MISSIONARY SPOTLIGHT - KAREN PRESSLEY

Karen Pressley
Canton, Georgia
gkpressley@msn.com

CANTON, Ga. -- Karen Pressley had been a member of the Church of Scientology for 18 years when she fled what she now firmly believes is a dangerous cult. Today she is a Missions Service Corps interfaith evangelism missionary, helping others avoid the life-altering snare of false teachings she experienced.

Growing up in a Catholic family in Chicago, Karen began questioning her religious beliefs at the age of 11. “I began a wandering in a spiritual wilderness, and having no foundation of truth in my life, I was subject to a lot of false doctrine,” said Karen. “In 1980, I was in my late 20s and my husband and I had just moved to Los Angeles. We encountered Scientology. I was a clothing designer, and he was a musician and composer. Some of the first people we met were celebrities. We were told ‘if you really want to make it, get into Scientology.’”

Gradually being indoctrinated into the cult, Karen and her husband eventually stepped out of their careers to become full-time Scientology advocates. “We both joined the staff of the international headquarters,” Karen said. “I worked with international management and was responsible for helping image development of scientology staff on an international scope. My purpose was to really make Scientology look good—to make it acceptable to the world through the image of the staff. My husband was a writer of music for the church for TV, commercials, videos, and so forth. We were all about making Scientology look good.”

During the course of her 16 years in Scientology, Karen did projects on five continents and traveled extensively. Her husband participated in concerts around the world. As time went on, Karen began to struggle with the beliefs and lifestyle of the cult.

“It was extremely oppressive and legalistic,” she said. “We were under security watch 24 hours a day. We couldn’t have children or communicate with family outside. I hated the impositions and restrictions. I began to develop such a hate for the lifestyle that it created in me a need to constantly look at the beliefs in the philosophy. I found glaring inconsistencies. We were trying to promote spiritual freedom but we were living lives of entrapment.”

Karen did not realize it, but as her discontent grew, there was someone praying for her release from the grip of Scientology. Her mother, who at 74 years old had become a Christian, began praying for her. Karen credits her mother’s persistent prayers for helping her leave the cult.

“A breaking point came in July 1998 when I had clearly gotten to a position that I had to leave and get out,” remembered Karen. “It was just like a Damascus Road experience. God spoke to me that I needed to leave and that He would completely care for me. Now, that was an interesting thought, because I didn’t know God. But I knew it was Him speaking to me.”

Karen left with nothing more than the clothes on her back. She knew Peter would never leave with her, and knew that when she left her marriage would be over. Once she left the campus of the headquarters, she sought help from a man she had met years before in her profession as a clothing designer.

“I had to get some help in getting out of Los Angeles, and he was the only person I remembered saying he believed in God. He arranged to pick me up, get me a plane ticket, luggage, money, and a place to sleep that first night.”

She flew from Los Angeles to Atlanta, Ga., and was greeted by her mother. “I learned that she had been praying for me and she wanted to talk to me about Christ,” said Karen, “but I was in such a state of distrust about anything religious. I simply didn’t know how I could figure out what was true or false—what was deceiver and what was Savior.”

Six months later, Karen went to church at First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga. “That was where my mother had gotten saved. That’s where she learned to pray and read the Bible,” said Karen.

“That day was the second time God revealed himself to me in another Damascus Road type experience. Pastor Johnny Hunt said the Bible is the Truth. As he told the story of Moses bringing the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, Pastor Johnny used Joshua 24:15 (NIV), ‘Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.’ I knew that day I was choosing Christ, and I surrendered my life to Him.

“Freedom through Christ is like an inheritance waiting for you to claim it like a blank check. I claimed Christ’s love and forgiveness that day. That’s how I came to know truly know the meaning of spiritual freedom. While I thought Scientology was giving me that, what it really gave me was spiritual entrapment.”

Karen soon came to understand that God wanted her to be a voice for Him to expose false doctrine and help evangelize those caught in deception. After her marriage ended when she left Scientology in 1998, Karen met and married Gregory Pressley in 2000. She served on the staff of the North American Mission Board for several years until she left to become a Mission Service Corps missionary and start Wings of Love Ministry. “The name came from my belief that I’m more like a messenger on wings—carrying the truth of God’s love through the ways God gives me as a speaker and a writer.”

Pray for Karen:

• Pray above all that she will remain in intimate fellowship with Christ.

• Pray that God will open up more opportunities for her to be a voice for Him through speaking and writing in ministry.

• Pray for her marriage to stay strong and Christ-centered.

• Pray that the false doctrine of Scientology will be revealed.

MISSIONARY SPOTLIGHT ARCHIVE

Copyright 2004 North American Mission Board, SBC