The claims Sect
Is Go Church a sect, as the VRT documentary Undercover bij Go Church suggests?
No Belgian authority has classified Go Church as a sect. No court has ruled against Go Church. No one has been charged. In the film the word comes from people who left the church, while VRT’s expert put it no higher than “traces” and the film itself says sects are “certainly not banned” in Belgium.
What the documentary said
manipulation, sect, control, and family
Manipulatie. Sekte. Controle. En familie.
one word kept coming back. Lighthouse Chapel International is definitely a cult.
In die gesprekken keerde één woord telkens terug. Lighthouse Chapel International is zeker een sekte. Een sekte is het.
my definition of it is one man who runs the whole show and he can’t be challenged and he makes all the rules.
Mijn definitie van een sekte is één man die de hele show bestiert. Iemand die je niet in vraag stelt en die alle regels opstelt.
A cult. There are more of those in Belgium. And they are certainly not forbidden.
Een sekte, zo zijn er wel meer in België. En ze zijn zeker niet verboden.
I think there are certainly traces that this is a harmful sectarian movement.
Er zijn zeker sporen dat het een schadelijke sektarische beweging is.
Watch VRT at this point · VRT NWS Pano2:10 (opens the recording on YouTube at 2:10)
Go Church’s full written reply to VRT, in Dutch and English.
What the film left out
VRT says the word came from its talks with “tientallen ex-volgers van Go Church en enkele voormalige leiders” (dozens of former followers and a few former leaders). The voices it plays are a former member, a voice from a phone the film never identifies, a former Belgian leader giving what he calls “my definition”, and another former member. The investigation itself began with an anonymous TikTok post asking Antwerp’s young people to send Pano anything they thought “onderzocht moet worden” (should be investigated).
VRT’s sociologist on camera was Wim Vandewiele of KU Leuven. His word was “sporen”: traces.
As of 24 October 2026, no prosecutor has announced an investigation, no court has ruled, and Belgium’s sect information centre, the IACSSO, has published no opinion or classification of Go Church. By law the IACSSO is an independent centre that studies, documents and gives advice and recommendations. It is not a court and it cannot sanction anyone.
The record: his own words, across the years
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2009
Pretoria, South Africa, Conference sermon (Dag Heward-Mills Camps Channel upload, 13 Feb 2024)
Preaching in Pretoria in 2009, he read out the charges laid against Jesus and against Paul, including the charge of leading a sect.
Jesus Christ was accused of so many things. In Luke chapter 23 he was accused of misleading the people. … Paul was accused in Acts chapter 24 verse 5 of being a source of mischief, a plague, a public pest, a disturber of the peace, a fomenter of discord, one who stirs up disputes, a ringleader of the sect.
Pretoria, South Africa, 2009 Recording held back while it is reviewed. The words are as spoken.
The verdict
A sect is a finding, and no one with the power to make that finding has made it. No court has ruled against Go Church. No one has been charged. The one expert VRT asked to weigh the word said “traces”.
Questions people ask
Has the IACSSO, Belgium’s sect information centre, classified Go Church as a sect?
No. As of 24 October 2026 the IACSSO has published no opinion or classification of Go Church. It is an independent centre that gives advice and recommendations, and it cannot sanction anyone.
Who calls Go Church a sect in the VRT documentary?
Former members, a voice from a phone the film doesn’t identify, and a former Belgian leader applying what he calls “my definition”. VRT’s expert, the KU Leuven sociologist Wim Vandewiele, spoke only of “traces”.
Are sects banned in Belgium?
The documentary itself says they are “certainly not banned”. Article 19 of the Belgian Constitution guarantees freedom of worship and its free public exercise, except for offences committed in using that freedom.