Theo, I’m devastated that you were treated this way by someone who should have regarded your wellbeing as his utmost concern. You should have been safe in his presence but you were abused. I am so sorry this happened under the guise of doing “the Lord’s work”. God have mercy 😓
David, thank you for keeping the heat on and uncovering more layers. Sterling work 👏👏👏
Thanks Christina. This one has taken a very long time to get out into the world. And I am very glad it finally is. What Brent and John have gotten away with is staggering to me.
Agree completely. I’ve been waiting for this/these kind of abuse(s) ever since the start. Just awful awful behaviour by egotistical twats with more power than they should have. Can hope they end up in jail but I doubt it :( Thanks again David for continuing to expose the bully’s
Ugh, of course it was going to get worse... I hope Theo knows that what happened wasn't ever OK, nor his fault, and that even though it is beyond unfair that his suffering was met with a promotion of his tormentor, his story is being heard, and there will (hopefully, finally) be some retribution. I truly hope he gets the support he deserves, and that his obvious work ethics and talents will be more respected by future employers. Kia kaha, also to David and Hayden for writing about this difficult stuff with a lot of empathy and sensitivity 👏
Christina, below, has hit the nail on the head. Having had this kind of antic-bullying aimed at me and some of my friends at high school I can say it is thoroughly awful and humiliating. Surprise surprise the instigator ended up being one of our head boys. Theo - all I can say is I hope you’re doing better now and are away from these horrible people. You are strong for standing up for yourself when it must have been incredibly difficult to do so. My best wishes to you.
Thank you David, Hayden and the other contributors for these pieces.
Really glad to have Hayden helping me out on this series. And yeah - there are so many people behind the scenes informing this article, too - this whole thing. They never get named, but a lot of brave bold people who've dealt with some pretty horrific stuff.
My heart goes out to Theo. Nobody deserves to be treated this way, by anyone, no matter how much power they have. The more I read about this church, the less I see them as Christians. Those who live their values don’t behave this way. My hope is that all the sunlight being shone on Arise will result in them facing the consequences of their heinous misdeeds.
So Brent's behaviour is appalling and to me this screams "I am gay but can't face the truth because my religion says it's of the devil so I will continue to act out in the worst possible ways. I WILL repress who I am!"
This is yet another pattern I have seen with church types. The more they have to repress who they are, the more they victimise others and become bullies. For the pentecostal/charismatic church being gay is anathema. You can be almost every flavour of 'sinner' except that.
To hear Brent lecture on stuff like the evils of porn, dating a non Christian, etc etc - and then turn around and do this stuff, it just beggars belief. Such a warped environment
When I had my one-on-one café-based pastoral session with Brent I will still a virgin (2004). He told me that up till then the most serious things he had to deal with were guys telling him they'd slept with their girlfriends.
I couldn't understand why I was a bigger problem than actual fornication (my view at the time). Somehow actual sex was viewed as an easier topic for pastoral input than a sincere gay-Christian-virgin; when all I wanted was the capacity to build honest relationships with others without having to hide my identity. That was just a no-go.
One strange anthropological memory of have of this is that Brent asked me to switch seats with him, or he directed me to the seat he wanted me to have. He couldn't sit with his back towards the door, he needed to have a vantage on incoming potential threats. Spoiler alert: he was the threat.
Oh yeah. My other memory is how he talked about Mangere central mall as a dangerous place that I shouldn't go. But it's been my local shopping centre nearly twenty years. I always found it a little strange that he saw Mangere as threatening: my Polynesian brothers and sisters are really friendly.
Thanks. Yes. I am still in touch with a few key people from that time, and they have all moved away from the hype, the control and the disappointment of Pentecostalism
My experience in these environments taught me that the topics most vehemently preached against were in most cases the very issues the person was struggling with.
The thing is that homosocial interactions between straight men always have the potential to go off the rails in Christian and conservative settings if the anti-gay surveillance is so strong that men feel they cannot just create healthy intimacy with each other without having to view all hugs, handshakes, smiles and personal revelations through the lens of 'being viewed as gay/homo is bad'
It just really stifles the range of tools men can use to form healthy relationships with others. Instead, in a corrupted form, people like Brent have to signal hyper-masculine traits (violence) and they may also spotlight sexualised behaviours because - 'there's no way this could be gay if I'm drawing so much attention to it'. What men need is a middle ground where they are accepted as sexual persons without toxic (violent) or shaming (sexualised) play (where play often tips into abusive territory).
>> What we do not know is what happened to any intern that actually submitted to a nude-spooning from Brent, if it were truly on offer <<
I am just thankful that Brent, and Encounter Christian Centre's (circa 2005) anti-gay rhetoric left me feeling so marginalised I never sought out interning. I felt so invalid and invisible that it seemingly put a safety buffer between myself and Brent for the most part.
YES TO THIS: "The thing is that homosocial interactions between straight men always have the potential to go off the rails in Christian and conservative settings if the anti-gay surveillance is so strong that men feel they cannot just create healthy intimacy with each other"
Apr 27, 2022·edited Apr 27, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Spot on. This anti gay surveillance in male dominated settings has a very long history in NZ going right back to when the original settlers came here in the mid 1800s and the ratio of men to women was 6 : 1 which meant most men spent all their time socialising with other men and continually policing each other’s masculinity. At the same time in the UK, the newspapers were publishing editorials lauding the ‘real men’ of the antipodes and fretting about how city living - art, theatre, libraries, desk jobs, etc. was ‘feminising men’.
This is a recurring pattern in human history where the anxiety produced by big societal changes (e.g. the industrial revolution) drives moral panics amongst the more conservative often centered on masculinity and sexuality.
One of the factors underlying conservatism is heightened unconscious death anxiety which is defended against by attempts to control and make others conform to narrow roles and ideals alongside an intense dislike of ambiguity and fluidity. Since the anxiety is internal, no amount of external social control is enough hence the tendency for some to slide into increasing authoritarianism.
Any temporary reduction in anxiety is often purchased at the expense of the social and political freedom of minorities and marginalised groups.
I completely agree that there is a warped homoerotic ‘feel’ to what Brent has reportedly been doing. I’d just like to note that being somewhere on the bisexual continuum is actually more common and can underlie the most nasty forms of homophobic ‘lad culture’ i.e. performative hypermasculinity. This is partly fuelled by bisexual erasure - dividing the world into gay and straight when human sexuality is way more diverse than that. That erasure means that some men who experience both forms of desire can get into a form of anxiety-driven panic that they might be ‘turning gay’ and for some their defence mechanism is to project their desire out and attack ‘gayness’ in the world as an attempt to ‘kill off’ and disown the desire they can’t accept inside themselves - their internalised homophobia becomes externalised homophobia.
Thank you Paul, appreciate your insight. In the binary world of these churches you cannot be on a continuum. You are either "right" or "wrong". The oversimplified morality does not allow for continuums.
Oh, absolutely. Conservatism often embraces and tries to enforce binaries that don't truly exist in nature to manage existential anxiety.
'Bisexual' itself is somewhat limiting too as a term too because it carries the implicit assumption that there are two sexes/genders to be attracted to and that doesn't capture the full richness of human experience either. Hence, some prefer the more intentionally ambiguous term queer or the more expansive term pansexual.
As an side, the concept of sexual orientation itself is also somewhat awkward since it conflates sexual attraction and romantic attraction which are located in different systems within the brain and can be experienced quite independently of each other.
Just a quick and HUGE thankyou David for this. I have a friend who left the church because of similar issues and on FB last week he shared your second story. A good number of people jumped in to support him, many from inside the church, also outlining their experiences. It was great that 100% of people were supportive (last I saw) and even if their experiences inside the church were different / mostly positive, they didn't doubt his choice to leave was the right thing to do for him. Just lots of love and support.... Also, a lot of folk were like WTAF in disbelief - so you are doing good work in shining a light where it is needed.
I'm imagining Brent and a PR person in front of a white board. On the white board are various things to deal with. Circled and underlined: "hand farts - how to handle ???"
I’m sure it’ll be managed by a ‘it was just locker room horse play’ or ‘boys will be boys’ or more likely a ‘we have no evidence that this behaviour took place’ type response. Instead of what it should be… an out and out admission and apology.
ALL of this is horrific and I really hope justice is served immediately on these hypocritical nasty pasties. But its the hand farts I can't seem to process...
Wowzers, thanks for all your work on this David! Brent sounds a monumental shit... Actually, the corny 80's lyrics that popped into my head when reading about this godforsaken church were actually penned by Bon Jovi - "You promise me Heaven, then put me through hell... You give love a bad name (bad name)!"
Reading this gives me chills. Thank you again David. Your care for the people you're reporting on shines through. As always, so glad a sub can help you do this work.
Apr 27, 2022·edited Apr 27, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Wow! Poor Theo, I'm so glad he did something to get out of there. Not everyone would be able to go through that. Again amazing reporting David! Thanks for your mahi!
This was awful to read. I work in an industry that is traditionally “blokey” and have had many trips with the team where we have kicked back and enjoyed time after hours with each other. And yet I have never once seen or heard this level of behaviour, this is just….fucking grotesque to be honest. I’m all for the odd fart joke, lamentable dating stories and playing pranks on each other but what this man did was abuse. Pure and simple.
Good to get an update but utterly floored to read about 'Theo'. I really hope that Theo is doing okay.
I could tell from the initial reporting David shared that Brent is T O X I C. Lad culture is right but I think there is an insidious, darker side to it.
I also thought how dubious and dodgy Pathfinding looked off the bat and I wouldnt trust it to actually do a fair review for the victims.
"Lad culture" makes it sound fun, harmless, youthful. It's misogyny and bullying, and in this case seems to extend towards sexual assault. I know David, Hayden, Ali Mau etc will keep shining the spotlight on this, and I hope the survivors feel more loved and safe now than they were at their church.
Saw this on nzh https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/former-arise-church-member-shunned-after-her-baby-was-assaulted-by-her-then-partner/ELFABQ2TEP2QZZPSSVNYQZDYI4/ whilst this story is so f*cked it does highlight how shallow the community in Arise is but something struck me here.. it is so messed up that these former members would have been (presuambly) donating money to the church and when it comes to their time of need - when they need the pastoral care from the church that they get shunned for basically being (I would imagine they would perceive to be) a debbie downer.. the same for those rape/assault survivors that spoke up to their leadership group. Where are their dues. They invested so much time, and money, and their belief system only the be chewed up and spat out when they became unsavoury to their eyes.
Agreed! It isn't acceptable behaviour in general let alone in your place of work nor from people in positions of authority.. the kicker here is that it is a church too. God damn. Im no employment lawyer but wouldnt Theo's experience be sexual harassment in a workplace? I hope the survivors get the justice they need.
Yeah I've struggled with the 'lad culture' descriptor and have tried to limit its use because you're right: it's something far darker. I think we might have explicitly said that in an earlier article. One reason it still sometimes comes up is cos it's shorthand for the kind of fragile masculinity and joke-bullying you get in Arise (and a lot in churches). The 'lad' stuff helps mask the painful truth of what's going on and the damage being done. Would be keen to find a different word for it tbh.
Agree. This is definitely darker than “lads being lads”. It reads more as a sexually confused bully intimidating a junior team member, then making light of the whole genital-bearing, spoon-threatening, Kiss-singing affair with offhand “we’ll always have Dunedin” comments. Got promoted too….what a time to be alive.
Apr 27, 2022·edited Apr 27, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Very true. There is a deeply sadistic edge to this - taking pleasure in the pain of others.
Arguably, there are a number of Dark Tetrad features at play here which is a set of four malevolent personality traits that are present in human predators: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Sadism.
It was originally formulated as the Dark Triad before the independent importance of sadism was acknowledged since psychopathic individuals are callous and remorseless, but not all of them actively enjoy cruelty.
Dark Tetrad individuals in positions of power with limited accountability can cause a lot of trauma to a lot of people. Kevin Dutton has researched the most common careers to find them in.
CEOs are at the top and Clergy are there too (both high power and potentially low accountability roles) and in corporate-styled megachurches, those two careers essentially merge so it wouldn't totally surprise me if such churches were sometimes their favoured hunting grounds.
Apr 27, 2022·edited Apr 28, 2022Liked by David Farrier
Profoundly sad for all those hurt. My gripes pale into insignificance, and I have no confidence in the review process no matter what is publicised. Arise is such a marketing and image driven organisation and you can't tell what will be "up lined" to whom.
Keep going David. Your best days are yet to come.
Who are these "members" the board's statement today refers to? Arise has no members. So who is it addressed to? I can't wait to see the new board, or the edits to the constitution recorded on the charities register site.
Well done the board for amending the constitution. Just make sure you don't fill it up with sycophants and clones. Perhaps get a lawyer or accountant or some professional bound by a code of ethics.
Edit: Sorry, Graeme Kirkwood the Arise Chair IS a NZ Chartered Accountant resident in Australia, associated with Planetshakers board, also Kindomcity Church Board in Auckland, etc. If the Arise board knew about this ages ago from all the NDAs, why as a CA did he not take action? "How would this look on the front page of the newspaper" test is the first thing the CAANZ teach in ethics courses!
This has literally turned my stomach.
Theo, I’m devastated that you were treated this way by someone who should have regarded your wellbeing as his utmost concern. You should have been safe in his presence but you were abused. I am so sorry this happened under the guise of doing “the Lord’s work”. God have mercy 😓
David, thank you for keeping the heat on and uncovering more layers. Sterling work 👏👏👏
Thanks Christina. This one has taken a very long time to get out into the world. And I am very glad it finally is. What Brent and John have gotten away with is staggering to me.
Agree completely. I’ve been waiting for this/these kind of abuse(s) ever since the start. Just awful awful behaviour by egotistical twats with more power than they should have. Can hope they end up in jail but I doubt it :( Thanks again David for continuing to expose the bully’s
Happy to be here. Happy is not quite the right word, but you get my meaning.
Ugh, of course it was going to get worse... I hope Theo knows that what happened wasn't ever OK, nor his fault, and that even though it is beyond unfair that his suffering was met with a promotion of his tormentor, his story is being heard, and there will (hopefully, finally) be some retribution. I truly hope he gets the support he deserves, and that his obvious work ethics and talents will be more respected by future employers. Kia kaha, also to David and Hayden for writing about this difficult stuff with a lot of empathy and sensitivity 👏
Christina, below, has hit the nail on the head. Having had this kind of antic-bullying aimed at me and some of my friends at high school I can say it is thoroughly awful and humiliating. Surprise surprise the instigator ended up being one of our head boys. Theo - all I can say is I hope you’re doing better now and are away from these horrible people. You are strong for standing up for yourself when it must have been incredibly difficult to do so. My best wishes to you.
Thank you David, Hayden and the other contributors for these pieces.
Really glad to have Hayden helping me out on this series. And yeah - there are so many people behind the scenes informing this article, too - this whole thing. They never get named, but a lot of brave bold people who've dealt with some pretty horrific stuff.
Great to see this story continuing to spread: RNZ did a great piece that is cutting to some of the more intense stuff: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/466028/arise-interns-allege-bullying-hush-money-and-20-hour-days
That was syndicated on Newstalk ZB and Newshub.
Arise didn't want any of this out there - now it's unavoidable.
My heart goes out to Theo. Nobody deserves to be treated this way, by anyone, no matter how much power they have. The more I read about this church, the less I see them as Christians. Those who live their values don’t behave this way. My hope is that all the sunlight being shone on Arise will result in them facing the consequences of their heinous misdeeds.
Consequences are getting close to unavoidable at this point I think.
I certainly hope so.
So Brent's behaviour is appalling and to me this screams "I am gay but can't face the truth because my religion says it's of the devil so I will continue to act out in the worst possible ways. I WILL repress who I am!"
This is yet another pattern I have seen with church types. The more they have to repress who they are, the more they victimise others and become bullies. For the pentecostal/charismatic church being gay is anathema. You can be almost every flavour of 'sinner' except that.
To hear Brent lecture on stuff like the evils of porn, dating a non Christian, etc etc - and then turn around and do this stuff, it just beggars belief. Such a warped environment
When I had my one-on-one café-based pastoral session with Brent I will still a virgin (2004). He told me that up till then the most serious things he had to deal with were guys telling him they'd slept with their girlfriends.
I couldn't understand why I was a bigger problem than actual fornication (my view at the time). Somehow actual sex was viewed as an easier topic for pastoral input than a sincere gay-Christian-virgin; when all I wanted was the capacity to build honest relationships with others without having to hide my identity. That was just a no-go.
One strange anthropological memory of have of this is that Brent asked me to switch seats with him, or he directed me to the seat he wanted me to have. He couldn't sit with his back towards the door, he needed to have a vantage on incoming potential threats. Spoiler alert: he was the threat.
Oh yeah. My other memory is how he talked about Mangere central mall as a dangerous place that I shouldn't go. But it's been my local shopping centre nearly twenty years. I always found it a little strange that he saw Mangere as threatening: my Polynesian brothers and sisters are really friendly.
I hope you're doing OK now. Sincerely.
Thanks. Yes. I am still in touch with a few key people from that time, and they have all moved away from the hype, the control and the disappointment of Pentecostalism
My experience in these environments taught me that the topics most vehemently preached against were in most cases the very issues the person was struggling with.
The thing is that homosocial interactions between straight men always have the potential to go off the rails in Christian and conservative settings if the anti-gay surveillance is so strong that men feel they cannot just create healthy intimacy with each other without having to view all hugs, handshakes, smiles and personal revelations through the lens of 'being viewed as gay/homo is bad'
It just really stifles the range of tools men can use to form healthy relationships with others. Instead, in a corrupted form, people like Brent have to signal hyper-masculine traits (violence) and they may also spotlight sexualised behaviours because - 'there's no way this could be gay if I'm drawing so much attention to it'. What men need is a middle ground where they are accepted as sexual persons without toxic (violent) or shaming (sexualised) play (where play often tips into abusive territory).
>> What we do not know is what happened to any intern that actually submitted to a nude-spooning from Brent, if it were truly on offer <<
I am just thankful that Brent, and Encounter Christian Centre's (circa 2005) anti-gay rhetoric left me feeling so marginalised I never sought out interning. I felt so invalid and invisible that it seemingly put a safety buffer between myself and Brent for the most part.
YES TO THIS: "The thing is that homosocial interactions between straight men always have the potential to go off the rails in Christian and conservative settings if the anti-gay surveillance is so strong that men feel they cannot just create healthy intimacy with each other"
Thank you.
Spot on. This anti gay surveillance in male dominated settings has a very long history in NZ going right back to when the original settlers came here in the mid 1800s and the ratio of men to women was 6 : 1 which meant most men spent all their time socialising with other men and continually policing each other’s masculinity. At the same time in the UK, the newspapers were publishing editorials lauding the ‘real men’ of the antipodes and fretting about how city living - art, theatre, libraries, desk jobs, etc. was ‘feminising men’.
This is a recurring pattern in human history where the anxiety produced by big societal changes (e.g. the industrial revolution) drives moral panics amongst the more conservative often centered on masculinity and sexuality.
One of the factors underlying conservatism is heightened unconscious death anxiety which is defended against by attempts to control and make others conform to narrow roles and ideals alongside an intense dislike of ambiguity and fluidity. Since the anxiety is internal, no amount of external social control is enough hence the tendency for some to slide into increasing authoritarianism.
Any temporary reduction in anxiety is often purchased at the expense of the social and political freedom of minorities and marginalised groups.
SunTasty, so much yes! to your comment.
And hoping that you no longer feel invalid or invisible.
thats really insightful. Thanks.
I completely agree that there is a warped homoerotic ‘feel’ to what Brent has reportedly been doing. I’d just like to note that being somewhere on the bisexual continuum is actually more common and can underlie the most nasty forms of homophobic ‘lad culture’ i.e. performative hypermasculinity. This is partly fuelled by bisexual erasure - dividing the world into gay and straight when human sexuality is way more diverse than that. That erasure means that some men who experience both forms of desire can get into a form of anxiety-driven panic that they might be ‘turning gay’ and for some their defence mechanism is to project their desire out and attack ‘gayness’ in the world as an attempt to ‘kill off’ and disown the desire they can’t accept inside themselves - their internalised homophobia becomes externalised homophobia.
Thank you Paul, appreciate your insight. In the binary world of these churches you cannot be on a continuum. You are either "right" or "wrong". The oversimplified morality does not allow for continuums.
Oh, absolutely. Conservatism often embraces and tries to enforce binaries that don't truly exist in nature to manage existential anxiety.
'Bisexual' itself is somewhat limiting too as a term too because it carries the implicit assumption that there are two sexes/genders to be attracted to and that doesn't capture the full richness of human experience either. Hence, some prefer the more intentionally ambiguous term queer or the more expansive term pansexual.
As an side, the concept of sexual orientation itself is also somewhat awkward since it conflates sexual attraction and romantic attraction which are located in different systems within the brain and can be experienced quite independently of each other.
Diversity is the norm.
Aaah, there you are, Paul. Have missed your input
Mate, you should do this for a living or something. I am learning stuff. Thanks.
So gross, poor Theo. Hope they're doing ok out there!
Sounds like Brent etc never grew up when they left high school and became adults, probably got away with bullying and sexual harrassment then too.
Just a quick and HUGE thankyou David for this. I have a friend who left the church because of similar issues and on FB last week he shared your second story. A good number of people jumped in to support him, many from inside the church, also outlining their experiences. It was great that 100% of people were supportive (last I saw) and even if their experiences inside the church were different / mostly positive, they didn't doubt his choice to leave was the right thing to do for him. Just lots of love and support.... Also, a lot of folk were like WTAF in disbelief - so you are doing good work in shining a light where it is needed.
I really like that people feel supported in hearing other people's stories. That's huge.
I'm imagining Brent and a PR person in front of a white board. On the white board are various things to deal with. Circled and underlined: "hand farts - how to handle ???"
Some of the crisis meetings I would give an arm and a leg (and a fart or two) to be at.
I’m sure it’ll be managed by a ‘it was just locker room horse play’ or ‘boys will be boys’ or more likely a ‘we have no evidence that this behaviour took place’ type response. Instead of what it should be… an out and out admission and apology.
ALL of this is horrific and I really hope justice is served immediately on these hypocritical nasty pasties. But its the hand farts I can't seem to process...
Wowzers, thanks for all your work on this David! Brent sounds a monumental shit... Actually, the corny 80's lyrics that popped into my head when reading about this godforsaken church were actually penned by Bon Jovi - "You promise me Heaven, then put me through hell... You give love a bad name (bad name)!"
Now I have the following going through my brain:
Shot through the heart
And you're to blame
Darlin', you give love a bad name
Reading this gives me chills. Thank you again David. Your care for the people you're reporting on shines through. As always, so glad a sub can help you do this work.
Thanks, Nadene.
Well fuck. That's just really fucking horrible. Poor Theo :( I hope he's doing better now that he's away from these awful people.
Wow! Poor Theo, I'm so glad he did something to get out of there. Not everyone would be able to go through that. Again amazing reporting David! Thanks for your mahi!
And thanks for being here. Without readers the story would not spread and create pressure for change. So - thank you.
This was awful to read. I work in an industry that is traditionally “blokey” and have had many trips with the team where we have kicked back and enjoyed time after hours with each other. And yet I have never once seen or heard this level of behaviour, this is just….fucking grotesque to be honest. I’m all for the odd fart joke, lamentable dating stories and playing pranks on each other but what this man did was abuse. Pure and simple.
Ugh.
Theo's story really floored me, too. The fact Brent would brag about it shows how warped the culture is. Reboot it, or end it.
Good to get an update but utterly floored to read about 'Theo'. I really hope that Theo is doing okay.
I could tell from the initial reporting David shared that Brent is T O X I C. Lad culture is right but I think there is an insidious, darker side to it.
I also thought how dubious and dodgy Pathfinding looked off the bat and I wouldnt trust it to actually do a fair review for the victims.
Glad to have this story out too. It was incredibly hard to get over the line - will go into it sometime, when it's safe to do so.
I can imagine the complexities in this one. Thankyou for working it through carefully.
"Lad culture" makes it sound fun, harmless, youthful. It's misogyny and bullying, and in this case seems to extend towards sexual assault. I know David, Hayden, Ali Mau etc will keep shining the spotlight on this, and I hope the survivors feel more loved and safe now than they were at their church.
Yep - shit is starting to spread behind the (also important) "interns working long hours" angle. This great piece from RNZ today: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/466028/arise-interns-allege-bullying-hush-money-and-20-hour-days
Saw this on nzh https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/former-arise-church-member-shunned-after-her-baby-was-assaulted-by-her-then-partner/ELFABQ2TEP2QZZPSSVNYQZDYI4/ whilst this story is so f*cked it does highlight how shallow the community in Arise is but something struck me here.. it is so messed up that these former members would have been (presuambly) donating money to the church and when it comes to their time of need - when they need the pastoral care from the church that they get shunned for basically being (I would imagine they would perceive to be) a debbie downer.. the same for those rape/assault survivors that spoke up to their leadership group. Where are their dues. They invested so much time, and money, and their belief system only the be chewed up and spat out when they became unsavoury to their eyes.
Agreed! It isn't acceptable behaviour in general let alone in your place of work nor from people in positions of authority.. the kicker here is that it is a church too. God damn. Im no employment lawyer but wouldnt Theo's experience be sexual harassment in a workplace? I hope the survivors get the justice they need.
Yeah I've struggled with the 'lad culture' descriptor and have tried to limit its use because you're right: it's something far darker. I think we might have explicitly said that in an earlier article. One reason it still sometimes comes up is cos it's shorthand for the kind of fragile masculinity and joke-bullying you get in Arise (and a lot in churches). The 'lad' stuff helps mask the painful truth of what's going on and the damage being done. Would be keen to find a different word for it tbh.
Agree. This is definitely darker than “lads being lads”. It reads more as a sexually confused bully intimidating a junior team member, then making light of the whole genital-bearing, spoon-threatening, Kiss-singing affair with offhand “we’ll always have Dunedin” comments. Got promoted too….what a time to be alive.
Very true. There is a deeply sadistic edge to this - taking pleasure in the pain of others.
Arguably, there are a number of Dark Tetrad features at play here which is a set of four malevolent personality traits that are present in human predators: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Sadism.
It was originally formulated as the Dark Triad before the independent importance of sadism was acknowledged since psychopathic individuals are callous and remorseless, but not all of them actively enjoy cruelty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_triad
Dark Tetrad individuals in positions of power with limited accountability can cause a lot of trauma to a lot of people. Kevin Dutton has researched the most common careers to find them in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_in_the_workplace
CEOs are at the top and Clergy are there too (both high power and potentially low accountability roles) and in corporate-styled megachurches, those two careers essentially merge so it wouldn't totally surprise me if such churches were sometimes their favoured hunting grounds.
Oh, sadism being a separate construct makes a lot of sense here, thanks
Keep up the great work David (and others).
Profoundly sad for all those hurt. My gripes pale into insignificance, and I have no confidence in the review process no matter what is publicised. Arise is such a marketing and image driven organisation and you can't tell what will be "up lined" to whom.
Keep going David. Your best days are yet to come.
Who are these "members" the board's statement today refers to? Arise has no members. So who is it addressed to? I can't wait to see the new board, or the edits to the constitution recorded on the charities register site.
Well done the board for amending the constitution. Just make sure you don't fill it up with sycophants and clones. Perhaps get a lawyer or accountant or some professional bound by a code of ethics.
Edit: Sorry, Graeme Kirkwood the Arise Chair IS a NZ Chartered Accountant resident in Australia, associated with Planetshakers board, also Kindomcity Church Board in Auckland, etc. If the Arise board knew about this ages ago from all the NDAs, why as a CA did he not take action? "How would this look on the front page of the newspaper" test is the first thing the CAANZ teach in ethics courses!