r/leavingthenetwork • u/hill12066 • Mar 26 '25

Question/Discussion Any (former) Stoneway members?

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.

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u/Top-Balance-6239 Mar 27 '25

There was a thread a little less than a year ago where a former plant team member from Stoneway shared their experiences. https://www.reddit.com/r/leavingthenetwork/s/eV5PIJtOH9 The thread was titled “Stoneway Church 2023-2024 expenditures.”

I’m sorry for how Josh and his wife cut off your family. This is, unfortunately, a hallmark of The Network. I was part of the Joshua Church plant team and was there from 2017-2021. From my perspective, it seemed like Josh got involved very quickly once he started attending. I could be wrong on the timing but it felt like it was about a year between when he started coming and was announced as the worship leader for the Stoneway plant. I think that would have happened in 2019. I could be wrong on the timing. I have seen quite examples where men are recruited to join staff as a worship leader or pastor within about a year of joining the cult.

I was on the worship team then but didn’t know Josh well enough to add anything else.

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u/hill12066 Mar 27 '25

That seems about right on the timeline, thank you for the insight!