Beliefs.

The network of churches appears to adhere to an orthodox
Christian theology with a decidedly Pentecostal/Charismatic
bend (see, for example, these Statements of Faith Off-site Link, as posted at the website of The Potter's House, Carson City, Nevada).

The Potter's House is a Pentecostal denomination which claims to hold to the same doctrinal distinctives as the Assemblies of God (a mainstream Pentecostal church). Although the Potter's House has not published a public "statement of faith" or doctrinal statement outlining their particular theological views, they do adhere to the teachings espoused in Duffield and VanCleave's Foundations of Pentecostal Theology (published through L.I.F.E.
Bible College). The Potter's House appears to hold to essential
biblical doctrine (i.e. the Trinity, the deity of Christ, salvation by grace alone, etc). In non-essentials, they hold to a pretribulational rapture and a premillenial return of Christ. Because the Potter's House is Pentecostal, the exercise of "spiritual gifts" play a major role among Potter's House fellowship. Speaking in tongues and gifts of healing are common place in their worship services. (Tongues are exercised in prayer and praise as well as prophecy
in a congregational setting.) The emphasis on "gift" ministries
stems from the fact that Mitchell was influenced at an early age by such men as William Branham (who denied the Trinity and was very influential in the early stages of the "Latter-Rain" preacher who emphasized a five-fold ministry in the church. Although Mitchell rejected the excesses of Branham and Allen, he did, however, hold on to some of the concepts which arose out of what became known as authentic "gift" ministries.

Quoted from source http://www.equip.org/free/DP080.htm


Origins of the church name

The name comes from the Old Testament of the Bible::Jeremiah 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. (King James Version)

Because of its biblical origin, the name "The Potter's House" is often used by other independent church groups besides those affiliated with Christian Fellowship Ministries. Particularly well known is The Potter's House, Dallas, Texas, a largely African-American megachurch founded and led by T. D. Jakes and unrelated to the churches founded by Wayman Mitchell.

source from: http://en.allexperts.com/e/p/po/potter's_house_christian_fellowship.htm

Church conferences

Conferences are a major part of the church's practice and administration. Most countries hold them once or twice per year and they consist of up to 17 sermons by various fellowship pastors and evangelists.:

*U.S.A.: Prescott, Arizona:- A conference is held twice per year with approximately 2500 claimed attendees.

*England: London:- A conference is held twice a year with approximately 1500 claimed attendees.

*Australia: Perth, Western Australia:- A conference is held once per year in late February with approximately 1400 claimed attendees.

*South Africa: Johannesburg:- A conference is held once per year with approximately 900 claimed attendees.

Organiztion/Ministry.

The thrust of The Potter's House has been primarily to focus on street evangelism. Consequently, many of those attending The Potter's House are new converts between the ages of 18 and 35. Because there are relatively few older "saints" in the body, there tends to be an imbalance where spiritual leadership is concerned. (We are told, though, that there seems to be a trend towards establishing an older, mature congregation in the church which will help correct this imbalance.)

The Potter's House is "governed" by the Pastor along with an
group of elders (referred to as the Church council). As each
church is established, the pastor involved in setting up a new
church is responsible for the leadership in that church. (This responsibility includes monitoring the financial, doctrinal,
and moral accountability of the church in question.) The
Potter's House is goverened overall by the Bylaws established
by Wayman Mitchell and others at the initial incorporation of
the church.

The Potter's House is a very active church with programs
throughout the week. Some church activities include men's
leadership classes, street evangelism, outreach to the Spanish community, music ministries, and other outreaches of the church. We have been told that church involvement is a necessary deterrent designed to keep young converts from
their former "immoral and ungodly" activities before conversion.

The Potter's House appears to be reaching out by and large to
many of the minority groups as well as to street people
searching for meaning in life and is extremely evangelistic
which accounts for the rapid growth of its churches.

Quoted from source http://www.equip.org/free/DP080.htm

Church stands

Bible schools, Church planting and discipleship
The Fellowship rejects Bible schools as a vehicle for church planting. The following are a few reasons given for this:Simpkins, Ron (1984). We Can Take the Land (A Study in Church Planting), pp. 275-276. Prescott: Potters Press. ISBN 0918389003

Bible schools are claimed not to be biblical, and are viewed as a medieval institution left over from Catholicism, and are used in imitation of the world.

The church posits that Bible schools are unable to do the job of world evangelism. The world population is growing at a rate of seventy million people a year. That means that every day 194,444 people are added to the population, over and above those who die. The cost of training workers by traditional methods is prohibitive. Even if finances were available, the Bible school method is slow and inefficient that the church is not even able to keep pace with the rising population, let alone reach the world.

The Bible school isolates the man of God from practical experience, which is meant to come through the church. For most students, the school begins to take the place of church commitment and worship. This leads to bad habits of discipline and isolates them from the very people they are preparing to minister to.

All attempts to mass produce disciplines will ultimately fail. Men of God must be hand crafted.

The requirements of Bible schools eliminate many who God would use. The requirements of money, previous education, and age would have stopped Jesus and the twelve disciples.

The Bible school system puts the church on a standard of "mind" not "heart" rewarding wrong motives, and creating an elitist mentality of really having paid too high a price to reach the poor.

Bible Schools tend to put those who can't pastor into the role of pastor trainers.

The system builds into the church a clergy-laity mentality that denies the priesthood of the believer, and others just need to be saved.

Bible schools rob the church of dignity it was meant to have in the preparing of workers and reaching a lost world.

They violate the indigenous principle.

Bible schools while not evil in themselves are not God's best method.

Concerns.

1) its structural authority and accountability;

Though the Potter's House has made some effort in setting up
a structure of authority, those chosen to be on the "church
council" with the pastor are relatively young men who have
little or no biblical training and who are very young in the
Lord. Church boards should consist of men who have walked
with God for some time having developed spiritual maturity
and discernment over the years. Without the governmental
element of older godly men and women, a church can suffer
very weak spiritual counsel. Biblical guidelines for eldership
in the church can be found in 1 Timothy 3, and Titus 1 and 2.


2) its aberrant view of tongues and healing;

The Potter's House churches believe in and practice the "gifts
of the Spirit" in a congregational setting.*

However, their exercise of certain gifts do not follow the biblical pattern as set forth in I Corinthians 12 and 14. In a typical Potter's House worship service, tongues are exercised in unison by the entire congregation generally with no interpretation following. The Scriptures teach, on the other hand, that biblical tongues in a congregational setting must be followed by two or three interpreting for the sake of the edification of the body of Christ and as a sign for the unbeliever (1 Cor. 14:22-33). As with the Assemblies of God, the Potter's House teaches that tongues is the "initial evidence" of the "baptism of the Holy Spirit."

The Potter's House has an aberrant view of healing as well. A
"come get your miracle" mentality exists which creates an
expectancy level which, when not met, is devastating to the
young Christian who expected God to meet his needs and is
let down hard.**


3) church atmosphere;

Though members are not required to attend the various
activities of the church, there is an expectancy and general
urgency about participating. These kind of expectations can
give a person a mental burden of having to "be there" or one
misses out on what God is doing. It can also cause early
"burn-out" for some who just can not keep up with the
ever-continuing activities of the church.


4) its steady hyperactive atmosphere;

Which could result in potential "burnout for some members.


5) its lack of a strong healthy doctrinal statement;

Though we are told that classes are taught on Sunday mornings pertaining to "sound doctrine," there is of yet no outline or positional paper of the Potter's House particular theological beliefs. While it is true that a doctrinal statement is not always as revealing as it looks, it does indicate that the particular church in question adheres to a formal set of doctrines and removes most doubt as to whether they are "orthodox" concerning essential biblical teaching.


6) negative reports from ex-members and others alleging mind control and conditioning over its members by the leadership of local churches.

Since our preliminary report of March 3, 1988, new developments have occurred which should be included in this report. In September of this year, the "Geraldo Television Show" did a segment which included an expose' of the Potter's House in which "exit-counselor" Rick Ross alleged that the Potter's House was cultic and dangerous. Others, many ex-members, allege that the leadership exercises strong control over its members (a form of the shepherding doctrine); that leaving the church would result in the judgment of God; that members are ostracized from their families; that tithing is essential to be in proper or right relationship with God and strongly enforced by the leadership; that women attending the Potter's House are subjugated; and that ex-members are shunned or hated and considered lost until they come back to the Potter's House. While many of these allegations came from ex-members in the Prescott area, some have come from other parts of the country which indicates that there may be some truth to the allegations at least with some Potter's Houses.

For an overview of the history and development of the Potter's House, the reader is invited to read An Open Door by Ron Simpkins (Prescott, Arizona: Potter's Press, 1985).

Quoted from source http://www.equip.org/free/DP080.htm


7) Cultic Behavior;

That said, there are persistent reports from former members
(including former pastors) regarding spiritual abuse and
sociologically cultic behavior.

A testimony regarding this movement was included in
Ronald Enroth's book, Churches That Abuse Off-site Link.

Watchman Fellowship, in its Index of Cults and Religions, writes:

"Potter’s House, Wayman Mitchell, Prescott, AZ: Originally
called Victory Chapel, churches affiliated with Mitchell go
under the names Praise Chapel, The Door, Grace Chapel,
The Christian Fellowship, La Capilla de la Victory, La Casa
Del Alfarero, and La Puerta. Begun in 1970, Mitchell has
over 1,000 churches in 73 countries including Mexico,
South America, Australia, Europe, and the Philippines.
Numerous former members have alleged mind control
and authoritarian/abusive leadership, and the group was
the focus of a CBS News 48 Hours investigative report.
Mitchell’s churches are not affiliated with the Potter’s House
in Dallas, TX, pastored by T. D. Jakes. Also, The Door is not
affiliated with the religious satire magazine by the same name."

Quoted from source http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm#P


In December, 2001, Charisma News reported:

A second major exodus has taken place from a controversial
network of churches criticized for authoritarian leadership.
Up to 160 of the Potter's House movement's 800-odd
congregations are said to have left the group recently.

Officially called Christian Fellowship Ministries (CFM), the
Potter's House network was started in 1983 by Wayman
Mitchell. A Prescott, Ariz., pastor, Mitchell broke away
from the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
to launch his own movement, placing a strong emphasis
on evangelism. Most of the group's churches are to be
found in the Southwest, where they also go under the names
The Door and Victory Chapel. Some of the pastors who broke ranks recently are apparently upset by the direction CFM appears to be headed. There are also claims that Mitchell - whose movement has long been dogged by criticism that it is controlling, intimidating and manipulative - routinely uses foul language and derogatory remarks in the pulpit.

Mitchell declined to comment to "Charisma" magazine, but
Harold Warner, a longtime CFM associate who pastors a
church in Tucson, Ariz., said that Mitchell was not the sort
of man many of his critics have portrayed him to be. "He is
a good, strong leader," he said. "We are given great freedom
to pursue our ministry, and it isn't this horribly oppressive
atmosphere."

The Potter's House was hit by large-scale defections 10 years
ago. When Colorado pastor Ron Jones, who had worked with
Mitchell since the early 1970s, severed his ties in 1990, around 100 pastors followed him.

Larry Neville, a pastor who worked with Mitchell for 13 years
until 1991, said that because CFM leaders were encouraged to aggressively plant churches, the departure of a few pastors who disagree with Mitchell could lead to a large number of churches leaving the movement.

The exodus was more an issue of churches' loyalty to their
founding pastor than one of disagreement with Mitchell, he
said. It was about "a personal relationship with someone
they love." Mitchell said that around 100 of the 160 churches
reported to have left CFM recently did so because of their
loyalty to one pastor.

Bryan Hupperts, who was part of Potter's House for several
years and was at one stage being groomed to become a CFM
pastor, said that many pastors who left the movement did so
because of unhealthy control and were later reluctant to talk
about their experiences.

"Some of them have family in the Potter's House," he said.
"They'll end up getting targeted. They can be pretty vicious."
One former leader said there were families divided by
departures from the movement who had not spoken for

# years, and "churches that have been deliberately split,
children who don't talk to their parents."

Neville said there had been a move of God in CFM in the past,
but over time the group moved into isolationism. "They're not sinning, but they're not moving on." Warner said that those pastors who left CFM recently were "people who have gone in a different direction."

Quoted from source Charisma News Update Off-site Link Dec.
4, 2001