September 16 1996

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Scott Rogers says that as he was driving down a Georgia back road in March 1994, he tuned to a Christian radio station and heard a representative of the Minirth-Meier/New Life Clinics (MMNLC), America's largest Christian psychiatric company, discussing child abuse and inviting listeners to call the company's toll-free phone number if they needed help.

The program, Rogers says, had a deep impact on him. "They were talking about my unresolved issues, and I impulsively pulled over and called," says the 27-year-old, citing his physical abuse as a child.

But instead of receiving comfort and encouragement, Rogers alleges he was pressured to seek costly inpatient treatment and then drawn into "62 days of hell" at the hands of social-service agencies investigating a report that he had confessed to abusing his own children. Although Rogers was eventually cleared of abuse charges, he has filed a malpractice suit against MMNLC.

The Rogers case is becoming a potent symbol within the Christian counseling field because of how it highlights one of the industry's most sensitive challenges: the balancing act between ministering to the needy and making a profit. It has taken on a larger life because two religious gadflies have made Rogers into a poster boy of sorts in their campaign against Christian psychiatry and counseling.

Milwaukee-based Christian radio show host Vic Eliason and Dallas-based chaplain Ray Hoekstra of International Prison Ministry have waged a long-running crusade against the growing Christian mental-health industry, especially against MMNLC, whose prestige and size-more than 600 employees in 25 inpatient units and 55 outpatient units-make it a sizable target.

"This whole industry is a multimillion-dollar racket," says Hoekstra, ...