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Full e-mail from Arise’s John Cameron

A formatting wonderland, this is what arrived in my inbox on April 10

David Farrier

— 1 min read
Full e-mail from Arise’s John Cameron

Hi,

This is the email I received from John Cameron’s email address on Sunday, April 10.

I have included these as screenshots, as the formatting is interesting to me. It looks like it went through a few different hands.

David.

"Hi David, Thank you for the opportunity to comment and I apologise for not responding. What was laid out in your email was shocking and deeply concerning. Unfortunately the initial advice we received was to not engage or make any comment publicly. As the week went on I became increasingly uncomfortable with this, as this advice did not match our commitment to transparency. On Saturday 9 April we made a change and have been working on how we can respond and engage. Our heart as a church has always been to make a positive difference in the lives of people, and to hear experiences where people have felt negatively impacted by Arise is devastating. As a leadership we have been working to understand these stories and what has led to this hurt. We can now say people have stories that are real and authentic, and there are people hurting because of the actions and culture that was a part of Arise. As the leader of Arise, I am personally broken by the stories and I want to say I am deeply sorry."
"We are going to listen and learn. Since your article myself and the leadership team have been reviewing the information. We have sought advice from an independent body to guide the church on next steps and have appointed an independent reviewer to confidentially hear people’s stories, and to make recommendations to our Board and leadership team for the purpose of organisational change. There will be details released shortly on how to contact the independent reviewer. We are encouraging anyone to come forward to share their experiences so that meaningful changes can be made and former ministry school students can be heard and share their stories. Anyone affected is also able to reach out to info@arisechurch.com, but we also know that not everyone will feel comfortable sharing their experiences with Arise directly. The truth is for a period of time as a church we allowed a culture of performance to be part of our Arise world, and this negatively affected Arise Ministry School students. Although this is not true for the majority of our Arise journey, there is enough of it in our journey that I am determined that it will end. It is not acceptable. I apologise for the pain that this has caused to those who have worked here previously, our ministry school students, and to the people of Arise. I want to make it clear that there is no place for people’s health to be anything other than our top priority. It is true that our Arise Ministry School is now a very different experience to what it used to be. We have changed and made massive improvements in recent years, and this year more improvements will be made. Separate from an independent reviewer, Arise has engaged an HR review by an external party to review the Arise Ministry School, which will commence after Easter."
"Although most staff and ministry school students throughout the country did thoroughly enjoy their experiences and their journey, with many now in leading positions across Arise, we can clearly see this was not the case for all, and this is deeply saddening. I have answered your points below, and if you have any other questions I will respond. John Cameron "

He followed this main email with the following answers to the original questions I’d put to him 10 days earlier.

The formatting also appeared to have been through a blender — I can only imagine the variety of people typing it:

"1) That Arise Church used unpaid volunteer labour excessively — specifically: -Some interns came into the office four days a week-Some interns were expected to lead a ‘lifegroup’: these could go until approximately 9pm, making for a 12+ hour work day. -One night of the week could include a team meeting, which wraps at 9pm. -Sunday call time is around 7.30am (except for 2-3 weeks cycles which are 4.30am starts to unload trucks for service). Sunday work wraps after the evening service, or if interns pack down: midnight. -In summary, some interns have been working four days in the office, plus evening events, most nights, plus the Sunday Internships have been part of the charitable sector for a very long time. They have provided a way for people to contribute to causes they care about and also to gain real-world experience. This is gaining fresh scrutiny in our time and we welcome it. The mission of Arise Ministry School is to equip students for Christian ministry, and an important part of their course involves serving in areas across the church. Students can choose to do a practical internship or study for Bible College qualifications, including a Certificate in Christian Ministries or a Diploma in Christian Studies. These qualifications are NZQA accredited through Laidlaw College. Ministry School students are involved for three weekdays at Arise, plus Sundays. One of these days is a study day in relation to their course requirements. "
"Each individual student has a different timetable depending on their area of study. That timetable is managed by their supervisor, and monitored by their mentor. While studying students are involved in church life, and in different aspects of Sunday services. 2) That some interns have had to pay Arise Church in order to take part in internships There are fees to study at the Arise Ministry School. This largely covers the costs of their NZQA accredited Laidlaw tuition and the remainder of the fee goes towards our costs for their study. This includes their annual retreat (which there are no additional fees for), the graduation dinner, and professional development resources. 3) That unpaid interns have also used by staff as babysitters, nannies, drivers and cleaners We can confirm that in the past there was a wider culture of interns being asked to drive and to look after children at Arise. I can assure you, this is no longer permitted. After an internal review in approximately 2017, this behaviour was recognised as not appropriate. Leadership has worked to ensure this does not happen now. 4) That university students have been told, on occasion, to use their course related costs to pay for Arise Church conference tickets University Students should not be encouraged to use their course-related costs or student allowance to pay for conference tickets. "
"4) That Arise Church did, on occasion, encourage people to donate their student allowances to the church Arise Church has not done this in any official capacity that we are aware of. 5) That Arise Church did, on occasion, encourage people to donate house sale proceeds to the church Arise does not encourage people to give anything they do not want to give, ever. We have never encouraged people to donate their house sale proceeds. We teach people to budget, to plan for their financial future, to avoid and get out of debt and to invest wisely, in line with biblical principles. We also do, along with the majority of the Christian world, teach tithing as a voluntary principle from the Bible. 6) That, on occasion, interns were paid to do two days work a week, but were expected to work full time — a practice that is illegal in New Zealand In an attempt to provide greater opportunities for development of ministry school students we have offered two days of paid employment to a very small number of ministry school students. These roles are managed separately by our HR team and are distinct from the ministry school."
"7) That Carl Lentz and Brian Houston were guests of past Arise Church conferences Carl Lentz has spoken once at Arise Conference in 2013, and Brian Houston once at Conference in 2016. Brian Houston has also spoken in our church two additional times. 2016 was the last time he spoke. 8) That Carl Lentz and Brian Houston have been friends of Arise Church’s lead pastor, John Cameron. In a ministry capacity, Carl Lentz is someone I have met on a few occasions. I met Brian Houston in 2011 and have been on friendly terms, having been invited to speak at Hillsong approximately four times."

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