I truly admire Mike's bravery, both in participating in the Pathfinding review, and in sharing what it's been like since. I think many survivors of trauma will be able to empathise with the difficulty recalling, writing, and standing up for change so that the future is different for others.
Kia kaha Mike, you have already got through the worst trauma (when it all happened to you years ago) and you will get through this new and different trauma too. Thank you for sharing.
At this point anyone in leadership is complicit. I know it's a cult-like environment, but this information has been reported since April, and it's been nothing but doubling down.
'difficult season'. FFS, a difficult season is when the projector doesn't work and the band doesn't turn up, or offerings are down a bit because people have other things they need to spend their money on. All that is happening is horrific, but for me, summing it up in this trite expression is the greatest horror of all.
The words they use are so funny. If I hear "season" one more time I'll barf. I posted a link to this piece on their churches livestream - it got about 300 more likes than the stream did - so that's nice.
I hope at least one church member clicked it and took it on board.
How many Royal Commissions and investigations did it take to get George Pell convicted and then to have the conviction quashed!
Pell never admitted responsibility for overseeing the sexual/pschological abuse of children/adults in Australia and the wider Catholic Church.
Why does religion (name an 'ism or 'anity) provide cover or legitimacy for abuse/coercion/manipulation?
If the Supreme Court of The United States of Ameica can leak the overturning of Roe vs Wade, surely a whistleblower with a conscience in Pathfinders could leak......
That Mike has lost his capacity for joy in his life over this, after working so hard to restore it, is unforgivable.
What he did in contributing was brave and meaningful. Irrespective of outcome he stepped up and shared his pain for the wider good. No outcome, or lack of, negates the pride he should have in this action.
Mike doesn't and never did need the shitty church leadership to heal his wounds. He did that himself and will do it again.
But they do need to be held to account and I guess, at a very minimum, we can trust David to continue to push for this because he, like all of us, believes in Mike and all the other brave peoples strength and mana and right to have this recognized and restored. 33 days and counting with you ❤
How shocking to see such a level of denial throughout the Arise system. Having the review out in the world might be enough to shake some of them out if it. Without that they will just hunker down, feed off their own bullshit and keep doing what they do. Mike, you are a hero. David, keep hammering away. Kia kaha.
Ugh this is such a sad and sordid saga & the fact that this Church keeps retraumatising its victims & ignoring the giant elephant poo in their midst just shows how little they care about Christ’s teaching of loving your fellow humans, and how instead they’re just wedded to keeping the grift going. Keep at ‘em, David, you’re on the right side of history here. Arohanui to all the brave victims like Mike who came forward. Your voices are being heard, and sooner or later there will be some closure.
I should have known the apology John gave during the service when resigned was insincere - it's quite clear he thinks he's done nothing wrong. Everyone in leadership should be doing their best to get the review released if they want what's best for the church
Oh for sure. Can just imagine the story he's spinning for himself: I was naiive, I meant well but I erred, I've learned and grown so much since then...
What an absolute shit storm. This is the opposite of a 'victim led' response.
On a side note, I am interested in how this is caught up in the Employment Courts. Reading between the tea leaves, it seems that John Cameron might be seeking reinstatement into his old role. What ever he argues, getting a hearing and then a decision could take months, and then can be appealed, so I wonder if Arise will ultimately settle out of court instead. I am also a bit horrified as to what that settlement might look like and how it could affect the report's release. Fuck.
Mike's descriptions of his secondary wounding experiences is poignant and gut wrenching, and I feel absolutely gutted for him. None of the delay tactics is surprising to me, nor the blocking of information by any means - neither John Cameron nor his so-called Church are any more than a bunch if power mad men recruiting people as playthings for their own use and pecuniary gain. Evil personified. And every day that goes by continues to demonstrate that.
Yeah - it's pretty sad. Even if it's just he one man blocking the report - the behaviour of the board and the whole church shows they don't even *begin* to get it.
Mike, as a survivor of an abusive cult I hear your story (I have talked about some of my story on earlier posts). Experiences such as yours as disorientating and bewildering. So much of you life and identity was fused with the church and its leader. Rather than a place where you could find meaning and heal, it become a place of further abuse and trauma.
The Pathways report, as I suspected has been buried. And with it the voice of survivors who showed immense courage to come forward and share their story. There needs to be a holding to account and a place for truth telling. And the truth telling needs to be accepted by those in power. But truth telling is only the beginning. For telling the truth must lead to radical fundamental change, both institutionally and individually and a deep, honest and profound desire for restoration. Arise however, has shown by its actions and inaction to not be ready to confront its legacy. But by living in denial, it is living opposite to what it claims to believe. It is living a lie and by so doing continuing to pile further hurt upon those it has harmed.
I admire your courage and your strength, and those of the other survivors. I do so as only one has walked my own journey. And while the details of our experiences are different, there are many similarities. For this reason there is hope, survivors can find a way to move on and find their authentic selves. But the journey has hard and painful. Know, though, you are not alone.
This is so incredibly on point I have nothing to add, but here I am anyway.
There is no desire for any change within - that's been the bummer to see. Sure, one man is primarily holding it all up - but the church is just carrying on making all the same mistakes. It is not even CLOSE to getting it. And probably never will be, because 20 years of John in its DNA has left it utterly devoid of that possibility.
I hardly know what to say. It seems to me that several of these practices are simply criminal. Interns working as slaves. Sexual assaults. Why is the church being left to manage this? Why aren’t the police involved? Isn’t handing the issue over for the church to remedy simply a protection racket? Victims often want to protect their abusers: it’s part of the cycle of abuse. Time to bring down the curtain on this saga. Involve the police. Complain to the Labour inspectorate. Have the Charitable status of the church revoked. This is just a business operation, as you say.
It's incredibly tricky, all of it. For one thing - people won't go to the police. Part of what JC and co did was sweep stuff under the carpet - from what I understand, the police were the last thing on their minds. Charity status removed? For a church? Good luck.
Honestly - these institutions have so much protection it's not even funny.
When Mike wrote that even the beaming smiles of his three beautiful daughters could no longer comfort him, it broke my heart. Arise Church needs to be held accountable for the devastating and lasting damage they’ve done to him and hundreds of others. That report must come out for the healing to start.
The selfishness of these people is - it's just beyond.
As always, they are #1. It's all an ego trip. It was never about helping people, only about helping themselves (to people's time, money and adoration).
Yep. It’s beyond disgusting, and against all of Christ’s teachings.
Wanted to mention that, thanks to Hayden’s brilliant piece about compulsory agnosticism, I’m seriously considering switching from atheist to agnostic. No one really knows for sure what’s out there.
I truly admire Mike's bravery, both in participating in the Pathfinding review, and in sharing what it's been like since. I think many survivors of trauma will be able to empathise with the difficulty recalling, writing, and standing up for change so that the future is different for others.
Kia kaha Mike, you have already got through the worst trauma (when it all happened to you years ago) and you will get through this new and different trauma too. Thank you for sharing.
I feel for the victims and their deep trauma. There needs to be this report / full disclosure of what has happened so that healing can fully occur.
Hey Arise! Show you care about humankind / your victims and disclose what really happened.
Then do the work to make change to your behaviour.
At this point anyone in leadership is complicit. I know it's a cult-like environment, but this information has been reported since April, and it's been nothing but doubling down.
100% all leadership is complicit.
"Disclosure shows willingness to value honesty, integrity, and relationship transparency over secrecy, manipulation, and self-preservation"
Taken from experience of betrayal trauma disclosure, but the same applies here.
'difficult season'. FFS, a difficult season is when the projector doesn't work and the band doesn't turn up, or offerings are down a bit because people have other things they need to spend their money on. All that is happening is horrific, but for me, summing it up in this trite expression is the greatest horror of all.
The words they use are so funny. If I hear "season" one more time I'll barf. I posted a link to this piece on their churches livestream - it got about 300 more likes than the stream did - so that's nice.
I hope at least one church member clicked it and took it on board.
David, keep going!
How many Royal Commissions and investigations did it take to get George Pell convicted and then to have the conviction quashed!
Pell never admitted responsibility for overseeing the sexual/pschological abuse of children/adults in Australia and the wider Catholic Church.
Why does religion (name an 'ism or 'anity) provide cover or legitimacy for abuse/coercion/manipulation?
If the Supreme Court of The United States of Ameica can leak the overturning of Roe vs Wade, surely a whistleblower with a conscience in Pathfinders could leak......
Cheers RG
Fuck.
Its all just so gross.
That Mike has lost his capacity for joy in his life over this, after working so hard to restore it, is unforgivable.
What he did in contributing was brave and meaningful. Irrespective of outcome he stepped up and shared his pain for the wider good. No outcome, or lack of, negates the pride he should have in this action.
Mike doesn't and never did need the shitty church leadership to heal his wounds. He did that himself and will do it again.
But they do need to be held to account and I guess, at a very minimum, we can trust David to continue to push for this because he, like all of us, believes in Mike and all the other brave peoples strength and mana and right to have this recognized and restored. 33 days and counting with you ❤
How shocking to see such a level of denial throughout the Arise system. Having the review out in the world might be enough to shake some of them out if it. Without that they will just hunker down, feed off their own bullshit and keep doing what they do. Mike, you are a hero. David, keep hammering away. Kia kaha.
Mike is a hero. I couldn't keep on like this if not for people like Mike.
Arise needs to be held accountable - so far they appear (despite all their word) to have learnt literally zero out of all of this.
Humans can be so wilfully ignorant.
It's depressing.
Chewed up and spat out again, and again, and again, and again. Kia Kaha Mike and thank you David.
Ugh this is such a sad and sordid saga & the fact that this Church keeps retraumatising its victims & ignoring the giant elephant poo in their midst just shows how little they care about Christ’s teaching of loving your fellow humans, and how instead they’re just wedded to keeping the grift going. Keep at ‘em, David, you’re on the right side of history here. Arohanui to all the brave victims like Mike who came forward. Your voices are being heard, and sooner or later there will be some closure.
Mike gave me the kick up the butt I needed to put the pressure back on these, frankly, idiots.
Uncaring idiots. All of them. It's just beyond.
The board hasn't once engaged in good faith with me, imo. They're as cooked as the man who founded the place.
I should have known the apology John gave during the service when resigned was insincere - it's quite clear he thinks he's done nothing wrong. Everyone in leadership should be doing their best to get the review released if they want what's best for the church
Most insincere thing of all time. Hearing those words, and knowing how he's acted since - it's all posturing.
If he was upset at all, it was just for himself and losing his power. And cashflow.
Thing is - congregation still backs him. A lot of him do. The term "cult like" keeps coming to mind.
Oh for sure. Can just imagine the story he's spinning for himself: I was naiive, I meant well but I erred, I've learned and grown so much since then...
What an absolute shit storm. This is the opposite of a 'victim led' response.
On a side note, I am interested in how this is caught up in the Employment Courts. Reading between the tea leaves, it seems that John Cameron might be seeking reinstatement into his old role. What ever he argues, getting a hearing and then a decision could take months, and then can be appealed, so I wonder if Arise will ultimately settle out of court instead. I am also a bit horrified as to what that settlement might look like and how it could affect the report's release. Fuck.
Shit people, really are shit people.
John was reportedly petitioning for his old job back. So yeah - John.
The ego and narcissism in this man - I guess 20 years of having people idolising you is really hard to leave behind.
Mike's descriptions of his secondary wounding experiences is poignant and gut wrenching, and I feel absolutely gutted for him. None of the delay tactics is surprising to me, nor the blocking of information by any means - neither John Cameron nor his so-called Church are any more than a bunch if power mad men recruiting people as playthings for their own use and pecuniary gain. Evil personified. And every day that goes by continues to demonstrate that.
Yeah - it's pretty sad. Even if it's just he one man blocking the report - the behaviour of the board and the whole church shows they don't even *begin* to get it.
Really sad.
Awful place. Just awful.
Mike, as a survivor of an abusive cult I hear your story (I have talked about some of my story on earlier posts). Experiences such as yours as disorientating and bewildering. So much of you life and identity was fused with the church and its leader. Rather than a place where you could find meaning and heal, it become a place of further abuse and trauma.
The Pathways report, as I suspected has been buried. And with it the voice of survivors who showed immense courage to come forward and share their story. There needs to be a holding to account and a place for truth telling. And the truth telling needs to be accepted by those in power. But truth telling is only the beginning. For telling the truth must lead to radical fundamental change, both institutionally and individually and a deep, honest and profound desire for restoration. Arise however, has shown by its actions and inaction to not be ready to confront its legacy. But by living in denial, it is living opposite to what it claims to believe. It is living a lie and by so doing continuing to pile further hurt upon those it has harmed.
I admire your courage and your strength, and those of the other survivors. I do so as only one has walked my own journey. And while the details of our experiences are different, there are many similarities. For this reason there is hope, survivors can find a way to move on and find their authentic selves. But the journey has hard and painful. Know, though, you are not alone.
Kia kaha.
He iti ra, he iti maphi pounamu.
This is so incredibly on point I have nothing to add, but here I am anyway.
There is no desire for any change within - that's been the bummer to see. Sure, one man is primarily holding it all up - but the church is just carrying on making all the same mistakes. It is not even CLOSE to getting it. And probably never will be, because 20 years of John in its DNA has left it utterly devoid of that possibility.
Thanks for your hard work giving a voice to those who were and are silenced. It is the only way that they can be heard and validated.
And now this...is a very hard read
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/472109/ex-celebration-church-members-believe-deliverance-harmed-them
Really, really great long form piece. Wow.
It's a difficult season what with the hand farts and the abuse and all
If I hear "difficult season" one more time....
I hardly know what to say. It seems to me that several of these practices are simply criminal. Interns working as slaves. Sexual assaults. Why is the church being left to manage this? Why aren’t the police involved? Isn’t handing the issue over for the church to remedy simply a protection racket? Victims often want to protect their abusers: it’s part of the cycle of abuse. Time to bring down the curtain on this saga. Involve the police. Complain to the Labour inspectorate. Have the Charitable status of the church revoked. This is just a business operation, as you say.
It's incredibly tricky, all of it. For one thing - people won't go to the police. Part of what JC and co did was sweep stuff under the carpet - from what I understand, the police were the last thing on their minds. Charity status removed? For a church? Good luck.
Honestly - these institutions have so much protection it's not even funny.
When Mike wrote that even the beaming smiles of his three beautiful daughters could no longer comfort him, it broke my heart. Arise Church needs to be held accountable for the devastating and lasting damage they’ve done to him and hundreds of others. That report must come out for the healing to start.
The selfishness of these people is - it's just beyond.
As always, they are #1. It's all an ego trip. It was never about helping people, only about helping themselves (to people's time, money and adoration).
Yep. It’s beyond disgusting, and against all of Christ’s teachings.
Wanted to mention that, thanks to Hayden’s brilliant piece about compulsory agnosticism, I’m seriously considering switching from atheist to agnostic. No one really knows for sure what’s out there.