The Ryno Pen

Although it will mean some looking back.

Tanya Levin’s book People in Glass Houses; an insider’s story of a life in and out of Hillsong will be out very soon, thanks to Black Inc, who found the courage to publish when a major player pulled out at a very late stage.

From Cult Information & Family Support Inc:
“When Levin’s publisher called last Thursday she expected to get the hurry-up on returning the last few page proofs before the 300 pages were committed to print. Instead she was told publishing director Patrick Gallagher had decided Hillsong represented too high a risk of suing for defamation. Gallagher declined to comment.”

I’ve been delaying the tale of my eventual exit from charismatic churches, (it begins here), and a little advance talk about Levin, her book, and recent media interviews concerning it, may help set the background.

My own differences are not exactly the same as Tanya Levin’s, but anybody with an interest in how ex-Pentecostals are made (and in some cases broken) will certainly gain some insight from looking into Levin’s book and some of the material linked here.

Those whose interests lie on the more temporal side may also be interested. Remember, Australia’s Federal Treasurer spends considerable time bobbing up in front of meetings and rallies of these folk, and Wee Johnny Eyebrows isn’t averse to courting their favour.

Rather than drop the whole fishy mess in your lap and ask you to pay particular attention to the bits of squid (and the piece of cod which passeth understanding), Dear Readers, your humble bloggist will probably come up with a catchy series title, such as The Dissemblers Of God, or Carry On Charismatics… I’m sure something will present itself about five nanoseconds after I log out and head up to the house… and make a mini-series out of it. You deserve more than a fleeting glance at the episodes codenamed Flag Madness, Greenstuffs I and II, Pork In Exile, Stretch Of The Imagination, and many other notable incidents.

Anyhow, more of that in its time. Here’s a few Tanya Levin links and some further reading.

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There’s a downloadable podcast (mp3 format)of Levin on Phillip Adams‘ radio show here – “A conversation about the growth of Pentecostal churches, in Australia and elsewhere – with particular reference to the Hillsong Church – and the churches’ attempts to attract young, hip congregations.” – if you feel inclined to listen. Adams is an acquired taste: I really enjoy his written work but I cannot listen to him for protracted periods. Herself goes to great lengths to hear him.

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From Signposts, where the stories of a number of people chewed up and spat out by Hillsong can be found:

Social worker Tanya Levin, who spent her teenage years at Hillsong, says that those who question church policy are first shouted down and later ostracised if they persist. Levin has been commissioned to write a book about growing up in an evangelical church. For research, Levin attended the annual Hillsong women’s conference Colour Your World last March and took offence when poor children in Africa were being marketed for sponsors in the audience on the basis of being cute. “They are actually for life, not just for Christmas,” Levin shouted before walking out of the auditorium.

When she wrote an email the next month to the Houstons asking to meet them on a regular basis in order to gather material for her book, she got this curt response from the general manager, George Aghajanian: “We are aware that during your attendance at our recent Colour Your World Women’s Conference you caused a significant disruption. It is for this reason that we ask you to refrain from attending any future Hillsong church services or events; including accessing Hillsong’s land and premises at any time.” Aghajanian closed by saying the church’s leadership and staff were unable to provide assistance for the book.
When Levin subsequently attended a Sunday evening service, a pastor asked to speak to her outside. When she attempted to get back in to retrieve her bag, two security guards blocked her path, picked her up by the elbows and escorted her off the premises.

Read the whole page if you have time. There’s sex, questionable financial dealings, threats… the whole box and dice.

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ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton – episode 141: 30/07/2007 [Australian TV interview show]transcript here:

ANDREW DENTON: That’s a very strong phrase, “toxic Christianity.” Is that how you view Pentecostalism at that point?

TANYA LEVIN: I…have to say I do now. I spent five years working alongside Salvation Army officers who have a completely different outlook on what Christianity is. And they’re very, very humble people, and they’re very, very committed to serving the community.

ANDREW DENTON: And how did you see that as different to what you saw at Hillsong?

TANYA LEVIN: The Salvation Army are very much geared towards charity and gospel and Hillsong was very much geared towards money, recruitment and fund raising.

Again, the transcript mentions some fairly dodgy doings.

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Buy the book here if you’re keen.

Goodnight and sleep well.

[Late edit: this article in the Sydney Morning Herald has more on Hillsong, Levin etc.]

Later Edit: Review here!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 at 2:21 am and is filed under "Brian Houston", "Geoff Bullock", "People In Glass Houses", "Tanya Levin", Politics, charismatic churches, ex-charismatic, fundamentalism, hillsong, religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.