A woman has spoken out for the first time after leaving a secretive Christian church – as the FBI investigate historic sex abuse claims.
Jolyn Mitchell, 30, was born into a religious group called the Two by Twos – an underground group with followers across the world.
The group is led by elders – who are called ‘overseers’ – which preach about God and get people involved in the group.
It also had senior members called ‘workers’ who would share homes with other members.
Jolyn said she was a ‘generational member’ after her parents joined before she was born.
Jolyn said women were treated as second-class citizens – they weren’t allowed to wear make-up, paint their nails and had to cover up.
She came forward to tell her story after it was revealed earlier this year, the FBI would investigate ‘hundreds’ of sexual abuse claims involving the church.
Jolyn, a health care administrator, from Seattle, Washington, who left the group in 2012, said: ‘I didn’t know the extent of the level of abuse – I don’t think anybody did. I did experience a lot of spiritual and emotional abuse.
‘Everyone in the group were told that this was your one true way to get into heaven and if you were not part of the group you were going to hell.
‘We were told that this is a direct line to Jesus and it was created by him and his disciples.’
Jolyn’s parents and grandparents were both members of the group, and she said it worked like a lot of other religions – they would meet on a Wednesday night for bible studies and Sunday service at peoples homes.
A few times a year the group would have a convention where thousands of members gather at someone’s property.
There were no formal church buildings, members would go and set up barns and tents for the conventions.
Jolyn said: ‘What was different was there was a lot of fear built into this group – we were told that this was the only way to get into heaven.
‘We would have conventions that were always held at people’s homes. We would go weeks in advance to prepare the ground or build women’s and men’s quarters.’
When she was 17 years old, Jolyn realised that she wanted to leave the group and started going to meetings less and less.
She explained: ‘One thing that was apparent to me was that women were treated as second-class citizens. If a woman got pregnant before marriage, in some areas the workers would take away their right to participate in the meetings so you couldn’t give your testimony until the baby arrived.
‘If you didn’t follow these rules or people were made aware of any of your sins, members and workers would make you feel immense shame through various tactics.’
In 2012, Jolyn stopped attending the religion’s meetings to focus on putting herself through college.
She said that she would be bombarded with calls from other members trying to get her to stay and ask why she wasn’t attending.
Jolyn said: ‘Two years later after I left, I remember I was at my friend’s house and watching a documentary about a church cult.
‘I turned to her and said ‘I think I was in a cult’. People were not happy when I left, I received phone calls asking where I was. My friends and family were all still in the cult when I left. I didn’t really have anyone when I left, I had to start my friend group over and rebuild my life.’
The non-denominational group – also known as The Church with No Name – was founded in the 1800s.
Earlier this year, police in New Zealand announced that at least one former minister of the group was being investigated for historical abuse.
In August 2024, a man was arrested as part of the investigation.
17 charges of indecent assault have been laid against the man relating to alleged offending against four victims between the 1960s and 1980s.
Metro has reached out to the church for comment.
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