Was mass manipulation used to convert you into this church? Why?

I experienced several of these mass manipulations which converted me to join:

• You get instant friends once you become a member. I mean, you're brother/sister to the whole flock. Most of these members on separate occassions persuaded me to study the Bible and get baptized (the ICC way). I met these people at the service and fellowshipped with them. I don't know if they pretend to be very close to you, but at that time, my mindset was to trust them and keep an open mind. I figured that their intentions were always good.When they bring in new members, they work as a team. That could be a team of two, three, or even ten.
• Before you joined, they're always interested in you, what you do, how's life, how did you find us, etc. This made me think that they care for me and it was in my interest that I join.
  
• I remembered before I joined, we get together on one weekend just to play some football. That was a pretty good selling point because we all got to participate and I love playing football (either tackle or tag). Sometimes we get together to watch a movie (usually PG-13 or below with the inappropriate content fast forwarded). The movie part scared me away, but the football part didn't. Because this is something that I had passion for, that was pretty much the bait they used on me. I can assure you that if they know that football is something I have passion for, they would get some of the members to play football and let me know that they will have a game going. If it was basketball, then it would be basketball. They look for what you like to do and then they use that as a sales pitch.
  

Stay tuned. Next: What sort of experiences took place while belonging to the church?