mightychurch.com

It may have come to the attention of some of you that Mercy Ministries will shortly be shutting down in the face of financial pressures as a result of bad publicity. It looks like Brian Houston has come out with a statement today in which he distances Hillsong as far as possible from Mercy Ministries:

27 October 2009

I want to inform you of issues that have become increasingly clear in recent days, which have left me personally devastated.

Mercy Ministries Inc. have informed us that they are ceasing operations in Australia.

Some of you are aware of Mercy Ministries, an organisation set up to rehabilitate and reach out to young women in need.  It has come to my attention in recent days, that investigations into Mercy Ministries Inc. have been ongoing, over what is essentially unclear or misguided communication in relation to their funding and services.

In the past, Hillsong Church has supported Mercy Ministries through financial donations.  A number of individuals involved with our church have also served on the board and/or staff of this ministry.

Unfortunately, we believe that in the case of Mercy Ministries, concern about the way they delivered their message and services has unfairly affected Hillsong Church by association.

It is not my place to defend or try to explain what Mercy Ministries has or hasn’t done.  Hillsong has done nothing wrong. Hillsong is not under investigation, but a number of key people from Hillsong Church over the years, have been involved in Mercy Ministries.

It is wrong that anything Mercy Ministries may or may not have done could overshadow so much of what we as a church stand for: Loving God and Helping People.

To ensure that this does not happen again it is important that we take immediate action to protect the reputation of our church moving forward.

We will undertake an internal audit of Hillsong staff to identify what organisations or boards they are currently associated with.

From there, we will be strongly recommending that our executive level staff no longer participate on other not-for-profit boards. 

We will also examine some future guidelines and boundaries for Hillsong staff in regards to their involvement in external boards. 

It is so important that we continue to support and work in cooperation with organisations doing great things in our community and around the world.

Despite the numerous positive achievements of Mercy Ministries, Hillsong Church will no longer support, or be associated with this ministry. 

Further, we sever any affiliation with Mercy Ministries internationally, and would not be associated with any attempt by Mercy Ministries Inc or Mercy Ministries Ltd, to recommence within Australia, under that or any other name.

We would encourage those, that any investigation involves, to cooperate fully.

We will continue to keep the church informed as to any new developments with this situation, and would ask you to continue to keep this in your prayers.
- Brian Houston, Senior Pastor, Hillsong Church

Apparently, Hillsong are the innocent victims in all of this, having their good name dragged through the mud by association. If their relationship was so peripheral, it really makes me wonder why Houston has felt the need for an official statement and to say quite adamantly, “Hillsong did nothing wrong”.

Any thoughts?

Whaaaaaat… Last few days? The Herald published the results of their investigation a year ago! Personally devastated by what, the suffering of the girls, or the ‘damage’ to the Hillsong brand? Ensure what doesn’t happen again? That you support dodgy “ministries,” or get implicated in a fiasco by the Herald, as per today’s story Mercy Ministries home to close.

Anyway, thanks for posting the statement David. Here’s the SMH story, for context (my bold):

ALLEGATIONS of widespread abuse at Mercy Ministries group homes appear finally to have caught up with the fundamentalist Christian group, which has announced it will close its Sydney home on October 31, citing ‘‘extreme financial challenges and a steady drop in our support base’‘.

’‘We are no longer financially viable,’’ reads a statement from Margaret Stunt, a former Hillsong Church staff member from London appointed as executive director of Mercy Ministries in April.

The announcement came less than a week after the group said it had completed extensive renovations to its Sydney home, including a new kitchen, carpets, light fittings, staircase and deck, painting and landscaping - all funded with donations totalling more than $100,000.

Given that the organisation will close, it is unclear who will benefit from the renovations. A staff member at Mercy Ministries said she was unable to comment.

Targeting girls and women aged 16 to 28, Mercy Ministries claimed - on its website and in promotional material distributed in Gloria Jeans cafes around the country - that its programs included support from ‘‘psychologists, general practitioners, dietitians, social workers, [and] career counsellors’‘.

Instead, the program prevented the residents gaining access to psychiatric care, choosing to focus on prayer, Christian counselling and exorcisms to ‘‘expel demons’’ from the young women, many of whom had serious psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder, anxiety and anorexia.

A Herald investigation last year revealed the women who entered the program were required to sign over their Centrelink benefits and were virtually cut off from the outside world, except for a weekly trip to the local Hillsong Church for worship.

At the time, Mercy Ministries’ then chief executive, Peter Irvine, was quick to dismiss their claims, implying that the victims of the group’s unorthodox and dangerous treatments were not telling the truth.

Since then Mr Irvine has sent an apology to the women featured in the Herald’s articles. ‘‘I would like to apologise for the statements that I made to the press in March 2008. I did not accurately reflect the situation and I regret my comments,’’ he wrote.

News of the closure was greeted with relief by its former victims, who cautioned that the group was still operating in New Zealand, the US and Britain.

’‘It is amazing that our little voices speaking out could make a dent against organisations as big as … Mercy Ministries,’’ said Naomi Johnson, one of the women who blew the whistle on the abuse.

’‘After all the lies they told about us, this is what we hoped - that Mercy Ministries would be closed so that other girls would not get hurt.’‘

In June last year, Mercy Ministries announced it had closed its Sunshine Coast home ‘‘due to strategic and resourcing issues’‘.

Hillsong Church was quick to distance itself from the organisation it had supported - both financially and with key staff and executive officers - since its inception in 2001. ‘‘Hillsong Church has cut ties with Mercy Ministries around the world following an [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission] investigation into Mercy Ministries,’’ said a statement released by the church last night.

A spokeswoman for the ACCC, one of the many investigatory bodies to which the women complained, would not comment or confirm an investigation had taken place.

I’m glad Irvine recanted of his lies, and kudos to the SMH for the investigation and the girls involved for publicly speaking out.

Also, I’m appalled at the inappropriate use of pronouns. I mean, “Helping People”? ;)

Thanks for pointing all this out. I’m glad this pathetic excuse for a ‘ministry’ is over. 1 down, thousands to go… especially in the USA.

Sing it with me, straight out of the land of Oz…
“TV Evangelists, megachurches and Benny Hinn, oh my!”

’‘It is amazing that our little voices speaking out could make a dent against organisations as big as … Mercy Ministries,’’ said Naomi Johnson, one of the women who blew the whistle on the abuse.

’‘After all the lies they told about us, this is what we hoped - that Mercy Ministries would be closed so that other girls would not get hurt.’‘
———————————————————————————————

Get hurt by what?? I have no idea what they teach in Mercy Ministries? Can someone explain to me what has happened on the abuse?

hi Ray,
This old Sydney Anglican thread has a few links to newspaper stories about this debacle.
http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/forums/viewthread/3185/P0/

I was there.

Really? What did you think? Do you think the reports above ring true from your experience of the place?

Yes

Wow, I’m very sorry. I’ve had various family crisis and anxiety issues in the past, with a kid that developed Leukaemia. (He’s fine now). Counselling really helped me hang on just another week…. and then another few weeks…. but I had some medication REALLY backfire and do some weird manic stuff to my brain. So stuff can go wrong even when your shrink is behaving as professionally as they possibly can.

But the last thing I would have needed back then was whacked out emotional manipulation and spiritual guilt-trips mentioned above. I’m sorry to hear that all happened.

I hope you’ve been able to work through some of this stuff and get passed some of their ‘programming’? Is that what you’d call it?

Anyway, part of staying my cheery, positive self ;-) is getting some sleep. So I’ll catch you tomorrow.

Hi JA, thanks for dropping by, it sounds like it was an horrendous experience so big ups to you and the other girls who have helped each other out, spoke out about it, and supported each other, which is all incredibly brave, and your actions have no doubt saved many others from going through the same thing, which is no mean feat. I hope you & the other girls have been able to get the proper help & support you were after, and start to get things back on the right track.

Dave I’m really sorry to hear you had to go through all of that. I’m glad your child is ok now.

I don’t really understand the term ‘programming’, but if that’s like brainwashing then that’s what I’d call it.

Luke thanks for your words.

It’s been a long road but God has always been there for me, and He always will be. There are still large remnants of my time at Mercy, like I have had some pretty big trust issues since Mercy. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Before Mercy, all Christians were ‘good’ people in my mind. Now I actually look deeper before I take people on face value. There are things like that that I deal with. But when I compare how I was right after Mercy compared to how I am now, I can see that God’s done some amazing work, and I know and trust that He will keep healing me and the other girls who were at Mercy.

Glad to hear it.

Before Mercy, all Christians were ‘good’ people in my mind.

Yeah, it is a good idea to watch that tendency. I also tend to ‘idealise’ people and it’s really not a good thing. They might be more talented in certain areas of ministry, but it does not mean they are more godly than I am. ;-)  Sadly, they’re probably about exactly as godly as I am, which is not saying very much. :-(

Peter Irvine in the news for the wrong reasons again, it seems.
Coffee giant embroiled in bitter battle over beans

Mercy is mentiokned in the latter half of the story:

It is not the first time Peter Irvine’s business dealings have been in the spotlight.

In December, the former chief executive of Mercy Ministries, along with his fellow directors, admitted to engaging in false, misleading and deceptive conduct as part of an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigation into the practices of the Hillsong-connected organisation. They were required to pay $1050 and apologise to each person affected by Mercy Ministries’ conduct.

Mercy Ministries closed in October following revelations that it denied its young female residents appropriate medical care - before then, Gloria Jean’s franchisees were required to display a collection box raising money for the ministry on the counter of every store.

’‘It may seem different because it is business and not Mercy Ministries, but for me, I really felt connected to those other victims,’’ said Mr Cisneros.

’‘You look at their website and they talk about family and community and honesty and trust; these are all the things that they portrayed to us and then violated with us.’‘

In a statement released at the weekend, Jireh International says it will be ‘‘vigorously defending the matter and denies the allegations contained in the claim’‘.

The case begins today in the NSW Supreme Court and is expected to run for three weeks

I didn’t want to start a separate ‘Hillsong’ thread, so hope it’s okay to place this news here.

Has anyone else seen a Channel 7 promo for their “SUNDAY NIGHT”  news programme this coming Sunday at 6:30pm - 7:30pm ?

It’s apparently ALL you need to know about Hillsong Church and Brian Houston and co.  Will it be rivetting investigative reporting - or just more typical anti-any-church drivel ?

Yeah I saw it.  Will make an effort to watch but won’t be holding my breath!

Anyone else catch the “Hillsong” episode last night ? It wasn’t really “in-depth” - just a ( smart attituded ) reporter going over mostly old matters trying to discredit a Christian church - albeit a very ‘rich’ and ‘successful’ one. The only new detail was that Brian Houston revealed that his 2009 income ( from all areas ) was about $300,000. How blessed is that ?

Meanwhile, the rest of us can take heart with :
“Blessed are you who are poor,  for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20

Interesting thoughts Kev. 

Honestly I didn’t get a vibe of Sunday Night trying to discredit Hillsong from what I saw.  I got a mainly positive vibe of “Hillsong is successful in bringing in the numbers. Other churches must adopt similar techniques to pull in the numbers or else” which I can’t agree with. 

Yes I cringed abit at the references to being drunk on the Holy Spirit, but that’s the traditional Anglican in me responding.  The only people who might really criticise Hillsong after this would be the small ‘l’ liberals after what Brian Houston correctly said about abortion and homosexuality.

If you look at the Sunday Night website you will see mainly positive comments, and a link to go download two of Hillsong United’s songs.

It’s good to see him being open about the situation with his Father and about his income. The reporter looked stupid everytime she tried to look intence. Loved his 80’s moe :)

(edited after watching it)

OK, so Brian’s trying to sound more mainstream about money. Since when was this? Does he still teach that tithing will result in a 10-fold blessing back? Is that what is in his book, “God wants you to have more money?” I found him somewhat more conservative in this TV interview, but wonder what is really taught at church?

Last time I was there.
Last time I went I think there were 1 or 2 bible verses scattered in amongst some pop-psychology and, basically, an emphasis on ‘words having power’ that would give Harry Potter a run for his money!

Your typical AOG / Pentecostal is likely to be really shrill about the dangers of witchcraft promotion through Harry Potter. But the irony is that on many, many occasions that I’ve hung out with certain AOG’s and act myself, and joke about some upcoming potential disaster, they freak out and almost scream, “David, be CAREFUL, words have POWER!” They ban Harry Potter, but in practise almost seem to teach a system of magical forces through words.  They might teach that God is sovereign in His power, but in practice they’re a fearful mob, worrying that someone’s great grandfather might have been a Mason and that’s why the person is under a ‘curse’ that has to be removed by just the right kind of spell. Oh, sorry, I meant prayer. I find that whole teaching of superstitious fear of technically ‘incorrect’ and pessimistic words (as separate from sinful words) amazing.

Interestingly,  on the website page for their “Sunday Night” programme, Channel 7 have this direct link to Hillsong :

To find out more about the enormous influence Hillsong has on millions of people, not only within Australia but around the world, have a look at their official website for more information on their top rating rock band Hillsong United and the latest updates on events within the Church, click here: http://www.hillsong.com

For those who don’t want to see the interview, please do not click on :
                          http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunday-night/video/#fop

I ended up watching it Kevin, and edited my post above to ask this question…

OK, so Brian’s trying to sound more mainstream about money. Since when was this? Does he still teach that tithing will result in a 10-fold blessing back? Is that what is in his book, “God wants you to have more money?” I found him somewhat more conservative in this TV interview, but wonder what is really taught at church?

Good questions Dave. Didn’t Gordon and one of his mates do an expose the other year on SydAng - or was it Gordo’s own blog ?

Personally, I am thankful that a wonderful Christian couple that we know ( who went there for some years ) finally got fed up, saw the light about a year ago and left to seek out another Church.

I disliked Hillsong back in the day when all the word meant was “inane music designed to make your church youth friendly”.
I still dislike their apparent “music” and the joke in our church is that announce that they are keeping the latest CD in reserve for Owen.
I read People in Glass Houses and found its claims interesting. I’ve had to do with Teen Challenge as a referring agent and, for various reasons have not been a fan and after several clear allegations of abuse by ex clients of that service, stopped referring people there decades ago. I have heard some better things about them in recent years but I still have reservations about the paradigm under which the organisation is run. It is too heavily dictated by a demand to believe and I suspect a kind of assumption that Christians are good people and challenging their actions is somehow wrong.
Mercy Ministries on the other hand sounds to be something far more malign. Just a Girl’s posts here give me a real sense of unease that MM is not healthy for clients - but I am concerned that Hillsong has dumped the whole shebang. If there are problems and the org is run by or auspiced by Hillsong, then I would have thought that Hillsong has a responsibility to repair the damage. Is this more about saving reputations and bank accounts that about truly assisting the hurting and socially disenfranchised?

The thing that struck me about the Houston interview is that it showed (IMO) what a charismatic character he is. I would compare him with Billy Graham and Nicky Gumbel (of Alpha fame) for that magnetic thing we call charisma. Tony Blair has it too, but calling any politician charismatic is like calling a taipan beautiful.
  Houston seems to talk like their is a tele- prompter in his brain, and he edits and vocalises without any delay. The women in his life must also have a lot to do with his appeal and equanimity. That it is bankable needs no proof or is self evident as the yanks would say.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sunday-telegraph/taxpayers-support-lavish-hillsong-lifestyle/story-e6frewt0-1225896526584

Taxpayers support lavish Hillsong lifestyle

By ADAM SHAND   From:The Sunday Telegraph     July 25, 2010

THE tax office wants a special national body set up to monitor “not for profit” charities, admitting that churches - such as the multi-million-dollar phenomenon Hillsong - are literally “invisible” to it.

And the sector is expanding so rapidly that $31 billion a year is now being drawn out of the federal Budget in tax exemptions to the ever-growing list of groups claiming church and charity status.

The push to put not-for-profit groups under greater fiscal scrutiny comes amid revelations that senior pastors of the Hillsong mega-church and their families are enjoying lavish lifestyles virtually tax-free.

Critics say Hillsong - which makes millions by routinely demanding its followers hand over at least 10 per cent of their salaries for the church coffers - exploits tax exemptions designed to help small, struggling churches.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that Hillsong founder Brian Houston uses a not-for-profit company - Leadership Ministries Inc (LMI) - to fund a burgeoning, tax-free global preaching empire.

LMI and other tax-free companies in the Hillsong network are able to provide housing, cars, overseas travel, accommodation, credit cards and other perks free of fringe benefits or income tax.

And since LMI was set up in 2001, the Houston family’s relationship with the company has included:

Property deals that have earned Brian Houston and his wife Bobbie $1.4 million. The Houstons are still tenants of waterfront properties at Bondi Beach and the Hawkesbury River that they sold to LMI.

A $1 million, fringe benefits tax-free expense account each year for five people, including the Houstons.

The use of vehicles worth more than $120,000.

Fully funded overseas tours where Brian Houston can earn $US20,000 a speech in “love offerings” on the preaching circuit.

The refund of all goods and services tax paid by the Houstons in their pastoral duties back to LMI.

The creation of a network of Hillsong subsidiaries in South Africa, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine.

The Sunday Telegraph has also learnt that the Australian Taxation Office reviewed LMI’s tax-free status this year and has re-affirmed it, despite growing concerns about a lack of accountability in the not-for-profit sector.

ATO Assistant Commissioner Michael Hardy told a recent Senate inquiry he lacked the staff to monitor religious organisations.

Once tax-free status was granted, churches were “technically invisible to the tax office”, Mr Hardy said.

On the push for a special national body to oversee charities, Mr Houston told The Sunday Telegraph: “I would welcome a charities commission ... to avoid continued speculation surrounding charities doing legitimate work in the community.”

Mr Houston said his total salary was “just over $300 000”.

The ATO defines salary as cash payments, excluding fringe benefits and exemptions.

Pentecostal preacher Philip Powell, a critic and former Assemblies of God national secretary, said Hillsong, which has a congregation of more than 20,000, should be stripped of its tax-exempt status.

“It should be recognised for what it is: a corporation, not a church,” Mr Powell said. “Hillsong is really just a sales and marketing operation.

“If you took out the religious aspect, a company like that would have to pay thousands of dollars in fringe-benefits tax each year.”

Lobby group Taxpayers Australia spokesman Roger Timms wants the Government to adopt Treasury secretary Ken Henry’s recommendation that tax exemptions for churches be replaced with direct grants.Under the Tax Act, there is no cap on the amount of expenses churches can pay ministers of religion before incurring fringe-benefits tax.

Mega-churches such as Hillsong have taken full advantage of this, rewarding its leaders tax-free, the pastor of a church aligned to Hillsong says.

A former Assemblies of God pastor, who declined to be named, said: “It’s what many of the AOG churches are doing. Hillsong can legally pay all of Brian Houston’s salary as fringe benefits, so he can end up paying no tax whatsoever.”

A Hillsong spokesman said: “We do not pay Brian Houston or any ministerial staff 100 per cent, or anywhere close to that amount, in fringe benefits.”

Mr Houston added: “My salary has been consistent throughout the year and includes fringe benefits. I pay personal income tax.”

Assemblies of God pastors typically take at least 75 per cent of their salaries as tax-free benefits.
This provision was meant to help small churches retain low-paid staff, not for those like Hillsong, which earns $50 million a year.
“The Government has an opportunity to make the tax system more fair by closing the loopholes that exist for churches,” Mr Timms said.