By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.

Faytene Grasseschi continues to try to generate attention for The Cry Hollywood—the prayer event is only a few days off now, a big rally planned for March 15 in Los Angeles. You wouldn’t be faulted for thinking that this attempt to bless and encourage Hollywood and to encourage Christian activity in the arts there is a good thing.

And on that level it is. But on another level it is something else. The idea of a “Front”—the patsy that pretended to write scripts for Hollywood figures blacklisted in the 1950s comes to mind.

When it was safe to do so, Faytene and an ally felt free to explain that The Cry Hollywood is awash with her ideas that a group of superchristians will soon be on the move. Donors to The Cry Hollywood are “sowing into conquering Hollywood, attendees at a meeting at a Southern California church were recently told. They could “conquer” Hollywood with Faytene.

Dominionism and the idea of the “manifested sons of God?” I suspect it will underpin The Cry Hollywood, even if only just off the stage.

On February 19, it all started coming out when Faytene spoke at Blessed International Fellowship. While you may hear it all here, for the time being, I made sure to make careful note of what was said for posterity, rolling tape. And however winsome Faytene might be at the rally, hopefully we might have an idea for “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to say.

The church where Faytene spoke meets at a Vineyard in Anaheim, while its offices are in Fullerton. In the beginning of her remarks, Faytene seems audibly excited. It was Faytene’s first visit to the congregation and friends James Goll and Patricia King had been talking up the church to Faytene, saying how good it was.

I think this was significant to Faytene, and led her to think to herself that the church was “get” and endorse a franker message. She could be more upfront, as they would understand what she is getting at . It’s more explicit than the Gnostic knowledge-style hints and sides that have been popping up in Faytene’s promotional efforts that I wrote about in a recent post.

“Red meat” rhetoric may be served at the table in this church.

The sound table operator, alas for Faytene, started his recording a little early. As the online sound file starts, an unknown fellow is in the middle of exhorting the audience in–as it revealed later—preparing to take an offer for Faytene. Later he will direct people to her book table, where she is also passing on tickets to The Cry Hollywood rally for a suggested donation.

“Unknown Fellow” is in the middle of telling the story of Caleb in the Old Testament and how he wanted to take the land around Hebron as that was “where all the giants were” Caleb conquered it for him and his descendants forever.” He’d been mentioning that Caleb took a “mountain” which ties in with the “seven mountains” idea of the dominionist mindset.
“Hollywood is a very difficult mountain” ’ said Unknown Fellow;

“But I just felt like as I was praying, Faytene has asked for this mountain ‘cause she doesn’t just see the giants, but she sees the Lord and she has heard from the Lord to go after this, Amen. And I feel like as a body of Christ, I don’t care what church she is from, we are the universal body, and this thing that we can do is support her and in her promises that she received from the Lord, we can partake in the promises and when she conquers that land that we too can conquer the land with her. Amen? So this is what we are sowing into this afternoon, we are sowing into conquering Hollywood….”

Conquer is awfully martial for “blessing Hollywood”, isn’t it? But I guess nobody will come across with the cash unless they ramp it up in some way. Taking over is not necessarily a blessing.

Yes, this is someone from the church speaking, but after the offering, Faytene was careful to add a little joke in the Anaheim sanctuary—crossing into the city she decided,“It’s like the spirit of Mickey Mouse is in the air!”—but she wasn’t careful to distance herself from Unknown Fellow’s desire to charge on ahead. If they who are listening happen to think as he does, so much the better?

She’s sharing her testimony, and mentions that “I was raised in a Catholic home” but that she hadn’t taken the message to heart. She talks a little about her days at Simon Fraser University, which I would like to return to later.

She goes on to talk about her experiences at a prayer retreat at Bowen Island, near Vancouver, in 1997. Evidently, as she explains what came to be the foundational understanding of her ministry, you can listen and understand that she has been at least flirting with dominionism since she entered Christian work.

Thinking of the passage in Romans 8, she said, she has become convinced that she could be part of, and help lead, a group of Christians who are so in tune with God’s will that is what they instinctively do. She thinks that the Romans passage about creation “groaning” for the “mature sons of God” prophesies about that.

They will be, she said to her audience just like Jesus in their ability to submit to the Lord. Next came the prudent caveats. “I’m not saying that we’re going to be saviours”, she said. She added that she is nowhere nears this state in her own life, but she aspires to it.
These future mature sons [and daughters] of God “will begin to walk in the dominion of God”

“….[W}hen these ones begin to appear en masse, they will walk in the original mandate given to Adam and Eve and the commission to disciple nations. They will begin to walk in dominion stewardship of the earth, subduing darkness and sin that causes corruption and decay and cultivating life again. Their very presence in the earth, come on, will cause curses to be broken off nations and the dominion of God to be made manifest. But it all begins when these ones like Jesus bow in radical consecration to the will of the father, I’m talking about something much deeper than praying a prayer of salvation, although that’s a good place to start, and dedication to God. I’m talking about a lifestyle of total sold-out abandonment to the will and the ways of the father, so that even creation will look at us and say ‘They are ones who resemble God in the earth and are completely government by his spirit.’ I love what Daniel prayed ‘Father would you remove anything in our lives that would resist the whole manifestation of your glory.’ Man, that’s it.”

Let’s unpack this. Some things that come to my mind.

First, what hubris to assume that in sinful men and women, the Holy Spirit. Not manifested, which I recognize, but “completely so?”

I just know myself, and I would not dare to assume that my heart could be in that kind of place until Jesus finishes his work in my heart.

Second, think of all the great Christians of the past. Pick an example to suit you. Isn’t in appalling to think that these past heroes are, of necessity, failures? They must be horribly flawed to not come to this new understanding of the coming Christian ubermensch supermen and show it themselves? Just think, if they had been such losers, Jesus could have come back centuries ago.

Could you imagine Faytene ambling up to St. Paul, if she is correct in her thinking, in order to say “If only you had been as smart as I was…” ?

Thirdly, Faytene can say that these super ones will not be a savior, but who in the greater world would feel an explicit need for a saviour, when the “Domionionism Super Friends” are doing all this great stuff for everyone? They’d need one, but the temptation would be there to settle for second
best.

Lastly, I am reminded of Jesus’ example of the two men praying in the temple, the one with the one asking for mercy and the one who is so full of himself that he thanks God that he wasn’t born like you know who…

Which attitude do we see in these remarks from Faytene?

“I thank you that I was born in these days when I could be a mature son of God, unlike…” ?

After a brief digression, Faytene adds this:

“….I was reminded of a prophecy by Bob Jones—and I don’t know if you guys had heard this one—but he actually prophesied a few years back about the decades. I think it was about the next four or five decades. And he said that the decade of 2010 would be a special emphasis on the Glory of God. Did it not? I mean everywhere we went there were glory conferences….”

Faytene must hate the Internet sometimes. You can check things out.

I think I found what Faytene was referring to. This site here quotes Bob Jones as saying, in a 1996 appearance at a Hamilton, Ont. Church that the 2000 would be full of “glory” as Faytene says. But what did he predict for the 2010s? The rise of the ‘faith of God” of creative miracles, controlling the weather and such.

Continuing right from where I stopped quoting Faytene adds this, which is sort of like what the above site records Jones as describing, but also different in a way.

By the way, Bob Jones is predicting a huge revival that will require until 2014 or 2015 to prepare for the “Glory”. As of last July, the glory train he saw hadn’t arrived yet and we need to be “prepared for the glory of God to come.”

Anyways, Faytene moves from the last decade to this one.

“And in the decade of 2010 to 2020, he {Jones] said that it was going to be the revealing of the true sons of God. The revealing of, I believe, another word would be giant slayers, you know. Men and women of faith and consecration that are willing to go low like Jesus in order to be raised up to defeat the powers of darkness, right? The ones that are willing to say “not my will…”

“God has been sending the forerunners,” she added, “This is available to all believers.”

Let’s look back to Faytene’s description of the true sons of God that I quoted earlier. Sounds like Jones’s decription of the Manifest Sons of God, which I found here, with all the overcoming, and such.

Jones was quoted in the past as describing the “manifest sons of God” of the future in this way:

“I have called the best of every blood line in earth unto this generation…I have elected to bring them forth in this generation…THE ELECT GENERATION…even the bloodline of Paul…of David…of Peter, James and John…They will even be superior to them in heart, stature and love for me’…Your children will possess the spirit without measure…They will move into things of the supernatural that no one has ever moved in before…coming into the DIVINE NATURE of Jesus Christ…a Church that has reached the full maturity of the GODMAN! This generation…is going to see the beginning of this WORLD WIDE NEW ORDER.”

Sounds like the same concept of the “true sons of God”, the”giantkillers” will will exercise “dominion” that Faytene was talking about?

Especially when she says this::

“God is looking in this hour to anoint, I believe, and raise up the mature sons of God that all of creation has been waiting for…”

Perhaps Faytene may mean “manifest sons of God” in what she teaches, but she has come up with new terminology—“mature” to describe the same, or a similar idea. She would know that using the phrase “manifest sons of God” would set off alarm bells that would wake the sheep dozing as she preaches.

Faytene goes on to talk about her experiences in Liberia and in Canada, revisiting the “touch the heart of a King” argument that I addressed in my last post on this subject. How kindness is better than criticism. And such. She ends her remarks by praying for and prophesying over the church. Faytene added that she had been recently prayed over and advised that God might be calling her to work both of Canada and “Hollywood” at the same time.

Hollywood, she says, “was founded to tell stories about God…Hollywood was already given to Jesus.”

I wouldn’t say that, looking back at the history of “Hollywood.”

She said that God is looking for people who are able to see beyond the dysfunction of Hollywood, or wherever one might be called to, and say “…My God is able to give me this mountain because my God is a covenant keeping God and if I show up, he’s going to back it up.”

“God is raising up Kings. That might be a little bit misunderstood…” she added.

You don’t say, Faytene. On the contrary, I would wonder, after you were able to find a sympathetic church where you were able to let your hair down a bit, we might be able to understand what you might be getting at with The Cry Hollywood much better. .

Los Angeles Times: Schuller resignation from Crystal Cathedral board is end of an era

Robert H. Schuller and his wife cited the “negative” environment at the church he founded when announcing their resignation from the Crystal Cathedral board.

“We cannot continue to serve on the board in what has become an adversarial and negative atmosphere especially since it now seems that it will not be ending any time soon,” Arvella Schuller said in a statement Saturday.

The Schullers’ resignation marks the end of an era. For the first time, no family member is serving on the board of the church that Robert Schuller founded 42 years ago.

A minister from the Midwest, Schuller began preaching in Southern California in 1955 from the roof of a snack shop at a drive-in theater. With Schuller relentlessly pushing a message of the power of positive thinking, the church’s astonishing growth mirrored that of Orange County. It was also the birthplace of the popular weekly televangelist series “Hour of Power,” which reached millions of viewers.

The financially ailing church sold the Crystal Cathedral campus to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in February for $57.5 million.

The resignations are a result of a breakdown in negotiations over financial claims against the church that the Schullers filed in Bankruptcy Court.

Schuller; his wife, Arvella; their daughter Carol Schuller Milner; and her husband, Timothy Milner, allege that the church owes them money for copyright infringement, intellectual property violations and unpaid contracts.

Sorting through competing financial claims has delayed $12.5 million in payments to some church creditors and could threaten the church’s ability to continue its ministries, including the “Hour of Power” broadcasts.

Payment to creditors was expected this spring, but because some claims are for unknown amounts and the Milners and Schullers have not agreed to establish a payment reserve, vendors cannot be paid until those amounts are determined by the court, said Nanette Sanders, attorney for the creditors.

This was released yesterday, it’s an odd statement from the 85 year old, who is speaking as if he is broke. The family is believed to be asking for about 5.6 million.

Orange County Register:

The elder Schullers have been embroiled in a legal battle with the board of directors regarding intellectual property and copyright infringement claims as well as back payment for services rendered, Schuller Milner said.
The exact figure for how much is claimed was not available Saturday. Attorneys for the Schullers have made almost weekly offers to the Cathedral’s board to settle the claim, which includes a $120,000 annual housing allowance, a $198,000 annual payment in license fees and additional medical benefits, according to Schuller Milner.
Last Tuesday, “the board said we’re ending all negotiations. We don’t want to negotiate any further and want to go to court,” according to Schuller Milner

Crystal Cathedral renamed
It was announced today that the Crystal Cathedral congregation  followers of Shiela Schuller Coleman and her followers are going to have a new location in a few weeks and the church will be called Hope Center of Christ. (Update: Coleman will not be back at the Cathedral, she preached her last sermon Sunday). Members who chose to stay at the Cathedral will do so, where services will revert back to traditional worship.  When Sheila Schuller Coleman made the announcement she said they needed a new home for what is left of the congregation ‘sooner than they thought.” Or not. I think we’re seeing a church split in what is arguably now a local congregation, and it’s a question of dividing up the spoils.

Sheila Schuller Coleman is expected to be ousted as Sr. Pastor of the Cathedral congregation – the new church she announced will be her and a few bff’s. I suppose it’s merely a matter of making it official, and the remnant of the Crystal Cathedral congregation who aren’t Schuller-Coleman fans will attempt to stay on until the lease runs out.

The Crystal Cathedral was a celebrity driven mega church ministry. It’s over. I wonder what mega church, televangelism ministry is next?

Over at Missionary Kids Safety Net, a website set up to help  survivors of abuse which occurred in Evangelical organizations and denominations,  and a resource site for leaders of organizations who don’t know how to respond when survivors come forward, psychologist Gary Schoener writes about why it is so difficult for leaders to address abuse. He puts together 10 observations gained from his experience dealing with perpetrators who are ethically challenged, addicted to religion, and who perceive loyalty as being closer to God than cleanliness. His points encompass rationalizing, minimization, spiritualizing and justifying, which are toxic defense mechanisms, and common in closed groups. #9 jumped out for me.

What some of you have heard me call THE PONTIUS PILATE approach. If it is messy, bring on the bowl and let me wash my hands. “OK, it’s over… I need to put it behind me…what do I need to do to get back into my job… I can’t dwell in the past…” Of course, the problem is that they weren’t even really psychologically, intellectually, emotionally, or morally PRESENT in the past. They did what they did and then jumped into the future..let bygones be bygones.

In thinking about Prairie Bible Institute, a 90 year old Alberta fundamentalist/evangelical school which is proud of it’s missionary focus,  his next set of comments on why missions oriented groups and organizations are so resistant to, ” addressing and responding appropriately and quickly to both individual occurrences of abuse and to institutional abuse,”  also caught my attention and solidified some thinking for me.While Schoener is talking about overseas mission schools, I think the milieu is not really different in a small town in Alberta.

Some missionaries back in their home countries are not well socially adapted and do not feel at home, and a number do not have primary relationships.
They are put on pedestals by the community they have moved into because they have money and because they have relative power, or can bring safety. Since the vast majority, except for Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, are almost exclusively deployed to third world countries, these are major issues.
They are admired, revered, and trusted by those back home because they are making a sacrifice that many would not. For some it is the ultimate test of faith since some are killed, some die of diseases, etc. (Remember Eric in CHARIOTS OF FIRE who went on to be a missionary in Africa where he died and how that was romanticized.)
They ultimately have to create their own world with its own rules…

I’m not a theologian, I have read very little about the history and culture of Prairie Bible Institute, it’s founder, the harshness the teaching of the ‘crucified life,  the rule driven environment, the pride of what was often extreme sacrifice and different-ness, and withdrawal and recoiling from the ‘secular’.  This was floated in conversation and I’m tossing it out  - PBI practiced a theology with traits of  Manichaeism.
Manichaeism is it’s own religion, but many of its Gnostic beliefs have permeated Christianity throughout history, particularly the dualistic  elevation of  the ideological/mental/cognitive to a spiritual level.  Within that theological framework, Schoeners observations make sense to me as I observe the struggles of PBI abuse survivors in dealing with this 90 year old Canadian bible school. The cultural dynamics many grew up in at PBI, and the resistance they have encountered, is sadly not unique, and I know the complexity of abuse and institutional reaction and the theology surrounding it, cannot be simplified in a musing blog post.  I’ve also wondered if PBI is one of the first (of now) small bible colleges in Canada coming to gripes with it’s hidden past. It’s difficult to know, this is not a topic historians and academics track, that is more for news media looking for sensational stories.  How PBI deals with survivors and offenders may set a tone for other small evangelical colleges scattered across the country.  I think how PBI proceeds will set the schools course for whatever future the organization manages to carve out for itself.

Retired Calgary judge Herbert Allard has gone public with his concerns about past adoption practises and how unwed mothers were treated in Canada.

‘These people thought they were doing good – they thought these girls were sluts. They thought they were rescuing these children from a life of poverty,” said Herbert Allard, a former social worker, who said he was prompted to speak out upon reading the National Post’s story on forced adoptions over the weekend.

“At the time, I was divorced from the reality … It upset me in a way, but it’s just what went on.”

His account appears to confirm the coercion was systematic: He said the Salvation Army accepted teen mothers into their maternity homes on the condition they would surrender their baby, city social workers purposefully withheld information about revoking the adoption or the option of temporary wardship, and that unmarried mothers were punished in a Salvation Army hospital for getting pregnant out of wedlock.

The homes were often run by denominations from the late 1800′s to the 1980′s.

“[Salvation Army] homes were operational during a time when there was a tremendous social stigma attached to being an unwed mother,” the church said in a statement responding to Mr. Allard’s account.

“The Salvation Army is currently conducting an internal review of the operation of these centres 40 to 50 years ago, including the treatment of our clients.”

As someone who was adopted,  the opening up adoption records by my  province of birth was a God-send for me. My situation was different from many adoptees, while my natural parents were not married to each other, they chose to keep us, and my mother died when I was four. That lead to brief stays in orphanages, some foster homes and adoption by relatives when I was six.  I was old enough to know I was adopted, but the details were not known to me until I legally became an adult and I met my natural father with the blessing and help of my adoptive parents.  Still, until provincial records were available to me and my siblings,  there was a hollowness that I needed to fill in my life, a lostness. I know adoptees who never went through that need to fill that internal hole, but I was not one.  It would be quite a while after that meeting before unknown siblings would enter my life. My natural father never told us about them.  Interestingly, The Salvation Army Family Tracing Services was instrumental in helping siblings find us.  A brother was looking for us, he had leukemia and was searching in the hopes as siblings we’d be a donor match. He died shortly before other siblings located us.

I am so glad to  see natural mothers and fathers choosing to shake off the forced shame, stepping forward and demanding acknowledgement, provincial inquiries and apologies from relevant agencies.
There is such a long way left to go.

Curtain lifts on decades of forced adoptions for unwed mothers in Canada.
‘The fathers had no say’: Men tell another side of coerced adoption story
Origins Canada Supporting Those Separated by Adoption

By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission

Faytene Grasseschi’s The Cry Hollywood will be webcast online live starting at 2 PM Pacific, 5 Pm Eastern (about an hour from now) on The Cry Hollywood’s website.

The link is here, if you are interested.

Got Live If You Want it! as the Rolling Stones used to say…

Mercy Ministries is in the news again, and coming out swinging.That is to be expected, MM has a formidable pr pitch, slick advertising, has defensive well polished and the organization is well funded.   Critics and survivors aren’t addressed, they are ridiculed and attacked.

How easy it is to dismiss two fathers stories by implying they are lying, they are abusers, and that Mercy Ministries isn’t practicing repressed memory therapy. Of course they will demonize, marginalize and dismiss former clients or parents attempting to sound the alarm, and telling their stories.  MM is pentecostal , to date, no one has seen the revamped ‘therapy’ manual and written about it that I’m aware of. But people have seen the old one – and have warned Christians thinking of seeking MM help. No way MM is going to throw out most of the hard core demon in the dust bunny beliefs in Restoring the Foundations. Once again a warning is being sounded. This time, fathers  are speaking up. News Messenger:

When James Smith’s* 18-year-old daughter went to Lincoln’s Mercy Ministries in 2010, he didn’t know she would later sever ties with the family.

Smith’s daughter attended Mercy Ministries to get help with an eating disorder, which he said she’d “struggled with” since the age of 11.

“She had actually been through a couple of treatment centers before,” said Smith, a Minnesota resident. “She had noticed Mercy online and they have a really good website. They boast a 93 percent success rate and have all of these success stories.”

Prior to his daughter leaving for Mercy, Smith said he researched the organization and didn’t like what he saw.

“I found a couple of websites I was concerned about, with people who had problems,” Smith said. “We talked about it and she passed them off as atheists who don’t understand Christianity and Christian-based healing.”

Smith found online articles and blogs ranging from calling Mercy a cult to stories about girls having trouble after leaving Mercy or being kicked out of the program.

“Since then, I’ve found a lot more and I wish I would have known these things before she went,” Smith said.

Nevertheless, Smith’s daughter was 18 at the time so his permission to attend was not needed. She entered Mercy in March 2010 and graduated in March 2011.

Jack Smith is not alone.

Miller, who is from Illinois, said his daughter attended Mercy’s Monroe, La., facility seven years ago, for help with drug and alcohol abuse.

“My daughter had made some poor decisions while going to college on her own and that brought up drinking and led to drugs. She got kicked out of school at the end of her third year,” Miller said. “She had been raised in a Christian home and her goal was to find a Christian-fix for why she was making these choices.”

His daughter chose Mercy Ministries. While there, Miller said, “mind-regression therapy” was performed.

“In the mind-regression therapy, they try to go back and find something in your past and childhood that triggers you to do this (behavior),” Miller said.

Prior to that, Miller said, the director at the home called to say his daughter would be “kicked out” of the program after eight months of treatment.

“They said, ‘She is too rebellious and can’t have a breakthrough,” Miller said. “I pleaded with them. I said, if she doesn’t find a solution, how is she supposed to move forward with life? They agreed to try for another 30 days.”

One month later, Miller’s daughter wouldn’t return his phone calls, according to Miller. Two months later, he said, his daughter called to say she was graduating but her family couldn’t be there.

“She now tells us what happened after we pleaded. They went through two to three nights of sexual abuse films and talks with regards to young ladies sexually abused,” Miller said.

A counselor sat down with Miller’s daughter and said “I wonder if it could have been something regarding that,” according to Miller.

“The counselor said there’s a breakthrough. They said we’ll have to deliver you from those demons,” Miller said. “After being brainwashed for nine months, these people had convinced her that their word was the word of God and she had to accept their word as authority, as if it was a message from God.”

Miller’s daughter severed ties with the family upon returning back to Illinois, saying she had been sexually abused at the hands of her father.

The News Messenger gave Mercy Ministries right of response.

Recovered memory therapy is not a form of treatment performed by Mercy Ministries, according to Mercy Ministries headquarters spokeswoman Eve Annunziato in Nashville, Tenn.
The News Messenger summarized the complaints made by both fathers for Annunziato.

Annunziato did not directly address the specific complaints but gave the following statement: “As would be expected in a program that deals with women who have suffered abuse and other trauma during their lives, there are often family dynamics, which are communicated by the women to us in confidentiality. Mercy Ministries follows standard confidentiality regulations and recognizes that the women we serve are adults making their own decisions. Thus, outside family members and/or persons involved in their lives would not be privy to conversations or discussions within the Mercy program unless the woman herself decides to communicate externally.”

Why have former residents refuted this claim? This isn’t about breach of confidentiality, this is about what is being practiced behind closed doors by MM.

The reality is MM has mastered deflection.

The News Messenger visited the Lincoln facility at 1896 McClain Drive Tuesday to take photos and ask about staffing there. Mercy Ministries’ California community relations manager Stephanie Vierstra said on Tuesday, however, that the newspaper couldn’t take pictures inside as planned. She also refused to say what the staffing is there and whether nurses and doctors work there. Vierstra said to contact Annunziato.

…Annunziato said that Mercy Ministries counselors have degrees in counseling or psychology.

“Many have master’s degrees and meet or exceed state licensing requirements,” Annunziato said.

There are five counselors at the Lincoln home, according to Annunziato, and one nurse.

She said the counselors “identify root causes for destructive behavior” and “equip residents with life skills and the ability to permanently avoid destructive behaviors.”

Annunziato said that “this can be frustrating to persons unfamiliar with confidential rules and standard counseling practices.”

Since Mercy Ministries is not considered a medical facility, executive director Singleton said, “none of our homes have doctors on staff.”

“We do have an RN (registered nurse),” Singleton said.

Many have degrees? Do all counselling staff? Why aren’t staff credentials made available to any incoming client, or family? Would you go to a treatment facility and not expect this information?
Do MM facilities have medical staff on site? I don’t doubt medical people provide services, but I question if medically certified staff is on any MM site 24/7. Is MM treating young women with medically recognized disorders?  Yes.

Singleton stressed that Mercy is a “voluntary program.”

“The girls come and tell us their story and what they want to work on as far as getting counseling and getting past their issues. It’s generated by them, not us,” Singleton said. “On our end, the goal is getting them wholeness and fullness of life and getting them to a place of not harboring bitterness or feeling like they’re not able to forgive.”

Singleton said that the girls who seek treatment from Mercy “are choosing to come.”

The News Messenger asked Singleton what she had to say regarding Miller claiming his daughter was threatened with being kicked out for not learning fast enough.

“It’s an individualized program and there are certainly benchmarks for the program,” Singleton said. “I’ve never heard of anyone being kicked out.”

I can’t speak to this particular MM facility, the young women who have been kicked out can.

Annunziato said Mercy does not take funding from the government.

“One hundred percent of all our money comes in through private donations from churches and businesses. You can see where every penny comes in and is spent if you go on our website,” Annunziato said.

Mercy also does not charge girls for attending the program.

Oh. Of course MM in the US doesn’t accept government funding. They wouldn’t be able to meet the minimum standards required. Religious based programs have very little oversight and fundamentalist groups like MM want to keep it that way.  The Australia debacle is addressed, and I suppose that if your US pr people spin the party line enough, people looking at your program won’t investigate for themselves, and what happened to so many young women will all be forgotten.

Please, parents and prospective Mercy Ministry clients. Do your homework. Contact Mercy surivors, find out the pros and cons, hear their stories of mistreatment, and how and why they bought into bright pink, happy clappy advertising.  I don’t doubt that some young women have benefited from some of the life skills programming, and time away from familiar or difficult environments. I understand many Christian parents and young women don’t have health insurance and can’t pay for qualified treatment. I understand that many believers want faith based treatment, and can’t afford reputable faith based treatment.
Don’t kid yourself.  When you are desperate and suffering, you are vulnerable.  Mercy Ministry survivors didn’t plan to leave in worse shape then they entered.
Yes, Mercy Ministries is voluntary and religious and free. You get what you pay for.

Mercy Ministries needs more than the Bible for its treatment methods
The Dark Side of Mercy Ministries
Rick Ross forums

If you spend anytime online, you’re aware of the Kony 2012 video, directed by Jason Russell, co-founder of Invisible Children. The video, which draws attention to Ugandan guerrilla group leader Joseph Kony of The Lord’s Resistance Army has garnered over 80 million hits.

The 30 minute video which draws attention to the war criminal’s crimes, features Russell and his son. Russell was detained by San Diego police Thursday night after being found  semi-naked and incoherent on the streets of the city.
San Diego Police statement:

On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at about 11:30 a.m., San Diego Police officers responded to a radio call to check the welfare of a male at the intersection of Ingraham Street and Riviera Drive, in the neighborhood of Pacific Beach. Several callers reported the male was wearing only underwear and running into the street. One caller reported that the male had removed his underwear and was nude, perhaps masturbating, but that was not confirmed by responding officers. The callers reported the underwear-clad male was in the street, interfering with traffic, screaming, yelling incoherently and pounding his fists on the sidewalk. Several people in the area tried to calm the male but he continued to act in a bizarre and irrational manner.
Once on scene, officers contacted the male, identified only as a 33 year old white male resident of the area, and determined through their personal observations, as well as the reports of several citizens that the male’s bizarre and irrational behavior would most appropriately be handled by transporting him to a local medical facility for further evaluation and treatment.

The Invisible Children statement:

Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition. He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday. Jason’s passion and his work have done so much to help so many, and we are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue. We will always love and support Jason, and we ask that you give his entire family privacy during this difficult time.

Russell has been put on a three-day involuntary  psychiatric hold, and police say he was detained for his own safety. Russell, who has a degree in cinema production, is the son of the founders of  Christian Youth Theatre. He is described on the Invisible Children website as ”a Christian and father to two children who wants to have nine more children with his wife he calls his “best friend for over 23 years.” 

Source: Invisible Children Co-Founder Detained: SDPD | NBC San Diego

The Kony 2012 video has garnered controversy and criticism, and as news of Russell’s detention spreads, many are skeptical of the Invisible Children pr company statement. Some news outlets are publicly saying he was drunk.  Commenters are speculating on drug use, while others believe the  pressure the film maker and his organization have been under since the video went viral, led to his breakdown and hospitalization.

In a 48 hour period after the video went viral the organization raised 15 million dollars from viewers. The Invisible Children headquarters was closed Friday.

At the Invisible Children headquarters in San Diego, security guards blocked the entrance. And college-age workers could be seen removing black and red “Kony 2012″ banners from inside the lobby. The large banners helped identify the building as the nonprofit organization’s headquarters.
No one answered the phones in San Diego, but people could be seen inside talking on cellphones. Some were crying.

Jason Russell speaking at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. November 2011 Convocation.

Jason Russell Invisible Children Global Night Commute 2006 musical (via Boing Boing)
Invisible Children funded by US religious right

A group of PBI alumni who are working with Prairie Bible Institute are asking alumni for more money, without disclosing where their initial funds came from, where the funds went, or how the funds were spent:

Update from the Healing Team:

In our previous communication, we have stated the goals that we established when we first formed: 1) healing for survivors; 2) justice for perpetrators. Over the past weeks, we have been privileged to have a number of abuse survivors come to us for help in accomplishing one or both of these goals. It has been a great honor to be entrusted with their stories of tragedies and triumphs as we have connected with them through phone, Skype, email, and in some cases, in person in our homes. We have shared memories, hugs, and tears. A number of survivors are pursuing additional avenues of healing and we are in the process of helping them walk further in their journeys. Many other alumni have come forward to offer to be “listeners” as well, and we are truly grateful for the wonderful team of “wounded soldiers” that God is building. On Sunday night, the Prairie Bible Institute Open Group held a “PBI Music Night on FB,” where they posted music that was written and/or performed by Prairie alumni. If you missed it, we encourage you to go have a listen! One of the pieces expressed our heart beautifully: “All My Favorite People are Broken.” We all qualify. The healing team is merely a group of broken people who are involved in loving other broken people to a place of greater wholeness. You can hear the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ea9uy6Mngk

We want to thank many of you who are praying for us and for survivors; we all need your prayers!

We also want to make an appeal to any of you who wish to donate to the Survivor Fund. Some funds have been donated, but we have some immediate needs to help survivors continue with their journeys through professional counseling and other healing-related resources. Some survivors have chosen to travel to Prairie campus as part of their ongoing healing journey. If you feel compelled to help survivors in this way, please send your donation to Prairie Bible Institute and note that it’s for “The Survivor Fund.” You can donate online at www.prairie.edu. Select “other fund” from the dropdown list of potential funds and type in “Alumni Healing Fund”. Receipts are provided for both Canadian and US donors.

We are so grateful for your support, encouraging emails, PMs, and prayers. Every team needs pray-ers, supporters, and doers. You are part of the team – thank you!

We invite you to contact us with any questions, encouragement, or feedback by emailing us at prairiealums.healing@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Brenda Boytim Morrison, Mim Phibbs, Priscilla Virts Johnson, John Kepler, Jim Crites

The beginnings of The Survivor Fund Project

In November of last year, PBI President Mark Maxwell went public with information that allegations of abuse at PBI over it’s 90 year history had been turned over to the RCMP. Abuse survivors attempts to reach out to PBI had been halted as communication had broken down, and as media took notice of PBI, Maxwell told ChristianWeek:

So far, says Maxwell, three former students have approached the school with claims of abuse. But apparently none is prepared to go public, let alone take PBI to court.

As for the claims made on Facebook, Prairie has handed over 890 pages of allegations to the RCMP to investigate. “If there’s that much smoke, you’d think there must be a fire somewhere—and we couldn’t find it,” Maxwell says.

The article above was written December 7th. It appears that PBI had already laid out what it planned to do to address survivors concerns, including rejecting the survivors choice of a US group to investigate claims, make recommendations, solicit a report on the extent of various types of abuse which had occurred on campus and put campus policies in place. PBI had won the pr battle before the survivors knew what hit them. Let’s follow the money below the fold:

Prairie has refused, stating it prefers to cooperate fully and openly with police and even the media.

But nor has it rejected any third-party involvement. Maxwell says two “prominent” Canadian churches and a church in South Carolina, whose pastor is a Prairie alumnus, have all volunteered to act as mediators.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up going with a third party that looks like that,” he says. “We’re working our way through that right now.”

While PBI was granting media requests, alumni were talking behind the scenes about setting up what would become The Survivor Fund Project, recently renamed the Healing Team.

One of our ideas several months ago was that if funds could be made available to help needy survivors deal with counseling, going to the police, etc. it would be a worthy project. We made the suggestion to Mark Maxwell, and received his endorsement as per previous statements we have issued. As time went on we came to realize that our role as a small group of Prairie alumni could also be served in building relationships with hurting abuse survivors. We don’t want to see survivors having to walk their road alone. Some have friends and other networks to help, but there are some who are hurting and need a friend to walk with them, encourage them, pray for them, and to be there for them both in their good times and their bad times. This is what we felt God was leading us to do.
We do not represent Prairie, although we are known to Mark Maxwell.

The Survivor Fund Project Members may not represent PBI, but under the regulations of the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency), PBI is responsible for this team. PBI accepts and manages the donations, hands out donor tax receipts, and disperses expense funds to team members. This type of flow through or conduit arrangement is not illegal.  This arrangement is ethically dubious, but more later. Back to the late November, early December behind the scenes planning.

One current member of The Survivor Team Project was part of that conversation, as was the South Carolina church pastor mentioned by PBI President Mark Maxwell in an above quote. By December 16th PBI alumni received a newsletter from Maxwell outlining the 3 steps PBI was choosing to take. Though not publcly named The Survivor Fund Project, PBI had the framework of a team in place.

1) Alumni: We have a truly amazing group of Alumni around the world. Many of them have offered to help in any way possible. A dozen of them have committed a great deal of time to working with those alumni who have stories of pain and injury. This group cares about Prairie as well as the need for the injured to find healing. Their efforts may include raising funds to help cover some of:
• the costs of travel if someone would like to come back, either to share with us or the third-party group; and
• the costs related to reconciliation and healing.
Subject to legal constraints, Prairie will allow these funds to pass through the school so that donors can benefit from a tax deductible receipt. Those who would like to share their stories of pain and injury are invited to contact this team at prairiealums.healing@gmail.com.

I think it is important to reiterate that flow through or conduit funding is not illegal.   In that announcement and the subsequent board pr repeat in March; Calgary Centre Street Church was named as the independent 3rd party.
The Survivor Fund Project alumni went public a couple of weeks later on January 11th.

Fred Whaples

One PBI alumnist has been the source of  disruption as abuse survivors and PBI struggled to communicate and break the stalemate of previous months. Whether Fred Whaples, pastor of The Village Church in South Carolina intended to cause abuse survivors harm is irrelevant.  PBI became aware of a letter of intent to sue a group of survivors meeting on FB. This threat was serious enough to ask Mark Maxwell if PBI had a statement. Maxwell responded, “Perhaps I’m missing something, but this has nothing to do with Prairie, so PBI has no statement to make.” 
Whaples continued to be a disruptive force online, and complaints are now being investigated by Concord SC Police. Calls to PBI to send a clear message have been ignored.

I believe the PBI President. The intent to sue letter had nothing to do with PBI. Whaples has been honest about the fact he has been in contact with PBI President Mark Maxwell.
Whaples and other disruptive and upset alumni romped freely to the initial benefit of PBI. Eventually Whaples behavior had to have become a liability not only for fellow alumni, but for PBI.  PBI remains silent.

My question to PBI is this. Did the any or all of the five thousand dollars Fred Whaples and The Village Church raised to help PBI abuse survivors fund the start up of The Survivor Fund Project?

2)   Is the 5 thousand dollars from The Village Church for survivors now the funding for The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team?  
3) When did PBI receive The Village Church survivor money (5 thousand)?  
4) Is the Village Church survivor monies ($5000) Whaples named, the main funder for The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team?  
5) What input did Mr. Whaples have into allocation of these funds?  
6) Does Mr. Whaples still have input?  If he doesn’t, when did his input stop?  
7)  Have Advent Funds and Survivor Funds been subsequently blended or kept separately? John Kepler:

These questions can all be lumped together.  Fred Whaples, through his church, solicited funds from Prairie alumni for an Advent donation to Prairie.  I believe it was sent to Prairie around Christmas time.  I am not aware that there were any strings attached as to how it should be used, so presumably it went into Prairie’s general fund, though I am not privy to that information.

There was some talk on Facebook about The Village Church (Fred’s church) having another fund to assist abuse survivors, which was funded by his church.  If there is indeed such a fund, then it is up to Fred and his church whether to make this information public.  I am not aware of such a fund being sent to Prairie, so if it exists, it is apparently under the control of The Village Church.

No, PBI admin can disclose receipt of this donation for The Survivor Fund Project if PBI wants to.

Is Fred Whaples a member of The Survivor Fund Project? John Kepler:

Fred Whaples is not a member of this  Healing Team, and never has been a member of this group.Period.Please do not try to psycho-analyze or read anything further into this statement.  While we are concerned about all that is happening with both “sides” in this matter, we are simply not Fred.  

Okay, no psycho-analyzing or reading anything further into this to the not-Freds.
Lets move on. Where did Freds money go?  Given the havoc Whaples hath wrought, isn’t any team member concerned that the money the Team is using for survivors  may have a sorry, unsafe and unhealthy origin and history?

It took a fair amount of public pressure to get the PBI Survivor Fund Project members to identify themselves. They chose to do so mid-January. Were the team members not-Fred? John Kepler:

No.  While we were slowly evolving from being just friends to becoming a team offering ourselves to help abuse survivors, some of us discussed the concept with others outside of our group, and evidently someone spoke with Fred about it.  This may have helped to spark his desire for financially helping the cause, and even to state that he was on board with this cause, but he has never been a member of this Healing Team.

I doubt anyone will ever know Whaples influence and early involvement, or the money trail.

Disclosure of The Survivor Fund Project Funding

As far as I know, nobody on the Healing Team will be made aware of who any donors are. For us to be given such information could be a violation of Canadian law. – John Kepler

This is an interesting statement, and I commend the Team for their carefulness with Canadian law. I checked with a charity law expert on donor disclosure.

1) PBI is free to disclose donors and amounts.   If you look at PBI financial statements to Canada Revenue Agency, PBI goes above cap requirement in disclosing  donors and amounts.

There is no law that states PBI has to disclose donors.

2) PBI is obligated to honour the request of donors who do not wish to let their name be made public.

Team members, survivors and the public are not prohibited by law to knowing where the donors and amounts have come from.

PBI can chose to disclose this information any time they want to. PBI can chose to state why they feel it is not in their best interests to disclose any time they want to.

PBI has gone public at every opportunity to state the willingness of the board and administration to be honest, open and transparent in it’s dealings with abuse survivors.  Yet, the paid friends of The Survivor Fund Project, who are now asking for donations from alumni, do not know where their money came from. I believe John Kepler, every question I have asked the Survivor Fund Project has been answered. As far as I can tell, I am getting honest responses from the Project team.
However, I think the Team is deluded if they think they are running their Project or that the Project  is autonomous. PBI is in control. PBI issues tax receipts and yet asks the Team to beg for money without telling the team what money was received.  PBI issues expense money to the paid friends.  PBI wants survivors on campus and is using the team to get them there. My ongoing unease has less to do with belief about the Teams honesty than the wisdom of this Project for the benefit of survivors.
Why can’t the Survivor Fund Project team disclose their expense spending and financial needs?

A final comment to survivors only

The Survivor Team Project, the lack of disclosure of funding, the use of the Team to raise funds to pay their expenses,  and the use of unqualified Team members to facilitate healing remains ethically troubling on several levels.  As I noted above, The Survivor Fund Project team have been gracious in answering what have been insistent and persistent questions. But, team members keep repeating they are just trying to ‘help’ survivors.  Even if every Team member completely believes this is what God told them to do, it is clear the Team is not fully informed. The road to hell remains paved with good intentions. The Team, as sincere and as compassionate as they may be, are working in PBI’s hidden interests.  From the first public statement, it is clear that part of the role of The Survivor Fund Project was mediation.
The unspoken implication of this Project is that you as a survivor are socially inept. isolated, not healed and that you need the Project paid friends. PBI desires that the alumni of this Project to get survivors on campus for a face to face. That goal is not a secret.  While PBI has an ethical obligation to fund legitimate needs of survivors, any survivor choosing to use the Team relinquishes  power and control (again!) the second you either chose to confront your abuser, tell their story to admin, take a healing tour or do whatever you believe you are supposed to do  by going to PBI under the watch of a Team member.  PBI is in control, the Team is being used, and ask yourself this:  are you being potentially deflected?

How much of other relationships in this dynamic is quid pro quo? Is there a better way to financially assist survivors who need funds? Is there a better model or way for you as a survivor to make this trip if you chose to?
Motives are muddy and mixed. Be as wise as a serpent – your job is to act in your best interests. You owe PBI and The Survivor Fund Project Team nothing.

This question is not optional.

Do you as a survivor stepping on campus have adequate representation?

PBI intent is unspoken but clear – PBI doesn’t want lawsuits. That goal makes sense from a business standpoint, and administration running a charity can’t be faulted for doing their job protecting the school for the future.

PBI has paid out in the past, and one of the jobs of administration is to see that nothing is paid out in the future.  The less publicly known about abuses,  the easier it is for PBI. That’s not being harsh, that is people doing what they are paid to do.  Handing well meaning Survivor Fund Project members a mandate and money to befriend abuse survivors and get you on campus for a face to face is in the best interests of PBI.

There is a genuine spiritual component involved. PBI teaches Ken Sandes Peacemaking model for churches in conflict.  Sande teaches ‘reconciliation.’ Let’s be clear. This reconciliation model is set up to work between peers in church, not between the administration of an institution and people it has served who have been abused.

Stepping on campus with a Team member does not make you an equal, as much as you may long to be or need to be.  The power dynamics are not in favour of the survivor. The Sande model is seriously flawed for this kind of interaction. It doesn’t matter that administrators, Team members and survivors may want ‘healing’; someone is getting paid to take you there, woo you, and assess you as a threat. Already the dynamics are on tilt. All the good intentions and pure hearts cannot change that reality.

If I say to any abuse survivor who chooses to allow a Team member to take them to PBI that the visit is a bad idea, I stand to become as manipulative as the Sande model.

How do you know this visit with a Project member is really your  choice? What questions do you need to ask yourself, run past  a professional therapist, lawyer and significant others? What questions are you prepared to ask PBI?  How much control do you really have over what occurs on PBI property during your visit and what is done with the information you disclose?

How free are you to leave without condemnation if spiritual and emotional pressure is put on you or God forbid, you are flooded?

If you are  choosing to go to PBI with a Survivor Fund Project Team member, do you need to ask yourself and your significant others about the impact of your visit on other survivors  and outcomes for PBI?

Is there a better way to accomplish your goals without the ethical dilemmas placed in your way?

In February I blogged about Afshin Javid, a Canadian speaker/author who lost his ministerial credentials when Christians in BC publicly stepped forward to express concerns about his conduct.

Javid’s book As Easy As Drinking Water was published in 2010 by a Washington self-publishing company named WinePress Books. WinePress Books is affiliated with a Washington state church called Sound Doctrine.  Javid publicly said on more than one occasion that ‘the Lord told him’ to use this publishing company.

WinePress Publishing is staffed by people from Sound Doctrine Church, a non-denominational authoritarian group which has been in the news. The assistant minister, Malcolm John Fraser, is the Executive Officer of WinePress. WinePress has also been written about. In 2000, the founder of Sound Doctrine Church, Timothy Williams published with WinePress, and his book, Hating for Jesus  garnered controversy.

Sound Doctrine Church has been labelled a cult. WinePress Publishing sued an author in 2009 and lost.

This information is a click away.  Yet, Javid decided God told him to use this company?
There is a great deal more being made public about this church and company.

 The assistant minister of Sound Doctrine Church and Executive Officer of WinePress Publishing, Malcolm John Fraser was charged yesterday with first degree rape of a child.

Fraser is a Scottish citizen, police consider him a  flight risk. Bail is set at one hundred fifty thousand dollars.

The alleged victim may have felt enabled to come forward and find the courage to speak because of this blog from the woman who started WinePress Publishing and helped start Sound Doctrine Church – Athena Dean. Last month she started blogging about her 12 years with the church and what happened with WinePress Publishing at Not Afraid to Tell My Story. She tells a frightening and convoluted story about control and spiritual abuse.

So many times people have asked me, “How is it someone as bright and strong and capable as you could be sucked into a cult like Sound Doctrine?” I have been pondering this question and looking for all the ways I was vulnerable.

However, I thought it may be helpful for any of you who are interested to see how the progression occurred over the 12 years I was involved.

The following is a bullet point chronicling of the events that resulted in my company being stolen from me. Over these years I was brainwashed into thinking anything done to benefit the Williams family and Sound Doctrine would be honoring to God and therefore justified many things that I would never have allowed under normal circumstances.

She has not been out of this environment for very long, and is in therapy.  Prior to her conversion she was a Scientologist, her healing and recovery is going to be a long journey.

Needless to say Sound Doctrine Church came out swinging,  on the church website and on a site set up to refute prior news about the church and particularly to refute Deans.

Sound Doctrine Church/WinePress Publishing  threatened this man a few weeks ago – Chip MacGregor of Literary MacGregor, coming at him for a comment on a Facebook page. He tells what happened on his blog in a post titled Conspirators R Us.

 The current situation is an interesting study in business ethics and church governance and arcane theology, but you’d have to go somewhere else to find the details, since I’ve never blogged about it before. I haven’t said anything about it on my corporate website, either. Nor have I written about it for any other magazine, e-zine, or journal. I could have — I mean, I’m a trained journalist, talking about the publishing industry, and the allegation that a big company that’s very involved in Christian publishing has acted unfairly toward employees or tried to intimidate people is news. But I didn’t. Not because I was afraid to (and yes, I’ve heard a couple people warn that Wine Press has used lawyers and intimidation tactics on others in the past), but because I wanted to wait and see what the facts brought out. I don’t have a dog in this hunt — but I’m very interested in the hunt itself and the story surrounding it.

My sole reference to this particular cat-fight is a comment I left on a Facebook page. That’s right — I once read an article and left a comment on the piece I saw, since I found it shocking. Here’s what I wrote upon reading about the allegations: “Holy cow. I mean… WOW! This will blow the socks off of anyone who’s been involved in CBA publishing in recent years. Wow…” 

That’s the sum total of my verbiage so far on the topic.

Sound Doctrine Church and WinePress Publishing can’t bully everyone. As news of Fraser’s arrest spreads in Washington state and on blogs more of the inner conduct of this group will come out.

I wonder if other Canadians have a connection to this group – if other Canadians believed the Lord told them…

2009 Judge takes heat for home school ruling ABC news
Court ruling – WinePress Publishing d/b/a Pleasant Word v. Mark Levine
Tekton analysis of Sound Doctrine Church theology
Christian message board and forums Sound Doctrine Church
Moriel Ministries – Timothy Williams of Sound Doctrine and His Article ‘God’s True Grace’
The Fine Print of Self-Publishing – WinePress Publishing (author Mark Levine was sued and won)

No survivor of abuse at PBI was interviewed for this Canadian Christianity article.

PBI continues to use media to distance itself from the responsibility to openly change it’s policies regarding abuse on campus, and a right and specific acknowledgement  and repentance of past abuses, in the latest article in Canadian Christianity. Spiritual, emotional and physical abuses by staff and PBI employees aren’t mentioned and no survivor  who has publicly told their story of sexual abuse was interviewed for this article.  Sexual abuse on the prairie:

It is easy to see some frustration in the public statements of Mark Maxwell and other Prairie leaders. Despite what seem to be sincere attempts to be transparent and open to victims, many of the victims don’t trust them, and they are being blamed for events that happened decades ago and which, in many cases, Prairie leaders knew nothing about.

Maxwell says that police have told him that “crimes are committed by people,” not institutions and that the “school is just a location.” The school is not guilty of anything criminal unless there is collusion, and even then it is individual administrators who are guilty.

It is common for leaders of religious institutions to deny responsibility for sexual abuse, Callaway says, because that is what their lawyers tell them to say. The unspoken reality is that while individuals may be guilty of the crimes, it is usually the institutions that end up being sued.

This means that institutions have a responsibility to guard against abuse. Callaway says that police told him in a church context that the church is responsible for “anything that happens on our premises and anything done by an employee.”

This Canadian Christianity article is more in-depth coverage than previously seen, even if some of the ‘frustrations’ abuse survivors have experienced attempting to communicate with PBI is minimized. Why Jim Coggins didn’t interview a survivor is unknown, even while PBI beats the drum about there not being wide-spread systemic abuse. That has been the PBI hook, and they are not likely to drop it anytime soon.  Once again the independent 3rd party chosen by PBI, Centre Street Church is silent. It is clear Centre Street Church, which is mentioned by Coggins will not be looking at PBI abuse and responsibility on a collective level. It seems clear Centre Street Church  did not come on board to provide a report or recommendations, but rather will remain in the background to assist a few individuals who rings up this church for therapy or therapy referral. The RCMP are mentioned in passing, with no report on their progress.

Coggins narrative, despite not talking to the important players (survivors), flows well, giving history and background to the turmoil. He provides in a clearer picture of the theology and cultural milieu of the bible college past and how PBI perceives itself in the present. Once again PBI is permitted to make generalized statements:

Maxwell and PBI managing director Peter Mal say they while there have been a lot of innuendoes and accusations, they only know for sure of “a few isolated incidents over a number of decades” and note that close to 20,000 people have come through the campus during its history. However, Maxwell adds that “if even a quarter of the accusations are true,” then there is justification for police involvement.

What innuedos and accusations? PBI gets a pass on clarifying.

To Coggins credit, he does follow through with the Jeremy Klaszus article in the Calgary Herald March 5th, A lesson in empathy, and then gives PBI leadership an opportunity to distance themselves from the particular case mentioned in the Herald because it involved  high school students . It is a credit to Coggins that he mentions the case of Carmen Wesley.

There was also an incident in 2006 when a high school student said she was sexually assaulted by a young man who was working in the kitchen at Prairie. They had apparently been dating previously, the incident was reported to police, but no charges were ever laid. The student, however, has told her story publicly.

Maxwell notes that that incident does not concern Prairie Bible Institute directly but rather Prairie Christian Academy, a kindergarten-to-grade-12 school that was founded in 1938 as part of Prairie but which became an alternate school under the local public school board in 2004. However, critics point out that the incident took place on the Prairie campus, Prairie still lists the Academy on its website and the schools share dorms and kitchen facilities.

This illustrates a key aspect of the issue. The victims describe themselves as alumni and children of staff. Many were not students at the Bible college but at the Prairie elementary/high school. The children of staff members usually attended the elementary/high school.

Media coverage is sparse, focused on PBI and shooting the messengers isn’t going to get the job done. A wee bit more information has been teased out by the Canadian Christianity writer. PBI President Mark Maxwell has talked to 6 abuse survivors. The controversial Survivor Fund Project gets a mention, without clarification from participating alumni or questions of specifics.

Maxwell and the Prairie board have encouraged victims to contact police, and they have also offered to talk with victims. Fossen and others have rejected that offer, saying they do not trust Prairie administrators. Part of the distrust flows from very negative feedback she has received from Prairie alumni attempting to defend the school. However, half a dozen victims have talked to Prairie leaders, and one made plans to visit the campus as a step in the healing process.

A group of alumni have also offered to talk with victims, and some victims have taken them up on that offer.

Coggins doesn’t gloss over the lack of trust and the ongoing loss of trust between PBI and abuse survivors.  Did I mention no abuse survivor was interviewed for this article?  The two PBI spokespeople do not acknowledge the extent of the vitriol directed at PBI abuse survivors, leaving that to the brother of two PBI staffers, Alberta minister Tim Callaway, is introduced as one alumnus who has ‘tried to bridge the gap’ between the school and victims. His thesis on PBI is available online - Training Disciplined Soldiers for Christ. Callaway is given room to explain how he sees the bible colleges past response, the reality the extent of abuse will never be known, most survivors won’t come forward,  administrative trust is not going to occur  any more than survivor trust will. The complicit silence of alumni and staff who know things lingers in the article like morning fog on a cool morning.  Like Maxwell, Callaway provides analysis without solution.

Callaway also suggests that it is simplistic to suggest that the proper course would always have been to report cases to the police. That just wasn’t done decades ago. He agrees that Prairie administrators, like leaders in many religious institutions, can be faulted for trying to “protect the reputation of the Lord” at the expense of victims. However, he also suggests that going to the police isn’t always helpful. One big problem is the difficulty in obtaining evidence that will stand up in a court of law. “It doesn’t mean nothing happened,” he says, just that the charges are hard to prove. A good number of cases that have been reported to authorities have not resulted in charges.

Further, Callaway says, many victims do not want to publicly talk about what they have experienced. There are usually 10 to 15 victims for every one who comes forward. This helps explain why Mark Maxwell and the other Prairie leaders have only been contacted by a handful of victims, while dozens have contacted Fossen. “People who criticize Linda should realize that she speaks for 12 to 15 others who will never come forward,” he says.  In fact, he suspects that there are likely many who will never even talk to Fossen.

“Many (victims) don’t want to embarrass their parents or send Dad to jail,” he says. “Many said all they needed was to tell someone.”

What PBI abuse survivors want isn’t mentioned, with the exception of the refusal of PBI to hire the investigative group G.R.A.C.E.,  instead the article ends with the upbeat and ongoing vagueness PBI has chosen to publicly communicate. While there is acknowledgement PBI has to ‘deal with it’s past’ to move forward, there is something seriously missing. The strained communication between PBI and survivors dispute the ongoing reassurances of openness and transparency linger at the end of the piece.  Clear ideas on how? Suggestions as to what? Did I mention no abuse survivor was interviewed for this article?

It appears a collective impasse remains. A few individual survivors will be ‘heard’ on PBI terms, it’s unlikely the RCMP will be able to collect enough evidence to lay charges,  Centre Street Church has no mandate to provide what survivors are asking for,  the well meaning ill-advised PBI alumni Survivor Fund Project will continue at the will and pleasure of PBI admin.  Frightened and angry alumni will continue to verbally abuse survivors with no plea or rebuke from the institution they defend. It’s as if survivors, PBI admin and the bridge builders are spinning their tires, and there is no way forward.

How do abuse survivors in all stages of recovery collectively get what they want and need? While Facebook has brought many together, and the value of sharing cannot be minimized, sharing isn’t getting collective needs met.  Media coverage is sparse, focused on PBI and shooting the messengers isn’t going to get the job done.

I don’t think Jim Coggin’s article was a puff piece, survivors who were given no opportunity to speak may think otherwise. I’d like to hear from you in the comments, because  I don’t think he has done one of the  most important things anyone reporting can do – let those who have been harmed speak without the noise of representatives of the institution which failed to protect and act.

The last sentence is haunting and Coggins perhaps inadvertently captures the collective spinning -mired in the clay of PBI decisions; “At the end of the day, getting this in the open is a good thing.” Did I mention no abuse survivors were asked to contribute their voice to this article?

Update: From Prairie Bible Institute Open Group:

 Update: Another response to PBI inaccuracies, difficulties with PBI solutions and an explanation of the professional approach of the RCMP which was not explored in the Canadian Christianity article:

Centre Street Church has withdrawn it’s support as an independent 3rd party to Prairie Bible Institute. The church was chosen in lieu of requests by PBI abuse survivors requests for G.R.A.C.E., a USA based organization which investigates allegations of abuse in church and para church organizations.

On December 16th 2011, Prairie Bible Institute announced it was going to support former students and staff kids who had come forward alleging abuses at the 90-year-old institution.

PBI President Mark Maxwell included the following in his statement naming Centre Street Church:

1) Alumni: We have a truly amazing group of Alumni around the world. Many of them have offered to help in any way possible. A dozen of them have committed a great deal of time to working with those alumni who have stories of pain and injury. This group cares about Prairie as well as the need for the injured to find healing. Their efforts may include raising funds to help cover some of:

• the costs of travel if someone would like to come back, either to share with us or the third-party group; and

• the costs related to reconciliation and healing.

Subject to legal constraints, Prairie will allow these funds to pass through the school so that donors can benefit from a tax deductible receipt. Those who would like to share their stories of pain and injury are invited to contact this team…

2) Independent Third Party: We have been in contact with Centre Street Church in Calgary, a prominent Canadian church with professional counselors on staff. This church is not conflicted by virtue of any relationship with Prairie. Centre Street offers a safe and secure place for injured people to be heard and given professional advice on steps to move forward, including directing individuals to the appropriate authorities, referring them for additional counselling or bringing them to the appropriate parties at Prairie. The contact person at the church is Dr. Miriam Mollering…

On February 14th, PBI board chair Bruce Miller repeated the choice of Centre Street Church as an independent party for abuse survivors:

Members of the Facebook site asked that another option making use of professional expertise in the Christian community be available to provide a safe and professional place where their stories could be told. In response to this request, Prairie asked Centre Street Church (CSC) if they would be willing to offer that safe haven and were grateful for their positive response.
The PBI board is pleased that Centre Street Church of Calgary has offered “to provide that safe place to be heard” with a team of professional counselors led by Rev. Miriam Möllering, PhD. Dr. Möllering holds the position of Pastor of Life Care Ministries at CSC and brings significant counseling expertise to the role. She is well-qualified to work with individuals in an understanding and professional way.
Working with Centre Street Church provides a neutral place for those uncomfortable sharing directly with Prairie.

Centre Street Church has chosen to remain professional in announcing a severing of ties with PBI as of April 15th, notifying abuse survivors who contacted the church prior to any public announcement by the church or PBI.

At this stage, all that is left is speculation on why professional abuse counsellors would take this step.  I think some of it has to do with what Mark Maxwell placed first in his December announcement – alumni. I have been understandably critical of a group of alumni  called themselves The Survivor Fund Project, recently re-naming naming themselves the Healing Team.

The group has been soliciting funds, which are managed and distributed to the alumni in the group to cover their expenses.  They are not trained, and one of the key goals of this group has been to take survivors back to PBI for ‘reconciliation’, a process counsellors of abuse victims (emotional, mental, physical, , spiritual & sexual) caution strongly against.
I’ve written about The Survivor Fund Project here, here and here.  The origins of the funding of these alumni have not been addressed by PBI. Upset and angry alumni have been verbally abusive to survivors online, and one alumni possibly connected with the original funding of The Survivor Fund Project is under investigation by Concord SC police for online behavior.  That a group of alumni would be permitted to undermine the role of chosen professionals has been a concern for survivors.   Given the existence of The Survivor Fund Project,  the difficulties in communication with PBI, I believe Centre Street Church severing ties as 3rd party is wise. It is unknown how many survivors will be affected by this decision. Sources tell me that the decision to end the Centre Street Church role as a safe place for survivors to tell their stories and receive referrals for counselling was mutual.

As well, Bruce Miller and alumni online have been saying that abuse survivors are to contact the Three Hills detachment of the RCMP, despite a clear statement from the RCMP that a trained party in the Calgary detachment (Const. Mark MacDonald) had been specifically assigned to the PBI abuse allegations investigation. Constable Mark MacDonald:

“Hopefully I can clear up the concerns that have arisen. This investigation began with the Three Hills RCMP when the first person came forward. Almost immediately it was reported that there were between 80-90 victims of abuse that were willing to come forward with their stories. A file of that magnitude would overwhelm a small detachment and therefore my unit was brought in to assist Three Hills with the investigations. I was assigned as the primary investigator when my unit began to assist because of my experience conducting large investigations such as this. Three Hills is still actively involved in this investigation and I can tell you that there is absolutely no conflict between Three Hills and us.

As for reporting, upon my assignment to the file it was decided that my name would be used as the contact person for the investigation to minimize confusion. However, victims are welcome to report their story to whoever or where ever they please. The files will still filter back to me. Reporting to me just saves a few steps.

This is because in most cases, the investigating agency is the police detachment where the offence occurred (Three Hills) and they would likely have no knowledge of the magnitude of the file and the assistance being provided by our unit. This file is unique and therefore is slightly different.

As for an official statement, the media coverage from the RCMP from the onset of this investigation has been crystal clear. If you were the victim of any form of abuse at the Prairie Bible Institute or anywhere else in Canada, we want to hear from you.

This is some of what has been posted by a FB administrator on a Prairie Facebook page:

Unfortunately, under the present circumstances, the only way for victims of abuse to receive financial assistance with abuse recovery therapy would be to go through the Healing Team, or possibly the Center Street Church. What this means is that PBI is only willing to provide this level of assistance to individuals who go through one of their chosen, unofficial channels, in a manner that they deem acceptable and in-line with their model of how abuse should be dealt with in a Christian environment. Given that PBI is being investigated for failing to properly deal with abuse, it would be difficult to suggest that they can suddenly be fully trusted to know how to deal with it now. This asymmetrical approach is flawed in fairly obvious ways and will need to be addressed going forward – for the benefit of all parties. There are people continuously working behind the scenes to address these ongoing concerns.

No doubt more will be forthcoming soon from PBI.

By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

If Stephen Harper wants to keep his faith, and how it affects his politics, close to his vest, we can’t fault journalists for trying to make some educated guesses.

Just ask Andrew Nikiforuk, the winner of several National Magazine Awards who also contributes to the progressive B.C.-based news and commentary website The Tyee. A few days ago, he posted the opinion piece Understanding Harper’s Evangelical Mission on the site.

Nikiforuk, a “Christian and a social conservative”, wonders out loud why the Tories make what he sees as ongoing dumb decisions related to the environment.

He writes:

“….To date, Harper has refused to answer media questions about his beliefs or which groups inform them. If he answered media queries about his minority creed (and fewer than 10 per cent of Canadians would call themselves evangelicals) he’d have to admit that he openly sympathizes if not endorses what’s known as “evangelical climate skepticism.’ “

I wonder in turn–Does Harper’s church, the Christian and Missionary Alliance–have a formal position on environmentalism?

Nikiforuk goes on to cite the Cornwall Alliance, a alliance of international critics of environmentalism and wonders if groups like this provide Harper and his allies find reasons for their beliefs from conservative Christians who think as the Cornwall Alliance does.

Might Harper and his friends be dismayed by such speculation? Well, politicians speak their minds for a living. If Harper were to sit down and explain whether his faith affects his environmental policies, Mr. Nikiforuk would be able to apply his wisdom and skills to looking at Harper’s actual beliefs and actions and not merely speculating. Which would be better for everyone.

But I certainly don’t want to say that Nikiforuk is wrong, out of hand. Please check out what he has to say for yourself.

I hope this information will put some of the speculation about how PBI has chosen to control the access of abuse survivors to therapy to rest.

Over the last while, and particularly as it came to public attention that the independent 3rd party chosen in December by Prairie Bible Institute (Centre Street Church) was withdrawing from its role effective April 15th, a troubling piece of information came to light. While questions continue to go unanswered about the funding and expenses of the alumni Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team, it has now been confirmed that the 3rd party professional (Dr. Mollering) was required to go to this Healing Team if she wanted to do her job and provide survivors with a certified and qualified therapist. According to the information below, the paid friends of The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team outlined the following criteria to Centre Street Church.

It has taken Prairie Bible Institute over 3 months to clarify how professionals hired to do therapy with abuse survivors would be paid. Yet, as soon as The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team announced itself, they had no problem letting donors know that they would be submitting their expense accounts (why I call this team paid friends) to PBI for reimbursement.

If a professional chosen by PBI can be treated in such a condescending matter, what hope do abuse survivors have? I’m open to hearing the up side of this funding arrangement from a tax specialist, accountant, therapist, charity expert and survivors.

A few days ago Centre Street Church was informed that any therapist would have to go through the alumni team (The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team), as Prairie Bible Institute has designated this ‘team’ to assume the role of fund distribution to professionals.

What a demeaning and tawdry set of criteria set by The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team and PBI. I commend Centre Street Church for their self-respect and other-respect in their desire to put victims above do-gooder alumni amateurs, and respectfully withdrawing their services. Why tie the hands of qualified professionals by delaying a basic piece of information like funding? The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team criteria for therapist requests for funding:

1.        Do you know if the counselor will direct bill (either CSC or Prairie?)

2.      Do you know / are comfortable with the counselor, or do you simply trust this lady’s choice in that regard?

3.      Do you know how many sessions you’re thinking of at this time, and at what cost?

4.      Does she have any benefits plan that will help cover part of the costs, or does she need us to cover 100% of the costs?  Or is the counselor not chartered, in which case, benefits plans won’t cover it anyway.

5.      Are you free to tell me the “status” of the perpetrator?  Meaning – were they a Prairie staff member, PBI college student…?  (We have no interest in knowing the identity of the perpetrator or victim unless the victim gives you permission and wants us to know.).  We’re only asking this so we can get a gist of the stories – how many are “domestic” vs. “institutional” etc.

6.      Are you planning on any kind of “accountability” between the victim / counselor and yourself to monitor progress?  I don’t want that information sent to me, nor does Prairie, but if we’re asked by donors or potential donors, we may need to be able to state what accountability is in place for the use of counseling funds.  As long as you’re comfortable with reasonable progress, we trust you and prefer to stay out of that loop unless the victim chooses to include us in any way.

7.      Is there anything besides counseling that you think we can consider doing to help?  Books, DVDs, seminars, for example?  Or travel?

(added – BD Survivor Fund Project/Healing team member John Kepler says the above criteria was for one case. see the comment section below. What is/was other criteria for CSC?)
I am grieved for Centre Street Church personnel – no good deed goes unpunished. PBI has done exactly what they said they would do in December. I am grieved for survivors, their safety needs has been so tangled and so yanked out from under them, there are no choices left except what PBI dictates.

• PBI receives donor funds through The Survivor Fund Project and issues the donor a tax receipt. PBI administers donor funds to the paid friends
• The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team alumni ‘befriend’ survivors, and request a refund of their expenses for befriending from PBI. PBI is not told the name of the survivor(s) and there is no public accounting
• The Survivor Fund Project alumni deal with chosen therapists, vet, and submit therapists bills to PBI

Centre Street Church had to provide unqualified PBI funded alumni with the information below, with no guarantee their request would be honoured:

1. Name of  therapist
2. Amount of sessions and cost per session
3. Provide the paid friends with the survivors medical insurance plan
4. Provide qualifications of the recommended therapist. (Hello. Like a certified therapist from Centre Street Church is going to recommend a non-certified therapist!)
5. Report on accountability between therapists. (Checking therapy progress etc)
This makes some sense financially, it would keep PBI’s Survivor Fund Project alumni out of the loop, similar to PBI supposedly not knowing who the paid friends were taking out for coffee, driving around or giving books or DVD’s to.) It also makes sense professionally – certified mental health professionals are supervised, a request by another qualified therapist on progress is not a breach of confidentiality. However, what’s to say The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team/PBI wouldn’t cut someone off for whatever reason?

Why would anyone trust The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team given they are not accountable to anyone?

Is this the only way PBI can fund counselling/therapy for survivors?

PBI will release a pr April 15th, and I’m sure it will praise the paid friends to high heaven and thank Centre Street Church.

May I make a suggestion to observers and survivors? How about dropping Centre Street Church an email and thanking them for their willingness to put abuse survivors first? How about commending this church for it’s openess, transparency, professionalism and honesty – showing by their ethical choice to withdraw from relationship with PBI, that those words have meaning for followers of Jesus Christ who step up to the plate to offer help to the wounded?  Email: miriam.mollering(at)cschurch(dot)ca.

P.S. I like the title of this blog dedicated to PBI and survivors, The Truth Will Make You Free. Hopefully Hank will find people with ideas on how to move forward.

Update: It was noted at The Truth Will make You Free that I did not highlight the education of the team. That is correct, I did not know their educational backgrounds. Jim Crites has a counselling degree (Masters) from Providence Seminary in Manitoba, and John Kepler received a Masters in Pastoral Counselling in the U.S. Another unnamed Survivor Fund Project member is completing a Masters in counselling.

A few years ago a blogger who had begun to post anonymously about FBC Jacksonville Florida, found himself under seige and under threat for what he wrote.  FBJax Watchblog endured a great deal of flack and threats, which continue to this day.  Associated Baptist Press:

The Watchdog’s criticism of Brunson’s leadership led to Rich’s identity being exposed after a police detective serving on First Baptist’s security detail got a subpoena and he and his wife being voted out of membership. In 2009 church leaders filed trespass warnings against the couple, who had been members at the church for more than 20 years.

Rich told the Florida Times-Union he could not comment about whether Brunson’s statement Sunday was part of the settlement. In 2010 the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office paid Rich $50,000 as part of a settlement in another lawsuit saying their investigation violated the First Amendment.

Sunday, Rev. Mac Brunson read an apology from the pulpit for comments he had made to the local paper. The apology has also been posted on FBC Jax Watchblog.

Wade Burleson, has the best summary of what occurred the past few years and I encourage you to read his summary.

As recently as February 8, 2012, Mac Brunson stood by his statement that Tom Rich was “a sociopath,” a statement orginally published by the Times-Union on April 8, 2009. Thankfully, last Sunday, Rev. Mac Brunson apologized for his statement. Nobody knows the motive for why Rev. Brunson apologized after three years, but there are at least two possiblities:

(1). The Holy Spirit brought Rev. Brunson to repentance for his statement in less than eight weeks (February 2012 to April 2012) after He could not bring the gift of repentance to Rev. Brunson during the previous three years (February 2009 to February 2012). After all, the Holy Spirit is the One who enables us to display to others “what Christian life is all about,” right? Or,

(2). Part of the settlement of the lawsuit, which included an undisclosed financial payment to the Rich family, included reading an apology to the church for the original statement by Rev. Brunson that Tom Rich is a “sociopath.”

Tom Rich and his family found a church were there was no abuse, where they have been welcomed and appreciated. Bloggers everywhere owe this family a debt of gratitude for their fortitude and courage, and I wish this family peace. When a church throws it’s weight against a member for criticizing a pastor, that is abuse, and abuse must be called out and stood up to.  Not everyone is able to do that, the cost of doing so can be high. Rich’s blog continues to be a blessing to many.  Perhaps other church leaders who are unwilling to tolerate questions or disagreement, will take note of the resolution of this high profile case and take Wade Burlesons suggestion:

Finally, just a word to my fellow pastors. If you are publicly criticized, censured, or condemned, it would always be better to follow the advice of King David, who when verbally castigagated by one of his subjects and asked by Abishai if he could “go cut that dead dog’s head off,” responded,“Let him alone. God hath bidden him to speak.”

A Scarborough pastor who mixed God and Mammon fleeced investors of $8.2 million, the Ontario Securities Commission has found.

But while the investors’ money has disappeared, Marlon Gary Hibbert funneled $673,000 to himself and his wife Verna, and another $483,848 to charities run by himself or family members.

That was in addition to $67,017 that went for “personal expenses, including Visa payments, school fees, hotels and gym memberships.”

“By virtue of Hibbert’s deceptions and untruths, many investors lost their entire investment,” wrote OSC commissioner James Carnwath.

“To date, they are owed more than $8.2 million in principal, to say nothing of promised returns of more than $13 million.”

Hibbert was founder of Dominion World Outreach Ministries Dominion Worship Centre Inc.

Toronto Star
OSC ruling

Bluewater District School Board trustees are monitoring threats and hate mail which includes racist threats and questions of members patriotism as they prepare to formalize a policy banning the handing out of religious material. Several school boards in Canada have a similar policy in place. Canadian Press:

Trustee Fran Morgan called the “onslaught” of messages “really disturbing,” and said it has made her uneasy about driving the 30 kilometres to board meetings at night by herself.

“I really do feel threatened by it,” Morgan said from Griersville, Ont. “It’s been very unpleasant.”

The Bluewater board, with more than 18,000 students in 53 schools across a broad swath of southern Ontario territory, is expected to formalize the ban at its meeting April 17, following in the footsteps of several other boards across Canada.

Ban proponents argue distribution of the Bibles has no place in a secular school system, and that it potentially violates human-rights legislation.

The board nixed the idea of allowing any religion to hand out materials on the basis it would suck up scarce resources and could be legally risky.

The threats aren’t coming from the Gideons, who have handed out bibles to grade 5 students in Ontario public schools since 1936. Gideons International is based in Nashville Tennessee, the Canadian office is in Guelph Ontario. The Canadian branch opened in 1911.

“Over time, due to the religious fabric of our country being re-woven, school boards have begun to re-evaluate their policies on this tradition,” Warkentin said.

“The Gideons’ response to the school boards’ decisions to discontinue the distributions has always been complete acceptance.”

Grade 5 students received a permission slip to take home to parents Bluewater District School Board serves Blue and Grey counties, two rural areas with about 18,500 students and a combined population of about 152 thousand.

Racist threats and questions of patriotism sound like comments that would come from the southern US. Canadians can and do get just as ugly, it would be interesting to see the demographic breakdown of these emails.  I wonder how many people issuing threats have bibles at home? Waterloo District School board faced similar vitrol over a four year period as Gideon bible distribution was phased out.

AP

Local coverage Owen Sound Times
Owen Sound Times

1. Pray. Bring Christ into the relationship at the very beginning, and let your prayer have more of the ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening’ than ‘Lord, open my lips that I may declare your praise …’

2. Listen. Engage with others, don’t preach at them. Know when to be quiet. It’s O.K. to have nothing to say!
3. Respect. Don’t abuse anyone or vent your anger online. It will scare off some people and make others feel uncomfortable in your presence.

4. Encourage. Give help when you can; affirm, compliment, if appropriate.

5. Spend time: you can’t build good relationships in just a few minutes. You have to be serious about wanting to build a relationship and prepared to commit yourself.

6. Share: not only what you are doing, but also what others are doing. This particularly applies to Twitter — don’t use it just for self-advertisement!

7. Be welcoming: you need people who disagree with you.

8. Be grateful: whingers are not very attractive, nor are those who take things for granted.

9. Be yourself: truthfulness is essential. ‘You’ online should be the same person as ‘you’ offline.

10. Love. Like prayer, it’s obvious, but unless you pray, unless you love those with whom you come into contact online, you’re wasting your time as well as theirs.

from iBenedictines

via: connexions

Recently I wrote The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team and asked for an updated list of team members.  I appreciate the response. The alumni, who operate under the umbrella of PBI now have a communications policy in place.

There have been no changes to the members of the Healing Team.

The Healing Team has made the following decisions moving forward:

1. We will communicate only with known persons. While we respect your right to privacy, the Healing Team is about building personal relationships. Since you have chosen to remain anonymous, that becomes impossible for us.

2. We will provide our own communication at our discretion rather than having others attempt to speak on our behalf.  We are particularly concerned about the growing misrepresentation of facts generally, and specifically regarding our role in the lives of survivors.

3. We believe that the public “battles” have become hindrances to survivors moving toward healthy places of healing. Therefore, we will largely ignore the ongoing debates as we choose to focus on the much bigger and exciting picture of what God is doing behind the scenes in people’s lives.

Thanks.

This appears to be a team decision since it wasn’t signed by one of the five known members.  This communications strategy is a wise decision. The teams online communication skills have not been productive for them, and I think it’s best they stay away from  the open communication of the internet. Even their supporters haven’t been doing them any favours online.

Professional abuse therapists and concerned others have spoken to PBI admin about the wisdom of providing this ‘team’. Their concerns have fallen on deaf ears, and this alumni team model will remain in place until PBI says otherwise.

The team has chosen not to name the “Many other alumni have come forward to offer to be “listeners” as well” and remain unaccountable.

Putting a communication strategy in place at this late date ( alumni survivor involvement  was announced by PBI admin in December) doesn’t change anything. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

The Survivor Fund Project/Healing Team is now fully in control for any survivor contacting them or by extension contacting PBI, survivors are not on equal footing with these paid friends and no not have adequate representation.  I would encourage any PBI survivor to seek out other survivors, do homework and get caught up on the process PBI has put in place. It is your journey, while these well meaning alumni know the milieu your abuse took place in, they too are products of the same often toxic environment.

This FB administrator expresses valid and ethical concerns better than I can:

Unfortunately, under the present circumstances, the only way for victims of abuse to receive financial assistance with abuse recovery therapy would be to go through the Healing Team, or possibly the Center Street Church. What this means is that PBI is only willing to provide this level of assistance to individuals who go through one of their chosen, unofficial channels, in a manner that they deem acceptable and in-line with their model of how abuse should be dealt with in a Christian environment. Given that PBI is being investigated for failing to properly deal with abuse, it would be difficult to suggest that they can suddenly be fully trusted to know how to deal with it now. This asymmetrical approach is flawed in fairly obvious ways and will need to be addressed going forward – for the benefit of all parties. There are people continuously working behind the scenes to address these ongoing concerns.

I wish these alumni well, and offer my hope this team will be able to disband sooner than later.