Thank you for alerting the worms! This is my favourite community on the internet.
I know they are oversubscribed, but I am sure someone in Charlotte's position can help someone else who needs it - if that is permitted under the rules? If not, I am sure YOU can put the amount of subs you were going to give to Charlotte, to another good cause ...
I will touch base with her on this issue. I am so glad she got there. Any $ from new subscribers over Fri-Sun will either go to her (I feel she probably underbaked it on legal fees), or go to a cause she wants.
She probably needs some help dealing with this experience: processing hundreds of people's personal reports of trauma would be hard enough, but she then had to deal with Arise's response to her report and the subsequent financial stress. I imagine this would take a serious toll and would hope she could use anything extra to start some therapy/whatever healing process works for her. As great as it is that we've managed to help cover her legal fees I sadly can't imagine that she's able to walk away from this undamaged; I would be happy for my contribution to go towards supporting that.
Hi all - here is a statement that Charlotte put out on her Instagram - thought I'd repost it here:
"Many of you will have seen my face pop up over social media in the last 24 hours with a story about a project I led for a church in 2022.
I recognize it has come as somewhat of a surprise for people to get a sense that there was more playing out than what has been public over the last six months. I have worked to conduct myself professionally through this time, so have steered clear of commenting publicly on the situation.
But, on Thursday evening a Give A Little page went public, with the goal of helping me meet the $22,000 legal bill I was left with following this project. By lunchtime on Friday over 400 people had pitched in to wipe this bill.
I have spent most of the day in tears, simply overwhelmed by this support.
Now, I want to respond to the tautoko I have received.
I struggle for the right words to express what it has meant to me to find myself surrounded by such kindness and support. If you were one of the people who assisted with the Give A Little I want you to know that your contribution is so appreciated, but, much more than that - the solidarity you have offered to me personally is priceless. I feel immensely relieved. I didn’t know until today how much I needed to be told I am a good person and I did the right thing. Thank you.
I get asked two questions…
Firstly, would you do it again? Absolutely. It is always the right thing to do to stand with those who have been hurt. Giving voice to people’s experiences, concerns and hopes was a total privilege.
Secondly, am I OK? There have been some very hard moments. The process of engaging with over 600 respondents and hearing people’s stories was a deep and complex journey. That was followed by unexpected battles that took a toll. But, I am determined now to turn this experience into something good and to honour those who have been harmed within their experience of church.
Stories of struggles within churches are not isolated to the one that made the headlines. As a committed person of faith, part of the Christian community, and a church attender, I believe our churches in this nation must do better. We must take seriously our responsibility to care for people - to first do no harm. We need to set standards we can be held to. We should act as charities if we are to hold charitable status. We must have appropriate governance. We should care about feedback. We must listen to those we hurt, and do the work of learning from them. People should find safety within our churches. It is these points that I wish to give further attention to in my work going forward. I will do all I can to help the churches of Aotearoa rise to this challenge.
A small final note – I would like to offer total transparency around the process of being left with this bill, but unfortunately I can’t do so publicly in fear of further litigation. Please rest assured that there are trusted, honest people who have been across the details with me over the last number of months, and that my bills were also presented to Give A Little as part of the validation of this page.
And, if you’ll bear with me, I would like to offer my public thanks to a few people…
I would like to thank Chris Clarke and @frank_ritchie . I called you into this process as strangers and I could not have found better friends. You gave so generously of your time and support at your own cost and I could not have survived this without you.
To @davidfarrier You really care about people, and I respect that. Thank you for the personal price you have paid to offer kindness to people through this time, myself included.
I would also like to thank my dear friends and my family for their incredible and unwavering support.
And to all of those generous people who have supported and encouraged me especially over this last day – thank you."
As mentioned in that article, the documentary movie "Hail, Satan!" is a very interesting commentary on the legal issues and US First Amendment protections - I definitely recommend it to see the hypocrisy among some who try to push their religion through government edict yet bury others as what they deem to be "inappropriate". (The lesser-known "I, Pastafari" for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is also a good one.)
Penny Lane is a buddy! I met her at Sundance as she had a film in there the same year as Tickled. She has a new documentary on the way at SXSW about donating one of her organs!
Well, this post seems to have rattled the tree. She's gotten around $9000 in additional donations in the last 3 hours (including from me). Keep up the good work.
David, thanks for highlighting her plight, have made a small contribution.
Recently visited family in a small town in BC, Canada, took lots of photos of squirrels, stopped the car and ran back to take photos of a skunk strolling along the footpath, locals looking at us like we’re mad. Just said “We don’t have those in NZ”
If one of those squirrels had reached out its paw, totally would have done the same.
I will be donating! My Facebook has gone dry the last year 🤣🤣🤣 so I’ve gone back to Instagram and TikTok.
Arise Church - Evil, just pure cunt-ery of Evil!!!
As a ex Christian who has gone to 12 churches in my 15years of poop searching, when a church closes down, it’s either “go to C3, Bethel, Renewal, Destiny etc, any of our recommendations. We Are All Family.” When I told the senior staff I was leaving, one told me to go to C3, because fuck my free will! And another one who I’m sure still is a 15yr old inside a 40yr old body - bullying me as if it was a bloody popularity contest.
It’s all a country club, except they openly exploit the vulnerable.
After reading that email and the context behind it, I also feel nauseous. These people are unbelievable. I feel horrible for Charlotte - she was hired by these grifters to do a job, and they stuck her with the legal bills.
That email was so gross to get as I prepared to take some time off away from all this shit. Like - leave me alone, fuckwits. I never want to engage with you again.
It's like someone in an abusive relationship who's like "they're really trying. I promise they've changed" and yet it's just sitting there dormant waiting to rise up (or in this case), arise up again.
David. Thank you for being like a dog with a bone with this one. I know a few ex-Arise's. Reflecting on the comments throughout this epic debacle, I am very grateful for your tenacity. I hope it gives you strength in the dark times (dealing with f-wits, I'm sure there are many!). I donated to Charlotte. Again, thanks.
Can't believe this. It's like a little bit of America has landed in New Zealand. Donated. The church and lawyers are not at the top of my priority list for giving money to, but Charlotte seems like a good cause.
Just spreading the word helps, even. There is plenty of America in NZ, unfortunately. Same QAnon/post-QAnon bs, same megachurch stuff, same fear and rhetoric.
You are a thoroughly decent human being, David. How about we organise a whole group of us to dress as devils and attend ‘church’ at Arise. I’ll be a starter.
No surprises, things that are rotten don’t suddenly become something else. Arise and it’s like are an insidious blight on humanity. I’m so sorry that this story has not only harmed those directly involved but you David and Charlotte are casualties of this awful mess masquerading as light and truth NOT.
Everyone, her bill is almost covered. Insane. You're wonderful.
I will tally up new Webworm members at the end of the weekend, and send any of that cash over to her GoFundMe.
Just wow.
Just donated and saw that she is at $21k! Amazing effort everyone x
Money well spent as far as I'm concerned. Glad we could help her out.
Thank you for alerting the worms! This is my favourite community on the internet.
I know they are oversubscribed, but I am sure someone in Charlotte's position can help someone else who needs it - if that is permitted under the rules? If not, I am sure YOU can put the amount of subs you were going to give to Charlotte, to another good cause ...
I will touch base with her on this issue. I am so glad she got there. Any $ from new subscribers over Fri-Sun will either go to her (I feel she probably underbaked it on legal fees), or go to a cause she wants.
She should be allowed to ‘pocket’ it, if that’s allowed. I certainly wouldn’t begrudge that.
She probably needs some help dealing with this experience: processing hundreds of people's personal reports of trauma would be hard enough, but she then had to deal with Arise's response to her report and the subsequent financial stress. I imagine this would take a serious toll and would hope she could use anything extra to start some therapy/whatever healing process works for her. As great as it is that we've managed to help cover her legal fees I sadly can't imagine that she's able to walk away from this undamaged; I would be happy for my contribution to go towards supporting that.
So fabulous, wonderful work as always, thanks for letting us know how to help x
What a lovely community to be part of 🙂
Amazing to hear!
She's reached her goal. In one day.
She created this about four weeks ago, and from what I can tell was too shy to share it.
I am glad she did in the last 48 hours. I am glad we could all help.
Hi all - here is a statement that Charlotte put out on her Instagram - thought I'd repost it here:
"Many of you will have seen my face pop up over social media in the last 24 hours with a story about a project I led for a church in 2022.
I recognize it has come as somewhat of a surprise for people to get a sense that there was more playing out than what has been public over the last six months. I have worked to conduct myself professionally through this time, so have steered clear of commenting publicly on the situation.
But, on Thursday evening a Give A Little page went public, with the goal of helping me meet the $22,000 legal bill I was left with following this project. By lunchtime on Friday over 400 people had pitched in to wipe this bill.
I have spent most of the day in tears, simply overwhelmed by this support.
Now, I want to respond to the tautoko I have received.
I struggle for the right words to express what it has meant to me to find myself surrounded by such kindness and support. If you were one of the people who assisted with the Give A Little I want you to know that your contribution is so appreciated, but, much more than that - the solidarity you have offered to me personally is priceless. I feel immensely relieved. I didn’t know until today how much I needed to be told I am a good person and I did the right thing. Thank you.
I get asked two questions…
Firstly, would you do it again? Absolutely. It is always the right thing to do to stand with those who have been hurt. Giving voice to people’s experiences, concerns and hopes was a total privilege.
Secondly, am I OK? There have been some very hard moments. The process of engaging with over 600 respondents and hearing people’s stories was a deep and complex journey. That was followed by unexpected battles that took a toll. But, I am determined now to turn this experience into something good and to honour those who have been harmed within their experience of church.
Stories of struggles within churches are not isolated to the one that made the headlines. As a committed person of faith, part of the Christian community, and a church attender, I believe our churches in this nation must do better. We must take seriously our responsibility to care for people - to first do no harm. We need to set standards we can be held to. We should act as charities if we are to hold charitable status. We must have appropriate governance. We should care about feedback. We must listen to those we hurt, and do the work of learning from them. People should find safety within our churches. It is these points that I wish to give further attention to in my work going forward. I will do all I can to help the churches of Aotearoa rise to this challenge.
A small final note – I would like to offer total transparency around the process of being left with this bill, but unfortunately I can’t do so publicly in fear of further litigation. Please rest assured that there are trusted, honest people who have been across the details with me over the last number of months, and that my bills were also presented to Give A Little as part of the validation of this page.
And, if you’ll bear with me, I would like to offer my public thanks to a few people…
I would like to thank Chris Clarke and @frank_ritchie . I called you into this process as strangers and I could not have found better friends. You gave so generously of your time and support at your own cost and I could not have survived this without you.
To @davidfarrier You really care about people, and I respect that. Thank you for the personal price you have paid to offer kindness to people through this time, myself included.
I would also like to thank my dear friends and my family for their incredible and unwavering support.
And to all of those generous people who have supported and encouraged me especially over this last day – thank you."
Just made a small donation and shared to Facebook. Fuck Arise and their kith & kin brethren pseudo faux Christian fuckturds.
Small is all that's needed. She appreciates anything given!
But how do you REALLY feel about Arise, Max? hahahaha!
🤣 it brings out the Devil in me!
666 \m/
Noting quite a few of the donation amounts were deliberately 666 or variations thereof 😍
This will appeal to some
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/04/friend-of-satan-how-lucien-greaves-and-his-satanic-temple-are-fighting-the-religious-right?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
As mentioned in that article, the documentary movie "Hail, Satan!" is a very interesting commentary on the legal issues and US First Amendment protections - I definitely recommend it to see the hypocrisy among some who try to push their religion through government edict yet bury others as what they deem to be "inappropriate". (The lesser-known "I, Pastafari" for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is also a good one.)
Penny Lane is a buddy! I met her at Sundance as she had a film in there the same year as Tickled. She has a new documentary on the way at SXSW about donating one of her organs!
ten points for innovation and excellent use of legislation! lol! Gotta admire that at least. :-)
This is great. Might as well use the system!
Thanks for sharing this. I learned a lot!
Well, this post seems to have rattled the tree. She's gotten around $9000 in additional donations in the last 3 hours (including from me). Keep up the good work.
Webwormers tend to be generous and open - it's cool to see. And this was a cause that seemed very on point considering what went down last year!
David, thanks for highlighting her plight, have made a small contribution.
Recently visited family in a small town in BC, Canada, took lots of photos of squirrels, stopped the car and ran back to take photos of a skunk strolling along the footpath, locals looking at us like we’re mad. Just said “We don’t have those in NZ”
If one of those squirrels had reached out its paw, totally would have done the same.
Happy New Year.
Never fall for the paw reach-out! HA!
Every tiny bit helps, I reckon. That's the joy of GiveALittle and other pages like it - if everyone gives a tiny amount, it's sorted.
We have skunks under our front steps of our house occasionally. Consider yourself lucky.
I will be donating! My Facebook has gone dry the last year 🤣🤣🤣 so I’ve gone back to Instagram and TikTok.
Arise Church - Evil, just pure cunt-ery of Evil!!!
As a ex Christian who has gone to 12 churches in my 15years of poop searching, when a church closes down, it’s either “go to C3, Bethel, Renewal, Destiny etc, any of our recommendations. We Are All Family.” When I told the senior staff I was leaving, one told me to go to C3, because fuck my free will! And another one who I’m sure still is a 15yr old inside a 40yr old body - bullying me as if it was a bloody popularity contest.
It’s all a country club, except they openly exploit the vulnerable.
After reading that email and the context behind it, I also feel nauseous. These people are unbelievable. I feel horrible for Charlotte - she was hired by these grifters to do a job, and they stuck her with the legal bills.
If people show you who they are, believe them.
That email was so gross to get as I prepared to take some time off away from all this shit. Like - leave me alone, fuckwits. I never want to engage with you again.
It's like someone in an abusive relationship who's like "they're really trying. I promise they've changed" and yet it's just sitting there dormant waiting to rise up (or in this case), arise up again.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. So fucking gross. 🤮
David. Thank you for being like a dog with a bone with this one. I know a few ex-Arise's. Reflecting on the comments throughout this epic debacle, I am very grateful for your tenacity. I hope it gives you strength in the dark times (dealing with f-wits, I'm sure there are many!). I donated to Charlotte. Again, thanks.
Can't believe this. It's like a little bit of America has landed in New Zealand. Donated. The church and lawyers are not at the top of my priority list for giving money to, but Charlotte seems like a good cause.
Just spreading the word helps, even. There is plenty of America in NZ, unfortunately. Same QAnon/post-QAnon bs, same megachurch stuff, same fear and rhetoric.
You are a thoroughly decent human being, David. How about we organise a whole group of us to dress as devils and attend ‘church’ at Arise. I’ll be a starter.
Boom, and it's done!
Donated with funny comment. Fuckin’ fart cupping cuuuuuunce.
That email reads like it was written by a sociopath. And I suspect that it probably was.
I feel so bad for Charlotte. This is such a fucked up situation.
No surprises, things that are rotten don’t suddenly become something else. Arise and it’s like are an insidious blight on humanity. I’m so sorry that this story has not only harmed those directly involved but you David and Charlotte are casualties of this awful mess masquerading as light and truth NOT.