Sean the Blogonaut» Mercy

Hillsong’s Connection with Gloria Jeans

Blogonaut — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:13:55 +0000

Hillsong issued this statement, presumably in response to rumours surrounding the legal battle being fought by Gloria Jeans:

19 April 2010

Hillsong Church does not own or operate Gloria Jeans and has no legal or financial ties to the company.

Gloria Jeans is a privately owned business.

The owners of Gloria Jeans have publically acknowledged that they attend Hillsong Church.

Hillsong Church is not associated or implicated with any pending legal proceedings before the NSW Supreme Court. Any suggestion otherwise would be highly defamatory.

As far as I can determine they are right, though I do find the wording in sentence three a little curious. This distancing themselves from Gloria Jeans is really par for the course with Hillsong. They are only to happy to be in the picture even if its by a loose association, when the going is good, but when the shit hits the fan it’s “we have no legal or financial ties”.

We are talking on an entity the has grown and I suspect continues to work on the bonds of strong christian fellowship(not legal or financial just to be clear), friendship or connection.

So let’s explore that connection.

Lets look at this sentence:

The owners of Gloria Jeans have publically acknowledged that they attend Hillsong Church.

True, Peter Irvine has I think only ever been identified as a Hillsong attendee, perhaps a high profile one owing to his membership on the boards of Gloria Jeans and Mercy Minitries. Both I might add who have at least had strong working relationships( by which I mean catering in the case of Gloria Jeans and donation to and promotion of the Mercy Program) with Hillsong.

With Mr Saleh though, I think the sentence above might be stretching the definition of attendee. Nabi Saleh is an Elder in the church. Not just an older and respected churchgoer but a member of an advisory council of sorts. On Hillsong’s SENIOR PASTORS & ELDERSHIP page we have the following listing

The Hillsong Eldership

Brian Houston is Founder and Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church.

George Aghajanian is the General Manager of Hillsong Church. He possesses a wealth of senior management experience in both Australian and international organisations, and brings a strong balance of faith and practical business application to his role.

Nabi Saleh is the Chairman of Gloria Jean’s Coffees Australia and New Zealand. His strong business acumen and Godly wisdom have also enabled him to sit on several boards of directors for many large, non-profit organisations.

Robert Fergusson is a Senior Associate Pastor at Hillsong Church. He is passionate about imparting practical life principles from the Bible, and his primary gifting and function within the church is that of preaching and teaching.

Dr. Gordon Lee is a highly respected General Practitioner, and operates successful medical practices in Sydney. He also pastors the Hillsong Chinese Extension Services.

Leigh Howard-Smith is the Managing Director of several companies in the logistics/transport and plastic manufacturing industries.

Don Cooper-Williams is a Senior Marketing Executive within the IT Industry. With both Godly wisdom and management skills, he is a gifted communicator within the church and the corporate community.

Joel A’Bell, with his wife Julia, have been on staff at Hillsong Church for over 10 years. Recently, he has come alongside Brian & Bobbie to outwork the Hillsong vision across the Hills, City, South West & Brisbane campuses. Joel is a devoted husband, and father to Harmony and Eli.

So to say that Mr Saleh attends Hillsong is a gross understatement don’t you think? But this Eldership is kind of nebulous is it not. I mean it doesn’t say that Mr Saleh fulfils any role really.

Until of course you look on the corporate governance page where Mr Saleh is listed as a member of both the Audit and Remuneration Committees.

What does it all mean?

There is no financial or legal connection between Hillsong and Gloria Jeans. The Chairperson of company that hasn’t paid its debts just happens to be on the Hillsong Elders council and is a member of two committees involving finance. Ultimately it’s Hillsong’s concern – I think it may speak to Mr Saleh’s business acumen and character but I am sure that that could be forgiven/forgotten considering how easily sexual misconduct can be plastered over( referring here to Frank Huston).

Gloria Jeans parent company insolvent?

Blogonaut — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:03:06 +0000

In April I commented on the interesting news that Jireh, parent company of Gloria Jeans Coffee had landed itself in court over unpaid commissions to another company. Well to give you an update I’ll hand you over to Ruth Pollard of the Sydney Morning Herald:

THE parent company of Gloria Jeans Coffee, co-owned by the Hillsong Church elder Nabi Saleh, is in ”financial dire straits” and should be put into liquidation and an investigation held into its affairs, the NSW Supreme Court has been told.

It is the latest shot fired in the multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the coffee giant’s parent company, Jireh International, by a small US-based coffee supplier, Western Export Services.

On June 11, the court ruled that Jireh must pay the export company millions in commissions and interest after it found Jireh had breached a joint venture agreement. Yesterday the parties were back in court, fighting over the formula used to calculate the total owed to Western Export Services.

Both parties were required to submit evidence to the court on their financial circumstances. ”The defendant is hopelessly insolvent,” said Jim Johnson, counsel for Western Export Services. ”There are public policy issues as to whether this company should be allowed to keep trading.”

[Read More]

What’s this got to do with Atheism or Reason?

Nothing – new readers may not be aware of the 18 months I spent in helping out the victims of the evangelical mental health facility Mercy Ministries. To catch yourselves up on that story start here. One of the directors mentioned in the article above Peter Irvine, was also a director of Mercy Ministries and in addition to being forced to pay damages to victims after a ruling by the ACCC it appears that his business activities are about as shady as his so called charitable ones.

So this post is some continued Schadenfreude on my behalf, frankly these bastards look like they are getting what was coming to them.

Like blood from a stone – Mercy Ministries to hand over records

Blogonaut — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:11:29 +0000

For new readers you can follow the start of the latest Mercy Ministries debacle in my posts here, here and here. For those with a bit of time on your hands click the link at the bottom of this post to read about the 2 year long struggle against this rather dubious biblical ministry.

The News

I have been contacted by one of the women involved in trying to gain access to their files, who herself has been in contact with the privacy commissioner. She reports that:

Mercy appears to have a new legal firm, one that is more cooperative and understands the privacy act
That Mercy will be willing to forward complete files to qualified psychologists/psychiatrists
That no other files will be destroyed but rather archived in accordance with the law

What a sad fact that a group that purported to act in the best interests of their clients has to be hauled kicking and screaming to do that, which on the face of it, seems the obvious ethical and moral direction to take.

What is this Mercy Ministries all about Click here to view more details?

Mercy Ministries and Privacy Commissioner Investigations Update

Blogonaut — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:19:46 +0000

In the post we learnt that the Privacy Commissioner had decided to carry out a preliminary investigation of the situation surrounding the refusal of Mercy Ministries Australia to hand over client files to past clients.

In a letter received by one of the complainants, a few days ago, the Assistant Privacy Commissioner has advised:

So Mercy Ministries Australia is undergoing investigation by the Privacy commissioner and has until March 23rd to answer claims made by the complainants. Three weeks for Mercy to cobble together a cogent argument as to why they shouldn’t hand back files containing personal information.

Did Mercy have a privacy policy?

Or does that not come under biblically based management practices?

Privacy Commissioner to make inquiries into Mercy Ministries refusal

Blogonaut — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:49:37 +0000

This email was forwarded to me, by an ex-mercy member who has lodged a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner. This followers from the refusal by Mercy to release client information on request to previous residents. It is reproduced with permission and names and contact details removed.

Dear

PRIVACY COMPLAINT AGAINST MERCY MINISTRIES

Thank you for your email received on 12 February 2010. We have treated it as a complaint under section 36 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

We have decided to make immediate preliminary inquiries into your allegations. For information about our complaints handling process, please visit our website atwww.privacy.gov.au/complaints

I note from your email that you have requested, and been refused access to, your files under Freedom of Information. While the Freedom of Information Acts do not apply to Mercy Ministries, the Privacy Act 1988 (the Act) does.

The National Privacy Principles (NPPs) in the Act regulate the collection, storage, use and disclosure of personal information, give individuals a right to know what information an organisation holds about them, and the right to have that information corrected if it is wrong.

Under NPP 6, unless an exception applies, if an organisation holds personal information about an individual, it must provide the individual with access to the information. If an organisation denies an individual access to their personal information, the organisation must provide a reason that is consistent with one of the exceptions under NPP 6.

I will be making inquiries of Mercy Ministries about this matter. If you would like to discuss the matter with me at any time, please contact me on ————— or (————– during business hours, by fax on ——————— or e‑mail —————–

Yours sincerely

Assistant Compliance Officer

What is this Mercy Ministries Click here to view more details

Mercy Ministries Australia to destroy client files

Blogonaut — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:36:34 +0000

I received this letter from a ex-Mercy client yesterday. It was sent out to all clients that had requested that their personal files be released to them:

Now as they have been advised they are operating within the law and they will be destroying the requested documents. To break the letter down

We have received you request to have your file
We understand you want to get your hands on what we have written about you
Our lawyers have informed us that you can’t file an FOI request to get said files
Our lawyers have said that we can dispose of it as per our licensing and or rules under which Mercy was set up
So we are destroying them.

So my questions are what rules/licensing were Mercy ministries operating under? Did they have a records management, or client information policy?

What is this Mercy Ministries Click here to view more details

Skeptic Zone #66 featuring Sean the Blogonaut

Blogonaut — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:51:48 +0000

I have been immortalised in Episode 66 of the Skeptic Zone Podcast. Download it now so that you can listen to my melodious voice(okay that might not be strictly true). This episode features Michael Marshall, Co-founder of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, Presenter of ‘Righteous Indignation’ & ‘Skeptics with a K’ and Me.

I talk about Mercy Ministries, Hillsong, Religion,Politics and blog promotion.

Many Thanks to Skeptic Zone Interviewer Kylie Sturgess for making me sound well good.

Disappointed with Darlene

Blogonaut — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:10:38 +0000

I was overjoyed and somewhat surprised when I heard the outcome of the ACCC investigation into Mercy Ministries – compensation (token though it may be) and a formal apology from the directors was more than any of the Mercy Survivors thought they would ever get.

Here’s the apology letter .

The ACCC found that Mercy had been

Misleading in promoting their services as free
Misleading about having qualified professionals on staff

But here is the specific acknowledgement in the apology letter:

Each of the former directors acknowledge that they were ultimately responsible for the conduct of Mercy Ministries. The former directors each admit Mercy Ministries conduct was misleading, and they wish to offer to you their sincere apology for any hurt
or inconvenience arising from these matters.

Contrast this with Darlene Zschech’s(one of the early directors) comments on her own website to her fans

Statement regarding Mercy Ministries

Hey friends…. I really felt that due to some confusion over the last few months, I needed to write and put a few things on record regarding Mark’s and my involvement in Mercy Ministries.

As of July 2007, Mark and I ceased all involvement with Mercy Ministries. As hard as it was, we knew it was the right choice for us and for our family. Since that time, due to a culmination of decisions completely outside of our control, Mercy Ministries has now unfortunately ceased to exist in Australia. And that is probably what brings us the most personal sadness of all.

We are SO very thankful to all of the girls who did come through the program and we celebrate those who are flourishing in life. We pray for and encourage any girls still overcoming personal challenges to work hard and continue to seek help. We will be ever grateful to a staff who did over and above the call of duty every single day to ensure the girls’ well being. The staff that started with us at Mercy have become lifelong friends and for that we are truly grateful.

More than two years have passed since we stood down from all involvement in Mercy Ministries. During that time we have worked hard to transition well, even in the midst of a less than ideal situation. But again, we see the faithfulness of God extended toward us, just as His faithfulness is toward you.

We have learned SO, SO much during this period. I have certainly learned again to SING through a storm. In life, I believe that one of the great ‘growing up’ lessons is about praising our way through any circumstance. Yes it would be amazing if life was just sweet days every day, but life is all about our growth and development, our faith journey, the cementing and fine-tuning of our core beliefs, and learning to trust God through it all.

I personally do not regret a moment of our Mercy journey. Mark and I gave our best in time and resources to pioneer a place in Australia for girls needing a helping hand to overcome their personal challenges. This is still much needed in our nation. We will continue on every day with helping people, praising our God through it all.

Mark and I both feel, however, that it is important to publicly note that we have not been involved with Mercy Ministries in Australia or internationally at all since July 2007, and since then we should not have been represented as ambassadors for Mercy Ministries or in any of their marketing or public relations documents.
Love you,

Darlene Zschech.

How does one reconcile?

they wish to offer to you their sincere apology for any hurt
or inconvenience arising from these matters.

with

I personally do not regret a moment of our Mercy journey.

How is it ok to state one thing legally and publically, sign your name to it (to avoid further legal action perhaps?) and then to your insiders, your church followers another? Darlene has a position of leadership and here she is saying its ok to lie. It’s okay to sign an apology that you don’t really believe in just so you can avoid other consequences.

What do my readers think of that?

Particularly interested in hearing from any Christian lurkers.

What is this Mercy Ministries? Click here to view more details

A covert attempt to minimise uptake of Mercy Compensation?

Blogonaut — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 08:53:51 +0000

There are days when I wish this sordid tale of Mercy Ministries would end, not because I am tired of helping survivors, but because the actions of ex-mercy staff erode away that hope I have for humanity.

A concerned reader sent me a link to a former Mercy Residents blog, a girl obviously still suffering despite having graduated Mercy successfully. In a post discussing the undertaking by Ex-Mercy Directors she quotes an email sent to her by Chelle, who is by all accounts a former resident and Deb Malcolm who appears to be the former Mercy Ministries Advocacy Manager. That specific email referenced in the post is below:

Hi Girls,

I’m not too sure if you girls have all received the letter in the mail about Mercy from the ACCC or not, but when i got it i thought i so needed to email all girls i knew from mercy to tell you some stuff i know.

I know we all had different experiences from our time at Mercy, some good, some a lot better than others, but i guess we know that a lot was given for us to be there, and a lot of incredible people made a lot of sacrifices for us to be there.

I read the ACCC letter about receiving money from the money that we paid for centrelink, and to be honest i thought about how much it would help. What i didnt know was that the money we are all able to get paid isnt from Mercy Ministries, it isnt from the sale of the Sydney or the QLD home, it isn’t from Nancy Alcorn, the money we are being offered is from the own pockets of 7 of the board of directors.

I know these people did only what they thought was best for each one of us girls and the running of the program, and yet they are the ones having to pay from their own pockets for us girls. some of the board who are paying were only on the board of mercy for a short time.

I dunno if this changes anything for any of you about whether you will be accepting the money or not, but i know for me it definitely did. I know we are all so on our own journey and i know that we have all had our own experiences, good or bad, but maybe i guess i just wanted you to think about the fact that this is the 7 board members paying a huge amount for doing what they thought was right, and it isn’t money from the sale of either of the homes…. just thought once i found this out that maybe i should let others know too who we are taking money from.
here is a link for the article that told me about the ACCC rulings if you want to read it.

Please dont take this the wrong way, im so not judging whatever you decide, just thought i would inform you of what i found out.

Deb Malcom said she is happy for anyone to facebook her with any questions anyone has about this. Also, i dunno if anyone wants to, but it would be great to send letters of support to Mark and Darlene if anyone wants too, its been pretty rough on them all that has gone on. you can fb them to me or Debs and we will make sure they get passed on. Thanks so much guys.

Hope you’ve all had a great christmas and the best year yet is ahead of you.

From Chelle.

The rest of the post can be read here.

Some serious and disturbing questions surface in my mind:

Is Chelle acting of her own accord, through some misguided notion of loyalty?

Is Chelle being manipulated by a former Mercy Ministires Advocacy Manager (Deb Malcolm)?

Are the directors covertly trying to influence the take up of compensation?

I simply shudder to think that any of the scenarios outlined above might have some currency. In examining the email I can see it as heartfelt email written by a desperately loyal Graduate or some of the best written manipulative prose I have come across( in that it looks genuine but hits all the right buttons). Breaking it down by paragraphs it’s essentially:

Para 1 – You don’t have the whole truth

Para 2 – Lots of people made lots of sacrifices for you to be at mercy

Para 3 – I thought about the money but didn’t now it was coming out of the pockets of directors

Para 4 – They(directors) were only trying to help, and some of them weren’t even there that long

Para 5 – It changed my mind about taking the money, its coming out of the pockets of directors (2nd mention)

Para 6 – I am not trying to influence you (really?)

Para 7 – You can contact Deb. Malcolm and Mark and Darlene could do with your support

Another question:

Why is Deb Malcolm, who hasn’t worked for Mercy for some time and who now as I understand it works for Compassion Australia, involved in this?

The directors of Mercy have signed an undertaking, they have admitted responsibility for wrong doing they have publically copped it on the chin. When you become the director of a company you accept certain responsibilities, Peter Irvine as a “successful businessman” would surely have known his legal responsibilities having served on two boards. These are not lambs led to the slaughter( maybe some were patsies – a discussion for another post), these are not innocent victims. They are adults who took the responsibility along with the power and the pay.

There is a 4 month window of opportunity for the compensation to be taken up, after this point it will be returned to the Kennedy Lawyers and presumably to the directors . So every Mercy resident that can be influenced not to take up the monies, or to delay decision till the time has run out means less money out of the pocket of the directors.

We are not talking sheep stations here either – each director is required to provide roughly 17 000 dollars each(hardly a lot of money for directors, even those poorly paid by the church).

To my knowledge all the directors are currently working and well supported.

To campaign on the behalf of the directors as if they are some unfortunate victim to be taken pity on makes me sad, as it’s a failure to understand the massive power that people in that position exert over the residents. That mentally and financially robust people could call on the women who struggled at Mercy to show some sort of leniency displays such gross insensitivity that the thought of it makes me ill.

To consider that something more sinister maybe afoot has me wondering about the morals of people claiming to be committed Christians and what level they might stoop to?

In any case I have forwarded the information on to the ACCC and would suggest that any ex-Mercy Residents who receive an email similar to the one above do likewise.

What is this Mercy Ministries? Click here to view more details

Winning the Monty Miller Award

Blogonaut — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:31:54 +0000

Yesterday I received the official announcement that I was the winner of the Inaugural Monty Miller Award presented to me by Atheist Nexus I must say that I am somewhat humbled by the experience. I didn’t set out to win any awards with my blogging (some readers may even raise an eyebrow, having had my inconsistent editing thrust at them), how many bloggers really do? It is, however, a wonderful experience to have the praise of your peers.

I have won the award for a number of reasons – campaigning against the Australian Vaccination Network, working to try and get Australian and New Zealand bloggers together and for my commitment to the Mercy Ministries Fiasco.

I am required to write a short essay or blog post upon winning the award (this is not it) but I wanted to to get in early with some thanks to some very special people, without whose help the Mercy Ministries Fiasco, may never have reached the conclusion that it did.

So thanks to

The Mercy Survivors, especially those that had the wherewithal to break the story
Ruth Pollard – who I have never met, but who had restored my hope for investigative journalism
The Mercy Insiders all around the world that continue to pass on what information they can
Tanya Levin – for her advice and humour.
Cynic Sage, a Christian blogger with a conscience, who lost his YouTube account as a result of his support
John Weaver at Against Biblical Counselling, for sending me the Restoring the Foundations manual, and his astute observations and support
The American Mercy Survivors, Vicky, Anna who tried without success to get the American media to expose Mercy where it has been causing hurt for 25 years
Thanks to my readers and to those who having being informed about Mercy’s behavior, did something
And to those who I have missed and to those who still live in fear

Here’s to hoping that 2010 will bring better things for all of us.