My married neighbor got caught up with a man who was involved in the church. Left her husband and children and went off the rails. I did quite a bit of research on their origins, splinter groups, doctrine, etc. Some consider it a cult and after what I personally experienced with my neighbor, not surprised.
But that doesn't cause any cult-related concerns.
The part that makes people concerned about the potential for cult-style issues is the "British Israelitism."
That part is explicitly racialist to begin with, and since it is so strange, so ahistorical, and so closely related to other movements that are definitely cults - like Christian Identity - it is heart of those concerns.
That's horrible! Was this a United Church of God congregation? If so please private message me with what area of the country you're talking about. Such abusive and harmful behavior certainly isn't condoned or encouraged by United and is in fact strongly discouraged. If it happened in a United congregation you can bet it will be taken care of!