Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc (MCOI), is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

, conservative

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

organization."Mission Statement"
It is a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

support group that encourages people to leave

cults In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

or groups they deem cult-like and "an

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

ministry in suburban Chicago." It has branches in

Lohrville, Iowa Lohrville is a city in Calhoun County, Iowa, United States. The population was 381 at the time of the 2020 census. In 2014 the ''Carroll Daily Times Herald'' stated that Lohrville had "embraced its status as a bedroom community" to nearby cities ...

;

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...

;

Scranton, Kansas Scranton is a city in Osage County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 653. It was named after the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania due to its coal mining in the 19th century. History Scranton was foun ...

; and

Spring Hill, Florida Spring Hill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hernando County, Florida, Hernando County, Florida, United States. The population was 113,568 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 98,621 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ...

. Its mission statement: "Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc., is a non-denominational, evangelical organization that exists to defend the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

, especially to those who consciously reject it due to what MCO deems 'false beliefs', and to challenge and equip believing

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

to do the same". MCOI is headed by Don Veinot, who is a former

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, who acts as president. His wife and three others serve as board members of the organization. ''

Religion Dispatches ''Religion Dispatches'' is a daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics, and culture. RD covers topics of religious thought, past and present, that underwrite social structures, aimed at providing a nonsectarian platform for write ...

'' credits Veinot as the founder of MCOI.

Founders Ministries Founders Ministries, previously known as the Southern Baptist Founders Conference, is a Reformed Baptist group within the Southern Baptist Convention in the United States. Its goal is to return Southern Baptists to their roots, and it has contribu ...

credits Veinot and his wife as co-founders of MCOI. Since 1995, MCOI has produced a self-published journal which is mailed out three to four times a year with a circulation of under 2,000. It is also available online in

Adobe PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

format called the ''Midwest Christian Outreach Journal''. The journal consists of three or four articles each issue, with either Don Veinot or his wife writing at least one article each time, and a small group of other like-minded conservatives that are frequent contributors. Midwest Christian Outreach is based in

Wonder Lake, Illinois Wonder Lake is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is a commuter village in the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 3,973 at the 2020 census. However including surrounding unincorporated subdivisions, the population ...

References

External links

Official website

Profile
Christian countercult organizations Evangelical Ministries to New Religions Christian charities based in the United States Charities based in Illinois {{christian-org-stub