The collapse of a small "one true" religion

My childhood religion began to collapse anno 2024.

We called our church "The Truth" among ourselves, although we told others it didn't have a name. That's still the way it works. The common exonym these days is "2x2s."

In 1982, Doug and Helen Parker published "The Secret Sect," a historical journalistic perspective that showed Scottish tent preacher William Irvine as the originator. Before their book, there had been no broadly-dispersed source of information to confront the teaching that this was the one true church. This knowledge traveled slowly. In the early 90's in the US there were some publications that raised awareness. These were indebted to the Parker work.

Soon after that, the internet became an important way to disperse information. This helped confirm the fact that there had been a human founder. It prompted a lot of talk about "the real Jesus" and better churches. There's little evidence that anybody cared.

In 2022, a regional church authority died with criminal material on his electronic equipment. After a coverup, the story instigated a flood of allegations. Many people have attested that they were sexually abused in their youth.

In 2025, attendance is in decline.