Houston’s offences were committed under the guise of anti-gay counselling. One of his victims described it thus: “My counselling sessions… were nothing more than sexual abuse disguised in the form of the need of a father’s love and discipline. Through my naivety, I endured the naked beatings, the eternal bum caresses and masturbating into bottles, among other things. I look [back] at it now and think, ‘God, I was really naive to fall for that.’ ”

Levin’s book is not simply the account of one person who had a bad experience at Hillsong. It is an expose (falling far short of what there is to uncover) of immorality and manipulation rife in a supposedly moral organisation. Right-thinking non-churchgoers have no doubt about how paedophiles should be dealt with - promptly, openly, and severely. The church’s failure to do the same simply shows that, for all their hype, they neither grasp nor practise the morality they preach.

Comments by the comment mechanism, please. I charge extra for the correspondence course.

Later: Patience, Reader Mukwa. I have received your long reply, and am prepared to release it along with my commentary soon.
Meanwhile, I have prepared some light reading for you.

I trust you are well, and that the Borough Of Ealing is treating you kindly.

The “happy-clap thing” in Hillsong may just happen to be a purely human form of excitement, like many another party or concert. Your wishing it otherwise will make you sure it’s otherwise, but then you may not have been given classes in building the excitement to bring this “holy” experience about. (I have.)

The bible also mentions slaughtering a large number of animals in very bloody ways and burning lumps of meat in the place of worship, as well as funny ritual clothing, things not to eat or do, and many other rules. Are you going to pick and choose?

Tanya Levin either tells the truth and relates her experiences as they happened, or she is a liar: are you bearing false witness against her? The bible says that is not a good thing to do.

You defend Hillsong with guesses and conjecture, hoping with a childlike faith that none of the bad reports are true, yet you are not able to even guess accurately about the staff numbers and personnel structure.

The fact that the music sells around the wolrd[sic] means many christians like it. - and by this standard, toothbrushes, McDonald burgers and underwear are also sanctified?

Tanya has said in the book (you did read it, at least as well as you can, didn’t you?) that she was and is a Christian. Of course, you may have some holy revelation to the contrary: if you prophesy falsely, though, you will be expected to stone yourself, so be careful.

I give offerings freely without being forced and i believe in church [very sic indeed]. That’s nice, dear, but by revealing this charity, you have gone against Matthew 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

You have inspired me to post about some of my yet-untold past experiences with dodgy churches.

In the meantime you may wish to regale yourself with these recollections:
http://rynosseros.com/2007/10/14/the-truth-shall-set-you-free-rtfm/
http://rynosseros.com/2007/08/30/fathers-little-helpers/
http://rynosseros.com/2007/08/15/stretch-of-the-imagination/
http://rynosseros.com/2007/08/11/no-damn-way/
http://rynosseros.com/2007/07/29/dust-in-the-mighty-wind/

Thank you for your interest.

Ryno says:
Perhaps your questions would be better directed to people like this, this, or this.

For my part, I have abandoned the idea of churches. See here and especially here.

Thanks for writing,
Ryno
(Still trying to have a small holiday from his blog)

At the end of the day, if your gut is telling you something isn’t right - then go with it. There is plenty of good material these days on cults & the various traits that make a cult, a cult. I would shy away from discussing concerns with other church members, as more often than not they will feel threatened & may react adversely. Perhaps discussing with a trained counsellor (outside of your church & denomination) or someone qualified to process your concerns with you is safest & best practice.

Lastly, never be afraid to ask questions & to hold people up to the light. Your church & pastors do not own you. This can be done in a non threatening, non reactive way - and their reactions will tell you if you’re on the right track.

In my most recent case, I simply made a decision that based on my observation of the new pastors style, and the way he used his position to get people into line, I would not subject myself to such unpastoral behaviour. I did not raise this with him or with leadership. I just stopped going.
I dont feel bitterness or any negativity towards these people - just very thankful that I know enough now to see the warning signs & choose for myself.

Ryno says:
Thanks for your comments and balanced views, Jon.

I think you may have hit on a root cause of some of the “Charismatic Inc” problem in the above: the tendency to go all corporate/power structure. It certainly promotes an environment where almost-Pharisaical rules flourish, and tends to place emphasis on the less important matters of living out one’s faith.