Soul Survivor thread 2

[BadSkiingMum]

This is a thread for anyone following the events at Soul Survivor or wishing to discuss their own experiences or the experiences of their loved ones within evangelical, charismatic and pentecostal religious spaces.

Thanks, unfortunately I don’t have any influence over which festival they attend…:(

www.soulsurvived.org/shattering-the-silence/the-silence-of-guilt-a-hard-look-at-no-comment-culture

Thanks for posting that website, I will take a look through it.

Update: it seems that the Fundraising Regulator is beginning to pay more attention to faith-based donation-seeking.

https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/about-fundraising/resources/supporting-faith-based-charities-apply-code-confidence

That is interesting. Do you think there were issues with fundraising/ giving at Soul Survivor?

There was a whole blog about potential finance and governance issues. I will find the links.

That’s interesting, thank you. I have been uneasy at huge conference settings. A speaker will describe their work (all very laudable), then a collection will be taken which is like to raise really large amounts. It means that the competition to speak, to be selected as a speaker, to introduce your ministry in such a setting- it’s a valuable opportunity and might impact people’s impartiality or preparedness to challenge.
It’s ironic that what I am most frustrated by in churches, hierarchy and structure, is also a really important safeguard.

James H’s blog Ethical Custard is excellent in unpicking some of the financial setup around Soul Survivor. He does this simply by looking closely at the published accounts and reports.

This one is particularly startling, making a direct link between the money collected from children and young people attending festivals - collected as offerings during large worship events - and how a significant portion of this money was used to fund Mike Pilivachi’s interns via the Soul61 charity. This includes the young male interns whom he allegedly went on to abuse:

https://ethicalcustard.blogspot.com/2023/08/who-paid-for-mike-pilavachi-interns.html

This blog also highlights how the interns were apparently all male, despite the organisation purportedly supporting female leadership:

https://ethicalcustard.blogspot.com/2023/05/soul-survivor-spent-more-than-14k-on.html

It is worth reading…

I am not sure why the post has been hidden - perhaps it was the blog links.

It does that sometimes. Maybe report it, so someone has a look and sorts it out.

When I was a teenager at a similar charismatic/evangelical youth church - without the naked wrestling (I think!). We were very strongly encouraged to tithe. And 10% was the starting point. The more you tithed the ‘better’ Christian you were. Certainly more likely to curry favour with the leadership which we were desperate to do. So lots of teenagers were handing over 10-15% of their allowance/Saturday job/student loan. Many years later I see how wrong that all was

Mind you this was a church that preached the prosperity gospel. One speaker talking about how he was regularly upgraded to first class for being a Christian, and how he found a dormant investment when his daughter wanted a pony. I don’t recognise those stories from the gospel….

@BadSkiingMum Thanks for that update. I am glad the financial regulators are taking more interest then!