As a Christian I’ve been debating internally as to whether you have an anti Christian agenda as Arise claims. I’ve come to the conclusion that you have nothing against sensible and committed people of faith but are doing us all a favour by pointing out the charlatans who follow the crazy prosperity doctrine which the antithesis of all that Jesus taught. Sadly large parts of the Christian world has been captured by grifters and false profits ( ha) and hard right fanatics. This makes being a Christian today a difficult and often painful experience. I manage it (just) by staying well away from religion and the church and sticking with what the teachings actually say. Infused with a healthy dose of doubt.
So thank you David for your courage and yes faithfulness in reporting what you see. Helping me grapple with these issues is a gift I’m grateful to receive from you e hoa.
Thanks, Nigel. You nailed it. Appreciate you being here.
I said this in a reply to an earlier comment, but I'd love to teleport into these leaders' heads and genuinely try and see what they make of Jesus. If he event factors in. What emotions they put on him, his teachings. How they physically see him. All that stuff. Just so infinitely curious.
I know some fabulous Christian people! I'm glad you see it as it is. Not an attack on Christianity but bringing attention to the bad apples... and the system designed by them.
Kia ora David. I’m sure you know but I’d make a privacy complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner regarding the redactions and ask them to review them for appropriateness of withholding.
The most profound take away for me is that you were completely correct.
You pursued surfacing and sharing these peoples stories because you did not believe the leaders of the church took the abuse they were both participating in and condoning remotely seriously, or that they cared about the impact this had on people's lives. Even with all the redaction, this is exactly what shone through.
We all saw and felt how hard this was for you, but you didnt give up. Because you do care about people, and being kind and being fair- you know, like that Jesus guy you hate.
What an amazing journey. What an incredible outcome.
Hopefully all those amazing, brave, people that came forward can now heal.
Their responses were very “Don’t Look Up”! It’s wild that you got a snapshot into their communication while you were doing your reporting on them. They’re more about covering things up, blaming your reporting (and victims!) and not getting caught rather than changing their culture, showing remorse for victims or admitting it’s toxic in the first place. Deluded, nasty and rotten to the core.
Love your work exposing all this David!! I’d pay to see them scramble and hear what they’re saying about this article haha
I ordered the “David Farrier” the other night at McDonald’s Newtown and they didn’t know what I meant. I’m just a simple women making my way through the galaxy trying to make this catch on.
Wow, even with the insane amount of redactions that was an incredible unraveling. An undoing over time of people that never once seemed to show an ability to absorb, reflect and act on anything other than arrogance and pride. Crazy! I kept waiting for a moment of horror or sadness at the reality of what they were a part of, but it’s just ego and mocking. It’s quite telling of their own corruption when we look at how they interpret all your contact and behaviour. They had so many opportunities to open a dialogue or at least offer sorrow to their victims. Just a terrible reflection of a group led by greedy untrustworthy criminal humans acting to line their own pockets at the expense of those paying for their lifestyle.Very sad. I’m so happy to have read / listened to you describe their unraveling but still so sad for the victims. Well done David, you really were incredible and so persistent, I hope you feel pride in this, I feel proud to be a worm. As always, you rock. Loved having you read it out!
Yeah, as I was flicking through those 200 pages of emails - I was waiting for one that was like "Wait, this does seem bad". But they just never came.
There were some external emails from the public that expressed real concern - but NOTHING from the inside. Zilch. Nada.
I do wonder if "Brad" dealing with all this stops at some moment and goes "Huh. I wonder if maybe Arise isn't that great a business to be a part of.". Also a very boring job redacting all day long.
Get out of there, Brad. Life is so much bigger than that nightmare place you're stuck in.
Absolutely agree. Such irony… they’re the church and David’s the anti-Christ! Never occurs to them that he might just be a decent guy, asking them to do better.
I’m a proud worm too. I’m from a PR background which wasn’t a comfortable fit for me as I could never see the evil media as anything but people just doing their job. So reading this clumsy shitty coverup brings back memories of corporate bullshit. Love your stuff David.
Thanks for being a PR person that gets it. PR has a place in all this - people need to be able to get the word out about things. It's just refreshing and encouraging you have that outlook. Thanks for being a Worm.
I really appreciated that long read being recorded and listened to it on my morning walk. As a person who works every day with victims of abuse I see denial in all its ugliness. It is a remarkably common pattern to dismiss victims and ridicule their advocates. It’s how abusers manage to continue to have power.
Well said Maggy. The tone of their communications is awful…. plus now I’m questioning their IQ…(and obviously EQ). Some v. Bizarre assumptions/leaps about David.
It's fuelled by anger, I think. And not wanting others to go through this shit. Also - I am encouraged by readers and that OTHER PEOPLE CARE TOO. You care. That means a lot and makes me happy to be on this weird planet.
I loved listening to this while following along with the newsletter!! So please do the voicey again!
So interesting to see their responses and for it to be out there with how 'crisis' moments (crisis being anything that could 'attack' the church) are dealt with in the walls of arise. So many occasions where the upper tier of leadership would control what you could and couldn't read. When I was part of it, if there was an article written about arise published on news websites - someone would go and screenshot the article and post the screenshots to a leadership telegram group so that you could read the article but not actually open the link on the website so that the article didn't 'gain traction' and would disappear. Self protection mode is engrained in followers - took me soooo long to get these protection mechanisms out of me.
Thanks to you David, they are being exposed to the core. Appreciate you a lot!! And just a side note - so annoying that Charlotte has been landed with all those legals bills - we should fundraise to help out!!! Just exposes the rot even more.
Isn't it amazing the power and control they have. I remember as a teen in these circles, the idea of reading about evolution (this was before we had to learn about it at school when we were 16 ish) was so, so discouraged. Access to information discouraged. It's crazy-fucking town when you look back on it.
Yes, Charlotte and the other authors sound like they agreed to censorship. Maybe they’d like to ask for copies of correspondence relating to them and share that too!
The messages! "be super profesh" And about the man in the article who moved here and was kept as a slave "but there's probably harsher working conditions at TVNZ" I- 6tyyyyyyyy01m.l My cat Pennywise typed that by walking across the keyboard, but honestly it makes as much sense as most of the messages they are sending back and forth to each other. On TELEGRAM? Red flag red flag red flag. And still none of this mentions the victims or how to address helping the people they harmed.
Oh and they have a MEMES page. I cannot imagine what that would even BE like.
Awww thank you! He was rescued from a gutter on the side of the road in front of our house so we thought it was appropriate! We also have Babadook! Because if you have Pennywise you have to have the Babadook. And cockatiels, Gregory Peck and Atticus Finch because I'm a sucker for puns. Then Gregory laid an egg, but she's still Gregory! And Echo and Ariadne (also cats...yes there are four) and their names are less fun, but hey they're mythological!
Hahhaha! Love the idea of god being like "okay, that is one meme too many, Bob. 999 was okay, but 1,000 is pushing it" and obliterating your hard drive.
Personally I’ll be watching to see what eventuates here in Australia. A few Christian work colleagues and I have discussed the Arise mess, they claim the over reliance on naïve, eager to please youth volunteers is common in some churches. The need for transparency and good conduct is so important. Id like to think the Arise board learnt something from all of this, but predictably it seems they haven’t. And they wonder why so many people are losing faith.
Australian has its time coming. All these churches do. Because people aren't idiots and they're increasingly being exposed for what they are: manipulative money-grabbing nightmare organisations.
As a Christian I’ve been debating internally as to whether you have an anti Christian agenda as Arise claims. I’ve come to the conclusion that you have nothing against sensible and committed people of faith but are doing us all a favour by pointing out the charlatans who follow the crazy prosperity doctrine which the antithesis of all that Jesus taught. Sadly large parts of the Christian world has been captured by grifters and false profits ( ha) and hard right fanatics. This makes being a Christian today a difficult and often painful experience. I manage it (just) by staying well away from religion and the church and sticking with what the teachings actually say. Infused with a healthy dose of doubt.
So thank you David for your courage and yes faithfulness in reporting what you see. Helping me grapple with these issues is a gift I’m grateful to receive from you e hoa.
Thanks, Nigel. You nailed it. Appreciate you being here.
I said this in a reply to an earlier comment, but I'd love to teleport into these leaders' heads and genuinely try and see what they make of Jesus. If he event factors in. What emotions they put on him, his teachings. How they physically see him. All that stuff. Just so infinitely curious.
Yes!! There are beautiful and decent churches out there, but they are hard to find. All the best with your spiritual journey ❤️
I know some fabulous Christian people! I'm glad you see it as it is. Not an attack on Christianity but bringing attention to the bad apples... and the system designed by them.
I'm with you
You're worth $16 million to us matey
MAKE IT REAL THEN WHERE IS MY MILLIONS GIVE ME MY MILLIONS
Woah, Anna Wilding over here
A ‘Church of Farrier’ could be the path to the millions you seek....! It seems to work for so many.
all money and credit to you David! Great work. thanks for sharing!!
Kia ora David. I’m sure you know but I’d make a privacy complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner regarding the redactions and ask them to review them for appropriateness of withholding.
I will. Thanks, Sophie.
Oh my lord.
The most profound take away for me is that you were completely correct.
You pursued surfacing and sharing these peoples stories because you did not believe the leaders of the church took the abuse they were both participating in and condoning remotely seriously, or that they cared about the impact this had on people's lives. Even with all the redaction, this is exactly what shone through.
We all saw and felt how hard this was for you, but you didnt give up. Because you do care about people, and being kind and being fair- you know, like that Jesus guy you hate.
What an amazing journey. What an incredible outcome.
Hopefully all those amazing, brave, people that came forward can now heal.
Fuck you are rad ❤
Their responses were very “Don’t Look Up”! It’s wild that you got a snapshot into their communication while you were doing your reporting on them. They’re more about covering things up, blaming your reporting (and victims!) and not getting caught rather than changing their culture, showing remorse for victims or admitting it’s toxic in the first place. Deluded, nasty and rotten to the core.
Love your work exposing all this David!! I’d pay to see them scramble and hear what they’re saying about this article haha
The whole of Arise atm is very, very much a case of Don't Look Up - a movie I didn't dug as much as a lot of people, but whose central premise I dug!
“Don’t feed the beast” line is incredible, especially when one knows your love of the humble double cheese burger combo.
Thanks for doing the podcast for those of us who can’t make it.
I had a double cheeseburger combo the night after I'd put this piece together!
I ordered the “David Farrier” the other night at McDonald’s Newtown and they didn’t know what I meant. I’m just a simple women making my way through the galaxy trying to make this catch on.
Yeah, I liked that comment a lot. I'd b proud to be called the beast in this context.
For anyone new, especially Arise folk:
Brent Cameron farts on his hands and puts it in peoples faces. You can look it up
I love that that is your takeaway, always. Ha! Fuckin' Brent. Jeez. Those two brothers, honestly.
I’m grateful for journalists like you
I am sure that's what Arise said, too.
Oh wait, they didn't!
Thirded, very grateful.
As am I. Thankyou!
‘Flippen Get Wrecked’ should be the next T-shirt.
We need a t-shirt with a one liner collection! I would pay extra for this 🤩🤩
Wow, even with the insane amount of redactions that was an incredible unraveling. An undoing over time of people that never once seemed to show an ability to absorb, reflect and act on anything other than arrogance and pride. Crazy! I kept waiting for a moment of horror or sadness at the reality of what they were a part of, but it’s just ego and mocking. It’s quite telling of their own corruption when we look at how they interpret all your contact and behaviour. They had so many opportunities to open a dialogue or at least offer sorrow to their victims. Just a terrible reflection of a group led by greedy untrustworthy criminal humans acting to line their own pockets at the expense of those paying for their lifestyle.Very sad. I’m so happy to have read / listened to you describe their unraveling but still so sad for the victims. Well done David, you really were incredible and so persistent, I hope you feel pride in this, I feel proud to be a worm. As always, you rock. Loved having you read it out!
Yeah, as I was flicking through those 200 pages of emails - I was waiting for one that was like "Wait, this does seem bad". But they just never came.
There were some external emails from the public that expressed real concern - but NOTHING from the inside. Zilch. Nada.
I do wonder if "Brad" dealing with all this stops at some moment and goes "Huh. I wonder if maybe Arise isn't that great a business to be a part of.". Also a very boring job redacting all day long.
Get out of there, Brad. Life is so much bigger than that nightmare place you're stuck in.
Yeah! Free Brad.
Also a good t-shirt slogan idea.
Yes…we’ve got to get David to $16m somehow!
Absolutely agree. Such irony… they’re the church and David’s the anti-Christ! Never occurs to them that he might just be a decent guy, asking them to do better.
I’m a proud worm too. I’m from a PR background which wasn’t a comfortable fit for me as I could never see the evil media as anything but people just doing their job. So reading this clumsy shitty coverup brings back memories of corporate bullshit. Love your stuff David.
Thanks for being a PR person that gets it. PR has a place in all this - people need to be able to get the word out about things. It's just refreshing and encouraging you have that outlook. Thanks for being a Worm.
I really appreciated that long read being recorded and listened to it on my morning walk. As a person who works every day with victims of abuse I see denial in all its ugliness. It is a remarkably common pattern to dismiss victims and ridicule their advocates. It’s how abusers manage to continue to have power.
Seeing that pattern again and again must get so, so taxing. Thanks for the kind words, and more importantly for the work that you do.
Thx for those kind words. It’s difficult for victim’s voices to be heard because abusive behaviour often seems unbelievable.
Well said Maggy. The tone of their communications is awful…. plus now I’m questioning their IQ…(and obviously EQ). Some v. Bizarre assumptions/leaps about David.
They seem to have a "take a penny, leave a penny" approach to morality. The church does X number of good things, so it offsets all the bad.
The overwhelming ethic, sadly, seems to be “the ends justify the means”.
Not great for an organisation that’s supposed to be about loving people and caring for them. John 13:35 and whatnot.
Fair fucks to you David. No idea how you find the motivation to go against these absolute fools but I'm thankful that you do.
It's fuelled by anger, I think. And not wanting others to go through this shit. Also - I am encouraged by readers and that OTHER PEOPLE CARE TOO. You care. That means a lot and makes me happy to be on this weird planet.
I loved listening to this while following along with the newsletter!! So please do the voicey again!
So interesting to see their responses and for it to be out there with how 'crisis' moments (crisis being anything that could 'attack' the church) are dealt with in the walls of arise. So many occasions where the upper tier of leadership would control what you could and couldn't read. When I was part of it, if there was an article written about arise published on news websites - someone would go and screenshot the article and post the screenshots to a leadership telegram group so that you could read the article but not actually open the link on the website so that the article didn't 'gain traction' and would disappear. Self protection mode is engrained in followers - took me soooo long to get these protection mechanisms out of me.
Thanks to you David, they are being exposed to the core. Appreciate you a lot!! And just a side note - so annoying that Charlotte has been landed with all those legals bills - we should fundraise to help out!!! Just exposes the rot even more.
Isn't it amazing the power and control they have. I remember as a teen in these circles, the idea of reading about evolution (this was before we had to learn about it at school when we were 16 ish) was so, so discouraged. Access to information discouraged. It's crazy-fucking town when you look back on it.
Yes, Charlotte and the other authors sound like they agreed to censorship. Maybe they’d like to ask for copies of correspondence relating to them and share that too!
I imagine that thought has crossed Charlotte's mind, too.
The messages! "be super profesh" And about the man in the article who moved here and was kept as a slave "but there's probably harsher working conditions at TVNZ" I- 6tyyyyyyyy01m.l My cat Pennywise typed that by walking across the keyboard, but honestly it makes as much sense as most of the messages they are sending back and forth to each other. On TELEGRAM? Red flag red flag red flag. And still none of this mentions the victims or how to address helping the people they harmed.
Oh and they have a MEMES page. I cannot imagine what that would even BE like.
Pennywise is such a great name for a cat and I am very happy for both you, and Pennywise.
Awww thank you! He was rescued from a gutter on the side of the road in front of our house so we thought it was appropriate! We also have Babadook! Because if you have Pennywise you have to have the Babadook. And cockatiels, Gregory Peck and Atticus Finch because I'm a sucker for puns. Then Gregory laid an egg, but she's still Gregory! And Echo and Ariadne (also cats...yes there are four) and their names are less fun, but hey they're mythological!
Its a page full of those Jesus jokes. Which I love and had a whole folder of them until my last PC died. Clearly god's will.
Hahhaha! Love the idea of god being like "okay, that is one meme too many, Bob. 999 was okay, but 1,000 is pushing it" and obliterating your hard drive.
But I mean, rip your computer though!
Personally I’ll be watching to see what eventuates here in Australia. A few Christian work colleagues and I have discussed the Arise mess, they claim the over reliance on naïve, eager to please youth volunteers is common in some churches. The need for transparency and good conduct is so important. Id like to think the Arise board learnt something from all of this, but predictably it seems they haven’t. And they wonder why so many people are losing faith.
Australian has its time coming. All these churches do. Because people aren't idiots and they're increasingly being exposed for what they are: manipulative money-grabbing nightmare organisations.