Arise Church Lost $2.77 Million Last Year

Thanks to anyone who backs Webworm at $6.99 a month. For those in Auckland: I have a present for you next week.

Hi,

The Talk To Me giveaway information shortly. But first — the reason.

I am going to be very blunt here and say that thanks to those who pay $6.99 a month for Webworm, Arise Church experienced a loss of $2.77 million dollars last year.

$2.77 million dollars.

I am not being glib, I am dead serious.

Arise Church lost out on $2.77 million dollars because Webworm was able to report on what that church was really up to. Webworm could report what the church was up to because it had support from readers. And a cult-like Arise suffered the consequences.

Paying subscribers gave me the time and resources to report on this church over the course of a year, while getting all that reporting vetted by lawyers. They empowered Webworm to leak the Pathfinding report which was, quite frankly, a bit fucking stressful.

THANK YOU!

I wish I could give all of you a big hug, but everyone is so geographically spread out it’s impossible. And so my thankyou gesture to paying members has to be relatively small and humble.

So: I have just booked a movie theatre in Auckland, New Zealand for next Thursday night (July 13) to show my favourite film of the year, Talk To Me.

It’s A24’s latest horror, and paying Webworm members get a chance to see it before it opens anywhere else in the world (it opens in New Zealand, Australia and America on July 27).

It’s Australian. My friends made it. It’s amazing.

It’s a very evil film — think Hereditary but scarier — so a perfect way to commemorate this $2.77 million dollar occasion.

There are 100 tickets, they’re on me, and I will send paying members a link for a chance to pick up those tickets before the weekend. First in first served. I can’t wait to watch it with you.

I know this is frustrating for those not in Auckland, or not New Zealand — but I aim to do more events like this in the future where we can meet up and do fun stuff (like Webworm, Arise! last year).

Sophia Wilde in Talk To Me. God I love this film. And you’re gonna be seeing a lot more of this actor in the future, trust me!

More On That $2.77 Million Dollars

Okay, so quickly let’s look at what happened to Arise Church following the fallout from Webworm’s reporting last year.

First up (and these graphics are lifted from Arise’s report which I’ve thrown on my Dropbox here), attendance plummeted by almost 1000 people each Sunday. Online watching also dropped.

Less people attended “Life Groups” — what these types of churches call small groups that meet up outside of church — and kids attending also dropped from 814 each Sunday in 2021, to 583 in 2022.

And as you can see from the chart below, donations were down about $5 million on the year before (so good to see people putting money elsewhere: towards their kids, or a holiday, or Indiana Jones tickets, or practically anywhere else).

Revenue from “events” plummeted from 2021’s $642,022, to a pitiful $2,504 in 2022.

And yes — that deficit: $2,768,982.

Chef’s kiss.

For those Worms in Auckland, or nearby, I hope to see you at Talk To Me next week. Details incoming. See you in the comments in the meantime.

David.