Founders to leave embattled church
The founders of Arise Church, which has been at the centre of abuse allegations, resigned last night.
The church said founders and lead pastors John and Gillian Cameron would be resigning, alongside John’s brother, pastor Brent Cameron.
In a statement, trustee Kylie Fletcher apologised on behalf of the board to members who had experienced hurt and said the trio would resign to allow for “continued changes to be made”.
Accusations that interns were overworked and mistreated, as well as claims sexual assault allegations weren’t addressed properly, were published on journalist David Farrier’s Webworm site last month.
The church then announced it would undertake two reviews and John said he would step aside, but would still be employed by Arise.
The announcement last night followed numerous allegations about emotional and physical abuse under the brothers’ leadership.
Brent’s resignation would be effective immediately, while John and Gillian would be involved in the church for at least another three months during a handover process.
John and Gillian said in a joint statement it was “devastating to hear” the church had hurt people and they were resigning to allow “real change” to take place.
Brent said he was “deeply sorry” to God and past and present members of Arise, where his behaviour had not met the values of a Christian. He said he would not make any public comment on the allegation against him.
Previously, the Herald spoke to former church members who outlined alleged issues including allegations that a woman was “shunned” by the church, and members were advised not to contact her, after her baby was assaulted by her former partner.
While the former partner was jailed for seriously injuring the baby, she says she was cut off, deleted from their life group message chat and told not to go to the church.
“I was left pretty much alone at a time in my life where I needed support the most.”
The woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was not surprised by the allegations reported.
“I knew a lot of interns and worked in the office sometimes . . . and know people who suffered mistreatment.”
Another ex-member told the Herald church leaders said she had to “fully accept” Jesus in her life to be healed from her eating disorder.
Dayna* had experienced eating disorders throughout her life and in 2017, two years after she started attending Arise church, relapsed.
When she turned to the church for support, she alleges leaders and a counsellor they referred her to told her she needed to “fully accept” Jesus in her life if she wanted to recover.
“It was kind of like, there is fundamentally something wrong with you and if you accept Jesus in your life you will heal. And I was like, I do, I’m coming to everything and I’m believing, and I really did.”
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health illness. Some studies have shown that more than 50 per cent of the risk of developing an eating disorder comes from genetics.
*Not real name.