Ex-member alleges cult-like practices at CSUN’s Good Shepherd Fellowship
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Intern Pastor Jacob Kim, a CSUN alumni, leading a sermon at Good Shepherd Fellowship service on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Northridge, Calif. In his sermon, Kim preached that while friends and family provide “conditional love,” God’s love is unconditional.
Anne was looking for community when she strolled through the bi-annual Meet The Clubs event during her sophomore year at CSUN. Having come from a religious background, it was instinct for her to navigate towards a Christian club.
This is how Anne, who requested to go by an alias due to safety concerns, found Good Shepherd Fellowship (GSF) – a group she now labels a cult.
GSF is a small church located on Lindley Avenue across from student housing. The church was founded in the 1990s by a man called Pastor Paul, along with his two associates, Pastor Abraham and Pastor Isaac.
Pastor Abraham is also known on CSUN’s campus as Robert McIlhenny, an associate professor of computer science and faculty advisor to the GSF club.
The church’s mission, ultimately, is to expand to 10 UCs, 23 CSUs, 42 private universities and 119 community colleges in California, according to their website.
Pastor Paul was originally part of the University Bible Fellowship (UBF), an international organization that was established in South Korea in the 1960s. GSF was founded as a branch to UBF, but distanced itself from the church after allegations began to surface that UBF may be a “cult.”
Now, years after the separation, GSF is receiving its own allegations on Reddit.
When first attending church services, Anne said she felt an immediate sense of community from the welcoming members. Free food provided after service and Friday game nights also attracted Anne, driving her to become more involved with the group.
“That was a good time to talk to people and just connect with others,” Anne said. “I think just the connection, the community and just the convenience of it was very enticing.”
For a while, Anne felt safe with GSF. They were her home away from home, having grown up outside of Northridge.
Then came “this thing called retreats,” Anne said.
Retreats occur each season, and are promoted by the group as a “weekend of worship, the Word, and wild fun,” according to the group’s Instagram page. Anne attended her first retreat entirely on the dime of GSF.
But it was during Anne’s second retreat, which occurred over the summer and required her own funding, that she first began to see what she called “red flags.”
“I told my Bible teachers I couldn’t join because I wanted to go to the summer classes,” Anne said. “But then they were saying things along the lines that Jesus would prefer for me to go to this retreat instead of taking these classes.”
For the next three years, Anne said her world flipped upside down. She went from living in the dorms to residing on the church premises, paying the group approximately $500 in rent each month. The place where she once felt included, she grew to resent.
Much like Anne, ex-GSF members and CSUN students Wesley Lassiter and Casey Brewer sought out the church while seeking community on a commuter campus.
Read more https://sundial.csun.edu/208203/news/ex-member-alleges-cult-like-practices-at-csuns-good-shepherd-fellowship/
Content retrieved from: https://sundial.csun.edu/208203/news/ex-member-alleges-cult-like-practices-at-csuns-good-shepherd-fellowship/.
