A secretive international religious group that has been likened to a “brainwashing” cult is stepping up its recruitment drive among Australian university students.
The Shincheonji Church of Jesus (SCJ), which began in South Korea 40 years ago, has been accused of alienating vulnerable young people from their families and friends.
SCJ’s tactics have been exposed by former members, who said that in addition to targeting college districts, it also seeks out young converts in shopping malls, train stations, social media and dating apps.
The group, founded by Lee Man-Hee, now 92, claims to be true believers in Christianity but faces accusations of brainwashing vulnerable Australian children.
The explosive claims were made by residents at a heated Cambridge City Council briefing last month in the Perth suburb.
Jim Spencer, who lives in Roleystone, said his daughter is among dozens of people who spend an inordinate amount of time at the SJC facility in the area, which bills itself as an educational center.
“We, the parents, are working hard to get our children out of here. They have been stolen from us,” she said at the meeting.
‘My daughter spends 16 hours a day in this place, six days a week, voluntarily.’
A secretive international religious group, which has often been compared to a cult, is stepping up its recruitment drive among Australian university students. Pictured are members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.
He said the group targets young people and international students and engages them through “non-denominational Bible studies.”
A former church professor submitted a written submission to the council, saying Shincheonji’s practices are illegitimate.
“The Church has no recognised qualifications to be an educational organisation,” the document reads.
‘There are no certifications to justify their teachings being publicly recognized. The teachers are not certified, as I was when I was inside.’
The most common targets were those aged 15 to 25, and many of them were international students who were likely to have few friends when they first arrived in Australia.
“There are a lot of (recruiters) everywhere and you don’t realize it until you do it,” one former member told Herald of the Sun.
“It’s like you’ve been brainwashed… It’s taken some people years to get out of it and even longer to heal and get their lives back on track.”
The SCJ operates so secretly that those who were recruited but later left often say they did not realize they had been persecuted until they spent at least six months in intensive “Bible study” classes.
“Lifestyle, college, work, friends and even family had to be ‘sacrificed’ if it interfered with church,” another former member said.
Recruiters approach what they call new “fruit” in pairs.
One former member said they pretend to simply be having a friendly conversation, possibly asking for directions, in a practice they call “love bombing.”
They ask the subject questions about his age, where he lives, his religion, whether he is studying and his hobbies.
The final and most important step in the process is to obtain the young person’s phone number.
There are more than 1,000 SCJ followers in Victoria alone, although the Australian government does not recognise it as a church.
However, it is a recognised charity, and its listing with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission states that it was established “to promote religion”.
It claims to do so by “testifying and spreading the gospel of heaven that leads to the salvation promised in the Bible to all parts of the world and fulfilling its mission of evangelization to heal all nations.”
The SCJ claims to have more than 300,000 members worldwide, and its members await “Judgment Day,” when 144,000 believers will become high priests, while the remaining followers will be immortalized.
The group’s recruitment tactics have become so worrying that Australian Catholic University deputy vice-chancellor Julie Cogin has warned students that the SCJ is “manipulative and coercive” and is recruiting on their campus.
Tore Klevjer, president of Cult Information and Family Support, also sent a letter to all Australian universities warning them about this “insidious cult”.
But he said universities are not doing enough to warn students. “Awareness is particularly important because the group is lying to them about who they are.”
“Unless they are aware, they think they are joining another benign group that could pose as anything.”
He said parents should ask their children about new friends and warned that they could be kept away from their studies and jobs.
The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which was born in South Korea 40 years ago, has been accused of alienating vulnerable young people from their families and friends. It often recruits at universities.
But one father, whose daughter has been part of SCJ for almost three years, said it was as if she was under a “coercive” spell.
“It’s hard to see, but on the other hand we can’t do much… if we’re hard on her she might disappear forever and leave us for the church,” he said.
The young woman’s mother reported SCJ to the police, but was told that since no crime had been committed, there was nothing they could do.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Shincheonji Church of Jesus for comment.
Lee Man-Hee: The “immortal” leader of a secret “cult” that supposedly intimidates its members into silence
Lee Man-Hee (pictured), whose alleged cult has 74 churches in South Korea, is regarded by his followers as “immortal” and even the second coming of Jesus Christ.
- Lee Man-Hee, 92, is the founder of the Shincheonju Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.
- His group has been accused by Christian authorities around the world of being a secret cult that infiltrates churches and “tricks” its way into recruiting.
- Lee, whose cult has 74 churches in South Korea and has spread across the world, including Australia, is regarded by his followers as “immortal” and even as the second coming of Jesus Christ.
- Very little is known about the cult, but it has been claimed that it is so strict and obsessed with secrecy that its members are forced to remain silent.
- Lee’s critics accuse him of self-promotion, such as his reported trip to the United Arab Emirates in 2025 to pose for photos and promote his credentials at home.
- Others – often other religious authorities – claim he is a “false prophet.”