Exploitative Aussie churches

“Graham Barker is Head of the School of Counselling at the Wesley Institute in Drummoyne. He has degrees in psychology, counselling, theology and education and maintains a private practice with Shiloh Counselling Centres.

At my first encounter with spiritual abuse, I equated the term with the well documented mind-numbing cults such as the Jehovah Witnesses and insidious sects such as the Sydney Church of Christ and the Shepherding Movement.

I soon became aware, however, that this same abusive system had infiltrated some of the more respected evangelical churches.

Most people understand the terms “child abuse”, “sexual abuse” and “emotional abuse” but find it harder to grasp the idea of “spiritual” abuse. The task is easier when the definition identifies the common feature of all abuse—the misuse of power and privilege.

Spiritual abuse is just that: the manipulation and exploitation of others by the misuse of spiritual privilege and power.

By definition, the majority of those who perpetrate such abuse are office holders in Australia’s churches and religious institutinons.

Instances of spiritual abuse can range from a one off event innocently committed by a single, well meaning church leader to an intentionally scripted abusive system involving the leadership en masse. The act can be as obvious as a public breach of pastoral confidentiality or as private as subtle pressure to give financially beyond your means

 
Four rules…….

Spiritual abuse shares many common features with other abusive systems. The most identifiable are the unspoken rules: Don’t trust, don’t talk, don’t think and don’t question.

Don’t trust

The power wielded by abusive leadership is generated from the double premise that they alone are God’s “anointed” and that their biblical interpretations alone are to be trusted. Any interpretation or information that does not receive their endorsement is untrustworthy. The “don’t trust” rule squashes the individual’s confidence in their own judgment and their ability to make decisions for themselves. Any personal experience that contradicts the leadership’s teachings is also deemed untrustworthy and an indicator of spiritual immaturity

Don’t think

Leaders of closed systems do not tolerate the study and consideration of alternative interpretations of Scripture. Their viewpoints are considered unquestionable truth. This closed mindset often extends to edicts on personal life; clothing, occupation, ministry location and even marital choices may be prescribed. Independent thinking, particularly any close analysis of the group’s belief system, is considered a sign of dissention and disloyalty

Don’t talk

In abusive systems any discussion of group issues with non members is discouraged. The leadership will not tolerate outside consultation since it could expose the membership to alternative solutions and undermine the leadership’s authority. Often current members are forbidden to talk to or about former members, unless it is to report on their subsequent shame and demise. Former members with relatives still involved in the church may be reluctant to talk about their experiences for fear of reprisal. In some churches, members are commanded to sever communication with non member relatives and to adopt the group as their new family.

Don’t question.

Abusive leadership will not tolerate challenges to its authority. “Don’t question” is a powerful rule. The member who questions the decisions or standards of the leadership is usually ostracised, humiliated or excluded from ministry opportunity. I have met with many individuals and couples who have experienced such treatment when they questioned the leadership in their churches

Case Study: Jan and Phillip

Jan and Phillip were talented musicians. They had been active members in their church for eight years, but they were alarmed, two years ago, when their pastor and elders told them God wanted them to leave in three months to assist in a new ministry interstate.
 
Jan and Phillip replied that they doubted this was God’s will since Jan’s mother was very sick and relied on them daily.

In response, they were told that to disobey God by staying would bring dire consequences.

This was not an isolated case in the church. Jan and Phillip has witnessed several others leave under pressured circumstances. They now felt that same pressure.

Jan and Phillip did leave, almost immediately, for another church. Sitting in my counselling room, they struggled with deep hurts and concerns. They wondered whether they had overreacted or misread God’s will. Phillip’s parents and most of their friends were still in the church, and, though their new church was biblically sound, it lacked the vitality of the old. As yet, no avenues for ministry had opened.

Over the next few months I listened as Jan and Phillip detailed their good and bad experiences with the old church.

They appreciated many fine qualities in the ministry and its people but also saw the control wielded by the leadership.

Part of their healing involved processing the conflicting emotions of relief and sadness.

During this time, Phillip renewed acquaintances with Christian friends from university, and he and Jan began reviving their musical ministry in their new church’s Sunday school. They maintained intermittent contact with friends from their old church, meeting in neutral venues whenever possible.

Phillip’s parents continued to be bewildered. They defended the pastors on occasion but accepted that Phillip and Jan were not returning.

The pastor of their new church, recognising Phillip and Jan’s need to connect in a closer way, welcomed them into his home group. Their grief lingered for a year or so, but they rebuilt their lives with the help of their new home group, social acquaintances and a determination to live by growing in truth.

Case Study: Pastor Don

I met Pastor Don in Dallas. At the time, he was the on air announcer for the MinirthMeier clinic. He had his own story of misguided power and its tragic consequences.
 
Don was the pastor of a prominent Texan church when a member’s teenage son committed suicide. In his passion to present Jesus as the sustainer of his people through all trouble, he strongly advised them against any public or private grieving.

Traumatised, the family struggled through the funeral. They spent the next 12 months trying to suppress their grief until another teenage son, in a deep depression, also chose to end his life.

This second tragedy prompted Pastor Don to examine both his theology of emotions and the appropriateness of the advice he had given. He realised that, by advising against their grieving, he had contributed to the family’s ongoing trauma and possibly, in some way, to the second son’s death. He repented of his abusive ignorance and sought forgiveness from God and the family. Pastor Don has since dedicated himself to training and a ministry of counselling and care.

Characteristics of the abuser

The leaders of abusive systems share a common profile.

 – A need to control

– An authoritative style

– A commanding personality

– An inability to tolerate criticism or dissension

– A tendency to surround themselves with a small, exclusive clique.

Often the leader is a self styled Bible expert whose subjective interpretations appeal to the members and reinforce the leader’s “anointed” position. Rarely do these interpretations survive close scrutiny, but, even so, such criticism of their teaching is perceived as persecution. Besides, given the choice, the membership invariably remains with the besieged leader, lest they risk having to face the reality that they were duped.

Abusive leaders are also quite secretive. Rarely are their financial affairs and family life subjected to the same scrutiny as those of their membership. The demands made on others are not made on self. Spiritually abusive leadership seems to flourish in environments with the following characteristics:

– Earnest seekers of truth

– A biblically diluted established church

– A society that seems to have lost its spiritual way.

In such cases, the resulting spiritual vacuum is filled by leadership that offers a sense of authority and a security not found elsewhere. That strong sense of “belonging” makes the abuse tolerable. To lose that is to return to insecurity

The path through spiritual abuse

Survivors of spiritual abuse recount how they were left with deep personal issues, particularly an inability to trust.
 
Because critical thinking was discouraged, they had no confidence in their own ability to discern truth from error. This led to a distorted perception of God and how a person has a relationship with him.

Survivors also struggle with the concept of unconditional acceptance. Most spiritually abusive systems are very performance oriented. God’s pleasure depends on submission to the church’s edicts and the total acceptance of the leadership’s authority. This leaves many survivors with a relationship with God based on fear and performance. Grace and unconditional acceptance are ideas that were spoken about but never experienced.

This lack of trust and confidence also impairs the member’s marital, family and social relationships. It is difficult to share closely with a relative when issues of group loyalty are at stake or to accept another as a brother or sister when they have been labelled, with no uncertainty, as an untrustworthy nonbeliever.

A lack of selfconfidence will impair most attempts to achieve or to take a risk in life, and a diet of performance based acceptance will make most people vulnerable to emotional and physical burnout as they strive to gain approval.

For the survivor of abuse, recovery is often long and arduous. Spiritual abuse is no exception. The survivor, having exited the system, needs to begin trusting, talking, thinking, questioning.

Healing often begins with confronting and dismantling the rules that governed the group. This needs to be done in a safe and confidential setting, and the survivor has to find someone they can trust. Sometimes a neutral Christian therapist is a good place to start.

By talking about their experiences and expressing the strong emotions they feel, the survivor will discover that the hold the leadership had on them will weaken. Processing the fears and guilt associated with their exit will require sound counsel and caring, accepting friends or a transparent and accountable support group. Once the grief over exiting has been resolved, the survivor needs to immerse themselves in new patterns of relating and living based on the grace of God.

The need for vigilance

Christians, even in mainstream churches, need to be alert to the signs of spiritual abuse.

 – Are their leaders open and accountable?

– Do they encourage critical thinking?

– Will they willingly consider new ideas and initiatives?

– Can they tolerate a diversity of opinion and interpretation?

Any hint of spiritual abuse needs to be addressed through all appropriate channels. In Matthew 18:15, Jesus outlines the process for dealing with those who have wronged us. This involves confronting the abuser in increasingly more public arenas until, as a last resort, the relationship is terminated.

If the local church leadership is part of the problem, most denominations have a grievance procedure that should be followed. But if the leadership is not accountable to a higher authority, then the members need to question the rules and talk out and challenge as often as they can. If you feel there is no acceptable response, move away. Find a group that is healthy and focus on your own healing.

Abusive leadership maintains its power and privilege by breeding fear and guilt and rewarding loyalty. Dissension and exposure are what they fear most….”

From http://www.ccaa.net.au/documents/SpiritualAbuse.pdf

A fraudster pastor right to the end

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports….

“For nearly a month, U.S. prosecutors called more than a dozen witnesses to the stand to testify in the fraud case against Neulan Midkiff. On Wednesday, defense attorney Doug Olson called only one: the defendant, who portrayed himself as a country bumpkin hornswoggled by a slick Atlanta businessman whose company turned out to be a huge national Ponzi scheme.

“I’m not a businessman,” Midkiff said repeatedly during more than eight hours of testimony at his trial in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

But in taking the stand to defend himself, Midkiff also allowed prosecutor Tim Rank to introduce evidence that Midkiff was involved in a half-dozen other companies, all of which were shut down as frauds by the Securities and Exchange Commission. They included companies selling fraudulent insurance policies and shares in phone booths.

During questioning by his attorney, Midkiff, the founder and “apostle” of Shiloh Family Church and head of His Feast of Tabernacle Ministries, looked and sounded every bit like a soft-spoken minister with a Southern accent. He wanted to help friends and neighbors reap good returns on their investments, and used his own proceeds to further his missions in Ukraine and Israel, he said.

Midkiff told how he met Travis Correll and how Correll persuaded him to invest an initial $20,000 in Horizon Enterprise, which claimed it put money in foreign banks and returned 8 percent in interest each month.

Instead, records show that investors were paid with their own principal and money from new investors in a scheme that took in as much as $390 million nationally. Midkiff’s offshoots in Minnesota generated about $30 million, as news of astronomical gains spread from Forest Lake across the suburbs and south to Louisiana.

Midkiff testified he never thought the business was a scam.

“I had no reason to doubt [Correll],” he said. “The program was working. To me, it was an opportunity.”

The scam began to crumble in late 2004. Investors’ “interest” checks began to bounce. Midkiff said Correll blamed tightened banking security after 9/11.

Midkiff said various illnesses and medications affected his judgment and made it hard for him to recall details during that period. He said they may have also caused him to yell at a client who brought a financial expert to a meeting.

Under cross-examination, he cited numerous injuries and illnesses to explain why he hadn’t paid taxes since 1989. At one point, he said, he fell down some stairs; he also said he had suffered a heart attack.

Not a U.S. citizen

After the Minnesota Department of Commerce tried to make a deal with him for back taxes, Midkiff fired his Certified Public Accountant and went with a company that purported to help people settle debt. The company told him he was not considered to be a U.S. citizen, and didn’t have to pay taxes.

It’s a tactic often used by tax protesters, including the recently convicted tax evader Robert Beale.

Midkiff was at times combative during cross-examination. He repeatedly denied having seen documents demanding back taxes, or documents showing his participation in other Ponzi schemes that were found at his home.

Several victims have testified that Midkiff encouraged them to get second mortgages on their homes or take out loans to invest with him, but he vigorously denied it. While bank statements show his company, Joshua Tree, paid investors with their own money, he said his bookkeeper and partner handled those transactions and he didn’t know about it.

“I was not selling this product, I was referring people,” said Midkiff, who nonetheless pocketed $280,000 in “referrals” during one stretch. “I didn’t have to do anything. The phone would just ring and ring and ring.”

Closing arguments are set for today, then the case will go to a jury.”

From http://www.startribune.com/local/26126044.html?page=1&c=y

If Hill$ong takes complaints about its programs ‘extremely seriously’, how come nothing ever changes?

A Hill$ong media release says….

“Shine is a community-based program and is in no way about proselytising in schools. We take allegations of this occurring extremely seriously and are committed to investigating this matter.

The Shine program is about creating a safe, non-confronting environment to discuss and de-mystify the cross section of conflicting messages relating to issues of identity, self-esteem and self worth that young people, particularly young women, are bombarded with.

“The media is saturated with images and messages that equate beauty with worth, but core to Shine’s message is the fact that worth and esteem cannot be found in a bottle or a certain body shape,” Donna Crouch, Executive Officer of Hillsong CityCare said.

“Every person, regardless of gender, culture, religion and socio-economic background has innate value but sadly, young people can buy into the lie that they just don’t measure up, and this can steal their confidence, and sometimes even their life,” Mrs Crouch added.

Hillsong Church has served in the local community of Sydney for over 20 years, and as many faith-based, not for profit organisations in this nation, we have a genuine desire to help people at their real point of need.”

MP:Mercy Ministries is ‘money-making cult’

The South Australian Parliament Hansard records….

“The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:37): Today I will finish reading into the record the personal story of a young woman who suffered at the hands of Mercy Ministries. Anne, as I have called her, states:

I was devastated. I couldn’t work out what I had done wrong. Maybe I wasn’t a good enough Christian? Maybe God didn’t want to heal me? Maybe I really did have demons inside of me? The exorcism messed me up a lot. I started to question who I was, what I was, I didn’t know what I believed and I didn’t know what to think. Were my thoughts my own? Were they the thoughts that demons were putting into my head? Was I truly as evil as the staff had said I was? On top of all of this, I wasn’t allowed to discuss it with family members or friends.

On one particular night, I got into such a state because the staff had told me that I had demons. I wanted to get them out of me, so I started to hurt myself, cut myself; because by that stage I was such a mess that I believed if I cut myself then the demons would come out in the blood. It sounds crazy, I know. I had never thought like this before, but the indoctrination was that bad. That night I desperately wanted to talk to my family—I needed to.

I could feel myself going crazy. The staff had told me that the demons were putting thoughts into my head and speaking to me through them, so I believed that any thought in my head was a thought coming from a demon. It was horrible and I had no support, nobody who I could turn to within the house, only staff who reinforced the belief that demons were talking to me. So, I asked to call home, to speak to my family.

I was given the option of calling home from within the staff office with a staff member listening to the conversation (to make sure I didn’t tell my family more than I was allowed to), or not to call home at all. I was devastated. I had no way of getting immediate help or counsel from my family, who were solid Christians, who I knew could have helped me. I had no way of telling them then and there what the staff had been doing to me.

I had gone into Mercy Ministries as an educated, independent young woman who had an illness and was seeking treatment. I came out a real mess. I had reverted back to being a child: totally dependent, very very fragile and believing that somehow the illness I had was my own fault.

Since coming out of Mercy Ministries, I have been able to seek proper treatment from qualified people and they have really helped me to turn things around. The effects that Mercy Ministries had on me psychologically were so much worse than the initial problems I went to Mercy Ministries to deal with in the first place. It took me such a long time to trust anyone again, but since Mercy I have met some wonderful Christians and I have also had professional treatment, and slowly the lies that Mercy Ministries staff told me and the effects the lies and indoctrination had on me have been undone. Mercy Ministries has been a long and difficult process—one that I would wish on no-one.

This is the personal story of a woman I have called Anne Roberts for her own protection. The mistreatment of Anne at the hands of untrained counsellors is scandalous, made more so by the fact that Mercy Ministries continues to claim that they offer professional help to those who seek it. Instead, desperate young women are subject to a life in a cult-like environment where their every move is controlled, their access to the outside world limited and their treatment handled by staff whose sole skill base seems to be derived from some form of Bible studies.

They are cut off from their families, friends and their support networks and told that they will be helped and that they will be helped for free, but both claims are manifestly untrue. Mercy Ministries destroys those whom it claims to help whilst pilfering their Centrelink payments. It is also alleged that this money-grubbing goes further, with Mercy Ministries attempting to claim carers’ benefits for the young women in their so-called care.

In recent months, Mercy Ministries has been under increasing public scrutiny. Unable to defend Mercy’s actions, two CEOs have resigned since March. Mercy’s residential facility on the Sunshine Coast has reportedly closed its doors. Increased public scrutiny has exposed Mercy Ministries as a particularly bad example of a money-making cult, posing as a Christian-based counselling service.

I put on record my admiration for those young women who have been brave enough to speak out publicly about their treatment at the hands of Mercy Ministries. I hope that their actions go some way to empowering themselves again and enabling them to get on with their lives.”

From http://hansard.parliament.sa.gov.au/pages/loaddoc.aspx?eD=2008_07_23&c=23&e=2

All in the Copeland Family

Associated Press reports….

“Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper.

Over the years, a circle of Copeland’s relatives and friends have done just that, The Associated Press has found. They include the brother-in-law with a lucrative deal to broker Copeland’s television time, the son who acquired church-owned land for his ranching business and saw it more than quadruple in value, and board members who together have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking at church events.

Church officials say no one improperly benefits through ties to Copeland’s vast evangelical ministry, which claims more than 600,000 subscribers in 134 countries to its flagship “Believer’s Voice of Victory” magazine. The board of directors signs off on important matters, they say. Yet church bylaws give Copeland veto power over board decisions.

While Copeland insists that his ministry complies with the law, independent tax experts who reviewed information obtained by the AP through interviews, church documents and public records have their doubts. The web of companies and non-profits tied to the televangelist calls the ministry’s integrity into question, they say.

“There are far too many relatives here,” said Frances Hill, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in nonprofit tax law. “There’s too much money sloshing around and too much of it sloshing around with people with overlapping affiliations and allegiances by either blood or friendship or just ties over the years. There are red flags all over these relationships.”

Neither Kenneth Copeland nor John Copeland, Kenneth’s son and the ministry’s executive director, responded to interview requests.

Prosperity gospel
Kenneth Copeland, 71, is a pioneer of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that believers are destined to flourish spiritually, physically and financially — and share the wealth with others.

His ministry’s 1,500-acre campus outside Fort Worth is testament to his success. It includes a church, private airstrip, a hangar for the ministry’s aircraft and a $6 million, church-owned mansion.

Already a well-known figure, Copeland has come under greater scrutiny in recent months. He is one target of a Senate Finance Committee investigation into allegations of questionable spending and lax financial accountability at six large televangelist organizations that preach health-and-wealth theology.

All have denied wrongdoing, but Copeland has fought back the hardest, refusing to answer most questions from the inquiry’s architect, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.

The Senate committee didn’t set out to determine whether Copeland or the others broke the law, although it could provide information to the Internal Revenue Service if something seems flagrantly wrong, a committee aide said. The main goal, Grassley has said, is to figure out whether existing tax laws governing churches are adequate, which could carry sweeping implications for all religious organizations.

The committee could subpoena Copeland if he remains uncooperative. Neither he nor John Copeland, his son and the ministry’s chief executive officer, responded to interview requests.

But Lawrence Swicegood, spokesman for Kenneth Copeland Ministries, said in written responses to questions that no Copeland family members receive improper benefits through their ties to the church.

All revenue from the church’s business interests _ including an oil and natural gas company it owns _ go into the church, Swicegood said.

He said that Kenneth Copeland has never exercised his veto power over board decisions, a provision meant for emergency use. Even so, Swicegood said, the board is scheduled to meet in August to vote on taking away that ability.

____

Kenneth Copeland has always dreamed big.

Growing up in West Texas next to an Army air base, Copeland wanted to fly. He also wanted to sing pop songs. He realized both ambitions and didn’t stop there.

In 1957, when he was 20, Copeland scored a Top 40 hit called “Pledge of Love” and sang on “American Bandstand.”

The journey that led to the pulpit began several years later. Copeland had a born-again experience and enrolled at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. He worked as a pilot and chauffeur for Roberts himself.

Copeland was greatly influenced by Tulsa prosperity preacher Kenneth Hagin, locking himself in the garage with Hagin’s tapes for seven days before moving back to Texas to start his ministry in the late 1960s.

Now a 500-employee operation with a budget in the tens of millions of dollars, Kenneth Copeland Ministries has won supporters worldwide through its crusades and conferences, prayer request network, disaster relief work, magazine and television program.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries is organized under the tax code as a church, so it gets a layer of privacy not afforded large secular and religious nonprofit groups that must disclose budgets and salaries. Pastors’ pay must be “reasonable” under the federal tax code, a term that gives churches wide latitude.

Copeland’s current salary is not made public by his ministry. However, the church disclosed in a property-tax exemption application that his wages were $364,577 in 1995; Copeland’s wife, Gloria, earned $292,593. It’s not clear whether those figures include other earnings, such as special offerings for guest preaching or book royalties. Another 13 Copeland relatives were on the church’s payroll that year.

In the 1980s, Copeland’s church purchased land on the shores of Eagle Mountain Lake from the estate of a Texas oilman. Afterward, it discovered added value underground: an oil and gas field.

Grassley, the senator leading the televangelist inquiry, has quizzed Copeland about Security Petrol Inc., a wholly owned _ and for-profit _ subsidiary of the church created in 1997 to manage that resource.

Swicegood said Security Petrol was established to protect the church from the liability risk of oil and gas production and to minimize interference with the church’s religious activities.

No company officials _ including John Copeland, its president _ has received compensation or profits from the company, and all revenue goes to the church for general operations, Swicegood said. Reserves from gas wells in the church’s name were valued at $23 million last year, county records show.

Speaking at a ministers’ conference in January, Kenneth Copeland accused Grassley of twisting reality to make it look like the natural gas “was making us rich off of the ministry’s property. Bull. That’s stupid.”

It’s not the only business venture tied to the church.

While natural gas platforms sprouted on church land, John Copeland, a self-described “cowboy at heart,” pursued a side business in cattle and horses. Beginning in 1993, John Copeland leased church land to run his business, El Rancho Fe, Spanish for “Ranch of Faith.”

Five years later, the church separately sold John Copeland land for his ranch and residence, Swicegood said.

Swicegood said appraisals were done to determine fair market value for leasing and selling the land, adding that the lease benefits the church. John Copeland must improve the land, and county officials confirmed the church gets a roughly $100,000 annual tax break for putting it to agricultural use. The church board approved the transactions.

While the purchase price is not public record, the 33-acre property would have been worth about $93,000 that year, said John Marshall, executive director of the Tarrant Appraisal District.

The land is now valued at $554,160 by the district.

Until recently, El Rancho Fe sold registered American Quarter Horses and three other horse breeds. On its Web site, convenient location and the integrity of the Copeland name were used as selling points.

“We are a family you know and a family you trust,” it said.

John Copeland and his wife, Marty, no longer sell horses but continue to operate the cattle business, Swicegood said.

Ellen Aprill, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former U.S. Treasury Department official, said leasing and selling land to the church’s top executive raises concerns. Under IRS rules, nonprofits can be penalized or lose their tax-exempt status if an executive, board member or other insider receives an economic benefit above and beyond what the organization gets in return.

“The church and its board must take great care to make sure the payments are fair to the church,” Aprill said. “The church says it does. But is not clear how we can know.”

___

Located in an office complex in a north Dallas suburb, Integrity Media is the kind of company that plays a little-known but important role in the world of televangelism: negotiating the purchase of television time for Christian ministries.

Douglas Neece, the company’s president, said Kenneth Copeland Ministries is Integrity Media’s biggest client, accounting for just over 50 percent of its business.

Neece is Kenneth Copeland’s brother-in-law. Neece’s son, Joel, also works for the company.

The church’s board was informed of Neece’s relationship to the Copelands, Swicegood said. Their television time is bought at market rates and the ministry gets a discount from Integrity Media, he said.

Douglas Neece said his company charges a “deeply discounted” commission below the industry standard of 15 percent. “We earn our money,” Neece said. “That’s just the way it is.

“We have nothing to hide.”

The money involved is substantial. In a 1997 filing in Tarrant County, Copeland’s church said it paid a “related party” $22 million for “telecast and mass media expense” that year and received a discount of $1.7 million on the transaction. Similar figures were cited for 1996.

Integrity Media, meanwhile, is the parent company to a horse-breeding operation and real estate company that owns a Learjet, records show. Although they are wholly owned subsidiaries of Integrity Media, Neece played down the connections.

“The subsidiaries don’t have anything to do with the media-buying corporation,” he said. “We’ve had several through the years, and these things are not connected with the Copeland ministry.”

Whatever the venture _ whether it’s buying TV time, land deals with a church executive or natural gas wells _ Kenneth Copeland Ministries cites its 11-member board of directors as an important check on the organization’s integrity.

Kenneth Copeland serves as board chairman, and his wife, Gloria, is a board member. Records show other members include or have included fellow televangelists Jesse Duplantis, Mac and Lynne Hammond, and Jerry and Carolyn Savelle; Oklahoma architect Loyal Furry; retired Texas pastor Harold Nichols; and Arkansas businessman John Best.

As chairman, Copeland has veto power over any resolution he deems “not in the best financial or operational interests of the Church or not in furtherance of the nonprofit religious purposes of the Church,” church bylaws say.

Such veto power is highly unusual, say academics who study nonprofits. Swicegood said the provision was meant to give Copeland emergency power to prevent the church from doing anything “repugnant to its Christian purposes and mission” _ although the bylaws don’t lay that out. Swicegood said the church plans to remove that provision and adopt others that “reflect contemporary best practices in nonprofit governance.”

Board member Best, in a written response to questions, said he’s received “100 percent accessibility to anything I wanted to see and have always seen the highest level of integrity and honesty.”

Other board members either declined comment, did not respond to interview requests or could not be located. The church has emphasized that board members act in the church’s best interest.

Some board members, however, receive a perk that experts like Hill, of the University of Miami, said undermines their independence. While board members don’t get salaries, some who are ministers get paid for speaking at church events through offerings and honorariums, Swicegood confirmed.

The sums involved are usually kept secret. But in seeking tax exemption for its aircraft fleet in the late 1990s, the church revealed that it paid board members a total of $87,000 in “cash contributions” and almost $1 million in honorariums and “benefit purposes” in 1996 and ‘97.

Swicegood said the church’s independent compensation committee approves all payments to board members.

Marilyn Phelan, a Texas Tech University law professor and author on nonprofit law, said the practice could pose problems in an IRS audit. Both the IRS and Texas state law prohibit benefits beyond reasonable compensation for insiders, including board members, she said. If violations are found, nonprofits can lose their tax-exempt status and board members can face penalty taxes.

As the Senate Finance Committee considers its next step, Copeland is not backing down. His ministry is portraying the inquiry as an attack on religious liberty.

At the same time, it is moving forward with a big fund-raising project: soliciting donations for new television equipment so Copeland can be broadcast in high-definition.”

From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072601114.html

Bonus tune: Rare recording of Kenneth Copeland singing his Billboard chart hit ‘Pledge of Love.’

http://www.bigbobh.net/dowop/pledge.mp3

I hereby give permission for my child to attend clueless dollybird classes

The Sydney Morning Herald reports…

“Students opting out of scripture classes at a Sydney high school are being invited to attend a personal development program run by the Hillsong Church where they are hearing personal testimonials from church members, a teacher at the school says.

The teacher’s federation representative for Cheltenham Girls High, Doug Williamson, said non-scripture students at the school were being invited to join the Shine program, where they were exposed to religious content.

Hillsong Church says Shine is non-religious and the volunteers who conduct the program do not evangelise, but Mr Williamson said children had been told stories about finding religion.

“My understanding is that on a number of occasions the facilitators have spoken about their own lives and how they came to be members of the Hillsong Church,” Mr Williamson said. “It is inappropriate for students to be subjected to this kind of closet evangelism.”

Speaking through the Department of Education’s media unit, the school’s principal, Susan Marshall, told the Herald all parents were informed the Shine program was run by Hillsong and had to sign a permission slip.

She said there was no evidence to suggest testimonials were provided during the program and that “if they were, the program would be terminated”.

But Mr Williamson said he believed many parents were not fully aware of what the classes involved, and that without constant monitoring, there was “no way to know exactly what’s going on”.

A parent from another Sydney school said students at her child’s school were automatically enrolled in the Shine program if they chose not to attend scripture.

“When you tick the box [for non-scripture] you are automatically told that your child will be enrolled in Shine,” the parent said. “It appears that they don’t have enough teachers to supervise the kids if they don’t do scripture, so they just bung them in Shine. It’s an alarming situation because most of the mums and dads don’t even know it’s happening.”

The NSW Greens yesterday called for Shine to be suspended while allegations that it put an unhealthy and inappropriate emphasis on physical appearance were investigated. It joined the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens in expressing concern that the program could damage the self-esteem of the at-risk girls it purported to help.

Hillsong Citycare said grooming was an aspect of the program but not its main focus.”

From http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/hillsong-accused-of-closet-zealotry/2008/07/28/1217097148506.html

Cult Devotion

Neulan Midkiff – The Australian Connection

In March 2003, the ABC’s Background Briefing program reported on the hunt for the killer (since convicted) of Janelle Patton on the Australian territory of Norfolk Island…

“…….The Bounty descendents arrived at Norfolk’s abandoned penal settlement in 1856. Ever since, their families have shared love, gossip, food and wine. Very little goes unnoticed. But the unsolved murder case of Janelle Patton isn’t the only crime troubling the Island.

Last month, a brand-new, five-bedroom mansion was burnt to the ground. Before it went up in flames, the house looked like it came straight out of the Hollywood Hills. Tourists started driving to look at the ruins. I decided to do the same.

I’ve just turned off the car because I’ve pulled up to overlook the talking point of the week that Background Briefing has been here, and that’s the suspected arson attack on a newly-arrived resident who’s been here for 20 months, had nearly completed a 4 to 5 bedroom timber house on a majestic site. Off all the sites I’ve seen on Norfolk, this is one of the best. It’s on the southern side of the Island. All I can see now are 3 to 4 pillars, I could think concrete pillars, surrounded by a concrete slab. The community is using this as an example of what may happen to you if you speak out and if you propose change or if you do something that people aren’t totally happy with.

The owner, Grant Cardno, declined to talk about why someone torched his house under the cover of darkness. He said he would rebuild, and perhaps at a later stage could explain more. In the past year there’s been two suspicious fires on the Island. Indeed arson is a great Norfolk tradition and dates back to the day the mutineers burnt the Bounty. Under Norfolk Island law, arson carries a life sentence, but no-one can ever recall anyone ever being tried or convicted for the crime.

To understand this latest fire, Background Briefing went to see 72-year-old Tom Lloyd, who with his wife Tim, publishes the weekly paper.

Tom Lloyd: I’m the Editor of the local newspaper, The Norfolk Islander, and then my wife and I have been printing it now for 38 years. So I think we’ve got as good as anybody can have on Norfolk Island, a grasp of what’s happening in the community.

Tim Latham: And where are we sitting now, Tom?

Tom Lloyd: We’re sitting in the editorial office of The Norfolk Islander, a little bit consistent. Three Apple, G4 computers and the laser printer, and the windows that open out onto a nice garden setting.

Tim Latham: Tom Lloyd says he’s seen the best and worst of the Island during his 38 years in the job. He also knows the despair of arson; his office was torched in 1980 after he wrote a critical article. Again, no-one was ever charged.

From his editorial desk he shows the ‘Before and After’ shots of the Cardno mansion.

Tom Lloyd: It was almost to the stage of completion. All they were waiting for, as you can see by the size of it, the family who built it weren’t short of money, and they were waiting for some special marble or stone to come from New Zealand which was going to be a feature of the inside.

Tim Latham: And does that say to you, jealousy?

Tom Lloyd: I would say jealousy. I would say a lot of scuttlebutt, a lot of rumours, a lot of innuendoes about the family, about them not being as wealthy as they projected themselves to be in the community. Tim, when you live here, you find that there are so many personality factions that it would be really difficult to put your finger directly on the pulse as to why the devil they did it…..”

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s821848.htm

Fast-forward to 2005 and the US Securities and Exchange Commission issues this statement about an alleged ponzi fraud scheme, involving a Grant Cardno of Norfolk Island.

“…..On December 7, 2005, the SEC filed an emergency action in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Travis E. Correll of Atlanta, individually and d/b/a Horizon Establishment, and his companies The Net Worth Group, Inc. (“Net Worth Group”) and Travis Correll & Company, Inc. (“TC&Co.”), Gregory Thompson of San Antonio and his company TNT Office Supply, Inc., (“TNT”) Dwight J. Johnson of Garland, Texas, Harry Robinson “Robbie” Gowdey of Frisco, Texas, individually and d/b/a Atlas and Jericho Productions, Grant Cardno of Norfolk Island, a territory of Australia and his entities, The Liberty Establishment, Inc. (“Liberty”) and Sovereign Capital Investments, S.A. (“Sovereign”), Neulan D. Midkiff of Forest Lake, Minnesota and his entity, Joshua Tree Group LLC (“Joshua Tree”), charging that the defendants are engaged in an ongoing fraudulent high yield investment scheme by which they raised approximately $36 million since July 2004. The Court granted a temporary restraining order, asset freeze and other emergency relief against defendants Correll, TC&Co., Net Worth Group. Thompson, TNT, Johnson, Gowdey, Midkiff and Joshua Tree.

In its complaint, the Commission alleges that the defendants are offering and selling interests in purported foreign and international bank deposit programs (collectively “Bank Deposit programs”) promising four to 12 percent monthly returns without risk to their investment principal. The Commission also alleges that investors send or wire their money to TNT or to one of Correll’s entities — Net Worth Group or TC&Co, and that all of the funds are then transferred to a Horizon Establishment bank account controlled by Correll. According to the complaint, investors are told that Correll, the “money manager,” forwards investor funds to Cardno, who deposits them in an offshore reserve account; Cardno, identified as the “trader,” with exclusive contracts with international banks, supposedly uses the monies in the reserve account to participate in trading programs and loan programs. In reality, according to the complaint, the Bank Deposit program does not exist and none of the investors’ funds are sent to Cardno, his entities or to any offshore account for investment. Instead, as set forth in the complaint, all of the investor funds are commingled among various Correll-controlled accounts, and the “investment returns” paid to investors are Ponzi payments, i.e., they derive from the proceeds of more recent investors……”

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19492.htm

The scheme’s receivers Hays Consulting alleged…

“……26. Since at least December 2000, Correll, through Horizon Establishment, offered and sold interests in Bank Deposit programs to hundreds of investors.

27. In his sales pitch, Correll claimed that he had access to investment in programsinvolving the overnight trading of bank-issued notes. Correll told prospective investors that he pools investor funds and then sends them, usually in increments of $5 million to $10 million, to Cardno, who he referred to as the “trader” and who purportedly had contracts with the banks to participate in the purported trading programs.

28. Cardno, a New Zealand resident, visited the United States several times over the course of the fraudulent scheme. During those visits, he met with investors, usually accompanied by Correll. In these investor meetings, Cardno stated that individuals who wanted to invest $1 million or more could invest directly through him.

29. Correll and Cardno portrayed themselves as “good Christians” and philanthropists who donate to charitable causes, typically associated with churches and other religious organizations. 

30. Correll and Cardno told investors that their principal would not be at risk because it would be deposited in a reserve bank account, where, according to them, it would remain intact…..”

http://www.haysconsulting.net/correllhorizon/07-03-06%20Amended%20Complaint.pdf

On a Norfolk Island web forum, a ‘Grant Cardno’ responded to the allegations….

“ATTESTATION I, Grant Cardno make the following statement in defence of the recent allegations of my involvement in a 34 million investment opportunity. 1. I am not involved with the 34 million investment opportunity. 2. My role was as a consultant to the company involved in the subsequent 34 million investment opportunity. This was over five years ago. 3. The SCC will discover this during their audit and my name will be cleared. 4. My name was only associated and listed due to my consultancy and initial help in the start up of the group. 5. My assets are not frozen. 6. The media got it wrong and will, I trust offer an apology in due course. 7. At the time of discussions with the group, I was trading successfully with a legitimate Financial Company and my name and reputation was used by the group for investment purposes. This also involved the use of “sample” contracts using my company name. Five years ago I did receive three payments over a two week period totalling 100K for the initial start up for various reasons. 8. Investors were later advised (as I understood it to be) that I was not involved in any way with the companies operation. 9. The group were as I understood it to be, successfully trading with another group and operating on their own accord right up to the time that the SCC performed an audit on their company. Their trading and their investors have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with me. I am not privy to any information as to the reason why the group were subject to an audit, this will come out in due course. 10. If there is any fault on my part, it was my willingness to see people (investors) become successful and to the best of my knowledge, the many investors in their group have been blest over the five year period. As a result of the allegations I have voluntarily stepped down from all leadership responsibilities within the Community until such time as I have been cleared. I would hope that my attestation will put to rest the gossip by those whose desire it is to put down someone who seeks the best of others and loves success himself. This I attest, dated this nineteenth day of December, 2005.”

http://www.nf/nfforum/2005.htm

The scheme is now being unravelled in a Minneapolis court.

Here is some of the recent reporting on the ongoing trial of former pastor and ‘apostle’ Neulan Midkiff.

“The bookkeeper for a company that turned out to be a church-based pyramid scheme testified Tuesday that when the Securities and Exchange Commission froze the accounts of the Joshua Tree Group, she was told by its founder, Neulan Midkiff, to remove records and computers from the office.

She also testified that she lied about that fact to the grand jury that heard evidence in the case.

Amie Jo Black’s story in some ways mimicked those told by others who invested with Neulan, who was both her boss and her uncle. Like hundreds of others, she at first believed in the promise of his investment program so much that she took out a second mortgage to invest in it. Months later, as checks from a connected national scam bounced, Black said she began to “have concerns” about its future.

But Black told no one.

Midkiff is now on trial for his actions directing the scheme, which prosecutors say swindled hundreds of Minnesotans out of a combined $30 million.

The 66-year-old founder and self-proclaimed “apostle” of Shiloh Family Church of Forest Lake faces charges of mail and wire fraud, money laundering and failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars of income……”

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/25784109.html?location_refer=opinion

And….

“The man who ran one of the country’s larger pyramid schemes testified Friday that he cheated and lied to Neulan Midkiff, the Forest Lake pastor accused of being the Minnesota leader of the scam, and “kept him in the dark” about his illegal activities.

But Travis Correll also said that Midkiff lied to investors himself and engaged in pyramid-style deals that Correll didn’t direct.

The nature of the relationship between Correll, who was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison, and Midkiff is central to both the prosecution and defense.

Midkiff’s attorney, Doug Olson, tried Friday to distance his client from Correll, who ran the $100 million Horizon Enterprise scheme out of Atlanta, and portray Midkiff as the most “gullible” of Correll’s victims.

But prosecutor Tim Rank tried to show that Midkiff was perhaps Correll’s most important associate, bringing in more than $45 million either directly to Horizon or through another related pyramid scam that conned hundreds of Minnesotans.

Midkiff is on trial in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, accused of mail and wire fraud and failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in income.

There is no dispute that Midkiff and Correll became close associates. Midkiff was one of Correll’s earliest investors, and Correll loaned him $50,000 to open an office in Minnesota, Rank showed. Over a two-year period, the two men spoke on the phone 1,400 times.

But Olson asked Correll, “You did everything in your power to make him believe you were a legitimate company, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” said Correll. “I did for everyone.”

That even included sending out Christmas cards.

Correll said he strung Midkiff along longer than any other person who raised money for him because of Midkiff’s “lack of business acumen and sophistication.”

Scam begot scam

Correll, the son of a Nebraska farmer, a former rodeo cowboy and college basketball referee, said he was an accidental scam artist.

While trying to augment his referee salary, Correll met a man from New Zealand who coaxed him to raise money from friends and family to invest in international banking. Correll who was 25 at the time, eventually wired $100,000 of pooled money to New Zealand. He never got it back.

To repay that money, he resorted to the same tactics, giving the new investment money to existing investors. As people heard of monthly payments of 8 percent, they clamored to give him more.

Asked if it was an illegal Ponzi scam from the beginning, Correll replied: “It was.”

That didn’t stop him from persuading his father and grandmother to invest.

Midkiff, who founded Shiloh Family Church in Forest Lake, invested within the first couple of months. He persuaded family and church members and hundreds of neighbors to join him. Eventually, Minnesotans lost some $30 million.

Midkiff also started several local spinoffs of the scam, including a company called Joshua Tree, which turned out to be little more than another funnel for Correll.

The money multiplied exponentially, making meeting the monthly “interest” payments more complicated and difficult. Still, Correll was able to keep it afloat for more than four years.

During that time, Correll and Midkiff made numerous deals to help sustain their ventures, including a “phantom” $1 million loan in which they simply traded IOUs. While Correll swore Midkiff was not an employee, his name was on early client forms.

Both men became millionaires through the deals. Midkiff, a onetime barber, roofer and construction worker, bought a $1.3 million lake home, luxury cars and a motorhome, and paid himself about $3 million. The SEC has frozen his assets, and he is being represented by a public defender.

Midkiff falsely told Minnesota investors that Joshua Tree was not connected to Horizon; Correll admitted Friday that Midkiff started Joshua Tree on his own. Correll also said he had nothing to do with Midkiff paying a former partner, Jerry Watkins, “to keep his mouth shut.”

The pyramid imploded in December 2005.

Correll said he was left a “head case” afterward, unable to bring himself to shower or go out for weeks.

Meanwhile, Midkiff suffered a massive heart attack.

After hearing a sermon about “getting rid of the garbage in your life,” Correll dropped his lawyers and began cooperating with authorities.

Asked how he felt about duping Midkiff, Correll said:

“It’s awful, and I have a knot in my stomach I don’t know how to explain.”

http://www.startribune.com/local/east/25921119.html?location_refer=Homepage:highlightModules:1

 The Forest Lake Times reports, the jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict in the Midkiff trial later this week.

Hill$ong responds to SMH Shine article

A Hill$ong media release says….

“Shine is a nine-week personal development program designed by Hillsong CityCare to help young women tackle issues of self-esteem, value and self-worth.

SHINE is a community-based, not religious based program, which Hillsong City Care and Hillsong Youth Services facilitate in 10 schools in Sydney. The SHINE program is delivered in a non-confrontational, non-religious way to young women from a range of backgrounds.

Professionally qualified staff, with degrees in youth work, community work and welfare, facilitate Shine in schools and also provide group and one-on-one facilitator training to volunteers as well as ongoing support.

Hillsong runs Shine at no cost to the school or students involved.

Suggestions that the program is designed to reinforce gender stereotypes are ill informed, as the objective of SHINE is to provide a non-confronting environment where young people feel comfortable discussing issues such as peer pressure, self-esteem, bullying and other challenges of adolescence. Two essential considerations in group work programs are effective engagement and rapport building, and activities such as personal care are simply a tool or means that have proved valuable in breaking down barriers to communication between the young person and the facilitator.

Our facilitators follow all policies in relation to ‘duty of care’ and ‘mandatory reporting’ that the particular school has established. For serious issues with at-risk young people, the school has appropriate referral points and procedures which are followed at all times.

Due to the program’s effectiveness and the positive response received from students, parents and schools, a large number of other community organisations, both nationally and internationally, have also adopted this tool in their local setting. How these organisations implement and fund the program is solely at their discretion.

* This statement was provided to the SMH several weeks ago when requested but was completely ignored by the journalist.”

From http://www2.hillsong.com/church/default.asp?pid=2433

Arrested Development

The Sydney Morning Herald reports…

“Every Tuesday afternoon during the first term at Matraville Sports High School, a group of young women take part in classes intended to boost their self-esteem. Some have personal problems, others have behavioural issues, while a few simply go because their friends do.

For the next two hours they learn a range of skills including how to put on make-up, do their hair and nails, and walk with books balanced on their heads.”

The program, called Shine, was created by the Hillsong Church. It is being run in at least 20 NSW public schools, numerous small community organisations and within the juvenile justice system.

Hillsong describes Shine as a “practical, life-equipping, values-based course” and its website is awash with glowing testimonials from young women whose lives have been improved by learning about “being a good friend” and “learning about myself”.

But serious concerns have been raised by teachers, adolescent developmental experts and parents groups. They say the program is inappropriate for troubled young women, that the under-qualified facilitators are reinforcing gender stereotypes. and that some parents have not been properly informed.

Shine was originally developed by the CityCare arm of Hillsong as an explicitly religious program. The church says it is now “community-based, not religious-based” but, as recently as 2005, promotional material referred to young women’s “created uniqueness”.

“Through skin care, natural make-up, hair care, nail care girls discover their value and created uniqueness,” the material says.

The term has been omitted from more recent material but the beauty classes remain, as do etiquette and deportment lessons.

The program has set alarm bells ringing for psychologists such as Dianna Kenny, an adolescent development expert at the University of Sydney. “They are essentially saying you are not appropriate as you are and we’re going to show you how to be appropriate,” Professor Kenny said.

“We don’t have control of our physical characteristics. To emphasise that takes away from the autonomy of people as individual human beings. That runs completely contrary to what we know about adolescent development.

“We do want our young people to feel good about themselves, but what [they] need is help from professional counsellors.”

Most of the facilitators who deliver Shine in Sydney classrooms have no university counselling qualifications, although Hillsong says they must have some qualifications or experience.

In some schools, Matraville Sports High included, the program is run by careers or physical education teachers. At other schools, including Alexandria Park, Glenwood and Cheltenham Girls, it is run by young recruits from Hillsong’s leadership college.

Schools pay Hillsong to run the program, with parents asked to pay for books and materials such as hair spray and make-up.

“Over the last two or three years teachers have been coming to us with concerns about Shine,” said the president of the Hills Teachers Association, Sui-Linn White. “It is the gender stereotypes that they are imposing. The focus on skin care, nail care, hair care – it objectifies women … These are things women fought against for centuries – they’ve got no place in a public school.”

One teacher from a Hills district school, who asked not to be named, said Shine facilitators had run activities that undermined other teachers. “They were asking the kids to talk about which of the teachers they didn’t like.”

He said parents may not have been properly informed. “I don’t know whether the parents, knowing what we know now, would have put their kids in. I don’t know whether the school would have hired them in the first place.”

Parents groups from Queensland and the Northern Territory have complained that their schools have tried to sneak Shine in almost unnoticed.

“In our view, this is a way of getting religion into schools through subterranean means,” said one parent, Hugh Wilson. “The principal or the chaplain decides it’s a good idea and, next thing you know, your kids are being taught about make-up by the Hillsong Church.”

The church says parents have been overwhelmingly supportive of the program.”

From http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/hillsong-hits-schools-with-beauty-gospel/2008/07/25/1216492732905.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Hill$ong and ‘I Killed The Prom Queen’

Lance writes….

A difficulty faced by churches reaching out to various youth sub-cultures is where to draw the line with what the church is willing to tolerate or accommodate as part of the outreach.

For example, in reaching out to prostitutes, you wouldn’t have sex with them and say, ‘oh, by the way, I’d like to talk to you about the real reason I’m here, and introduce you to my best friend, Jesus…’

Or you wouldn’t publicly rail against injustice, but bully staff behind closed doors. Hmm…actually Hill$ong does do that, so bad example.

I remember when the Catholic Church owned rock and roll radio stations on Australia’s east coast, and famously ‘banned’ the (innocuous by today’s standards) Mondo Rock song ‘Come Said The Boy’ on 3XY in Melbourne. It copped a lot of flak in the media but it showed that at some level there was a line that existed in Catholic thinking and the church was prepared to enforce it, even if at some cost.

Which brings us to Hill$ong and the band ‘I Killed The Prom Queen’.

Hill$ong Youth Services runs a program called ‘The Den’.

“‘The Den’ is an event tailored to the Punk/Hardcore culture prevalent among the young people of Sydney. We aim to showcase local young bands by giving them a performance platform, exposure and an opportunity to creatively express themselves. Such events enable young people to have a community building role through the planning and implementation of the gigs. Those in the audience are able to watch live bands that they follow and hear the music that frames their sub-culture. With a lack of local all age shows in most Sydney communities the audience rallies behind the opportunity to watch live music.

In 2005-06, ‘The Den’ hosted numerous events with attendances in excess of 500 young people. ‘The Den’ varies from headline Australian acts including “Kid Courageous” and “I killed the prom queen” to weekly smaller shows at ‘The Den Underground’ featuring several local acts. HYS has the vision and capacity to manage large-scale festivals of over 5000 in the foreseeable future.”

http://www2.hillsong.com/citycare/default.asp?pid=1603

According to Wikipedia….I Killed The Prom Queen was an Adelaide metalcore band formed in 2000 and played their farewell tour in mid-2008.

Songs from their setlist on their final tour included…

To Kill Tomorrow

Homicide Documentaries

Death Certificate of a Beauty Queen

The Paint Brush Killer

Your Shirt Would Look Better With a Columbian Neck-Tie

(A Columbian neck-tie ‘is a method of execution where the victim’s neck is slashed with a knife or other sharp object and their tongue is pulled out through the open wound’)

The problem with having these bands at a church-run function is that the band becomes a representation of what the church stands for.

It’s the old ‘medium is the message’ thing. If the medium is songs about death, killing and gore, then that is the message you are presenting as a church.

There may be – in the church’s thinking – a line of separation between the church’s values and the values being presented, but to an outsider it comes across as blatant hypocrisy.

Being too Puritanical is a danger, but if your church has particular values, then those values apply to all situations and events.

You can’t switch them on and off at will, although it appears Hill$ong can when it suits.

Here is I Killed The Prom Queen performing at Castle Rock.

The Hill$ong guide to training dogs….err……teenage schoolboys with chocolate rewards

There have been various articles written over the years about Hill$ong’s ‘Shine’ program for teenage girls, aimed at turning shy and confused adolescent girls into confident clueless dollybirds.

But there is also a little-known male counterpart program run by Hill$ong for boys called ‘Strength.’

“Conducted over 7 weeks the program is presented during one or two school periods each week. Each week the facilitator aims to speak to the boys on a personal level, helping them to create positive mindsets, learn effective life skills and reinforce the core value that is taught during that lesson.

This is not a word for word course, but rather a guide to help facilitate discussions with students around certain themes and topics. The level of relationship and trust built will determine the level of participation by young people in the course.  Feel free to develop your own style and way of communicating to the students.

The students are presented with a certificate at the end of this course.

The first class is the most important of all classes because first impressions last.

STEP 1
Before the class arrives for the first time, set the room up with a list of rules on each table.  As the students arrive, have them sit down promptly and without talking, acting like a true authoritarian leader.  Read the rules out to them without letting them interrupt you. After the rules have been read, get every student to pick up the rules and rip them up and throw it away.

Throw every student a chocolate.

Explain to them that this is not the way they will be treated.  They will be included in the rule making and will be treated with respect.

This is also the way that they are to treat others in this class.

STEP 2
Set the classroom up. This is crucial. The idea of the ‘strength’ program is to create an environment that encourages the students to open up and be honest about issues they have previously been embarrassed to talk about.  As the facilitator you need to make the environment conducive to discussion.  This may require small changes to the normal school environment.  A ‘strength’ class needs to feel like the student is sitting in his room with his older brothers talking about the issues they need to talk about.  The challenge is getting every student to this stage.

STEP 3
Write some rules together and explain consequences of breaking them (e.g.  Be on time, if they aren’t, they have to stay back and clean the room; No swearing. If they do the student is up against the wall; No bagging fellow students out. If they do, the baggee gets to discipline the bagger.)

STEP 4
Introduce yourself.  Get them to introduce themselves by telling everyone their favourite music, video game, class, sport, book, food, where they live, where they would like to live etc. (This is an interactive way of getting them to share about themselves.) I have found that if you sit in a circle, and start with the student on your right and finish with the student on your left, it gives you an idea as to what to talk about when it is your go.

STEP 5
Introduce ‘chocolate questions’.  Chocolate will be handed to the students who ask questions that have been thought through and are appropriate to stimulate thinking within the group.”

From http://www2.hillsong.com/citycare/default.asp?pid=1625

John Avanzini – Romancing The Stone

Slice of Laodicea blogs….

“It was a beautiful summer evening last Thursday as Tom and I headed from our hotel to Family Harvest Church in Tinley Park, Illinois. The Inspiring Excellence Conference was underway……

……We were somewhat early so we looked around at the book and DVD tables in the foyer. We saw John Avanzini’s Millionaire University DVD’s and in the bookstore, we saw more books promising us every financial and physical benefit if we will only follow the blow-dried wonder on the cover……..

…….Avanzini told a story of how his grandchildren sometimes sit and watch him count money at the table. He described his stacks of 100’s, 50’s, 20’s and so on. He mocked at how his daughter told them, “don’t ask for anything, children.” He told us that she should have been teaching them to ask for money. He again mocked how she taught the children to say, “thank you” when he would give them money.  He claimed that what they should have said instead was, “Can I have some more?” Avanzini apparently believes in training children early to be greedy and ungrateful.

The next thing Avanzini said he would give us to help us through “perilous times” was a stone. He went through several Bible references where stones “talked” in the Old Testament……..He strolled down the aisles, his ring winking in the lights, and held out a shiny stone for a woman to hold. Avanzini told the assembled crowd of about 650 people that these stones should be rubbed whenever people faced rising prices or higher prices at the pump. The ushers went down the aisles with buckets of shiny, smooth stones and handed them out……..

……Avanzini had a whole new doctrinal revelation to tell us about: the doctrine of reverse entrapment. If you’ve never heard of that before, that’s because God just showed it to him right there. Reverse entrapment is when you put a gift to Avanzini on a credit card and outsmart the lenders who are trying to get rich off your debt. When you put a gift on a credit card, I quote, “something happens in the spirit world.”  Here he tells everyone how to have a credit card breakthrough. Turns out Avanzini has a way for you to get rid of your mortgage debt. All you have to do is to give him a gift the size of your house payment and God will see that your mortgage gets paid off right away. If you don’t have a house, $500 will do nicely for future debt. Avanzini assured us that it worked for him.

http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/gets-paid-off-right-away.mp3

Perhaps the man sensed a few hostile vibes from the audience (from our row in particular) because he warned us not to let the devil keep us back from getting free from debt by putting a gift for his ministry on our credit card. The credit card “invitation” began as the keyboardist began to noodle around with some mood music. Then Avazini warned everyone again not to let the devil keep us away. The people streamed down to the stage area and wrote out their credit card numbers and house payment gifts and left them at the expensively shod feet of the speaker. While the people came down to the front to divest themselves of their money, Avanzini appropriately chose to tell an Al Capone joke. I doubt if one other person in the house recognized the irony……”

This was an edited extract.

The full report on Avanzini’s fraud is at http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=1136

Bonus tune…

Dalit Does Dallas

The Baptist Standard reports…

“If you’re burned out on televangelist appeals for money, megachurch ministry-bloat and evangelical politics, it might be refreshing to take a look at an organization that’s trying to give a life-long, no-strings-attached hug to a few million of the poorest, dirtiest, most despised people on earth.

I dropped in on Gospel for Asia’s annual conference at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas. Their main topic was how to accommodate more poor people in their churches.

It seems that back in 2001 about a gigagillion Dalits– India’s lowest-caste “untouchables” — got together and announced that Hinduism just wasn’t doing it for ‘em any more. The thrill was gone. So they offered the Christians, the Muslims, the Buddhists and any other religion an opportunity to pitch their version of spiritual reality to them.

The result is that GFA is scrambling to establish thousands of schools and churches around India to accommodate an increasing influx into their ranks of people who literally define the word “outcast.” The word Dalit actually means “broken people.”

Dalits can’t be squeezed for big tithes and offerings. They don’t bring anything to the table. In fact, they always show up with deep and often tragic needs. One Dalit who spoke at the meeting recalled how his parents somehow managed to claw their way our of grinding poverty to get him into a school, but he was only allowed to sit in one little spot in the corner on the floor away from the others. He wasn’t allowed to drink from –or even get near– the water faucet. “I experienced poverty, starvation and untouchability,” he explained. “Now I am touched by the gospel of Jesus.”

When I traveled to India a couple of years ago with GFA, I saw hundreds of these poorest of the poor along the roads everywhere doing the dirty work, squatting over little cooking fires, begging, defecating at the side of the road, scrounging for scraps of plastic or bits of cloth. These probably aren’t the outsourced customer service guys from India you talk to when your computer goes on the blink. They’re what St. Paul called the “offscouring of the earth.”

The apostle understood, like GFA does, that these are the very people Christ died for. And He can only touch them through us.

But then, this Dalit’s prayer caught me off guard: “Lord, help us cease from striving.”

Huh? Isn’t that what evangelism is all about– striving to get the main thing done, accomplishing the mission, working the plan, doing it right?

Maybe not. The speakers all seemed to be talking about servanthood, being bondslaves. Slaves don’t have many plans, and the pay isn’t very good, besides.

At one GFA session, Gayle Erwin, author and a member of the GFA board, understated the case when he observed, “nobody comes out of GFA with million-dollar homes.” In other words, Sen. Grassley is not interested in this group. It has too much obvious integrity. Despite the decreasing value of the dollar, there was little agonizing over the economy at the conference. The only mention of it was a suggestion: “You better hurry up and give quick.”

GFA President K. P. Yohannan eloquently described the plight of the Dalits, but didn’t mention that he still drives his early ’60s VW when he’s in the States. No air-conditioning. A native of India, Yohannan started GFA back in the 1970s after studying for the ministry in Dallas. Since then he’s gone from looking goofy to looking grizzled, but carries himself with an air of peace and self-detachment that puts everyone around him at ease. GFA now has more than 16,500 native missionaries serving in 11 countries in South Asia. You can support one of these native missionaries for a ridiculous total of around $50 a month.

These Gospel for Asia people take Jesus very seriously but without our western/American overlay of overachieving busy-ness, guilt, arrogance or attachment to political causes. In the Indian state of Kerala, where GFA’s largest seminary campus is located, the government is run by communists who sometimes work in cooperation with Christian groups. Yikes! Jerry Falwell’s rolling over in his grave. It’s a different world. Of course, GFA is as conservative as can be, except when it comes to the poor. Then they’re liberal in the New Testament sort of way, with the emphasis on “liberality.”

Lots of news came out of the meeting. One native leader from Burma told about delivering aid to victims of the devastating cyclone and people being saved as unburied bodies littered the fields. One of the native missionaries in Nepal who served time in jail for his faith described radical changes that have opened up that country to religious freedom.

And the media noticed one interesting angle– while hundreds of supporters of Gospel for Asia prayed and sang, hundreds of Harry Potter fans at the opposite end of the hotel gathered–in full costume– to role-play, buy Quidditch sticks and Hoggwart’s capes and hear speakers delivering scholarly papers on the book and fantasy film series. (The two groups’ wary interaction was discussed by the Dallas Morning News Religion Blog).

For me the big news from the conference was, when faced with a world of screaming need, the only effective response is to pray like the Dalit convert did, “Lord, help us cease from striving.”

Previously posted at www.wittenburgblog.com “

From http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8294&Itemid=9

You’ve got to give Benny Hinn some credit

News24 reports…

“God’s blessing would last only two minutes and it would create 500 churchgoing millionaires or even billionaires – all they had to do was use their credit cards to pay $1 000 in offerings to televangelist Benny Hinn.

Pastor Tommie Ferreira of the AGS Church in Johannesburg was so upset about the “blessing” that, after a week, he wanted to know who of the donors actually had become millionaires.

Ferreira told Rapport he did not mean to bring about Hinn’s downfall.

He merely wanted to know if any of the hundreds of churchgoers who donated amounts of up to $1 000 (about R7 500) to Hinn’s Miracle Crusade last week Saturday had now become millionaires.

About 18 000 people streamed to the Coca-Cola Dome in Randburg to hear Hinn’s message of healing and miracles.

Ferreira, who is a keen choir singer, voluntarily sang in the Miracle Crusade’s choir.

He said one of Hinn’s American guest speakers, Pastor Todd [C]oontz, spoke about financial burdens and said 500 audience members would receive “an exceptional blessing”.

“He said the service would yield millionaires and billionaires within 24 hours.

“Everyone had to donate $1 000 because an exceptional blessing rested on $1 000.”

[C]oontz apparently really had the congregation scrambling when he said, “This blessing will be poured out for only two minutes.”

Had credit-card machines

Ferreira said: “People stormed to the front – poor people, rich people, people from all sections of our society.”

Hinn’s co-pastors apparently had credit-card machines ready with which they could take donations.

“He ([C]oontz) said God would bless the people’s credit cards and they would be able to rule over South Africa with their money.

“Eventually there were no fewer than 1 000 people who made such donations.”

According to Ferreira’s calculations, Hinn must have collected millions of rands with these donations – perhaps more than R7m if each of the 1 000 church-goers donated $1 000 in the hope of becoming millionaires.

Furthermore, after [C]oontz’s collection of the $1 000 donations, Hinn collected general donations.

Ferreira said: “It makes my hair stand on end.”

He said he could not live with his conscience if he did not speak to others about this possible trickery.

Still collecting money

“I’m not attacking them (Hinn and [C]oontz). It just really gets my goat when people make unfounded claims and then they’re off with these people’s money.”

Dr Sarel Smit of the AGS church Lofstad in Hursthill, Johannesburg, who supported Ferreira as he spoke to Rapport, was equally worried about the method by which Hinn collected donations.

“Especially at a time like this when there is dire need, people run the risk of losing their faith in the Lord in this way. God will provide for your needs, but not your greed.”

Rapport spoke to an employee in Hinn’s South African office in Durban who said on Friday morning that they were still busy collecting money.

“We’ve had a very good reaction from last weekend,” said the employee, who asked not to be named.

He said that before the collection of the $1 000 donations, Koontz had delivered a message about “you reap what you sow”.

“Americans always talk in dollars. If some of the churchgoers believed that they would not be blessed, then they should not have given their money.

“The church-goers did not have to give $1 000. If they couldn’t afford it, then they could’ve given less. And, some of them did.

Will build an orphanage

“Pastor Todd ([C]oontz) spoke of good seeds. If you don’t actually sow them, you’ll never have a good harvest.”

The employee told Rapport that Hinn’s congregation soon would build an orphanage in South Africa.

Hinn’s South African office feeds about 1 000 children in Durban daily.

Rapport asked for a recording of [C]oontz’s sermon, but Hinn’s office said they could only provide one in four to six weeks.”

From http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2360893,00.html

Hill$ong – As The Stomach Turns

Chase Kuhn blogs…

“Many probably know Hillsong church for their popular worship albums. Most contemporary churches in the USA probably sing one or more of their songs on a Sunday. The unfortunate reality that is often not understood is their philosophy for ministry and the gospel they preach (or don’t preach).

This last Sunday night, Amy and I traveled to Hillsong with three guys from the local church plant that we have been working with here in Sydney. During the four weeks that we have been here, we have heard many jokes about Hillsong, and have read some press from the Sydney Anglicans writing against the ministry there. The main complaint is that the ministry there is nothing more than an evolved Pentecostal service that preaches a prosperity gospel. In spite of all that we had heard and read, we thought that it would be best to keep an open mind for our visit, giving them the benefit of the doubt.  The following is a summary of our visit, followed by some reflection.

Upon our arrival, the outside of the church was very large. Upon entering the inside, we walked into a busy thoroughfare, where parishoners were buying coffee, books, and presale CD’s and DVD’s. We walked past these things and entered into the arena. To our surprise, the church was smaller than we had expected. From all of the pictures we had seen of their worship rallies, we expected a massive arena, when in fact there were seats for about 3,000 (still considerably large, but not too overbearing for people from the land of mega-churches).

The service began with some amazingly produced music. There were three movie theater sized screens that were flashing images of the band and art, as well as lights moving across the stage and crowd, and there was a lot of sound. Big guitars, lots of bass, cool synths, and loud drums. The sound moved through you. The crowd was very involved in the music as most of them (15-25 yrs. old) were jumping up and down and singing. Lyrically the music was quite impressive. Most every song that we heard referred to Jesus, the gospel message, and the glory of God. These songs were often loose strands of Christianized words, however the overall message was very encouraging from a gospel perspective.

In the middle of the music, a pastor came out and gave an alter call. There was no preaching preceding this, but rather a strong movement of music. The call was in response to the songs. The pastor that gave the alter call explained that everyone had a problem of separation from God, that they could not solve that problem by themselves, and that Jesus was the answer to their problem. After this explanation he invited people to come forward if they wanted to begin to live for Jesus.

The service continued with more singing. Then another pastor came out and read from Galatians 6. He explained that we need to sow our money in order to reap rewards. He said that it is a good thing to be generous, and that the Lord blesses generosity. He prompted a video of a lady giving a testimony of how she sold things on eBay in a compulsion to give, and how her giving resulted in miracle after miracle in her life that next year. There was prayer, then more music as the offering buckets went around.

The music continued. Another, pastor came out waving prayer request cards and prayed for the Lord to answer the requests based on the promises of his Word. Then more music.

Next, Brian Houston (senior pastor) came out and gave a sermon. The theme for the evening was a heart for the household, and that evening there was a once a year special offering to support the household (the church). His sermon was on Acts 16, the story of Paul and Silas in jail, and the conversion of the jailer. The main thrust of his message was based on the word ‘hold.’ He used the words ‘hold’ and ‘household’ throughout the entirety of his message. He explained that the jailer went from putting people in the ‘hold,’ to seeing his ‘household’ converted. He said that the jailer was being ‘held’ by things. There were ‘holds’ on his life that almost kept him from what his ‘house-held.’ He applied this by saying that we all have things in our lives that may be ‘holds’ on us keeping us from what our ‘house-held’ (he used the past tense here). He gave three or four illustrations to support his point, including one about himself. He said that when he was younger, his father always favored his older brother, seeing him to have more potential. Brian said that had he allowed that ‘hold’ of his father favoring his older brother to keep him down, he may have never realized the potential of what his ‘house-held.’ In conclusion he said that whatever was ‘holding’ us (e.g. poor relationships, negativism, etc.) could be keeping us from our potential. Therefore we needed to free what our ‘house-holds.’ 

The evening then returned to more music. Brian’s wife came out to pray. There was a satelite feed to the other congregation in the city. There was a video about the special offering and their hopes for work around the city and around the world. The bucket was passed for the offering. Then more music. Finally, there was an encore, as people shouted “one more song.”

So what do we make of this first-hand encounter of Hillsong’s ministry. In our discussion following the service, we decided to start with positives first, before we offered critiques. Therefore, that is where I shall begin. 

Positively:
*The music was about as good as a production could be. It would rival any good rock show. This includes quality of sound and theatrics.
*Lyrically, the music included the gospel message. The aim of the lyrics was glory to God. *There was a very clear missional element to their lyrics that encouraged the hearer to be active in the world for the kingdom.
*The video for the giving was very good, as it portrayed a vision for aid around the world and Sydney. This sounded like gospel work (though this did not match Brian’s words).
*They (the Church leaders) seemed to know their audience. The music and style of the service fit well with the demographic of the service. The service we attended was definitely a youth service. The only old couple in the congregation (maybe mid 60’s) was sitting behind us. At one time I turned around to see how he was responding to the service. When I looked he had his cheeks puffed out, exhaling, and he was rubbing his ears as if to express “wow! that was intense (and LOUD!!!!)!” ( I chuckled when I saw him! )
*There was an expressed care for people.
*There was a gospel presentation. It was not clear in explaining sin, or the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, or even faith. However, there was clearly an attempt to connect people with Christ. The preacher clearly said that we all are separated from God, and Jesus is the only answer.

Negatively:
*The sermon was rubbish (as the Aussies would say). To translate: The sermon was garbage!!! I am quite certain that it was the worst sermon that I have heard. The content was terrible. Brian clearly had an agenda, the word ‘hold’ and ‘household,’ and he used the Word to accomodate his message. His sermon had no relation to the text at all. In his message he never even addressed the fact that the change agent for the jailer was JESUS!!! His message was a prosperity/ self-help talk. Besides the content, his delivery was also terrible. He was very slow on his feet, and unorganized in his thoughts. And in all seriousness (and not to poke fun) he has a preacher’s voice that sounds like a pirate (I comment on this because I think it was manufactured.  If this is his natural voice and not a part of his image I apologize).
*The push for giving was given in the attitude that if you give you will be blessed with miracles.

*The gospel was presented in a loose way, but it was not presented in fulness.  It was not clearly stated why we are separated from God (sin), or why Jesus is the answer to our separation from God (namely because of the atonement he made for us by his death, burial and resurrection).  It also was not explained clearly what the gospel means for our lives.  The preacher did call people to live for Jesus, but I would hope that there would be further explanation of what it means to walk in the newness of life.

Synopsis:
I want to err on the side of charity. I think that there are many people at Hillsong who truly love Jesus. I think that there are some there who would be gospel believing Christians. That being said, I also think that the church is doing a very poor job at feeding their sheep. Their diet is an emotional one of musical experience. The Word is absent. It is not absent as though it is not read, but it is absent in that it is not taught. People are in fact being lead astray by a false gospel. They do teach that Jesus is the only way to God, but they also believe that the Christian life equals a life of prosperity in this world.  In fact, there message seems to make a heavy appeal to this end. 

The music is very good, but it is a concert. A personal hobby-horse of mine is flashy production in a worship service. Though I am typically against this, their production is done in such a way that there is a large amount of audience participation. The draw for the church is clearly the music. I think for churches around the world, it is okay to use their music, but there must be an understanding of the church which is generating the music. Most of the Sydney Anglicans do not use Hillsong music because they are in the same town and they do not want to associate Hillsong and its teaching of a prosperity gospel. It is their way of boycotting the message.  

Concerning Brian, he seemed very out of place in the service. The service would have been close (note the word close!) to permissible without him. His message was an atrocity, and it made my stomach hurt (not exageratting). It is sad to reflect from a ministerial position on the many lives he is misleading. He will surely have to answer to God. (This may seem harsh, but this is not something to take lightly).  

Hillsong is a church with a lot of missed potential. Each weekend they draw a crowd of well over 10,000 people. During that time they would have a great opportunity to share the gospel and the Word with their congregants. Unfortunately, people are being mislead by poor teaching and emotional hype. I fear that many who attend will fizzle out when their emotions become stale. Their faith is currently based on experience, but when their experience changes, I wonder where their faith will reside.

After talking to my Anglican friends here, I empathize and side with them. If we allow for poor teaching one generation, what will happen in the next generation? False teaching should not be permitted. I think my overall approach would be similar to Paul’s response to the Corithians. He was keen to recognize them as brothers and sisters in Christ, but was sure to rebuke them for their mislead life. I think that Hillsong does have some genuine believers, however they are mislead and their life and faith reflect that. My prayer is that there will be a change of heart amongst the leadership and the congregation, that they might have a clear passion for the Word of God. Then there worship will not only be in Spirit, but also in Truth.”

From http://theosandphotos.blogspot.com/2008/06/ad-yet-expected-disappointment-of.html

And FWIW, I (Lance) added the following comment to the post.

“I’ve researched Hill$ong for a few years, and I’d point out that what you heard was not a failure to explain the gospel, but their own spin on or version of the gospel.

Hill$ong does not see the gospel as justification through faith in Christ’s blood via repentence from sin.

Hill$ong sees Christ’s death and resurrection as an expression of God’s power, and therefore if you believe in Jesus you share in an ‘empowerment to live an awesome life.’

It takes the consequences of embracing the gospel, and makes it the ‘gospel’ itself.

The key to understanding Hill$ong’s ‘gospel’ is their alternative definition of grace.

Whereas a regular evangelical would see grace as God’s unmerited favour on an undeserving sinner (amazing grace that saved a wretch like me), Hill$ong teaches that God gives you ‘grace’ ..that is power (as long as you do all the right things like tithe..etc)….to fulfil ‘God’s amazing plan for your life’.

That is… they believe God ‘graces’ you to live your life in power and authority.

Hill$ong bypasses the whole sin thing altogether. The closest they get to acknowledging sin is that they sometimes admit that believers ‘make mistakes’…(as opposed to sinning), but teaches that believers should not live in regret or ‘negativity’.

So when someone like you goes to Hill$ong, although you’ll hear a lot of the same words like ‘Jesus’ and ‘born again’ or ‘following Christ’…the assumptions you have about those terms and the assumptions they have about what those terms mean are very different.

It took me years to figure out the difference between what Hill$ong believes and classical Christianity…and that was only after studying transcripts of their teachings and writings.

So I wouldn’t expect someone who’s been there on a first visit..or even a few weeks or months…to get a handle on what’s not right about the place.

BTW. On Hill$ong’s website you can read their statement of beliefs…which cover the traditional ground of sin, repentence, the blood (it’s a copy and paste of standard AOG beliefs)….blah, blah, blah…but that’s not what Hill$ong teaches from week to week.”

Oz Senate probes purple economy

The Australian reports….

“Between now and August 29 the Senate Standing Committee on Economics will receive a flood of submissions into one of the most controversial and political hot potatoes: an inquiry into the disclosure regime for charities and not-for-profit organisations in Australia.

After that, the Senate has almost three months to finalise a report that has the potential to rock Australia’s $80 billion-plus non-profit sector.

The inquiry will examine the appropriateness of disclosure levels in the sector, models of regulation and legal forms that would improve governance and management of charities and not-for-profit organisations and other measures to improve governance, standards, accountability and transparency in its use of public and government funds.

Depending how gutsy the report wants to be, it could recommend a complete overhaul, starting with the creation of a charities commission, similar to the model adopted in Canada, Britain, and New Zealand, which would streamline all charities under the one regulator.

It could also enforce a set of accounting standards to ensure that all not-for-profit organisations quantify and detail the size of tax exemptions, grants and donations, as well as recognising three core business segments: raising funds, administering funds and spending funds.

This would enable charities to be monitored for best practice. It could also take the opportunity to recommend an overhaul of the Banking Act so that if a religious group sets up an investment scheme, it is subject to the same regulatory rigours as any other investment scheme.

At the moment, religious groups with financial activities are exempt from the Banking Act. And if it had the stomach to take on the religious groups, it could recommend a working towards competitive neutrality to bring Australia into line with most other countries by forcing religious groups to pay tax on earned-income ventures such as pizza and coffee chains, cereal businesses, and wineries that have little or nothing to do with charitable work. Every few years new governments launch an inquiry into the not-for-profit sector, which ranges from charities, religious groups, clubs and health funds, in an attempt to fix a sector that represents almost 10 per cent of the economy, employs more than 600,000 people and represents more than 700,000 organisations. This time it was prompted by the Australian Democrats, Andrew Murray and Lyn Allison, who in March called for an inquiry by the Senate. It was their parting gift to a sector that is in a mess. Both retired from politics on June 30.

The Democrats have set the ball in motion, so now it is up to the Rudd Government to do something about a sector in dire need of reform. It is one of the most powerful, far-reaching sectors in the country, yet it lacks governance standards, accountability and transparency in its use of public and government funds. Indeed, as governments increasingly outsource more and more areas of business to the non-profit sectors, by making them government service providers in areas like the Job Network, and sign contracts with them worth billions of dollars, the need for transparency and accountability is critical. In an era of corporate regulation, most parts of the non-profit sector are unregulated.

There is no process for the registration of charities, no consistent collection of information about the activities or funding sources of charities and there is little or no monitoring of the activities of charities. The upshot is there is no means by which the public can ensure that a charitable organisation is pursuing the activities and purposes it claims to carry out. It also means that the Australian Government has no idea how big the sector is, or how much it forgoes in tax a year. The access to charitable status is currently regulated by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). But the ATO has limited expertise in the regulation of charities. In a submission to a government review of the sector in September 2000, the ATO itself recommended the establishment of a separate body to regulate access to charitable status at the federal government level. “It’s our view that the current system of tax concessions provides an unnecessary layer of administrative cost and complexity, and lacks transparency. We would accordingly favour a single targeted, transparent and accountable program of direct outlays.” Most charities do a terrific job. Some release detailed accounts to the public of how much they earn, and how they spend the money. But there is no law that says they have to _ and many do not.

There is also little accountability of where the money goes or the businesses that these organisations operate. It is no surprise, then, that some not-for-profit groups run businesses. For instance, the Seventh Day Adventists run food business Sanitarium Health Foods, which is believed to turn over more than $300 million a year. The Catholic Church, which turns over more than $15 billion a year, runs schools, hospitals, insurance companies, car parking lots and a funds management business. The biggest Pentecostal church, Hillsong, sells CDs, DVDs, self-help books and T-shirts. Australia is one of the few places in the world where these types of business are not taxed. Most other countries treat companies run by the non-profit sector like any other corporation: forced to pay tax if they make a profit. In the interests of budget honesty and transparency, taxpayers are entitled to know who is entitled to tax concessions under both commonwealth and state legislation……..”

From http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24048769-5012439,00.html

More Mercy Ministries Madness

Livenews reports…

“Exorcisms to cure mental illness and drug addiction, locking vulnerable people away from friends and family, prayer as a solution to all problems – sounds like psych ward from last century. But actually it’s just the ‘Mercy Way’.

The once mighty ‘Mercy Ministries’, a secretive outfit that purports to treat young women with mental illness, is now in serious trouble.

Bankrolled by controversial Pentecostal group the ‘Hillsong Church’ and Hillsong-aligned Gloria Jean’s coffees the group has been the subject of a number of complaints to authorities. They’ve already closed one of their two facilities.

Women who’ve been through its programs say the main ‘treatment’ they were prescribed were exorcisms and prayer study, supervised by bible studies students. That’s whether they were dealing with anorexia, anxiety disorders or substance abuse.

And all the time being kept virtually as prisoners – cut off from the outside world with no TV or newspapers, with severely restricted access to friends and family and made to even ask permission to go to the toilet.

Nowhere was the promised phalanx of mental health professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and dieticians. Just bible studies students whose answer to all questions was more prayer.

Three former residents told LIVENEWS.com.au they were left in a worse state after going to stay at Mercy Ministries – which still operates in a house in Sydney’s Glenhaven.

Meg Smith (not her real name) says she went to Mercy because of the group’s promise of free treatment for her anxiety disorder and panic attacks.

But she quickly became disheartened after “free” meant signing over her Centrelink payments to the group and “treatment” didn’t include proper access to doctors, psychologists and social workers.

“The ‘counsellor’ I had was not qualified to treat mental illness… nobody there was. She was in the middle of a mercy ‘in-house program’ to teach her how to prayer counsel,” says Smith.

“I spent months there and the only ‘therapy’ I had was prayer readings and an exorcism.”

She paints a disturbing picture – where a group of vulnerable girls isolated in a suburban home and forbidden to leave or form friendships on pain of being expelled – followed a punishing daily routine.

A seven o’clock wake up call and a stint of cleaning was followed by bible reading.

After that came a “praise” session where the girls would stand in a circle, eyes closed, singing along to Christian music and jumping on the spot with arms outstretched.

After locked food cupboards were opened for a piece of fruit or a few tablespoons of yoghurt it was back to class – usually taking notes from audio tapes by Joyce Meyer, an American evangelist.

After lunch, homework, letter-writing and recreation were followed by more cleaning and bible study.

Smith began to get worse.

“I was having lots of panic attacks… they seemed to be getting worse at ministry,” she said.

“I couldn’t work out why, apart from being away from friends and family and my support network.

“I was self harming – I was cutting my arm with anything I could get my hands on – scratching with anything from my nails to paper clips.

“I never really had a problem with self harm beforehand. When you tell them about self harming they said I was trying to get attention and I was taking their valuable time away from girls with real problems.”

Finally Smith was told she would have to have what she describes as an ‘exorcism’.

“The counsellor gave me a list of different demons – demon of anger, demon of unforgiveness, demon of pride, there were lots of them and I was told to go away and circle the demons I had in me or around me,” said Smith.

“I was really scared… they cast demons out of me, one by one, and they became quite excited and animated during the process, and spoke in tongues.

“It was the counsellors and myself and they put their hands on me and started praying one by one for each of the demons that were on the list to be cast out of me.

“After each demon was cast out I had to say ‘I confirm the demon of X has been cast out of me in the name of Jesus and is unwelcome to return.’

“The whole time I was there, all I heard was that I’m demonic.

“Even after the exorcism, when I had the next anxiety attack, I was told that they had already cast the demons out, so therefore I was obviously either faking it, or I had chosen to let the demons come back, in which case I was not serious about getting better.

“They kept telling us that the world can’t help us, professionals with all their ‘worldly qualifications’ can’t help us, only Mercy could because only they have God’s power.

“So when I was kicked out for being ‘demonic, unable to be helped, not worth a place at Mercy and because I had taken too long to pray to become a Christian… it left me worse than I had ever been before in my life.

“They told me I would never get better now because I had blown my chance. I started cutting my arms and wrists more than ever, with their voices echoing in my mind as I did it.”

Suicidal and self harming after being removed from the program, which she now thought was her only hope, she went to see a “proper psychologist to prepare me to go back to Mercy to help me fit in better.”

“The psychologist had never heard of them but told me to stay away from them… that person helped me more in the 40 minute session – really listening to me and understanding me.”

Smith, who is on the mend after a long process, is not alone.

Other women who spoke to LIVENEWS.com.au described being “literally bible bashed” and supervised during limited visits to GPs and psychiatrists.

One Patricia (not her real name) says when she approached staff with problems she was asked if she had prayed about it.

“In the end I stopped going to staff members because they just didn’t seem to help me and that’s one of the things they commented on… but how can you when they’re not actually helping you?” she said.

“I went to the psychiatrist three times in eight months I was there to get medication – and I was always accompanied in the session by a staff member.

“Once I told the psychiatrist what I was feeling and when we got back to the house I was yelled at because I hadn’t told the staff there… Now I go to the psychiatrist every two weeks – that’s the kind of care you need when you’re acutely unwell.

“Four to six weeks after I got kicked out I tried to kill myself and I almost succeeded and it was because I didn’t think I could live or get better without Mercy because it was just so ingrained into me.”

Since the former clients of Mercy Ministires began telling their stories, high profile “sponsors” listed on their website have disappeared. No longer do Rebel Sport, Bunnings Warehouse or LG electronics have anything to do with with the group.

Gloria Jean’s coffees, which once had collection boxes for the groups in all their stores, and whose former managing director, Peter Irvine, was a director at Mercy, still maintains conspicuous support.

The group have closed their Queensland centre but the Sydney facility remains open for business – still without scrutiny from government authorities.

Ready to continue to dispense their peculiar kind of care to the most vulnerable.”

From http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/07/18/How_to_cure_anorexia_with_exorcisms_101

A practical demonstration of the sins of greed and envy from Christian Sh*tty Church’s Queen Pringle

Apostle Simon Mokoena – The Dandy Dresser

The Sowetan reports…

“Man of God is reaching out to his congregation of 70000 with one-on-one biblical approach

The dandy dresser who approaches to shake hands in the foyer of the Sandton Sun looks anything but a church leader. He’s dapper in a blue blazer, fawn linen pants and leather shoes that, no doubt, cost an arm and a leg.

He carries two cases and when he opens one, it is to haul out a state-of-the-art laptop. He also takes calls on a high-end cellular phone.

Simon Mokoena, no, Apostle Simon Mokoena, is the founder of the Tyrannus Apostolic Church, a QwaQwa-based parish that, in just seven years, is 70000 strong. With over 300 satellite churches around the country, it’s big enough to give the International Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Zion Christian Church a run for their money.

Talking about money, the church is not poor. It employs some of its flock in the restaurant it owns in the Mandela Park section of Phuthaditjhaba, capital of the former bantustan.

“We also have our own funeral scheme and vehicles,” says Mokoena.

The church uniform is made at a factory owned by Tyrannus. The church also counts a souvenir shop among its income generating outlets. Their CDs and DVDs are another source of revenue .

“I grew up in a Christian home,” says Mokoena by way of introduction as he sips his tea .

“At an early age I had this hunger to work for God. I joined the Assemblies of God and after I finished school I went to Rhema Bible Church for my theological training.”

After the two-year course under the tutelage of Ray McCauley, the newly ordained pastor went “back to QwaQwa to start my church”.

Having studied at Rhema, he says, it would follow that he’d be a photocopy of the Randburg-based happy-clappers led by McCauley, a former body-builder.

“Along the way I got this spiritual disturbance that I was failing to reach out to those people God so wanted me to touch and serve. I believed I had this prophetic, apostolic call. I was not a pastor. I was misplaced .”

He ditched the Rhema way and when he studied the Bible “I had this Paul-like revelation, I saw in the book of Acts, Chapter 19, where Paul found 12 people he ministered to”.

Paul laid his hands on them, says the man of the cloth, “doing what was called the transference of the anointing”. In addition, Paul trained these dozen men “at a school called Tyrannus”.

Eureka!

“That’s where I got the name.”

Inside his own church he also trained people – men and women he credits God for putting around him to ensure the church grows.

“At some point we attracted no less than 1000 people a month,” he says without batting an eyelid.

The Rhema fallout came because he thought he was not reaching people the way he thought God wanted him to. In the white churches, as he calls them, the culture of the congregants is not taken into account in the presentation of the Bible the same way it is at Tyrannus. He says phenomena like the tokoloshe and mashonisa, “only a black preacher would know this as they are the very things our people are confronted with on a daily basis”.

But what is it he’s doing right to attract such a huge following?

Firstly it is the grace of God, he says. “As a church leader you must be able to be where the people are,” he continues. “There’s no way you can be effective if you don’t empathise with them – if you don’t speak their language. I take the Bible and make it relevant to the situation of the worshippers.”

Born in Durban, Mokoena preaches in IsiZulu, the Sesotho widely spoken in QwaQwa and IsiXhosa: “No English.”

Not your average Mfundisi, he talks big money: “I’ve just bought slots on television, SABC2, on Saturdays from October 4. I will do it in our language to let our people see one of their own preaching the gospel in their languages.”

The only child of Samuel – who has since died – and Ntomb’zonke Mokoena, the apostle is, at 46, equal to the task of leading a big church the same way his peer, US Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is ready to run America, he says confidently.

He makes time to speak to men and women separately as he believes the two genders cannot be catered for spiritually in the same sitting.

The man, from the days of the disciples of Christ, the 12 sons of Israel and prophets of God – who were all male, is a special being who needs to be given respect, says the Apostle.

“We talk a lot about women abuse but very little about the reverse,” he says . “Lets make men feel important. A man needs to be celebrated.”

He’s penned a song that implores the man to take his rightful position in the home, church and community because, “once we get the men right, half the battle to get the world right is won”.

But wouldn’t this ostracise the women in the church?

Not at all, he says, adding that the woman is important too “otherwise I wouldn’t be here myself”.

To that end he’ll hold special conferences, one in November for men, called Sons of Zion in Bethlehem, Free State, while in the first week of February next year, women will be attended to spiritually at their own, Daughters of Zion, at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.

This is the same man who prayed for Jacob Zuma, the ANC president, at the height of his legal woes.

Former media personality Thuso Motaung also received the apostle’s blessings in his hour of need. He was persuaded by 1 Timothy 2 verse 2 to pray for them.

President Thabo Mbeki has yet to act on his invitation, says the charismatic church leader.”

From http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=804006

Todd Bentley’s bam-bam-bam is back

God TV announces….

“After taking a short break to rest after nearly 100 days of back-to-back ministry, Todd Bentley has announced he will be back ministering at the Lakeland Outpouring from Friday this week.

Our coverage of the Lakeland Outpouring has continued every night, LIVE on our webstream ( www.god.tv/stream ), and we are now going to resume our LIVE on-air coverage of the Lakeland Outpouring from this Friday 18 July.

We will also broadcast a special one-off Healing Revival with Todd Bentley – LIVE from Louisville, Kentucky on 17 July (the day before our Outpouring broadcasts resume). This will also be available online at www.god.tv/stream …”

From http://www.god.tv/eblast08-07-16-todd

‘Limp-wristed’ Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll

 

Lance writes…..

One pastor who’s had some flattering and unflattering media attention over the years is Mark Driscoll. Somewhat of a maverick, Seattle-based Driscoll was an initial participant in the contemporary touchy-feely movement known as the ‘emergent church’ who later parted ways with the movement’s co-founders.

That’s because touchy-feely, Mark Driscoll is not.

Driscoll himself wrote in 2006…

“Some years ago I was part of a team that traveled around the country speaking about issues pertaining to the truth of the gospel, the condition of the culture, and the mission of the church to incarnate the gospel in the culture. I eventually left that team for a variety of practical and theological reasons. Since that time, much of that team has remained together and has evolved into the Emergent stream of the emerging church. Perhaps the best-known leaders in that network are Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt.

Since leaving that team I have been increasingly concerned about some of the theological conversations that are taking place, which has led to frustration and anger on my part. The result was an email I fired off in angry haste to the “Out of Ur” blog in response to a piece by Brian Mclaren in Leadership journal on his pastoral response to the homosexual issue. In short, I took some cheap shots at Brian and Doug.

A godly friend once asked me an important question: “What do you want to be known for?” I responded that solid theology and effective church planting were the things that I cared most about and wanted to be known for. He kindly said that my reputation was growing as a guy with good theology, a bad temper, and a foul mouth. This is not what I want to be known for. And after listening to the concerns of the board members of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network that I lead, and of some of the elders and deacons at Mars Hill Church that I pastor, I have come to see that my comments were sinful and in poor taste. Therefore, I am publicly asking for forgiveness from both Brian and Doug because I was wrong for attacking them personally and I was wrong for the way in which I confronted positions with which I still disagree. I also ask forgiveness from those who were justifiably offended at the way I chose to address the disagreement. I pray that you will accept this posting as a genuine act of repentance for my sin.

In the end, I do not want my tone and style to get in the way of important discussions and kingdom work. So, my intention is to lean into God’s empowering grace to become a holy man who demonstrates greater self-control. In the future, my prayer is that I could continue to speak with pithy edginess and candor that is also marked by grace and appropriate words. I obviously failed this time. Please forgive me and pray for me.”

http://theresurgence.com/apology

The 2008 version of Mark Driscoll is coming to Australia, and Driscoll is Down Under not to speak with pithy edginess and candor marked by grace and appropriate words, but to kick arse.

“Burn Your Plastic Jesus is the biggest event of Driscoll’s first visit to Australia.  In it, he’ll be taking a blowtorch to the plastic picture of Jesus “a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in his hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Xen statements about life.”

Instead, Driscoll wants to take a fresh look at Jesus in the New Testament.  As he says, “In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter with a tattoo down his leg, a sword in his hand and the committment to make someone bleed.  That is a guy I can worship.”

On August 27, Mark will be joined by the KCC Engage Band and special guest Nathan Tasker.  it will be an evening focused on God’s word, God worship and God’s people.

On August 27, Burn Your Plastic Jesus will be an evening where your views of Jesus  are powerfully challenged.  An evening where you re-discover the Jesus of the New Testament.  An evening where your life might be changed forever.”

 http://www.sydentcent.com.au/index.cfm?s=content&p=event_detail&event_id=102082

So, big bad Barry Hall Mark Driscoll is going to hit the streets of Australia and mix it with the Bra Boys and the bikers and the hoons of the suburbs of our great cities?

No. Mark is going to be chauffered into accoustically-satisfactory auditoriums with green rooms stocked with iced tea and iced vo-vo’s until a young man named Josh -who has to be waiting outside by 10 for his mum to pick him up – escorts Mark onto a stage equipped with a half-glass of chilled water, surrounded by churchgoing men who’ve been badgered by their pastors and their wives into attending an event where “Jesus is my boyfriend’ music will be performed.

And then Mark, having engaged in appropriate man-huggery will return to his 4.5 star hotel with city views where his personal assistant has already put his electric blanket on 3.

It’s amusing when you see these pampered pastors banging on about being ‘real men’ when they fire their pot-shots at others from the comfort of their church cocoons but can’t bring themselves to face a potentially hostile crowd.

Hill$ong Senior Pastor Brian Houston still hasn’t re-surfaced outside of the Christian bubble three years since he was met by a lack of friendly faces at a Fabian Society meeting.

“……The crowd also laughed along with Houston when it was his turn to speak, but this time it was with mocking derision at his preacher style of delivery. ‘I believe in a book of promises, I believe in a book of chances, I believe in a book of victory,’ he said. They weren’t going to buy any of it and they giggled at his simplicity.

This didn’t trouble Houston. He had members of his Hillsong flock planted in the audience. Among them his wife Bobbie, also a preacher of miracles at Hillsong and author of Kingdom women love sex, who wore a look of mild discomfort throughout….”

http://www.newmatilda.com/node/757?ArticleID=757&CategoryID=-1

But there will be no prospect of mild discomfort for Mark Driscoll during his Australian visit, as he bangs on about the ‘limp-wristed hippies’ who appall him.

Just bursts of applause from hundreds of house-trained Christian ‘men’ who will massage Mark’s ego by telling him what a swell guy he is.

But all Mark Driscoll will be doing while he’s here, is inspiring masses of men to be as homophobic and mysoginistic as he is.

If Driscoll were truly not limp-wristed, he would allow himself to be confronted face-to-face by the real gays and real women who get on his goat, instead of the male Christian culture sycophants who press forward to touch his cloak in the hope that his machismo ‘power’  may go into them….Jesus-style.

And it must be really bad for Mark if this gay guy is telling him that he’s limp-wristed.

Ponzi pastor faces up to 180 years jail

Mineweb reports…

“A church pastor and a record company executive have been found guilty by a Los Angeles federal court jury of bilking investors out of more than $32 million in a fraudulent investment scheme involving coal mines, and the alleged sale of 20,000 tonnes of gold between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

The men were convicted Friday and await sentencing. The hearing has yet to be scheduled.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California originally indicted Robert Jennings, 57, who was the president of the Tri Energy coal mining company, and record company executive Henry Jones, 53, concerning what was apparently a bogus coal mining venture and a non-existent gold transaction, which the defendants told investors was inspired by God.

Jennings is the pastor of Perris, California’s New Life Fellowship Church. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Axel told jurors that Jones and Jennings took advantage of their estimated 500 victims through nightly conference calls and by promising to double their money in 60 days. Many of the conference calls included group prayer and assertions by the defendants that the gold transaction was “divinely inspired,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Many of the calls also threw in information about so-called humanitarian projects funded by the profits, according to the indictment.

The owner of Marina Investors Group, Jones, who reportedly came up with the idea for the gold transaction, allegedly spent a large portion of the investors’ money on a house in Marina Del Rey, a condominium in Culver City, and Ferrari Spider and Porsche Cayenne automobiles. The SEC said investors were convinced that extraordinary profits were to be generated by helping an unnamed Saudi Arabian prince move gold from Israel through Luxemburg to the United Arab Emirates.

Pastor Jennings faxed or e-mailed investment materials, promissory notes and loan agreements from his home. He was charged with three counts of mail fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, six counts of securities fraud and one count of a contempt of court order issued in a related case filed by the SEC. Jones was also charged with three counts of mail fraud, six counts of securities fraud, four counts of contempt of court (for ignoring a court order to cease-and-desist), one count of witness tampering and seven counts of money laundering.

The Securities Division of the State of Washington had issued a summary order for each of the defendants to cease and desist trading money for a “Middle East gold investment.” A third defendant, Robert Simburg, 63 of Portkand, Oregon. reportedly told investor that the Washington state order and securities investigation was a “slap on the wrist.”

Jennings faces a maximum prison sentence of 180 years while Jones faces up to 250 years. Simburg, 63 previously pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing on wire fraud. The Senior Vice President of Tri Energy, Simburg co-operated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the investigation.

In August 2007, Federal District Judge Andrew Guilford entered final judgments against Jennings, Simburg, Tri Energy, H&J Energy and other defendants ordering them to pay civil penalties stemming from the SEC case.

Tri Energy and H&J Energy both have kept offices in Nevada, which does not have coal mining. The SEC said the defendants told early investors that their money was going toward the development of Tri Energy coal mines, while later investors were told the money would be used for the gold transactions. The SEC said many of Tri Energy’s investors learned about the gold program through the networking portion of the Millionaire Mind seminars designed to help people “develop a millionaire mind” and “reach their financial potential.”

The defendants or their agents urged investors to dial into a nightly conference call, where they were directed to the company’s website www.trienergy.net for further information. Tri Energy reportedly claimed that it would be able to develop processes that would create 100% emissions-free coal and pay back its investors, according to the SEC.

At one point Tri Energy investors were asked to contribute money to purchase “very highly discounted equipment,” the SEC said. Jennings also reportedly told investors that Tri Energy has several mines with 9 million tons of coal ready to be mined within 12 months. However, the U.S. attorney said only 2,000 tons of coal actually existed at two coal mines.

Deputy Federal Public Defender Nadine Hettle said Jennings believed that the coal deal was real and knew the coal mine was real. Hettle claims that Simburg, who was Tri Energy’s senior vice president, was the brains behind the coal mining operation and that Jennings didn’t realize he was being lied to.

Meanwhile, Jones also kept charging his clients fees, including storage fees, administrative fees and unnamed attorneys fees in the gold scheme, according to the prosecutor.

In an October 2007 press release, J. Stephen Tidwell, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles said the “case should serve as a reminder to future investors that it is prudent to investigate potential ventures before taking costly risks.”

Thomas Jankowksi, acting Special Agent in charge of the IRS said, “The perpetrators of Ponzi schemes need to be put on notice that stealing from their victims will be investigated and prosecuted whenever possible.” The indictment resulted from an invested conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, and the IRS-Criminal Investigative Division with the assistance of the SEC.”

From http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page34?oid=56672&sn=Detail

The Neulan Midkiff $30 million fraud trial

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports….

“ElVera Weyhrauch remembered the Depression, when a piece of fresh fruit was a special treat. So during the 17 years she built pacemakers for Guidant Corp., she was careful to squirrel away money, because she didn’t want her retirement to be a mirror image of her childhood poverty.

But after her kids mentioned that they’d discovered an overseas investment run by a born-again minister in Forest Lake that paid 7 percent monthly interest, ElVera decided to meet with Neulan Midkiff at the Blaine offices of his company, Joshua Tree Group.

“Mr. Neulan talked a lot about God’s word,” Weyhrauch said. “He said, ‘ElVera, don’t believe a man by his word, believe a man for his works.’ Then he showed me a picture of an orphanage he was building in Russia. I felt very secure.”

The 76-year-old Ham Lake woman gave Neulan, a self-styled apostle, $40,000 of her savings. A short time later, she gave him $100,000 more.

She never saw the money again.

Telling her story this week in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Weyhrauch lowered her head and cried. “I really thought he was a good Christian man, I really did,” she said

Midkiff, 66, is on trial for mail and wire fraud, money laundering and failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars of income. Authorities say he orchestrated a pyramid scheme that robbed hundreds of Minnesotans out of more than $30 million.

For many of the victims, the bedrocks of their lives — faith and family — became the source of their undoing. A large percentage were drawn to the investment scheme either through their church or a family member. Within the Weyhrauch family alone, at least three members were affected, together losing more than $300,000.

Midkiff was part of a larger national scheme that bilked perhaps thousands of investors of hundreds of millions of dollars, investigators say, but Minnesota was one of the active centers.

Midkiff’s attorney doesn’t deny Midkiff’s clients are victims. But he said he intends to show that Midkiff himself was duped by Travis Correll, an Atlanta man who ran a larger scheme called Horizon Establishment. Correll has admitted he ran a pyramid scheme and has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Families conned

The Joshua Tree scam, which operated from April 2004 to December 2005, spread mostly through families and friends.

Weyhrauch’s son, Randy, was suspicious at first. “It seemed too good to be true,” he said. He resisted the temptation to invest for more than a year. But as he watched neighbors and friends cash checks month after month, he became a believer.

However, after he sent his initial checks, a contract arrived that showed “amount donated,” instead of invested. He had never intended to donate money to Midkiff’s church, Shiloh Family Church, but figured it was a mistake. All of the contracts contained the same wording.

Then there was the time the Weyhrauchs invited some people from their own church in Forest Lake to meet with David Midkiff about investing. One of the guests had a license to sell financial products and asked some probing questions.

Neulan Midkiff called Randy later, angry. “He didn’t want those type of people involved because they just caused trouble and asked financial questions,” Randy Weyhrauch said. “But I’m very much a born-again Christian, and I thought I could trust somebody like that.”

Midkiff also persuaded Randy, who put about $160,000 into the pyramid scheme, to invest an undisclosed amount in an “insurance opportunity” in Texas called ABC Viatical. Federal authorities convicted its founder of fraud and its assets were frozen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2007.

Midkiff, aided by his son David and brother Jerry, told potential investors that a special arrangement allowed them to package smaller sums into $1 million blocks, which were then brought to banks in Madrid. By pooling money, the “little people” could get interest rates usually reserved for the wealthy, they said.

Investors had to sign a one-year contract. When it expired, they could let their investments ride or withdraw the principal without losing the “interest payments” they’d already received. The program was bonded and insured, Midkiff told them.

Profiting from scheme

But Midkiff and Correll were actually just sending back portions of clients’ original investments, or money obtained from new clients. Midkiff also was profiting from the scheme, according to prosecutors.

The onetime barber, roofer and construction worker bought a $1.3 million lake home, luxury cars and a motorhome, and paid himself about $3 million. The SEC has frozen his assets, and he is being represented by a public defender.

Most investors, like Cindy Weyhrauch, started small, contributing money first to Horizon, where Midkiff served as an “intermediary,” and later to spinoffs called Central Financial Services and Joshua Tree.

Midkiff’s attorney said in opening statements that the local spinoffs were all orchestrated by Correll. But several victims testified this week they were told by Midkiff he had “avoided the middleman” — Correll — and gone straight to the “traders” in Europe, getting them a better rate.

Because Cindy Weyhrauch got her monthly installments, and even her principal, back from Horizon, she felt comfortable enough with Midkiff to tap a fund she’d saved for a child with a developmental disability. It’s doubtful she will recover the more than $80,000 she invested.

While Midkiff was persuading Minnesotans to invest, his brother Jerry was in DeRidder, La., where the Midkiffs are originally from, selling to workers at the local Boise Cascade plant.

One was Allen Jeane, who attended the trial this week with his wife, two daughters and in-laws. After watching co-workers apparently reap the benefits of the program for 18 months, Jeane used his savings and tapped his 401K to get in.

“[Midkiff] said he was just hoping to help the little guy out and also do good with his ministries,” said Jeane, who lost most of his $35,000 investment.

Friend Kenneth Bailey recalls discussing Joshua Tree with Neulan Midkiff on the phone before cutting a check.

“He said, ‘We’re going to eradicate poverty one investment at a time, God bless you,’” said Bailey.

It’s unclear to what extent, if any, the money taken from investors was used for charitable purposes.

Outside the courtroom this week, his heavy losses didn’t stop Randy Weyhrauch from nodding and smiling at Midkiff as the two men passed in the hallway.

“God says I can’t forgive you unless you forgive,” Weyhrauch said. “Am I upset? Yes. But I forgive him.”

He says his faith has not been shaken by his dealings with Midkiff.

“My faith is not in Neulan,” Weyhrauch said. “It’s in God.”

From http://www.startribune.com/local/north/24795134.html?location_refer=Opinion

Come to church – win a semi-automatic assault rifle

KOCO TV reports….

“An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference.

Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event’s organizers was unable to attend.

The church’s youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it’s a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event. The church expected hundreds of teenagers from as far away as Canada.

“We have 21 hours of preaching and teaching throughout the week,” Ross said.

A video on the church Web site shows the shooting competition from last year’s conference. A gun giveaway was part of the event last year. This year, organizers included it in their marketing.

“I don’t want people thinking ‘My goodness, we’re putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn’t respect it who are then going to go out and kill,’” said Ross. “That’s not at all what we’re trying to do.”

Ross said the conference isn’t all about guns, but rather about teens finding faith.

“You make a lot of new friends down here,” said Vikki Goncharenko, who attended the conference. “You get to meet new people. There’s a bunch of things that are going on. It’s just, you have a wonderful time.”

Friday evening, Ross said the gun giveaway had been canceled. Pastor emeritus Jim Vineyard, who ran the event, injured his foot and wouldn’t be able to attend. The gun giveaway was also removed from the church Web site.

Ross said the church would give the gun away next year instead. He said the church spent $800 buying the gun for the promotion.”

From http://www.koco.com/news/16860079/detail.html

Todd Bentley’s ‘miracles’ examined

Video from US ABC Nightline…

Part 1

Part 2

The Catholic Church Fun Police

The Herald-Sun reports…

“World Youth Day is just a “happy party” that will not help pilgrims prepare for heaven, a group of traditionalist Catholics say.

Members of the Society of St Pius X argue the week-long event lacks anything truly holy or sacred – despite the attendance of Pope Benedict XVI.

The Reverend Father Peter Scott, rector of the Holy Cross Seminary near Goulburn, says the celebrations are too secular.

“The reason I’m not in favour of World Youth Day is because of what happens and what has consistently happened since this was initiated by Pope John Paul II,” Fr Scott told ABC Radio.
“It’s become an occasion for a very secular approach to religion.

“It’s become just a happy party … a week of parties and concerts and worldly activities with very little of anything that’s truly holy and sacred and prayerful or that’s profoundly Catholic for that matter.”

The Society of St Pius X grew out of opposition to Vatican II and remains in dispute with Rome over the church’s modernisation.

“We consider we are the mainstream, we are the true Catholics doing what the church has always done,” Fr Scott said.

The rector says the society’s traditional masses prepare members for heaven but the World Youth Day masses are a “very liberal, easy-going, secular, un-sacred kind of thing” which won’t.

The society has about 20 churches in Australia and an estimated 3,000 adherents.

In a Holy Cross Seminary newsletter, Fr Scott has written the “hidden life of the seminary … is sanctified by humility, regularity, prayer and work”……”

From http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24028717-662,00.html

Grassley probe finds ‘whistleblower intimidation’ – Investigated ministries begin ‘reforms’

The Chicago Tribune reports…

“Ministries headed by evangelists Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn are both changing the way they operate even as a Senate probe into alleged lavish spending by six prominent ministries continues, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Monday.

“Both Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn have indicated that they are instituting reforms without waiting for the committee to complete its review,” said Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, in an update on the investigation he began last year.

“Self-reform can be faster and more effective than government regulation.” Roby Walker, a spokesman for Joyce Meyer Ministries in Fenton, Mo., confirmed that changes are being made but could not release details on Tuesday.

Don Price, a spokesman for Benny Hinn Ministries in Grapevine, Texas, also declined to comment in detail but said “reforms and improved governance practices” were being shared with Grassley’s office.

Grassley’s update noted instances of “whistleblower intimidation” where former employees “have received phone calls reminding them of their confidentiality agreements and threatening lawsuits if the agreements are breached.”

Jill Gerber, a spokeswoman for the committee, would not disclose which ministries were involved in such calls, and declined to elaborate on the changes planned at Hinn’s and Meyer’s ministries.

Grassley’s update described the responses from Hinn and Meyer as “in good faith and substantively informative,” but said the others are “incomplete” or “not responsive.”

Broadcaster Kenneth Copeland has reportedly said his Texas-based ministry will not respond even if a subpoena is issued. Grassley’s memo said staffers are “consulting with Senate attorneys about next steps.”

In other cases, staffers continue to contact ministry lawyers and officials in hopes of further cooperation.

“Sen. Grassley still very much wants to avoid subpoenas and hopes that those ministries will agree that subpoenas would be an unnecessary step,” Gerber said.

The other ministries under investigation are: Bishop Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.; Creflo Dollar Ministries in College Park, Ga., and Randy and Paula White, who co-pastored Without Walls International Church in Tampa, Fla.”

From http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/religion/chi-religgrassley-story,0,4793908.story

The full text of Senator Grassley’s update to the media can be found at http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=fe9bb4ff-e266-e111-a62f-f246986f15ce&Month=7&Year=2008

Todd Bentley ‘resting’

God TV announces…..

“Fresh Fire Ministries announced yesterday that Todd Bentley would be taking some time off to refresh and to rest from the Florida Outpouring after nearly one hundred days of ministry. The Lakeland meetings will continue and Todd will remain the leader of this move of God.

GOD TV as the exclusive broadcast partner in the outpouring knows our viewers have been incredibly blessed through our nightly broadcasts with many lives changed, bodies healed and souls refreshed – we have thousands of e-mails testifying to the work of God in your lives.

We will continue to stream the LIVE services from Lakeland every night on our website ( www.god.tv/stream  – the Florida Healing Stream) and also make available the most recent service via our on demand platform. However we will take the opportunity to rearrange our broadcast schedules and bring you some incredible primetime programming – including the 2008 Hillsong Australia Conference EXCLUSIVELY on GOD TV, Rodney Howard Browne’s Summer Campmeetings LIVE and many more programmes – PLUS highlights of some of the best nights from the Lakeland Outpouring – this will also all form part of our Battle For Britain initiative in the UK.

We will make another announcement once Todd is fully refreshed and rested about the resumption of our LIVE broadcasts from Lakeland – but until then, you can continue to enjoy the nightly meetings LIVE at www.god.tv/stream  and if you are watching on GOD TV then you have lots of great programmes to look forward to plus highlights from the outpouring…….”

From http://www.god.tv/eblast08-07-11-todd

Marketing social justice – Hill$ong style

“Integrity Music and RELEVANT Magazine offer the travel and worship opportunity of a lifetime for an American Hillsong United fan with the new online sweepstakes contest at http://www.RELEVANTmagazine.com The I Heart Revolution Escape Down Under Giveaway will offer a Grand Prize of an all expense-paid trip for two to the Hillsong United Encounterfest Conference to be held in Sydney, Australia in October.

The seven-day/six-night Grand Prize trip includes airfare, hotel, transportation, meals and complimentary registration to the Encounterfest Conference, the event from which Hillsong United produces its live CDs.

In addition to the Grand Prize trip giveaway, a first place contest winner receives an autographed guitar and the complete Hillsong United catalogue of 8 CDs. 25 second place winners receive copies of both The I Heart Revolution CD and DVD.

The contest, which runs through August 21st, 2008, was created to promote Hillsong United’s upcoming DVD release of We’re All In This Together which hits stores on September 2.

We’re All In This Together is the second part of a three-part action plan for The I Heart Revolution ( http://www.theiheartrevolution.com ) that also included the April release of the With Hearts As One double-disc CD. Both the CD, which captures the “sound” of global worship, and the DVD, which captures the “visual”, are aimed at creating awareness for phase three – the development of an online community and social justice hub set to launch concurrently with the DVD release.

“We created the I Heart Revolution Down Under Escape Giveaway contest as a fun way to put a spotlight on Hillsong United’s new movement – The I Heart Revolution,” said Chris Estes, Director of Digital Marketing & Sales. “RELEVANTmagazine.com was a great partner for this contest, because like RELEVANT, Hillsong United is a leading voice for the younger generation. Both the magazine and the band strive to show that the way to lead a revolution that brings changes in our culture is through a relationship with God.”

From http://www.yourmusiczone.com/go/ymz/news_more/integrity_music_and_relevant_magazine_partner_to_send_hillsong_united_fan_t/

The way things are going, they’re gonna crucify me

The Telegraph reports….

“John Lennon famously claimed the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, even predicting that Christianity would “vanish and shrink”.

But 28 years after his death, in an interview being broadcast for the first time, he claims that on the contrary, he hoped to encourage people to focus on the Christian faith.

Despite his familiar image as a hippy icon who invited us to imagine a world without religion, Lennon says he was “one of Christ’s biggest fans” and felt emotional in church.

In the interview, which was recorded in 1969 and is being aired on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme, he talks about the Church of England, his vision of heaven, and expresses disappointment at not being allowed to marry his second wife, Yoko Ono, in church.

The interview was conducted by Ken Seymour of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation when Lennon and Ono were at the Bed-In for Peace protest in Montreal. It was bought three years ago by National Museums Liverpool, which is playing an extract at a new exhibition at World Museum Liverpool.

Christians around the world had been dismayed by Lennon’s boast in an article in London’s Evening Standard about the popularity of the Beatles, but the singer says he was misunderstood.

“It’s just an expression meaning the Beatles seem to me to have more influence over youth than Christ,” he says. “Now I wasn’t saying that was a good idea, ‘cos I’m one of Christ’s biggest fans. And if I can turn the focus on the Beatles on to Christ’s message, then that’s what we’re here to do.”

He blames “the hypocrites” for being too “uptight” in reacting to his comments. “If the Beatles get on the side of Christ, which they always were, and let people know that, then maybe the churches won’t be full, but there’ll be a lot of Christians dancing in the dance halls. Whatever they celebrate, God and Christ, I don’t think it matters as long as they’re aware of Him and His message.”

He acknowledges a strong belief in the power of prayer but says he dislikes all the church trappings. “Community praying is probably very powerful… I’m just against the hypocrisy and the hat-wearing and the socialising and the tea parties.”

His aversion to institutional religion was shaped when a “ludicrous” vicar banned him from a church when he was 14 because he and his friends were “having the giggles”.

“I wasn’t convinced of the vicar’s sincerity anyway. But I knew it was the house of God. So I went along for that and the atmosphere always made me feel emotional and religious or whatever you call it.

“Being thrown out of church for laughing was the end of the Church for me.”

He continues: “I would have liked to have been married in a church but they wouldn’t marry divorcees… That’s pure hypocrisy.” The Church’s position on the issue changed in 2002.

On heaven, he says: “I haven’t got any sort of dream of a physical heaven where there’s lots of chocolate and pretty women in nightgowns, playing harps. I believe you can make heaven within your own mind. The kingdom of heaven is within you, Christ said, and I believe that.”

The author Paul Du Noyer, who has written extensively on the Beatles, said: “He was chastened by the reaction he got to his Jesus remarks and it probably made him think more carefully about religion.

“These comments would have been a great boost for churches if they had come out at the time.”

From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2298584/’Bigger-than-Jesus-The-Beatles-were-a-Christian-band’.html

Grassley probe progress

The Des Moines Register reports….

“Sen. Charles Grassley issued a memo Monday saying that his staff is consulting with Senate lawyers about “next steps” to take in an increasingly acrimonious investigation of the finances of televangelist Kenneth Copeland’s ministry.

While the Iowa Republican did not specifically threaten a subpoena of the Texas-based ministry, that is a tool Congress could use to compel Copeland to provide information. Copeland has said he would resist a subpoena “and that’s something I’ll go to prison over.

Grassley also said ministries that are not cooperating appear to be heeding the advice of lawyers who are not familiar with the concept of congressional oversight.

“These attorneys who aren’t part of the ministries themselves have a natural incentive to prolong the process as long as possible,” Grassley said in a written statement.

Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has been looking into the finances of six tax-exempt ministries since late 2007.

He asked for detailed information about ministry spending from each, based on information he had received from news reports and whistle-blowers.

Some of the ministries and their supporters have objected, saying that Grassley is trying to tear down the wall of separation between church and state and is asking for confidential information, or that an investigation is the responsibility of the Internal Revenue Service, not Congress.

“The most successful nonprofit organizations recognize the need for transparency about their operations and accountability to their donors and the taxpaying public,” Grassley said Monday. “They appreciate that Congress has a responsibility to review the effectiveness and fairness of tax laws for taxpayers and tax-exempt groups alike.”

The memo from Grassley’s office said two of the six ministries, Joyce Meyer Ministries and Benny Hinn’s World Healing Center Church, provided responses that were “in good faith and substantively informative.”

Another two ministries, Without Walls International Church and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church/Eddie Long Ministries, are talking with Senate staff members about responses to remaining questions, the memo said.

But Copeland submitted only partial responses to most questions and did not respond to any questions about compensation, the memo said.

In addition, Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International “have declined to provide any of the requested information,” the memo said.

Grassley has never ruled out issuing subpoenas, though he has said he has never had to do so in investigations of other nonprofits through the committee.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries, whose spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, said in a statement posted on its Web site in April that it made a “sincere and good- faith effort” to respond to Grassley.

The church answered 17 of 42 questions posed by Grassley and declined to answer the rest because of privacy and constitutionality concerns, the statement said.

The Grassley memo also says that preliminary research by Senate staff has found that there are almost 100 entities related to the six churches as well as the ministers. It’s unclear whether they are nonprofit or for-profit, or whether they conduct activities directly with churches – which affects their standing under tax laws.

There are also concerns about whether churches are complying with tax laws when determining compensation for ministers, the memo said, and that churches may be awarding minister status to members just so they can claim tax-free housing benefits.”

From http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080708/NEWS09/807080362/-1/BUSINESS04

Don’t look, Bethel

The West Australian reports….

“A controversial Catholic community will close down in the wake of an apology by Perth’s Archbishop over his handling of allegations against it, some involving sexual impropriety.   

The Bethel Covenant Community, a lay Catholic organisation in Perth, said today recent misconduct and longer term structural, cultural and behavioural issues made its existence unjustifiable.   

“We deeply regret that the original genuine Christian mission of the community has been subverted by certain actions and activities that the remaining members of the community find totally unacceptable and do not condone,” Bethel interim chairman Rob Crothers said on its website.   

The closure of the community comes just days before the Pope’s visit to Australia, and amid pressure on the Catholic church’s senior figure in Australia, Cardinal George Pell, over his handling of sex abuse claims.   

The Bethel Covenant Community has been the subject this year of allegations of sexual impropriety, financial irregularities and “cult-like” activities.  

Among its controversial practices, members were strongly discouraged from seeking sexual or romantic partners outside the group, were subject to excessive leadership styles and, allegedly, to sexual misconduct.   

In a recent complaint about sexual misconduct, a woman said she raised her top in defiance of a leader’s continued interest in her breasts.   

The leader named in the complaint, and after other complaints of a sexual nature, has since stood down from the organisation.

The allegations yesterday drew an extraordinary apology from Perth’s Archbishop Barry Hickey, who admitted he had responded “inadequately” to issues raised with him in 2000, but which also date back to 1994.   

He said recent publicity had revealed some people were still suffering from experiences they had while members of the community.   

“I deeply regret that and I am sorry for any part I might have played in it,” Archbishop Hickey said.   

“Those who brought me their assessment of the situation in 2000 were entitled to expect that I would investigate their concerns more fully.
  
“On reflection, it is clear to me that I could have done much more for the Bethel people than I did. For this I apologise.”  

Archbishop Hickey denied any deceit by him or by Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton, who earlier this year heard complaints about sexual misconduct which led in March to the resignation of the community’s leader.   

He said a review of the community in 1994 had raised complaints about the leader’s style of management, the excessive control of members and inadequate reporting on finances.   

Archbishop Hickey said in the years before 2000 he had had “extensive contact” with Bethel leaders over  controversial practices such as restrictions on who members dated, and on guidance by the leader to married couples about intimate sexual matters.   

But he said the review in 1994 was mainly about the style of management, the dating policy, and spiritual direction – not about sexual complaints.   

Bethel leaders had also strongly defended their practices, he said.   

A spokesman for Archbishop Hickey said today the community’s decision was one only it could make, but he agreed with it.    West Australian police say none of the recent complaints have led to any charges.   

The Bethel community says its net assets will be transferred to other charitable organisations.”

From http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=83876

Shout to the false Lord. A Hill$ong Conference clanger.

Hill$ong Conference 2008 featured an on-stage performance of the traditional New Zealand Maori dance Haka.

Its spiritual roots are in a mythical false god.

“According to Maori ethos, Tama-nui-to-ra, the Sun God, had two wives, Hine-raumati, the Summer maid, and Hine takurua, the Winter maid. The child born to him and Hine-raumati was Tane-rore, who is credited with the origin of the dance…..”

(Haka performance at 2:10 mark of video)

Joel Osteen at Hill$ong Conference 2009

‘Where is Jesus in WYD08?’

The Sydney Morning Herald reports….

“The first of the annoying T-shirt brigade has arrived at the official World Youth Day merchandising tent.

Alan Hockey and Michael Gravener – who help run the Share the Meal charitable group at St Vincent’s Catholic Church in Redfern – said yesterday that they wanted to voice their protest against the commercialisation of World Youth Day.

Mr Gravener inspected official “I Love Jesus” T-shirts while wearing an orange T-shirt he had bought online, saying: “Where is Jesus in WYD08?”

“This is actually one of the first times I’ve actually seen Jesus mentioned in the whole promotion of the event,” he said.

Mr Hockey said he would not buy any of the official merchandise.”They’re selling Guy Sebastian CDs but no one has stopped to ask what he actually practises. He’s not Catholic – he’s from the Hillsong Church and there’s a big difference. We’re Catholic and we will protest against anything that doesn’t put Jesus at the centre of the faith.”

Meanwhile, the owner of a shop selling protest T-shirts has received a telephone death threat.

Tim Boffa, of Bang-On T-shirts in Bondi Junction, began selling shirts emblazoned with the word “Annoying” after laws were introduced giving police powers to crack down on protesters at World Youth Day.

His shop is displaying a mannequin dressed in an “annoying” T-shirt, with the face of the Premier, Morris Iemma.

He has not had a police visit but he said someone rang threatening to kill him and his family and burn down his shop. “I find that really weird, because I haven’t said anything to criticise the religion or the event or the Pope. It’s a protest against the [new] laws.”

From http://www.smh.com.au/news/worldyouyouthday/faithful-get-annoyed-over-merchandise/2008/07/07/1215282747311.html

Hill$ong gets Franc with Noah’s Ark

Brandon Collins blogs…..

“……Went to Hillsong London of Paris. Apparently this was a plant of Hillsong’s (in Australia) church plant in London. I found out later that when when the church first began, folks took the Eurostar over from London every Friday to put it on!

Now they do church twice a month on Sundays and every Friday night, so I’m looking forward to going this Friday.

Anyway, the church is just down the street so Tom and I rode the Tram until the line ended, and then walked just a couple minutes. Walking up to the church, I could hear music pouring out and the woman standing at the door greeted us with a friendly “Bonjour!”

We walked in and found our seat. Lyrics were on the screen in french and english, though I think the first song was french. Anyway, we sang about 50% in english and then 50% in french. Mostly all Hillsong songs.

A man came up and gave a little teaching about why we should give, which was great. Based it on the passage where God commands Noah to build the Ark and makes the connection that God commands us to give, and just as Noah saved those who entered the ark through his obedience, those that enter God’s house that we build through our contributions are also saved. It was something I hadn’t thought about in a long time……”

From http://brandonmichaelcollins.blogspot.com/2008/07/art-and-church.html

Hill$ong Conference Opens

The Sydney Morning Herald reports…

“Australia’s biggest congregation proved the potency of Christianity with a pop-culture twist by drawing thousands of people to the opening of its annual conference last night with a high-volume pop-rock beat and a call to end poverty.

More than 24,000 Christians from 21 denominations around Australia and 70 other countries will attend the five-day 22nd Hillsong Conference at Acer Arena, taking part in workshops on church leadership, the creative arts and evangelism.

Last night’s opening began with a light show, choirs and the public debut of the soloist Katherine Vassalakis, singing U2’s One against a backdrop of a throbbing red heart.

Bible in hand, Hillsong’s worship pastor, Darlene Zschech, and the Hillsong band brought the stadium to its feet with their brand of energetic worship.

The event served as a warm-up act to World Youth Day, heralded by the arrival on Sunday of Pope Benedict on his first visit to Australia. Although they are miles apart in theology and musical tradition, the Catholic Church is borrowing Hillsong’s headline act for World Youth Day in its own attempt at mass youth evangelism. Ms Zschech and her band will perform at a concert held after the Stations of the Cross on Friday, July 18.

The first winner of Australian Idol , Guy Sebastian, who came from Adelaide’s Pentecostal Paradise Community Church, has written World Youth Day’s theme song.

Hillsong, accused by some of preaching self-absorbed Christianity, focused for the second year on the scriptures’ call for social justice – traditional ground of the Catholic Church.

Tim Costello, chief executive of World Vision Australia, welcomed conference delegates.

Mr Costello, who has just returned from Burma, praised Bono as a prophet of the movement to eliminate global poverty. “Bono understands we cannot make poverty history unless the church rises up.”

He said Australians had won the lottery of life by being born in a country with ample food, opportunities and universal health.

The senior pastor of Hillsong, Brian Houston, said the word justice and the responsibility it implied was a key message of the conference.”

http://www.smh.com.au/news/worldyouyouthday/thousands-flock-for-god-and-rock/2008/07/07/1215282747305.html

And the Hill$ong press release says….

“The opening night of Hillsong Conference 2008 set the tone for a week themed with justice, community action and a call to unity within the Church.

Guests and delegates were treated to a spectacular opening, including a moving rendition of U2’s hit song ‘ONE’.  Against the backdrop of a giant red heart, the powerful praise and worship, accompanied by confronting images, stirred people towards a more intimate relationship with God and closer community with one another.

Hillsong Senior Pastor Brian Houston introduced Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia, who welcomed delegates to the 22nd annual conference and challenged them to act on their faith by reaching out to the community and the broken world around them.  

“Making poverty history is the great mission of the Church,” he said. Every Australian had won first prize in life’s lottery by having access to clean water, health care and universal education, he said, in stark contrast to many impoverished nations across the world.

During the opening session, Pastor Robert Barriger, a missionary in Peru for 25 years, called the Church to action. Urging delegates to step up to the next level, he said: “If you just go, ordinary people can do something extra-ordinary.”

Pastor Robert and his rapidly-growing Lima church, Camino de Vida are involved in a range of social justice projects across the nation, including child health initiatives and the distribution of more than 40,000 wheelchairs to the physically challenged.

Speaking at Hillsong Conference for the first time, Judah Smith, pastor of Seattle’s Generations Church, brought a dynamic word to the stage, as his quick humour and captivating story telling unfolded the parable of the prodigal son.

Hillsong Conference runs from 7-11 July at Acer Arena, and this year welcomes many sought-after Christian speakers, including Joyce Meyer and Joseph Prince.

This year 24,000 delegates from 21 denominations and 70 countries will attend the main conference, the Jam United youth conference and the Kidsong World children’s conference.”

http://www2.hillsong.com/church/default.asp?pid=2389

Remember, Gloria Jean’s boss Nabi Saleh is a director of Kenneth Copeland’s Eagle Mountain Church

The Times reports….

“It is not yours, it is God’s, and you are not going to get it.” So saith Kenneth Copeland, the television evangelist, when asked to submit his ministry’s private financial records to Washington.

Mr Copeland is one of at least six American “televangelists” facing the scrutiny of a senate investigation for alleged financial wrongdoing. The Eagle Mountain International Church – otherwise known as the Kenneth Copeland Ministries – preaches a doctrine of financial prosperity, with the promise that God can make a follower both healthy and wealthy. The faithful are encouraged to dig deep and give to the Church, where donated dollars will provide a one hundredfold return in happiness and wealth.

As Mr Copeland’s televised congregation listen to their minister boom, “You are not created for poverty,” they deposit cash in a donation envelope across which is written: “I am sowing $____ and believing for a hundredfold return.”

Mr Copeland certainly practises what he preaches. According to a report into the pentecostal charismatics, commissioned by the Senate, the ministry built Mr Copeland and his wife Gloria a mansion “the size of an hotel” and enabled him to acquire a $20 million (£10 million) Cessna Citation to help him to spread the word of God across the US.

Speaking to his assembled congregation on the runway by his new aeroplane, Mr Copeland said: “The Lord spoke to me and said ‘you’re gonna believe for a Citation 10, right now’.” He also promised that the jet, one of four owned by the Church, “will never ever be used as for anything other than what is becoming of you Lord Jesus”.

The ministry also owns an airport capable of accepting jet landings, leases land for Mr Copeland’s cattle and horses and also leases land to the family so that it can operate oil and gas wells.

Last year Senator Charles Grassley, a Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee, began an inquiry into at least six televangelists and commissioned a report by the Trinity Foundation, a firm of private investigators who specialise in religious fraud. The Senate has requested financial information from the churches, and broadly, they have refused to comply.

Mr Grassley is worried that the church ministers may be over-compensating themselves, diverting church funds, or trying to use a non-profit organisation to run an ordinary business. While the churches have complained that they have been unfairly singled out for scrutiny and have accused Mr Grassley of McCarthyism, the real row centres not around religion, but around tax. Under US law, there are many institutions which enjoy tax-exempt status, such as private charities, certain academic foundations and religious institutions. Most of them are required to disclose details of their finances, such as executive compensation, annual revenues, profits, assets and total operating costs. Churches however, are not required to disclose any details of their finances.

When Mr Grassley launched his investigation, he quipped that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, not in a Rolls-Royce, but insisted that the purpose of his inquiry was to make sure that the churches were behaving as non-profit organisations and that they were complying with tax laws.

He said: “They are non-profits, like anybody else I have looked into. I have sent them some letters because I want some information.”

While a spokesman for Mr Grassley told The Times at the end of last week that the senator is hoping that the inquiry will force the churches to adopt “self-governance reforms”, the tone of the Trinity Foundation report is more extreme.

In the report, its author, Ole Anthony, writes of these types of churches: “Simply put, a massive amount of money given by well-meaning donors is intercepted by the organisation’s hierarchy and often never reaches the people who were to benefit according to the non-profit charter. The problem …is exacerbated by a lack of disclosure and transparency as well as understaffing with the exempt organisations division of the IRS [Internal Revenue Service].” The report also asserted that “in most of these cases only a miniscule part of the organisation is related to religious worship”.

While Shane Hamilton, the lawyer representing Mr Copeland and his church, declined to comment, the ministry insists that it has done nothing wrong and has pointed out that other than demands from the senate committee, it is facing no other allegations or inquiries regarding any financial irregularities.

Mr Copeland has instead invited the US tax authorities to conduct an audit. It is not yet known whether the IRS intends to conduct its own inquiry. One advantage of an IRS audit is that all such tax inquiries are strictly confidential, and would prevent details of the churches’ finances becoming public.

In a television interview last month, Mr Copeland’s son John hit back at allegations of financial impropriety:

“The jet is a tool. It is just a tool to use in ministry. Where in the Bible does it say you should have watchdogs and judgment groups that watch over ministries?”

From http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4281949.ece

The Catholic World Youth Day ’scandal’

The Sydney Morning Herald reports…

“A Catholic priest has said the money being spent on World Youth Day is an embarrassment and a scandal.

Father Peter Confeggi, a parish priest at Mount Druitt, said there was also a “large amount of dissatisfaction” with the spirituality that will be taught during the event, with many fearing it would be a right-wing brand of Catholicism.

Others within the church who did not want to be named told The Sun-Herald of similar concerns about the six-day event, which will cost the church an estimated $150million and NSW taxpayers at least $86million.

“There is a great dissatisfaction with the Restorationist spirituality, which is also devoid of any commitment to social justice,” Father Confeggi said.

Father Confeggi said his parish was one of the most disadvantaged in Sydney. He said the church and state funds could be directed elsewhere, including to the 120,000 people sleeping homeless in Australia or education of the disadvantaged.

“To keep the church doors open here in Mount Druitt we scratch week after week after week,” he said.

“The bottom line is this is a gross embarrassment to the church that I serve.”

Father Confeggi said it was an “utter scandal” that a chalice, Communion plate and vessel to hold Communion hosts – adorned by Argyle diamonds and being made for a rumoured six-figure sum – would be given to the Pope.

Yesterday Bishop Kevin Manning, the Bishop of Parramatta and member of the local organising committee for the event, defended it, saying it was “an investment in the future of the Church and society”.

“World Youth Day is about renewing the faith and ideals of young people so that they, too, will work for social justice and charity and will carry forward the works of the Church in these areas,” he said. “The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education, health care and welfare services for the disadvantaged in Australia and the world and we want to ensure that such works continue and are strengthened in the future.”

He said World Youth Day would “renew Australia’s commitment to a fair go, produce a new generation of leaders committed to justice and charity, and also guarantee that the significant contribution the church makes to the care of the most disadvantaged continues”.

From http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/catholic-day-a-scandal/2008/07/05/1214951110473.html

Hill$ong buddy Jesse Duplantis says being gay is a choice, like being a serial killer.

“Following are excerpts from a recent interview the [Long Beach, California] Press-Telegram conducted with Duplantis.

- You used to be a member of the board of regents at Oral Roberts University. In November, university president Richard Roberts resigned amid allegations in a lawsuit that he misused university funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle. Why did you resign your regent position in December?

I knew they were going to wipe the board out and start over under a new leadership. If they wanted to take the college in a new direction, that’s fine. I won’t stand in their way.

- Your decision didn’t have anything to do with a lawsuit that alleges former university president Richard Roberts had misused university funds?

No. If somebody says something bad about somebody, I’m not going to say someone is a bad guy until we know for sure that these things happened.

- In your new book, “The Everyday Visionary,” you urge readers to develop mental road maps that will carry them toward a better, more rewarding life. How is your advice new from the advice of a good therapist or motivational speaker?

The difference between me and them is what I’m saying is working. I am the architect of my life. I determine … That’s not positive thinking or positive speaking, it just is what it is.

- Long Beach has one of California’s largest gay populations. What are your opinions on gay people?

“It’s not what I say, but it’s what God says about gay people. I’m not against people, but if God said something … . Life is a system of choices. A serial killer becomes a serial killer by choosing to become one. It’s the same thing with losing weight, it’s a choice. It’s just that simple.

- Are you comparing someone who’s a serial killer or someone wanting to lose weight to being gay?

No. I’m saying life is a series of choices. I don’t compare any of them. Who would I compare them to? Every decision in life is a choice.

- The California Supreme Court recently legalized gay marriage. Do you agree with that decision?

I’m not in favor of it. Marriage should be between a man and a woman. God created us to create and Adam and Steve cannot create but Adam and Eve can.

- But that’s a religious issue and we’re talking about the legal system.

First, you cannot substitute the Constitution of the United States for God’s word. But I tell you what, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are great documents. I know marriage should be between a man and a woman for one reason. If everyone was created gay, you couldn’t have any more children. We would eventually die out. God wants us to procreate…..”

From http://www.presstelegram.com/lifestyle/ci_9746652

Ripping yarns

Religion News Service reports….

“Artist Berenice Rarig plays with anything at hand.

Words. Bones. Coffee filters.

But her husband’s 1863 family Bible?

The Australia-based missionary came across the Bible one day as she was trying to figure out how to start a conversation with fellow students and professors at the Curtin University of Technology in Perth, where she says most consider Christianity as outdated a practice as indigenous rain dances.

Rarig held the old Bible in her hand, its leather cover worn from generations of her husband’s family’s hands, its pages hallowed by supporting 150 years of believers’ prayers.

How could she make this book precious to her secular friends? How could she demonstrate the wholeness of her faith?

She opened the Bible to the beginning, where illuminated letters started the first book, Genesis, where God brings order out of chaos.

Her hands grasped the gilt-edged pages.

And pulled.

Rarig still remembers the pain of pulling apart that old Bible. Was that any way for a missionary to act?

The Rarigs are church planters for Mission to the World, an arm of the Presbyterian Church in America. Stephen Rarig has planted churches and helped start a seminary and she, as the daughter of Salvation Army officers, grew up in Australia, England and Jackson, Miss.

Rarig, a doctoral candidate in fine arts, says explaining her own artistic approach to ministry to Christians is sometimes as difficult as explaining the gospel to atheists.

But in both cases, she starts from the same place.

“With love,” she said as she sat in her sister’s kitchen in Meridianville. “I go where they are and start with what they understand.”

Rarig knew her fellow artists would appreciate the value of a family heirloom. And they would understand how much it would cost her to deconstruct it.

Rarig determined to turn something that was beautiful in her eyes into something beautiful in theirs.

Rarig tore the book of Genesis into one-inch squares. She wove the squares into scarlet silk fibers, making a 20-foot cloth that floats with words and glows with light.

When she put it into the hands of her professor, the professor, an expert in textiles, spread the cloth with a gentle wonder.

“I would never in a million years open a Bible,” she told Rarig. “But because you have presented it this way, I want to read what is on every square.”

Looking for ways to present the gospel to those who question its validity has deepened Rarig’s own faith.

Time and again, she has returned from class to study her Bible and talk to her husband about what they believe. Time and again, either through her conceptual art or her own performance art, she has figured out a way to lovingly turn postmodern philosophy on its head.

One of her performance art characters, Dr. Frieda Puess, takes the nihilism of modernist thought to absurd conclusions. Another, Icara Oubliette, wears a bird cage in her hair peopled with wishbones: a cathedral for one.

She has also displayed an eight-foot tower made of about 50,000 wishbones, and a piece she calls “Emulation: Flightless Human,” a human-sized skeleton constructed of the bones of the flightless emu and perched on a bird’s swing.

In her lecture, Oubliette explains she has figured out how to cheat fate: She pulls a wishbone only with herself. She ignores the fact that she also always gets the losing end as well.

Rarig found herself returning to the gentle curves of a wishbone, the bone of flight for a bird, after attending a mission conference in Atlanta where a young African woman rode an elevator to the 50th floor, and then cast herself over a railing into the atrium below.

The memory of that suicide is behind Rarig’s meditations on the ways human beings attempt unprotected flight.

“I love to plant ideas in people’s heads,” Rarig said. “My own Protestant tradition tends to withdraw from those who have different views and erect walls. But grace, rather than stepping back from those who have differing views, steps toward, and finds ways to include.”

From http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/jul/03/method-to-the-madness/

Todd Bentley assaults cancer patient

I bet these pastors soon start appealing for more money to cover the rising cost of jet fuel

World Magazine reports…..

“Billionaire Warren Buffet became one of the richest men in the world by knowing what adds value to a corporation and what does not. And one of the things that does not, he has argued for years, is a corporate jet: They’re a luxury in almost every case and a necessity for only a few. He often railed against them in the annual reports of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, and elsewhere.

That’s why, when Berkshire Hathaway finally bought a corporate jet in 1989, he somewhat ashamedly called it “The Indefensible.”

But try telling that to Fred Price, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, Benny Hinn, or Kenneth Copeland. Their organizations are among more than 30 churches and Christian ministries with luxury jets …..according to a WORLD investigation. And according to Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation, a Dallas-based ministry watchdog, ownership and use of luxury jets is one of the surest indicators that donor money is not being used for ministry purposes.

“There are incredible abuses of these corporate jets for personal use,” Anthony said. “Mind-bending abuse that they do with impunity.”

Using ministry resources for personal use is prohibited by IRS regulations, but the IRS almost never investigates tax-exempt organizations. Of the more than 1 million tax-exempt organizations in the country, fewer than 10,000 get audited each year. When a media organization uncovers abuses of an executive jet for personal purposes, Anthony said, the televangelists say they’ve reimbursed the ministry.

“But it’s just a claim,” Anthony said. “They are not required to, and almost never do, provide anything that resembles real documentation of the claim.”

All six of the televangelists under investigation for potential abuse of their tax-exempt status by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Sen. Charles Grassley (WORLD, Nov. 17, 2007; Jan. 26, 2008; May 31, 2008 ) are connected with luxury corporate jets. Eagle Mountain International Church, associated with Kenneth Copeland, owns three, including a Cessna 750, the fastest civilian airplane available in the world. (It’s often called the Citation X.)

Paula and Randy White’s Without Walls International Church bought a Gulfstream II jet for about $1.5 million in 2006. Before then, the Whites frequently chartered planes.

The flight records of lesser-known Jesse Duplantis allow a glimpse into this jet-setting ministry world. The Louisiana-based televangelist with a shock of silvery-white hair, a Cajun accent, and an exuberant style—in his youth he was a guitarist in heavy metal rock bands—has been preaching since the late 1970s. His current vehicle of choice is a Falcon 50, the only plane in its class with three jet engines.

The Falcon 50 is considered a “super-medium” or “long-range” plane, one able to go almost 3,000 miles between refuelings. When Duplantis bought the plane in 2006, he wrote in his ministry’s magazine that it was an “amazing tool for world evangelism.” In September of that year he took the plane to Russia for a series of meetings and preaching events, and he’s averaged four flights per week over the last two years: His director of marketing, Michael Wright, said commercial airlines “can’t get us from point A to B to C to D at the times we need to be there. For us, the plane is a necessity.”

The necessity is expensive. Neither Wright nor the spokesmen for other televangelists with jets would disclose to WORLD the total costs of owning them, which can vary widely. Used “entry level” jets can be found for less than $2 million, while new top-end jets can sell for more than $50 million.

The “fully loaded” costs for these jets (including insurance and depreciation) can easily go over $10,000 per hour, and even for the low-end jets are almost never less than $2,000 per hour. For most owners, that translates to a cost of several million dollars a year, even with minimal usage…….

………Organization: Type of Aircraft (Tail Number)

Agape Church: Cessna 500 (N700VC)
Creflo Dollar/World Changers Church: Learjet 25B (N65A)
Dave Roever/Roever Evangelistic Assocation: Learjet 25D (N43DR)
Eagle Mountain Int’l Church: Cessna 500 N501KG; Cessna 550 (N888H)S; Cessna 750 (N1962J)
Fred Price/Crenshaw Christian Center: Grumman G-1159 (N132FP)
From the Heart Church Ministries: Gulfstream G-1159A (N357PR)
Greg Powe Ministries: Rockwell NA-265-60 (N141SL)
Jerry Savelle Ministries: Cessna 500 (N715JS)
Jesse Duplantis Ministries: Dassault Falcon 50 (N770JD)
John Hagee Ministries: Cessna 650 (N800GM)
Joyce Meyer Ministries: Canadair CL-600 (N7JM)
Kenneth Hagin Jr./Rhema Bible Church: Canadair CL-600-2B16 (N91KH)
Leroy Thompson Sr./Word of Life Christian Center: Cessna 650 (N818DE)
Mark Cowart/Church for All Nations: Learjet 24D (N929MC)
Michael Freeman/Spirit of Faith Christian Center: Grumman G-1159 (N685SF)
Moore Life Ministries: Cessna 421C N74KP; Cessna 560 (N61KM)
Nahum Rosario/Maranatha World Revival: Cessna 550 (N741T)
Paula White/Without Walls Int’l Church: Grumman G-1159 (N374PS)
Tony Brazelton/Victory Christian Ministries: Rockwell NA-265-60 (N1GM)
Word of Faith Christian Center: Learjet 24D (N711PC); Hawker HS-125-700A (N225BJ)
Word of God Fellowship: Cessna 550 (N717DT) “

From http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14174

City of Sydney says Hill$ong is ‘positive’ and ‘a good thing’

ABC Online reports….

“The City of Sydney says it would welcome the Hillsong Church’s presence in the area.

Hillsong has withdrawn a controversial application for the development of a seven-storey office building and a church with 2,700 seats at Rosebery.

The church was told the $78 million development at Rosebery exceeded height and parking limits and would have caused traffic problems.

Giovanni Cirillo from the City of Sydney says the church will probably submit another application.

“The development application was independently assessed and it found a number of key non-compliances with height, with floor space, with car parking and traffic generation,” he said.

“There were particular concerns with that site, but the prospect of Hillsong being located in our local government area is a positive and a good thing.”

Mr Cirillo says the controversial application was scheduled to be discussed at a council meeting tonight.

“This particular application, this is the end of it, it has been withdrawn and is complete,” he said.

“But Hillsong have indicated that they are very interested in pursuing an application in the general area, in particular in the Green Square development area.”

From http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/03/2293428.htm

Hogan Hero – Rhema whistleblower takes on McCauley

South Africa’s The Times reports….

The “unchristian” spirit within the Rhema Bible Church was on display in court this week when an elderly pastor sought protection from the megachurch.

Pastor Brian Hogan was suspended from his R17000-a-month job at the Randburg, Johannesburg, church after voicing doubts about its R3.5-million splurge on a luxury apartment — allegedly in contravention of tax laws.

On Wednesday, the Labour Court in Johannesburg granted Hogan, who was suspended in April after exposing the deal, an interim interdict that prevents the church from taking disciplinary action.

The order was granted to allow Hogan to argue why he was entitled to protection under the Protected Disclosures Act, commonly known as the whistle-blowers’ act.

Hogan, 61, angered church leader Ray McCauley when he questioned the legality of the deal with other senior members of staff.

In court papers, Hogan said he alerted colleagues to his concerns about whether the church, as a public benefit organisation, was allowed to spend money on a property that would not be used for God’s work.

He did this after McCauley’s then estranged wife, Zelda, called the church office threatening to “expose” McCauley and to “take him down”. The McCauleys separated briefly late last year.

Hogan believed she was referring to the purchase of the Umhlanga apartment.

McCauley sold the property to the church in May 2005, two days after he bought a R6.5-million mansion in La Lucia.

“McCauley and his wife benefited substantially by selling the apartment to (the church) as they did not incur any estate agent’s commission costs, which would have been close to R200000,” said Hogan.

Hogan told church members and officials of his suspicions and asked them to investigate.

However, he asked them not to disclose his identity because he feared McCauley’s reaction. He said his “fear of McCauley” was “well founded”.

Hogan and his wife, Audrey, the church leader’s long-serving PA, had witnessed McCauley’s behaviour and knew that he would “descend into a violent rage and have us removed from the staff if he discovered that we had made the disclosure”.

“Audrey has witnessed him lose his temper with various pastors, hurl objects at staff and subject staff to highly derogatory verbal abuse.”

The man to whom Hogan made the disclosure “buckled under the pressure of the threats from McCauley” and identified Hogan as the culprit.

Hogan was then suspended. Earlier this month, he was served with a notice of a disciplinary hearing. The charges included:

Breach of trust, in that he alleged that McCauley sold property to the church at an inflated price and instructed members of the church’s financial committee to investigate;  

Gross dishonesty in that, when questioned about his disclosure, he denied involvement; and  

Wanting to remain anonymous.  

Hogan consulted his lawyers and, based on the whistle-blowers’ act, went to court to seek protection from disciplinary action.

“I considered raising the matter with McCauley, but, knowing him, decided against it,” said Hogan.

“If I am dismissed, I will have no source of income. I am 61 and am not at a stage of life where it would be easy to obtain employment in an alternative, comparable position.”

Church spokesman Vusi Mona said Hogan’s suspension would continue until the court case was concluded.

“The bona fides of the applicant and his motive for making the allegations against the church and McCauley are questionable,” he said.

“We consider the allegations against Pastor Ray’s integrity in particular as malicious.”

Rhema human resources manager Hlupheka Khoza defended the purchase, saying the property was used as a “retreat for the pastors”, a service the Hogans have made use of previously — and had booked for December this year.

Hogan intends going back to court within the stipulated 21 days in a bid to obtain a final order. If successful, he plans to call for a full forensic audit of the church’s affairs.

“We intend to make disclosures on matters such as misappropriation of funds and gross violations of the law relating to public benefit organisations, ” said Hogan in court papers.

“The disclosures are very serious and it is essential they be declared protected prior to being made.”

None of Rhema’s legitimate activities occurred at the coast.

The income of a church, including that of Rhema, was required to be used purely for the furtherance of the church’s religious activities.

The real reason that Rhema bought the apartment was to generate funds quickly for McCauley and his wife to assist them in purchasing the La Lucia beachfront house.

The McCauleys’ R6.5-million property was bought just two days before the holiday flat was sold to the church — a purchase, which according to court papers, was discussed with the church’s financial advisory board only after it had already gone through.

But the church hit back, saying that Hogan had an “agenda” which included having an “axe to grind with McCauley himself” and seemed to be “more concerned with Pastor McCauley and his wife than anything else”.

Khoza claims that Hogan — at an unofficial meeting with other church members and officials — accused McCauley of being guilty of financial impropriety and Zelda of buying presents through a personal account and that McCauley’s son had bought flowers for his fiancée.

But the men in the meeting — some of whom have since left the church — dismissed the claims as “pure gossip which did not warrant an investigation” but “were cautious about the allegation of the abnormal profit on the second coastal property”.

Hogan denied making some of the allegations, but admitted that Zelda “caused the church to buy, at its cost, lavish presents for her friends and family”.

“By way of example, she caused the respondent to buy a vase and flowers for her daughter Hayley at a cost of R3 500 and I informed them of this,” he said.

“I have never alleged that McCauley’s son bought flowers on the church’s account for anyone.”

The Hogans have been members of the church for about 27 years and both were initially involved in volunteer programmes before becoming fulltime employees.”

From http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=788475

The Gloria Jean’s roast. Ex-franchisees tell all

A Cameron Reilly podcast has an extra-ordinary interview with a Victorian couple who for the last five years up until recently, were Gloria Jean’s Coffees franchisees.

http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/2008/06/30/gday-world-331-ex-gloria-jeans-franchisees-speak-out/

It’s an insider’s account of the inner workings of Gloria Jean’s, its connections with Hill$ong and the company’s role in fundraising for the controversial Mercy Ministries homes.

The ex-franchisees kept their identities concealed for the interview, so in these excerpts, they are identified here as F1 and F2 (ex-franchisee 1 and ex-franchisee 2)

(Courtesy:Cameron Reilly G’day World podcast)

• “(F1)……we found it quite interesting that one of the owners, Mr. Nabi Selah, actually takes you on a tour of the roasting plant…and his opening statement before he takes you down to the floor was that he felt that we needed to pray..and the basis of the prayer was that we prayed for success..which is great…but we actually prayed for money..which was a little odd….”
• “(F2)…..Most of the elders of the Hillsong Church are quite successful business owners in their own right and quite wealthy..and it quickly became obvious to us once we became operational within our store that once we did some investigating…most of the major suppliers we were obliged to use as part of our franchise agreement were companies that were owned by members of the church. So, for example, the uniforms that we have to purchase, the badged uniforms, came from a supplier who was a member of the church. A lot of the paper goods….things that you use every day, cups… (F1) The person that they use to organise or actually assist you in organising your finances for example at the stores – they don’t tell you that he’s part of Gloria Jean’s as such, but they make a recommendation that you use this person. He’s part of Hillsong. The person that they have for insurance for the stores…same story. He’s not directly part or paid by Gloria Jean’s, but, you know, they recommend you to him. He’s also Hillsong. And it’s the way the recommendation is made. It’s not like they’ll give you …if you ask a question which normal business people in a business environment will do..they’ll give you one name. They won’t give you several…it’s generally someone who belongs to their network. I don’t have a problem if you’re trying to support a network of people, but I do have a problem when it is very well known within our industry that other affiliations and other organisations have tried to get in to tender for certain services and aren’t even given an interview.”
• “(F2)….And the end result of that is that for some items which are in-store staples like your cups, or your beans or your milk, you are paying well-above market price for something that….I mean….we know from experience, having been in business before ..that we were paying 10 to 15% more for some items that we could negotiate as stand-alone sole business operators. But having the buying power…supposedly of 400 stores nationally behind us…we were paying 10% more for a litre of milk than a person in the street would pay…and we were locked into those contracts..and we had no choice but to buy from the suppliers given to us by Gloria Jean’s……”
• “(F1)….Any of your franchise fees that you’re paying is guaranteed to go back into Hillsong Church, because obviously you’re paying your franchise fee. Gloria Jean’s would be sending some of that back to the Master Licence in America, but obviously they’d be keeping some of that themselves as income. That income, they tithe back to the church.”
• “(F1)…..About a year and a half ago, we received a single page from Gloria Jean’s asking us for a projection of funds that we were to collect [for Mercy Ministries] for the next 12 months. Month-by-month. Now, I myself, and a lot of other franchisees that I know of who were within my region refused to fill out a projection for charity. I was actually appalled. My comments to my Operations Manager were ‘Am I running a business here or am I paying my staff to promote a charity?’ So that I am reaching my projection for my charity in keeping head office happy, or am I supposed to be paying them to do their job to actually….I don’t know….serve customers, bring in funds for myself in order to create more work for them and pay my franchise fees to Gloria Jeans? (Interviewer) I don’t quite understand how you project voluntary contributions. (F1) Well, neither did I, and when I asked my operations manager, ‘How is this done?’ his comment to me was, ‘oh well, you know how much you’ve banked every month, on average for the [Mercy Ministries] box’..and I said ‘I don’t bank on a monthly basis. I bank on a quarterly basis’. He goes ‘well…divide it into three and work it out and just put it into the boxes. So I pulled out the sheet in front of him..and wrote ‘zero’ next to all of the months…and he basically looked at me and said, ‘no that’s not right..that’s not what we want.’ So I ripped it up and said ‘you fill it out.’ I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m not going to project something that’s meant to be charitable.’
• “(F2)……. The expectation was that if you forecast, say $150 for the month and the donations from the public came up to say $100, that the franchisee would make up the shortfall, to meet the projection. (Interviewer) Out of your own pocket. (F2) Absolutely.”
• “(Interviewer) What kind of spin control happened inside the franchisee system when all of this [Mercy Ministries] news broke? I know that, as I mentioned before, the [Gloria Jean's] Global Marketing Manager went to the trouble of contacting bloggers and podcasters like myself, trying to give the story a positive spin. I imagine there was a bunch of damage control happening internally. Did you see any of that? (F1)…Yeah, there was a couple of emails that came from Nabi Selah in relation to the matter. They didn’t say much to be quite honest. They basically said that the media had turned it all on its head, that they’d taken it out of proportion…that Gloria Jean’s would continue its affiliation with Mercy because they’d been doing good in the community and that they felt that Mercy was the only charity that we could associate with ..that mirror-imaged the views and the missions of Jireh International.”
• “(F2)……..When we spoke to franchisees nationally, what we found was that the further you moved away from Sydney itself, the more -pardon the pun – disenfranchised, a great deal of the Gloria Jean’s community became..and a lot of them felt that they’d entered the system without understanding and knowing the full implications of who Gloria Jean’s were behind the scenes, and the religious, and to a lesser degree ..political affiliations of the elders of the church and how they controlled the franchise…”
• “(F2)……In the time that we spent in the system….we were treated with less and less of a Christian ethic than we were in the beginning. So much so that we often joked to ourselves that the way Gloria Jean’s treated its franchisees was that they screwed them over six days a week and then went to church on Sunday for salvation because that’s the only way they could wake up and look at themselves on Monday mornings and feel good about what they were doing.”

The full interview with the former Gloria Jean’s franchisees can be heard (after a rather unusual robotic vocal introduction) at http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/audio/tpn_gdayworld_20080630_331_gloriajeans2.mp3

Rosebery project abandoned – Hill$ong looks for new way to waste $78 million

The Sydney Morning Herald reports…

“Hillsong Church has withdrawn its application to build a $78 million church and office block at Rosebery after an independent planning assessment recommended that the development be refused.

A public meeting that was to be held tonight, giving supporters and opponents of the project a final chance to address council, has been cancelled.

For the past two years, local residents have been fighting Hillsong’s proposal for a 2700-seat auditorium and a seven-level office block in the inner-city suburb. The assessment by Angelini Planning Services, commissioned by the City of Sydney, found the development would have exceeded the council’s height, parking and floor-space limits, and exacerbated traffic problems.

The church would continue to pursue options for a church in the Green Square area, said George Aghajanian, the Hillsong general manager.

A spokesman for the residents’ action group, Graeme Grace, said Hillsong should have withdrawn its application earlier, rather than putting residents through stress and worry and then withdrawing at the last minute.”

From http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/hillsong-backs-down-over-rosebery-office/2008/07/02/1214950851284.html

A little house-cleaning

The Dothan (Alabama, USA) Eagle reports….

“Northside Methodist Church pastor Allen Vandenburg, who was at the [centre] of a power struggle at the church’s school last year, has resigned and will soon return to his native Australia.

Vandenburg said he tendered his resignation Sunday and will step down on July 28. Vandenburg said his resignation was for personal reasons not related to the church or the school.

During Vandenburg’s tenure as pastor, Northside Methodist Academy has undergone some tough transitions. In 2007, longtime principal Bob Moore resigned, saying he was forced out because of disagreements with Vandenburg. After Moore’s departure, several other Northside teachers and staff also left the school. During this transition, there was also an enrollment drop at the school.

Vandenburg acknowledged that in his time as pastor the school had undergone some difficult changes, but said that those changes were necessary for the future success of the school.

“You know the idiom—without change you die,” he said. “You’ve got to keep up with the times, you’ve got to keep up with accountability.”

According to Vandenberg, the church will soon form a search committee to find a new pastor.

Vandenberg said he was grateful to the church and school for allowing him to serve.

“You don’t do things with all your heart if you don’t love what you do,” he said.”

http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/northside_methodist_church_pastor_resigns/25505/

A recent Wikipedia entry reveals this is not the first time Vandenberg has put a broom through an organisation.

“….The current pastor of the Northside Methodist Church on the NMA campus is Pastor Allen Vandenburg. Vandenburg is originally from Australia and has a very noticeable accent. He was originally a janitor for the school, but he got promoted to his current pastoring job…….”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northside_Methodist_Academy_(Dothan,_Alabama)