Category: Faith Christian Church

University of Arizona's University Religious Council Revokes Membership of Faith Christian Church and Related Groups

After investigative reports from the Arizona Daily Star in early March disclosed numerous complaints from former members of the Faith Christian Church (Tucson, AZ) about child rearing practices, mind control, and financial control over members, the University Religious Council of the University of Arizona revoked the membership of Faith Christian Church’s campus ministries. I just received the following statement from URC’s representative Michelle Blumenberg.

University Religious Council
University of Arizona
Effective immediately, the University Religious Council (URC) at the University of Arizona revokes from membership the organization known as Faith Christian Church and its affiliates Wildcats for Christ, Native Nations in Christ, and Providence Club.
Reason: The number, seriousness, and pattern of red flags raised compel URC members to no longer believe that Faith Christian Church and its affiliates operate at the highest level of integrity, transparency, safety for students, and respect for students, standards required for URC membership. This has come to light via numerous letters and testimonies recently sent to URC members which have brought to a head historic and current concerns related to the campus activities of Faith Christian Church and its affiliates.
Unanimous decision of greater quorum gathered—
March 30, 2015.

This action follows similar actions by two colleges in New Zealand regarding an affiliate of Faith Christian Church there.

Update: Faith Christian Church, the ECFA and Continuing Backlash

A couple of events have occurred in the story of Faith Christian Church (Tucson, AZ). I want to provide the following updates:
ECFA Investigation
Last week, I reported that an executive from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability planned to interview a former member of Faith Christian Church.  According to Rachel Mullis this phone meeting took place. Mullis considered the meeting fruitful and she told me that Executive Vice President of ECFA, John C. Van Drunen planned to contact all former members who signed the former member’s letter to the ECFA.
According to Mullis, contacts have been made by email with an unknown number of former members providing information to the ECFA.
Victory Christian Church (New Zealand) Banned from Colleges
This from the Manawatu Standard (3/26/15):

Another Palmerston North education institute has issued trespass notices against religious leaders of a “cult-like” church from its campuses.
UCOL, a polytechnic with campuses in Palmerston North, Whanganui and Masterton, has confirmed it has trespass orders filed against a group of Manawatu-based church leaders connected with the Palmerston North Victory Christian Church.
The move follows the stance of Massey University, which on Monday issued trespass notices to nine church leaders from it campuses in Palmerston North, Wellington and Auckland.
Nearly a dozen people with connections to Victory Church have come forward following a series of stories highlighting concerns about the parish’s practices, including manipulating marriage pairings, public shaming of members and excessive control over the congregation’s strong student membership.

Most recently, North Victory’s pastor Joel Miller contested the claims of former members and offered to meet with them. To my knowledge, none of the U.S. pastors have spoken publicly.
 
 

ECFA Agrees to Hear from Former Members of Faith Christian Church

Last week, former members of Faith Christian Church asked the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability to include them in the ECFA’s investigation of the church.  Faith Christian Church was accused of coercive leadership and financial tactics by former members in an article in the Arizona Daily Star in a series of articles beginning on March 12. Since then, the ECFA initially defended the church but then told the Arizona paper that an ECFA executive was in Tucson to investigate. As of last week, the former members of the Faith Christian Church had not been included in that investigation.
However, after the letter was sent to the ECFA, Executive Vice President of ECFA, John C. Van Drunen requested a meeting with one of the former members, Rachel Mullis. The meeting is scheduled to take place Wednesday, March 25. 
The letter from 22 former members is below.

March 19, 2015

Dear Mr. Busby:

We write as former members hoping to engage you in a discussion of our experience at Faith Christian Church in Tucson, AZ.

We are aware that Faith Christian Church has been a member of the ECFA since 2004. Many of us have attended since then and are aware of the practices of the church while it was a member in good standing with the ECFA.

We saw in the March 12 issue of the Arizona Daily Star that the ECFA is conducting an investigation of Faith Christian Church and has sent an executive to Tucson for that purpose. We welcome this news, however we respectfully ask that the ECFA investigators speak to former members about violations of ECFA guidelines.  We can offer unique insight to the financial policies that current members or current church leadership cannot.

In violation of ECFA’s Donor’s Bill of Rights, most of us experienced pressure to donate at least 10% of our income while at the church.  In fact, it is clearly written in their membership that tithing is a requirement for membership.  If someone did not comply with this requirement, they were often notified that they were not trusting in the Lord and that they would be cursed.  The pastor, Steve Hall, often said he would not pastor cursed people. Weekly, most of us gave our 10%, but the church also encouraged a financial offering on top of that.  We could not designate where our tithe went, but we could designate where we wanted the offering to go (missions, building fund, etc.).  Sometimes, staff members from the church would ask to see the tax returns or bank statements of church members so that the leaders could know the exact figure the members were to give. Some members were even pushed out of the church for not giving the required amount.

Church members were allowed to see the church budget if they asked, although most of us would have felt uncomfortable doing so.  The financial statements were never reported in a church bulletin or discussed at a church meeting.  There was no outside agency that helped determine church spending, salaries, audits, or financial policies, although Steve Hall did use a formula to justify his salary of $100,000+  a year.  Non-staff members did not know how the tithe was being spent.

We ask that you contact ___________ at ­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________ or _____________ to facilitate interviews with former members for the purpose of investigating the issue of compliance by FCC with ECFA standards.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned Former Members (22 names redacted at their request).


Former Members of Faith Christian Church (Tucson, AZ) to Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability: Talk to Us

Previously, I posted stories of abuse and pastoral control being alleged by former members of Faith Christian Church in Tucson, AZ. In the Arizona Daily Star article that broke the story, Faith Christian Church was defended by Dan Busby, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability as a member in good standing. Since then, the ECFA told the Daily Star that an executive is investigating.
However, the ECFA has not talked to any former members of Faith Christian Church. Some have now decided to take initiative and contact ECFA directly with the following letter. Signed by 22 former members, the letter makes request to speak with the ECFA in order to explain the coercion and other practices which may placed Faith Christian on the wrong side of the ECFA guidelines for member organizations. Here is that letter sent earlier today to the ECFA:

March 19, 2015
Dear Mr. Busby:
We write as former members hoping to engage you in a discussion of our experience at Faith Christian Church in Tucson, AZ.
We are aware that Faith Christian Church has been a member of the ECFA since 2004. Many of us have attended since then and are aware of the practices of the church while it was a member in good standing with the ECFA.
We saw in the March 12 issue of the Arizona Daily Star that the ECFA is conducting an investigation of Faith Christian Church and has sent an executive to Tucson for that purpose. We welcome this news, however we respectfully ask that the ECFA investigators speak to former members about violations of ECFA guidelines.  We can offer unique insight to the financial policies that current members or current church leadership cannot.
In violation of ECFA’s Donor’s Bill of Rights, most of us experienced pressure to donate at least 10% of our income while at the church.  In fact, it is clearly written in their membership that tithing is a requirement for membership.  If someone did not comply with this requirement, they were often notified that they were not trusting in the Lord and that they would be cursed.  The pastor, Steve Hall, often said he would not pastor cursed people. Weekly, most of us gave our 10%, but the church also encouraged a financial offering on top of that.  We could not designate where our tithe went, but we could designate where we wanted the offering to go (missions, building fund, etc.).  Sometimes, staff members from the church would ask to see the tax returns or bank statements of church members so that the leaders could know the exact figure the members were to give. Some members were even pushed out of the church for not giving the required amount.
Church members were allowed to see the church budget if they asked, although most of us would have felt uncomfortable doing so.  The financial statements were never reported in a church bulletin or discussed at a church meeting.  There was no outside agency that helped determine church spending, salaries, audits, or financial policies, although Steve Hall did use a formula to justify his salary of $100,000+  a year.  Non-staff members did not know how the tithe was being spent.
We ask that you contact ___________ at ­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________ or _____________ to facilitate interviews with former members for the purpose of investigating the issue of compliance by FCC with ECFA standards.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned Former Members (22 names redacted at their request).

Last week, I asked Dan Busby if the ECFA had plans to talk with the former members. He did not reply. However, according to Rachel Mullis, none of the former members disclosed any contact from the ECFA to date.
Below see the requirements for members. While other churches require financial support as a part of a covenant, according to the former members, FCC tied curses, and loss of membership to invasive enforcement.
FCC membership
 

Former Members: Faith Christian Church (Tucson, AZ) Coerced Donations

Earlier today, Arizona Daily Star writers Carol Ann Alaimo and Emily Bregel reported that the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability is now investigating the Faith Christian Church to determine whether or not ECFA guidelines are being met by the church.  From the article:

Dan Busby, president of the Virginia-based Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, expressed support for Faith Christian’s financial practices last week. In an email Tuesday, Busby said, “Since the issues were raised last week, we have had a senior ECFA executive on the ground in Arizona to confirm the Church’s compliance with our standards.”

I wrote Busby and ECFA counsel Michael Martin to find out if the “senior ECFA executive” would meet with former members of FCC. I have received no answer. Thus far, no former members I have interviewed have spoken with the ECFA about their experiences. In addition to the allegations about bizarre teachings on spanking infants, former members have described feeling forced to give money to the church. The level of coercion described by members would certainly violate one tenet of the ECFA’s Donor’s Bill of Rights:

Give cheerfully without being pressured by the organization.

The ECFA lists the following rights:

Donor’s Bill of Rights
You have the right to:
Know how the funds of an organization are being spent.
Know what the programs you support are accomplishing.
Know that the organization complies with federal, state, and municipal laws.
Restrict or designate your gifts to a particular project within the organization’s mission objectives.
A timely and courteous response to your inquiries about finances and programs.
Visit office and program sites of an organization to talk personally with the staff.
Give cheerfully without being pressured by the organization.
Obtain a copy of the organization’s most recent audited financial statements
Know that there is a responsible governing board providing oversight to the organization’s mission.
Know that all appeals for funds are truthful and accurate.

The former members of FCC and sister churches describe coercive tactics by church pastors and elders to gain contributions. Aaron Marley was a bookkeeper at sister church Hope Christian Church in Tempe, AZ. He told me that the giving history of members is reviewed by the ministers. Marley said a minister, who was not part of the church administration, interrogated him about his giving because it didn’t meet expectations. Marley assumed a church would keep giving records for tax purposes but not for the purpose of coercing donations.
Former staff minister Jeff Phillips told me that “tithing is strictly enforced. We were taught that if we did not tithe, we were cursed.” Phillips said he remembered FCC pastor Steve Hall say, “‘I WILL NOT pastor cursed people.'”
Phillips related the following account:

There was one occasion when some of the staff, including me, were caught not tithing soon enough. We were waiting until we had deposited our checks into the bank to tithe to the church. Steve found a verse in the OT about paying late fees for late tithes, so we were forced to pay extra for our lateness. So, essentially the ministers raised their own salaries and gave 13% of that and beyond to the church, which went to pay Steve’s salary along with the other members’ tithes.

A thorough investigation by the ECFA should take into account testimony from former members.