An Open Letter to David Farrier: When Do Megachurches Become Our Problem?
Dear David Farrier,
In regards to your ongoing series covering Arise Church: We, the editorial team at Metanoia, wanted to say thank you.
Together we’ve been discussing a question that’s plagued us over the last month of your excellent reporting: In light of the abuses of leadership, narcissism, and power in Christian churches, whose responsibility was it to bring this to light? We’re deeply grateful for the work that you have done in shining a spotlight on these types of abuses embedded in a particular way of practising Christian community and leadership, and especially the way you have platformed and shared the stories of victims. And yet, we have also caught ourselves every time a new Webworm newsletter entered our inboxes. We catch ourselves because, often, we are not surprised. Sure, not all of us have systematically exploited hundreds of ‘interns,’ filling 80 hour volunteer work-weeks trimming our pastor’s hedge or cleaning their car, nor encouraged young people to tithe course cost related costs or gaslit victims of sexual abuse. (It’s important to clarify such practices are not normal nor commonplace, and if you’re part of a community in which this is, this should raise alarm bells.) Yet, we are not shocked by the stories you’ve shared because they reflect wider cultures of narcissism and spiritual manipulation in faith communities which we’ve either seen in the Christian church or been a part of ourselves. For those of us involved in communities not dissimilar to Arise itself in the past, we didn’t think it was okay then, but we also did little to stop it.
We also want to thank you in light of our disappointment at the way other prominent Christian leaders or organisations have responded to your work. But again, we aren’t surprised. It’s easy to get defensive when our faith is brought up in public discussion, especially when we don’t control it. It’s also easy to distance oneself from the certain type and tradition of Christianity that Arise Church inhabits, to try avoid complicity or responsibility. We seek to take neither of these paths, to instead say: You’re right. As a Christian community in Aotearoa, we've let forms of personality-driven leadership, narcissism and immaturity, and cultures of silence and gaslighting of abuse foster in our communities. We’ve bought into a mixture of capitalistic growth-mindsets and charismatic, entrepreneurial leadership and baptised it within our churches (more on that below). And we’ve often stayed pretty quiet about this.
It has been too easy to sit by and allow these churches to grow unchecked. Nondenominational churches in Aotearoa are not generally accountable to a wider body or set of appointed overseers; leaders have no external accountability structures. More traditional denominational structures include councils, bishops (taken from the Greek New Testament word episkopos, literally: overseer), and other structures that mean local congregations, and, importantly, their leaders, have direct lines of responsibility and accountability. Such oversight of course never guarantees that abuse will not occur (see, most obviously: the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care, involving a number of episcopalian traditions, Catholic and Protestant), but it can temper and manage the type of charismatic, personality-driven leaders who are so characteristically at the forefront of nondenominational contexts such as Arise. Such lack of accountability inevitably leads to structures and systems that are damaging and toxic. It also leads to confusion around the question of responsibility for calling these churches to account. When reading the stories of interns, volunteers, and staff at Arise, we are profoundly aware of the lack of avenues for bringing these stories to light within Christian contexts. We are grateful to you for filling the gap, and continue to reflect on how this gap could be filled long term.
When megachurches come up in conversations among Christian friends in the circles we are in, one can usually fall back on a reaction that tends to a careful distaste or shrug of dismissal. One might roll their eyes at the flashy lights or the celebrity culture, point out the shallowness of its self-help theology, but in the end round out the edges of criticism with a disclaimer: “If it’s where people meet Jesus, so be it.” However, thanks to the work you have done in hearing and sharing stories of trauma and hurt, we have been prompted to wonder at what point is more harm being done than good? How can an abjectly abusive corporation—what else can you call a multi-million dollar institution such as Arise?—really be justified just because we believe a good God is still working in its midst?
Arise is not alone in its entrepreneurial evangelism; megachurches are literally defined by their marketing prerogative. A highly structured and hierarchical operation, immaculately dressed pastors are seen as lofty celebrity, and authoritarian, figures. Congregants can easily become the equivalent of labourers in a complex and industrial operation, as you detail in your coverage of Arise, often exploited and overworked. We acknowledge the ongoing need for high-profile Christian leaders to reflect more on what it means to lead as Jesus Christ who frequently preached that “whoever wants to become great among you must become a servant” (Matthew 20:25-26).
We don’t think that these are the only churches where things go awry, and to comment on these issues is not a personal hitjob for us. Among our editorial board, we have had various levels of relationship to megachurches and megachurch culture, but none of us are currently connected to one. This is an important bias for us to acknowledge. We all happen to attend small, denominational churches which, for quite a range of reasons, don’t fall into many of the issues associated with megachurches. This does not mean our churches are perfect, however, the scale of the issues present within Arise-like communities demands that questions be asked, and the lack of wider accountability necessitates public, Christian reflection. Further, it is incredibly commonplace within smaller, more denominationally based churches to draw upon the styles, music, leadership, and governance practice of megachurch culture and its various brands. What do these entanglements mean for us going forward?
We’re committed to covering these issues and raising further questions, and will be doing so explicitly over the coming months. (You can follow us over at Instagram or Facebook for updates.)
But for now, once again, thank you, David Farrier.
~
Metanoia is an online platform which engages in issues of contemporary life and Christian faith in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is currently managed by an editorial team made up of Andrew Clark-Howard, Jaimee van Gemerden, Rebecca Hooper, and Timote Naulivou. You can learn more about them here.
For those newer to this conversation or wishing to explore more, we’d highly recommend checking out:
David Farrier’s ongoing reporting on Arise Church: See his articles on Webworm, Part I, II, and III as well as his collected list of resources on dealing with religious trauma.
A brief overview from Australian theologian Michael Bird on recent developments at Hillsong Church: Hillsong Leaders Need Character More than Charisma.
Christianity Today’s excellent longform investigation into the leadership of Mark Driscoll and collapse of Mars Hill Church: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.