Hebrew Roots Movement (high-control variants)
Christian movement re-adopting Old Testament observances (Sabbath, festivals, dietary laws). Most adherents practise privately or in low-control study groups. The CLCI applies to specific high-control fellowships exhibiting severance, financial extraction, and authoritarian leaders.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — applies to specific authoritarian Hebrew-Roots fellowships, not the broader observant-Christian movement.
Profile facts
In context
The Hebrew Roots Movement is decentralised and varied. Most participants observe Saturday Sabbath, biblical feasts, and dietary laws within mainstream evangelical contexts. The CLCI applies to specific high-control fellowships — typically with a single charismatic teacher, severance of 'gentile' Christian friends, financial extraction, and rejection of mainstream Christianity. Various such fellowships exist; documentation is fragmented.
Key control doctrines
- Old Testament observance as essential for Christians
- Rejection of mainstream Christianity
- Specific teacher's interpretive authority in high-control variants
Recovery resources
- Tears of Eden — Christian spiritual-abuse-survivor support and clinician referral.
- Recovering Grace — Originally IBLP-focused; archive includes broader fundamentalist Christian high-control material.
- Reclamation Collective — Religious-trauma-aware therapist network; relevant for post-exit identity-rebuilding.
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- Late 20th c.Movement crystallises in Messianic-Jewish-adjacent space
Sources
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Christian high-control.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: ex-member sources. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.