Post by philiprosenthal on Aug 24, 2006 8:19:16 GMT
A CALL TO REPENTANCE
THE TRAGIC FACTS OF THE COVER-UP OF PAUL DANIEL’S ADULTERY
BY SOME LEADERS IN HIS PEOPLE MINISTRIES
‘Tell it to the church…’ (Matthew 18:17)
An open letter to His People and EveryNation members. More at www.EveryNationReform.com
Introduction
The following statement gives the unpleasant truth of an adultery cover-up which occurred in His People Ministries. The identity of the sources of the information are numbered (S1 to S6) for purposes of due process investigation.
The facts of the cover-up of Paul Daniel’s adultery in His People Ministries
Paul Daniel, founder pastor of His People Christian Church Cape Town, and head of the His People denomination had an adulterous affair in about 1992/3 with a young woman in the congregation, which included sexual relations (S1). The young woman* eventually came to her senses raised the issue within the leadership. Paul claimed that she was lying (S2) and asked her to leave the organisation (S3). She went to London to try to get away from him. Nevertheless, Paul Daniel went to London and tried to make contact with her there.
About a year later, in 1996, she returned to Cape Town and joined a different church. There she confessed her sin to the pastor. The pastor of that church, once convinced of the truth of the girl’s story, then took up the accusation with a few leaders including Mike Cerff and Rob Young in the Cape Town His People leadership. The pastor found them unhelpful in the investigation.
The pastor then contacted Ray McCauley of the Independent Federation of Christian Churches (IFCC), asking them to act on the issue (S1). His People Cape Town, then asked Bill Bennot of His People Johannesburg to participate in the process. Bill Bennot then apparently asked Ray McCauley to participate in an advisory capacity (S4).
The prosecuting pastor, his denominational leader and the young woman then flew to Johannesburg to meet with the His People and IFCC and Paul Daniel and his wife (S1,2). At the meeting, Paul Daniel was charged by Ray McCauley with adultery. He initially denied the allegation. After the young woman had presented undeniable evidence, he was forced to admit that it was true. He then tried to put the blame for the affair on the young woman, calling her various unpleasant names (S1). (Given Paul Daniel’s dominating personality and religious power and the fact that the girl was only recently out of school, this seems unlikely). Paul Daniel also attacked the motives of the pastors prosecuting him.
Ray McCauley then called for discipline. Paul Daniel then threatened to withdraw His People from the IFCC, if he did so. Ray then protested that the IFCC constitution ‘had no teeth’. The His People leaders said they would do the disciplinary action. They decided that Paul Daniel would write a letter of apology to about 30 other church leaders and would undergo counselling (S1). The prosecuting pastors objected to this decision, and sent a letter to Ray McCauley informing him that this was not they way they would have handled it (S1). Paul never sent his letters of apology (S5), but did have ‘counselling’ from Rob Young and an American psychologist Wilf Kent. Kent sent a report on the counselling to Ray McCauley. Kent later said he agreed a pastor who commits adultery is disqualified from office, but argued his professional confidentiality.
The prosecuting pastor was threatened with a lawsuit and Paul Daniel later slandered the denomination that had tried to prosecute him (S1). The other pastors and leaders in His People were not told at the time what had happened.
About three years later in about 1999, Paul Daniel told the remainder of his pastors a half-true story about the events. The story heard by the other pastors was false on the following points:
i. It implied all the initiative had come from the girl trying to seduce him.
ii. That it had not involved more than a kiss.
iii. That the matter had been already dealt with to the satisfaction of Ray McCauley and the prosecuting pastors.
Thus, Paul Daniel deceived the other pastors into thinking that it was a minor issue that had already been dealt with. It appears that those pastors who did know the full truth, failed to tell this to the other pastors. Two sources alleged Michael Swain’s involvement in the cover-up, but he has been unwilling to answer questions to clarify this.
In 2003, Paul Daniel confessed to the congregation on video to two adulterous affairs that he had committed over an 11-month period. At the same time he resigned as senior pastor and as a member of His People Church, Cape Town. The confession was incomplete, in that it failed to mention this earlier affair or the collusion of some of his leaders in covering up the earlier affair.
During 2004 to 2006, His People was repeatedly challenged to repent and go public with the whole truth according to Matthew 18 process both in writing and at a meeting with senior Christian leaders as witnesses.
* The identity of the women involved is not being disclosed since public rebuke is only biblically required for church leaders – not ordinary members (1 Timothy 5:20).
Comment on the events and the way forward
· Paul Daniel’s behaviour and that of those who helped him cover up his sin and kept him in office is an abomination against God and a disgrace to the Christian faith.
· Paul should have been publicly rebuked (1 Timothy 5:20) and removed from office when caught in 1996. This exposure completes this unfinished process.
· The facts are important to know, firstly because the scripture requires public rebuke of leaders scandalous sin, secondly, because there is a need for disciplinary action; thirdly repentance of the organisation to God; fourthly for reform of organisational governance to make such cover-up of wickedness impossible in future and to restore God’s blessing to the organisation.
· Most denominations have some sad events in their history and that is why they include governance checks and balances to prevent more. Scandals can happen in any organisation, but they are much harder to deal with in one with a lack of transparency and an autocratic, elitist system of governance.
· The failure to discipline sexual sin in ministry causes God’s glory to depart and his judgment to come (1 Samuel 2-4).
Action: What can I do to help heal the ministry?
· Even if leaders let us down, keep trusting and obeying Jesus and the Bible. He also attacked the religious hypocrisy of his day, and was later crucified for the anger this provoked (Matthew 23). We must uphold the moral teachings of the scriptures.
· His People started in a state of spiritual revival. Many wondered why the ministry lost Gods blessing and became beset by multiple problems. This is the reason. While you as an individual may be innocent, God judges groups and we as present and past His People Members must seek God in prayer for his forgiveness on the organisation for this abomination.
· Please support good leaders who were not involved in the cover-up and who seek to bring truth, justice, healing and reform in the organisation.
· Read articles and post your views on how we can stop more scandal at the web forum www.EveryNationReform.com or download at esnips.com/web/Churchgovernance
· Please support repentance, disciplinary action for the cover-up and reform of the organisation to have more transparency and leadership accountability to protect against more scandal.
· The EveryNation denomination that Paul joined His People to were informed of these facts, but failed to respond. Read their history and other problems at
www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=EveryNation+MorningStar+Maranatha&meta=
· Promote spiritual values in leadership like servanthood, prayerfulness, purity and honesty and challenge worldly values such as power, status, pride, image, money and competitiveness.
· If you are a past or present member of His People/ EveryNation, email mail@EveryNationReform.com with ‘HP Petition’ in the subject line, to sign the petition against this cover-up. You will be sent articles explaining how such scandals happen how we can prevent them happening again in future.
· A larger, but unmoderated forum is at www.EveryNationInfo.com
· Please forward this to other members of His People/ EveryNation Ministries; print copies for those who don’t have email and discuss at your home group. Please don’t forward to non-Christians.
· In order to obtain Gods forgiveness for this abomination, we need to hold prayer meetings of repentance (see Ezra 9). www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=2710
· Please do not pass this information to the secular media until the church has heard and repented.
· There are many related issues in the ministry, which need investigation, repentance and action.
· To the best of my knowledge, this information is accurate. Should anyone feel there are inaccuracies or omissions, please draw these to my attention and I will publish a correction.
· To outsiders who read this: Please don’t judge all His People members by the bad behaviour of a few.
Who wrote this and why?
I, the writer am one of the leaders involved from early stages in His People Ministries, who helped pray down the revival that expanded the ministry from a small campus society in 1990 to a global movement. My principal area of influence was the ministry’s strong positions and vocal stance on moral absolutes, on which I was consulted regularly by the leadership during the whole period of my membership. After leaving the ministry in 2004, with concern over compromise on these, I became aware of these facts. It would be hypocritical to use the ministry as a platform to speak for Christian morals and then turn a blind eye to wickedness inside it. A group of past and present His People leaders is also supporting the disclosure of this information and call to repentance. This summary is based on 2 years of investigation and interviews with numerous witnesses, which attempted to follow a biblical process as far as the people concerned were willing to co-operate. The ministry has sadly been beset by a variety of problems it has struggled to deal with, which appear to be caused by this cover-up. I hope that sharing this sad information will promote the repentance and healing of this troubled ministry.
Please add your views at www.EveryNationReform.com
Yours sadly,
Philip Rosenthal
THE TRAGIC FACTS OF THE COVER-UP OF PAUL DANIEL’S ADULTERY
BY SOME LEADERS IN HIS PEOPLE MINISTRIES
‘Tell it to the church…’ (Matthew 18:17)
An open letter to His People and EveryNation members. More at www.EveryNationReform.com
Introduction
The following statement gives the unpleasant truth of an adultery cover-up which occurred in His People Ministries. The identity of the sources of the information are numbered (S1 to S6) for purposes of due process investigation.
The facts of the cover-up of Paul Daniel’s adultery in His People Ministries
Paul Daniel, founder pastor of His People Christian Church Cape Town, and head of the His People denomination had an adulterous affair in about 1992/3 with a young woman in the congregation, which included sexual relations (S1). The young woman* eventually came to her senses raised the issue within the leadership. Paul claimed that she was lying (S2) and asked her to leave the organisation (S3). She went to London to try to get away from him. Nevertheless, Paul Daniel went to London and tried to make contact with her there.
About a year later, in 1996, she returned to Cape Town and joined a different church. There she confessed her sin to the pastor. The pastor of that church, once convinced of the truth of the girl’s story, then took up the accusation with a few leaders including Mike Cerff and Rob Young in the Cape Town His People leadership. The pastor found them unhelpful in the investigation.
The pastor then contacted Ray McCauley of the Independent Federation of Christian Churches (IFCC), asking them to act on the issue (S1). His People Cape Town, then asked Bill Bennot of His People Johannesburg to participate in the process. Bill Bennot then apparently asked Ray McCauley to participate in an advisory capacity (S4).
The prosecuting pastor, his denominational leader and the young woman then flew to Johannesburg to meet with the His People and IFCC and Paul Daniel and his wife (S1,2). At the meeting, Paul Daniel was charged by Ray McCauley with adultery. He initially denied the allegation. After the young woman had presented undeniable evidence, he was forced to admit that it was true. He then tried to put the blame for the affair on the young woman, calling her various unpleasant names (S1). (Given Paul Daniel’s dominating personality and religious power and the fact that the girl was only recently out of school, this seems unlikely). Paul Daniel also attacked the motives of the pastors prosecuting him.
Ray McCauley then called for discipline. Paul Daniel then threatened to withdraw His People from the IFCC, if he did so. Ray then protested that the IFCC constitution ‘had no teeth’. The His People leaders said they would do the disciplinary action. They decided that Paul Daniel would write a letter of apology to about 30 other church leaders and would undergo counselling (S1). The prosecuting pastors objected to this decision, and sent a letter to Ray McCauley informing him that this was not they way they would have handled it (S1). Paul never sent his letters of apology (S5), but did have ‘counselling’ from Rob Young and an American psychologist Wilf Kent. Kent sent a report on the counselling to Ray McCauley. Kent later said he agreed a pastor who commits adultery is disqualified from office, but argued his professional confidentiality.
The prosecuting pastor was threatened with a lawsuit and Paul Daniel later slandered the denomination that had tried to prosecute him (S1). The other pastors and leaders in His People were not told at the time what had happened.
About three years later in about 1999, Paul Daniel told the remainder of his pastors a half-true story about the events. The story heard by the other pastors was false on the following points:
i. It implied all the initiative had come from the girl trying to seduce him.
ii. That it had not involved more than a kiss.
iii. That the matter had been already dealt with to the satisfaction of Ray McCauley and the prosecuting pastors.
Thus, Paul Daniel deceived the other pastors into thinking that it was a minor issue that had already been dealt with. It appears that those pastors who did know the full truth, failed to tell this to the other pastors. Two sources alleged Michael Swain’s involvement in the cover-up, but he has been unwilling to answer questions to clarify this.
In 2003, Paul Daniel confessed to the congregation on video to two adulterous affairs that he had committed over an 11-month period. At the same time he resigned as senior pastor and as a member of His People Church, Cape Town. The confession was incomplete, in that it failed to mention this earlier affair or the collusion of some of his leaders in covering up the earlier affair.
During 2004 to 2006, His People was repeatedly challenged to repent and go public with the whole truth according to Matthew 18 process both in writing and at a meeting with senior Christian leaders as witnesses.
* The identity of the women involved is not being disclosed since public rebuke is only biblically required for church leaders – not ordinary members (1 Timothy 5:20).
Comment on the events and the way forward
· Paul Daniel’s behaviour and that of those who helped him cover up his sin and kept him in office is an abomination against God and a disgrace to the Christian faith.
· Paul should have been publicly rebuked (1 Timothy 5:20) and removed from office when caught in 1996. This exposure completes this unfinished process.
· The facts are important to know, firstly because the scripture requires public rebuke of leaders scandalous sin, secondly, because there is a need for disciplinary action; thirdly repentance of the organisation to God; fourthly for reform of organisational governance to make such cover-up of wickedness impossible in future and to restore God’s blessing to the organisation.
· Most denominations have some sad events in their history and that is why they include governance checks and balances to prevent more. Scandals can happen in any organisation, but they are much harder to deal with in one with a lack of transparency and an autocratic, elitist system of governance.
· The failure to discipline sexual sin in ministry causes God’s glory to depart and his judgment to come (1 Samuel 2-4).
Action: What can I do to help heal the ministry?
· Even if leaders let us down, keep trusting and obeying Jesus and the Bible. He also attacked the religious hypocrisy of his day, and was later crucified for the anger this provoked (Matthew 23). We must uphold the moral teachings of the scriptures.
· His People started in a state of spiritual revival. Many wondered why the ministry lost Gods blessing and became beset by multiple problems. This is the reason. While you as an individual may be innocent, God judges groups and we as present and past His People Members must seek God in prayer for his forgiveness on the organisation for this abomination.
· Please support good leaders who were not involved in the cover-up and who seek to bring truth, justice, healing and reform in the organisation.
· Read articles and post your views on how we can stop more scandal at the web forum www.EveryNationReform.com or download at esnips.com/web/Churchgovernance
· Please support repentance, disciplinary action for the cover-up and reform of the organisation to have more transparency and leadership accountability to protect against more scandal.
· The EveryNation denomination that Paul joined His People to were informed of these facts, but failed to respond. Read their history and other problems at
www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=EveryNation+MorningStar+Maranatha&meta=
· Promote spiritual values in leadership like servanthood, prayerfulness, purity and honesty and challenge worldly values such as power, status, pride, image, money and competitiveness.
· If you are a past or present member of His People/ EveryNation, email mail@EveryNationReform.com with ‘HP Petition’ in the subject line, to sign the petition against this cover-up. You will be sent articles explaining how such scandals happen how we can prevent them happening again in future.
· A larger, but unmoderated forum is at www.EveryNationInfo.com
· Please forward this to other members of His People/ EveryNation Ministries; print copies for those who don’t have email and discuss at your home group. Please don’t forward to non-Christians.
· In order to obtain Gods forgiveness for this abomination, we need to hold prayer meetings of repentance (see Ezra 9). www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=2710
· Please do not pass this information to the secular media until the church has heard and repented.
· There are many related issues in the ministry, which need investigation, repentance and action.
· To the best of my knowledge, this information is accurate. Should anyone feel there are inaccuracies or omissions, please draw these to my attention and I will publish a correction.
· To outsiders who read this: Please don’t judge all His People members by the bad behaviour of a few.
Who wrote this and why?
I, the writer am one of the leaders involved from early stages in His People Ministries, who helped pray down the revival that expanded the ministry from a small campus society in 1990 to a global movement. My principal area of influence was the ministry’s strong positions and vocal stance on moral absolutes, on which I was consulted regularly by the leadership during the whole period of my membership. After leaving the ministry in 2004, with concern over compromise on these, I became aware of these facts. It would be hypocritical to use the ministry as a platform to speak for Christian morals and then turn a blind eye to wickedness inside it. A group of past and present His People leaders is also supporting the disclosure of this information and call to repentance. This summary is based on 2 years of investigation and interviews with numerous witnesses, which attempted to follow a biblical process as far as the people concerned were willing to co-operate. The ministry has sadly been beset by a variety of problems it has struggled to deal with, which appear to be caused by this cover-up. I hope that sharing this sad information will promote the repentance and healing of this troubled ministry.
Please add your views at www.EveryNationReform.com
Yours sadly,
Philip Rosenthal