Ecclesia Leader Says ‘Cult’ Tag Is Unfair

Eldridge Broussard Jr. vowed Saturday to fight “sensationalized and stupid” news reporting that he says implies that his Ecclesia athletic organization is a cult.

Broussard, a former Oregon college basketball star, said programs in the Watts Christian Center in Los Angeles and the Ecclesia camp at Sandy, Ore., have been “sabotaged” by media accounts.

Many of the stories questioned whether Ecclesia might be a cult and, Broussard said, they unfairly drew a parallel between Ecclesia and the followers of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

In an interview in Watts, Broussard said: “My program’s been killed. . . . When they said ‘cult’ on the front page, I was stuck.”

Broussard said his creditors will no longer serve him and some parents whose children are in the group are demanding custody.

Broussard and others associated with Ecclesia visited Los Angeles for the funeral of Faith Viola Hendrick, who died in Oregon. The coroner determined that she died of natural causes.