A religious group which seeks one-tenth of its members' pre-tax income is specifically targeting universities for student recruits, according to former members.
At a conference in Clonliffe College on Saturday organised by the inter-church group, Dialogue, former members of the Dublin Church of Christ said the church was especially interested in recruiting members in University College Dublin, Trinity College and Dublin City University.
Mr Tim Hendry, a TCD theology graduate and former member of the church, said he was assigned Trinity as his "mission field".
"We were told to look for `sharp' people. One member was rebuked for recruiting in an area of the south inner city. He was told to go for students and people in suits instead." Mr Hendry said the group had shifted the focus of its recruitment drive from Trinity to UCD, DCU and the DIT.
Mairead, another former member of the group, who did not wish her full name to be published, said church members prayed for conversions in UCD.
"They prefer to have `sharp' UCD and Trinity students in the church. We prayed for months for UCD." She said first-year students were a particular target.
"The student group is one of the harsher groups in the church. It was very performance-oriented. The number of visitors you brought to services and the number of baptisms you performed were seen as a measure of your spirituality."
Members of the Dublin Church of Christ approach strangers in the street and invite them to Christian prayer or Bible-reading meetings. They have services twice a week in the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union building in Abbey Street.
Most members are expected to pay one-tenth of their gross income to the church, along with a "special contribution". The church arrived in Dublin in 1991 and currently has a membership of about 80. A leader of the Dublin church, Ms Sara Isaacs, said she and her husband Nick no longer answered media queries and directed all questions to a spokesman in London.
The London-based spokesman, Mr John Partington, said the church was "very active in sharing our faith with anyone we meet. We want to share the Bible with everyone. If you're a student you share that with students because that's your peer group."
However, he said the church liked to attract professional members. "We like to see professional people who can go on and lead. That is something we pray for but it's not to the exclusion of anyone else."
Mr Partington said the 10 per cent contribution was "not a rule" but merely a guideline. "There are people who we recommend pay less than 10 per cent because they are in debt and there are other people who we suggest pay more than 10 per cent."
He said that to put severe pressure on members to recruit for the church would be counterproductive. "I have sympathy for those people who say they felt pressure. We don't want to put anyone under pressure, but the call of Jesus is to make disciples."
roddyosullivan@ireland.com
