Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on a church in DeKalb accused of cult-like tactics.

A conservative Christian religious sect deemed a cult by many experts across the country has been thriving on the NIU campus for years while warnings from at least one former church leader at NIU have not been heeded.

The Boston Church of Christ is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the nation. It is not to be confused with the denomination—The United Church of Christ. In fact, the United Church of Christ has spent tens of thousands of dollars on advertising campaigns to disassociate itself from the Boston movement.

The Boston group was the focus of a segment on ABC’s “20/20” last Thursday. The church’s leaders boast a national membership of about 70,000 hardcore members.

Former leaders of the church spoke about abusive tactics they employed to uphold a level of obedience from church members. One former leader told of locking a woman in a basement without food or water for two weeks to teach the woman to submit to church authority.

Eric Pement, a senior editor of Cornerstone Magazine in Chicago, is a local authority on cults often consulted by various government agencies.

Pement distinguished the Boston Church from other conservative evangelical (bible-believing) churches and groups.

He noted, as did many others, the demanding nature of church leaders, disrespect for the validity of other Christian Churches and what he called a level of “unwarranted intrusiveness” into personal areas of peoples’ lives.

Documented examples of this intrusiveness include telling members who to date, what kind of car to buy and how often to have sex with their spouses.

Pement noted the difference in theology with mainline conservative churches. “Christian evangelicals point the finger to Jesus Christ for salvation. Cultist groups point the finger to themselves,” as Pement said the Boston Church does.

The Boston movement began in the 1970s with a small group. Church leaders have since held services in Boston Garden and Medinah Temple in Chicago, where DeKalb Church of Christ members are often in attendance.

Marty Butz, of the Cult Awareness Network in Chicago, confirmed ABC’s report that the network receives more calls about the Boston Church than any group in the nation.

Rick Bauer, a former church leader from 1976 to 1991, said he left church because of its authoritarian style leadership. Bauer said he was a leader in the early movement in Boston.

He said he believes the presence of the Boston Church of Christ is reason for concern in the NIU community.

“They pose a threat to the psychological and emotional health of their student recruits,” Bauer said.

One Indiana woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said her son was involved in the church for about a year and a half at Northwestern University in Evanston.

She said the group often used guilt tactics, invading into personal areas of her son’s life. She said her son even considered transferring to a university in San Diego because church leaders told him to do so. Her son finally declined.

“He went to college and wanted to do the right things,” she said. “He’s always been a Christian, so it wasn’t unusual for him to attend Bible studies and things.”

Weekly “Bible talks” have been held in Neptune Hall and the lobby of University Plaza in the DeKalb area. This is one of the group’s typical outreach programs. The public discussions are led by a church leader in a casual, friendly atmosphere.

The woman whose son was involved in the church at Northwestern said she feels great sympathy for anyone involved in the church and their parents.

“A lot of these people are victims who are victimizing others,” she said.

The woman said she sent a letter to the president of Northwestern warning them about the group, but she said no actions have been taken by the university.

The Boston Church has been banned from several private universities including Boston, Butler and Marquette Universities.

Boston serves as the unofficial headquarters of the church, but the many offspring of the church are often known by another city including The London, New York, Indianapolis, Toronto and Chicago Churches of Christ.

The movement thrives on college campuses. One of the earliest campus movements took place at Eastern Illinois University in the 1970s under the leadership of Kip McKean. The church’s student membership went from 20 to 180 within three years.

Students away from home for the first time are particularly susceptible to the group’s aggressive recruiting tactics. The groups often target minority and foreign students looking for a place to belong.

Membership into the church consists of being baptized as a member of the church and submitting to a more experienced church member or “discipler.”

Discipleship is a critical area of the church. Other Christian groups and churches use discipleship as well, but one former senior elder of the Boston church made a distinction.

Jerry Jones, one of the three senior elders of the Boston Church of Christ, said the church changed its doctrine in 1986 by justifying abusive authority. It was at that point Jones said he left the church.

He said even today the church “believes they can tell people where to go, what to do, who to date, etc.” Jones has since written three books criticizing the Boston movement.