward… then we will continue to see people drift away from the truth and the darkness around us deepen. We will continue to be stuck, irrelevant, and increasingly useless to our King… hardly a picture of His bright, timeless hope and compassionate love.

However, if we do ponder and probe and apply the active, living Word of God to our lives through the work of the Holy Ghost, and if we do humbly repent of the extrabiblical traditions and burdensome thought-patterns we so often base our churches on, then we will start to see widespread revival and many more people will come to know Christ and actively fellowship in our congregations as we humbly worship God together.

If we belong to Christ, let us adorn ourselves as His bride to please Him… let us study all the more carefully and desire all the more deeply that which reflects His own beauty, His holiness. No matter what backgrounds we come from, what hurt we’ve endured from both inside and outside the Church, and what we’ve seen in this world… may we all grow closer together and look more like Him as we carefully consider and apply His truth to our walk with Him and our work in this world (Ephesians 2:10).

In His grace,
Cole