Church suspends leader who ‘gave massages to men’
Founder of festival known as the Christian Glastonbury has been accused of ‘running a cult’
THE founder of Soul Survivor, a Christian festival, has been formally suspended after being accused of massaging and wrestling with young men from the Anglican church. Soul Survivor Watford admitted that it should have taken action earlier as it announced the Rev Canon Mike Pilavachi, who established the church and affiliated Glastonbury-style festival in 1993, was suspended as an employee with immediate effect.
The 65-year-old stepped back from the ministry and resigned from the board and all related charity boards in April when the Church of England national safeguarding team and the St Albans safeguarding team launched an investigation. His alleged victims and some former Soul Survivor staff then came forward with their accusations.
The whistleblowers claimed Mr Pilavachi ran “a cult” in which young men were encouraged to receive fullbody oil massages on his bed and engage in wrestling matches, The Daily Telegraph revealed.
They also claimed that his bullying, spiritual abuse, “toxic behaviour” and “horrible cruelty and obsession” with certain young men were an “open secret” within the organisation, and that nothing was done. “We want to reiterate that we are especially aware of the responsibility we have towards those who reported their safeguarding concerns to the Church of England and of how much they are suffering,” a Soul Survivor spokesman said.
The move came after Soul Survivor was asked this week to explain a meeting between Mr Pilavachi and Dan Goodwright, an associate worship pastor at the church, according to The Sunday Times. They were pictured, in the publication, walking near Mr Pilavachi’s home in Watford, despite the fact that Mr Pilavachi was meant to be sidelined from the church as the investigation was carried out. Both have been approached for comment.
The alleged victims and Richard Scorer, an abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon who is acting for the complainants, have already expressed concern at the integrity of the Church’s investigation. “The days when churches could plausibly investigate themselves and mark their own homework are long gone,” he previously told The Telegraph.
“The allegations against Mike Pilavachi are extremely serious. They clearly require comprehensive, independent and transparent investigation, covering both the allegations themselves and, crucially, the institutional response to those allegations, both within Soul Survivor and across the wider Church of England.”
A spokesman for the Church of England said: “We are aware of the courage it takes to come forward and we would urge anyone with any information to contact and assure them that they will be treated with the utmost sensitivity.”