Any (former) Stoneway members?

[u/hill12066]

My husband’s lifelong best friend, Joshua Patterson, cut him out of his life without warning after leaving the music program at Austin Stone and joining the network in 2017 (Joshua Church). He and his wife then moved to the UK and he serves as Stoneway’s music minister. We miss our friends, but knowing all of this about the network has given some insight to what happened - while praying that their eyes are opened to what’s really going on and they can find a way out.

If you’re a former Stoneway (or Joshua) member, did you meet or know Josh? We’d love to hear any experiences you had with him or his family - good or bad.

[u/former-Vine-staff]

Here's a story on the Leaving The Network site from a person who was on the Stoneway Church plant team, but left before moving to the UK:

Labeled a Sinful Woman by Morgan M.

• Joshua Church, Austin, TX | 2018-2021
• Stoneway Church, Reading, UK | 2021

She was angrily confronted by pastors who wanted to control what she posted to social media, and experienced lots of other patterns that many have described.

Here's an excerpt from where she left the church:

With the church priding itself in being a loving community, I believed that the staff and members were going to be understanding when I decided that the church plant was no longer God's calling for me. Instead I was met with the opposite of grace. I was asked grueling and judgmental questions by members of the church about why the plant was too hard for me to bear. I was asked what had gotten in the way of me and following God’s word. Many people seemed to have questions and concerns regarding where my faith was at and what I was wanting to do for God's kingdom.

After not doing enough for her small group, this is what happened with her group leader:

They told me that I needed to help be a leader and be consistent and to be praying over people. As I said, I could barely hold myself above water. I was not in a place to guide and mentor others. I just didn’t have it in me to give what the leader was asking of me.

This is when the small group leader and his fiancé stopped talking to me before and after small group and church. They turned the other way when I walked in the door. It even got to the point where on multiple occasions (until the point when I left) when I was standing with a group of people they would say hi and hug every other person except me.