General Chat

A mum has pulled her seven-year-old son out of school after he was made to write out an apology to 'repent his sins' on a piece of paper – then eat it.

Horrified Celia Mullen, 46, claims her son Luis and other children were encouraged to take part in the bizarre ritual by members of an evangelical church during a visit to his class.

She says the incident has left her son so disturbed that he now refuses to sleep on his own and scrawls pictures of the Devil.

Ms Mullen said the first she knew about the visit by the evangelical New Life Baptist Church was when her son came home from school upset.

She said he had asked her: 'Mum, why do I have to say sorry?' She says she replied: 'What do you mean? Did you do something wrong at school?'

'He then told me, "We had to eat a piece of paper with the word sorry on it." He started to cry.

'I comforted him and asked him why he thought he might have had to say sorry and he said he just didn't know.'

Celia sent her son to Ainderby Steeple primary near their home in Northallerton, North Yorks, because as a Church of England School she assumed he would get a traditional education.

But after he came home distressed she found a lesson plan given to pupils who had taken part in the church's 'Kidzone Roadshow'.

She said: 'It was called the Big Prayer Experience. On it was an explanation of the purpose of prayer.

'It went into the need for adoration of God and to ask God for help. It said, "We confess when we say sorry for something wrong. Today we are going to say Sorry to God. We will write sorry on a piece of paper and eat it". I was horrified.'

On the New Life Baptist Church's website it describes visits to local schools as 'an exciting programme of drama, music and games'
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On another occasion Celia says Luis was sent home with an adult Bible having been told that it would 'make him good'.

At home Luis refused to sleep in his room and presented his mum with a picture he had drawn – of the Devil with horns, tail and a trident fork. Then he drew an angel.

'I couldn't understand why he drew a devil with horns and an evil face. Then he drew an angel,' said Celia, who works as a sales ledger clerk.

'Since all this happened Luis has not been able to sleep alone. It has left him disturbed.'

Celia says she complained to headteacher Fiona Sharp. She claims that when she confronted Miss Sharp over making pupils eat their 'apologies to God', written on rice paper, she was told: 'That is what we do.'

Celia has asked her local MP, Foreign Secretary William Hague, to investigate and has found Luis a place at another school. To her horror, she later discovered the church group make monthly day visits there too.

She said: 'I had no choice but to accept. There aren't any other schools around here they don't go into, but I have added that he must not attend these sessions.'

Another concerned parent who has asked not to be named has also switched his children's schools to avoid the prayer sessions.

He said: 'I have my religious beliefs, I have my faith, but this is indoctrination of young minds on an unprecedented scale.'

According to its website, the New Life Baptist church is 'a lively evangelical, charismatic church'.

Assistant pastor Steve Cowie confirmed the incident but added: 'We are sorry that anyone should be upset, we have no intention to upset, we do not intimidate, we do not force anyone to do anything.'

The school's board of governors is investigating the incident.

Don't get me started Sue, I'm narky already today ! ;-)

I'm speechless.

*wot Rose said*

...still sitting on my hands...... :-(

I think that is disgusting....

"The Reverend Richard Glover, a governor at the school and vicar of the village’s Church of England church, said an investigation was under way.

Steve Cowie, assistant pastor at the baptist church, said: “I am unsure what the significance of eating rice paper with the word sorry written on it in edible vegetable ink was. We are sorry that anyone should be upset.”


goes back to sitting on hands :-(

If someone had given me some rice paper when I was at school I would have eaten the lot......guess it must have been the way it was conveyed.... If saying sorry was so easy.

I am genuinely sorry the child is distressed but at first I thought you meant ordinary paper . Rightly or wrongly it would have been better to explain and reassure the child that it was nothing to worry about.......and then sorted it out with the school. -j

then they wonder at the wappy clap happy dippy adults who have been brought up in this sect that they need to eat sleep breath the bilble chapter and verse,,,,

Id be ramming paper somehwere !!

Well lets say that if it had been my child who had been forced to do that, Steve Cowie the assistant pastor would have similar piece of paper shoved so far up his rear orifice he,d think he was having Colonic Irrigation,What a stupid and thoughtless way of teaching religeon to children. :-S.**M**

Right, now I have calmed down....I chose to place my children in C of E then C of W schools because I knew what the RE curriculum would cover. (I do know that other faiths are included nowadays but they certainly were not then).

I would have expected the parents to be contacted prior to the visit to ask IF their child/ren could attend. They had made the same decision as me re the choice of school and should expect respect in regard to their religion.

The practice outlined IMO compares to the fire and brimstone I was subjected to at Church - does nothing other than frighten kids silly!

I 'could' be generous and say that it might be a single error of judgement on the part of the person/s involved....but having looked at their website I'm not veering that way...

But imo no one should be allowed in from 'outside' the school... not to teach religion, politics, sex ed' or indeed anything without the prior knowledge and permission of parents who have been adequately informed of the way it will be communicated, and by whom.

there that was quite mild lol

still :-( :-(

Thought the days of preaching hellfire and damnation had gone, evidently not. What happened to God is love.

This is nothing more than intimidating children to conform with their cock-eyed view of religion. Believers in Christ know that he said, 'suffer the little children to come unto me'. not force them. i would have been down that school FAST AND CONFRONTED THEM. You still have rights! Have no time for those who push their religion at you. Be judged by how you treat other people and how you live your life, not where you pray, if you do..

firstly, please do not confuse all Baptists with this sect.
Secondly I wonder if these people are CRB cleared to go into schools.
Thirdly, I agree with whoever said parents should be informed beforehand (do we know for certain that theyw ere not? Maybe litttle johnny whoever forgot to give his mum a letter?)
Fourth It seems that the headmistress agrees with it? Hopefully the school governors will sort something out.

I thought it was ordinary paper at first so the eating of paper is not as bad as I first thought, or the ink. But to put the fear of God instead of the love into a child's mind is awful. That is one child who will turn away from religion.

Ann it does say on the website that all members working with children are CRB checked.

Good. Thanks Rose

Rice paper or not or vegetable dye ink,,,,,,,no child should be given these things without prior consent, good job none had a reaction to it!!!,,,,,,,,,,also the head needs to be up before the board for allowing such nonsense on children,I'd be making a formal complaint loud and clear.

HAven't read anyone else's comments as yet..but my immediate thoughts are that if anybody made my child eat paper I'd be onto the police to report abuse against her......on a bad day...I'd find the s*d and floor him. *angry face*

CRB's only prove that you haven't been caught yet!!!
Rice paper or not - would they try this 'stunt' on adults?
No, because they know the reaction they'd get.
In my world, what you wouldn't do to an adult , because of the reaction, you certainly don't do to a child!!
This was a form of bullying of the worst kind, and an indoctrination that should be banned!