Let’s make faith mentorship—by mature believers who have rebuilt faith themselves—accessible to every person leaving hyper fundamentalism

Over the past seven years, Berean Holiness has provided free, faith-based support to hundreds of people leaving hyper fundamentalism. Our team has sent well over 2,500 emails and messages to people reaching out, and we’ve met with over 200 people on Zoom in a group context (152 meetings). Since spring of 2025, we’ve had over 30 private meetings, often for one to three hours at a time. However, we have never had the capacity to meet with someone privately more than once or twice—if that. For most people in the throes of leaving hyper fundamentalism, one conversation hardly scratches the surface of their need for support. In order to provide the depth of faith mentorship needed when leaving a cultish group, it’s time to take the next step in growth.

Why not just refer to someone else? Because no one else offers the needed service.

In our conversations with believers leaving hyper fundamentalism, we frequently make referrals—to mental health specialists, trauma specialists, Christian counselors, marriage counselors, and more. But while all of these professionals meet critical needs (needs we’re not qualified to meet), none of the above offer faith mentorship with a specialization in disentangling from hyper fundamentalism. The void is largely being filled by secular deconstructionists; these do far more harm than good as they pressure clients to reject the historic Christian faith.

Religious trauma is incredibly hard to heal—faith mentorship may help prevent it

As defined by Webster’s dictionary, trauma is “a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury.” Trauma is especially prone to develop when questioning or leaving a cultish group. The questioning member may be called out from the pulpit, yelled at behind closed doors, or cornered with a terrifying “prophecy”—we’ve seen all this and more. Those who suffer from religious trauma may find that just stepping into a church building can trigger debilitating flashbacks and panic attacks.

What if we could provide a safe, assuring support person—a faith mentor? That faith mentor could then connect the mentee to a plethora of other faith-based resources, all reinforcing their assurance of safety. By this means, how much religious trauma could be prevented? To be sure, some people carry religious trauma from long before they ever questioned a cultish group, and disentangling will be a lengthy challenge for most everyone (full of grief and loss). However, that’s all the more reason lighten the load where we can.

Leaving a cultish group is a highly vulnerable season—faith mentorship can help protect against revictimization, despair, and deconstruction

When leaving hyper fundamentalism, people don’t just lose their tightknit church group. They’re also often rejected by their spiritual leaders, mentors, friends, and even family. At the same time, their entire belief system has been upended. Who can they trust? Was everything a lie?

These challenges cause many to despair. Rejecting faith is extremely common. But to make it worse, heretical teachers are all too ready to take advantage of this vulnerable season. Secular “deconstruction” therapists, counselors, coaches, and influencers market themselves as “specializing in fundamentalism.” Tragically, these trusted professionals are unbelievers who push clients away from the historic Christian faith. Instead of the hope of the gospel, deconstructionists peddle propaganda, calling biblical truths “hateful” and “oppressive” and painting all churches as abusive. For someone who has grown up in a cultish group, these lies are easy to fall for.

The “deconstruction experts” are often the only web results when searching for help leaving hyper fundamentalism. It’s time to offer an alternative. How many people could avoid false teachers if they were supported by genuine, compassionate believers?

Faith mentorship brings the gospel to people in faith crisis—it must be free

People reaching out to Berean Holiness are suffering from spiritual abuse, unsure of the gospel, and at risk of rejecting faith. Most are still involved in a cult/cultish group and suspicious of all outside Christians. To respond to their vulnerable request by diving into a sales pitch, “Yes, we can help; here’s how much you’d be paying us…” immediately ends the conversation. Worse, it reinforces their fear that no one cares.

“I was raised to believe that our organization was the ONLY one with the truth… As a female, I was also led to believe standards played a part in salvation. Hair was a heaven or hell issue… After an isolating, and lonely journey, after much prayer, study, and discussion, I came to realize I didn’t actually believe any of it. The transition was hard. I was going against everything I had ever known and had ever been taught. I felt self-conscious, out of place, and so scared… We studied the Bible, and discovered things we had never known, things that had been taken out of context. We understood the beauty of salvation instead of the fear of not having it. We realized the grace and love extended to us… [Berean Holiness] Being a free resource is SO SO beneficial. I would have never paid for anything while starting out on this journey, timid, scared, and so unsure of everything. Being able to read or watch others stories, the research in legalistic topics, and biblical doctrine was so enlightening. I dug deeper, and I made connections with others who were on the same journey in a time where we felt alone because we had lost our community.” – Victoria

Tens of millions have been harmed by hyper fundamentalism—let’s show them the gospel of grace

The incredible need creates an incredible opportunity. As the Body of Christ, we can make high-impact, high-quality support accessible to those who are ready to receive it. They have been taught an exhausting, works-based gospel; we get to share the biblical gospel of grace. And by making faith mentorship accessible at no cost, we are not only talking about the God’s love—we are showing it.