“CHRISTIAN charity Mercy Ministries, which ran a home for young women in need on the Sunshine Coast, has admitted to false, misleading and deceptive conduct.”

The full article can be read here http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2009/12/19/charity-admits-cheating-women/

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By Jo Skinner

Posted Fri Dec 18, 2009

A Christian-based charity on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has admitted it is guilty of false, misleading and deceptive conduct.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says Mercy Ministries has apologised for misrepresenting its services and repaid almost $120,000 to affected women.

The charity ran two homes for young women in need at Glenview on the Sunshine Coast and in Sydney, both have since closed.

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel says Mercy Ministries advertised its services were free but then asked residents to sign over their Centrelink payments in return.

“We found that misrepresentations were occurring,” he said.

“Firstly as to whether or not the services provided by Mercy Ministries was free when clearly it was not,” he said.

“There was an assignment of Centrelink payments to Mercy Ministries for the duration of the stay of those that used their services.

“Also Mercy Ministries misrepresented that it offered professional support from qualified specialists when in fact that was not the case.”

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/18/2775465.htm?section=australia

“Former directors of an evangelical Christian charity have admitted to falsely claiming their residential counselling program offered professional support from GPs and other health professionals.”

You can read the rest of the article here http://www.6minutes.com.au/articles/z1/view.asp?id=508701

16^th December 2009

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has obtained court enforceable undertakings, which includes payment, from seven former directors of Mercy Ministries Incorporated and/or Mercy Ministries Limited in relation to misrepresentations by those entities.

The undertakings include an apology and a voluntary payment of $1050 to those people affected by the conduct. These are made by former directors Mark Zschech, Peter Irvine, Mark Caldwell, Stephen Crouch, Young Pil (Phil) Sohn, Darlene Zschech and Clark Pearson.

Mercy Ministries is a not-for-profit Christian based charitable organisation which offered a residential counselling program to young women affected by issues such as eating disorders, depression, self harm, unplanned pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse and the effects of sexual or physical abuse. The program was offered whilst the young women resided in a Mercy Ministries home.

The ACCC was concerned that in a period between January 2005 and June 2008, Mercy Ministries misrepresented in brochures and on its website that its services were provided for free, when the majority of residents were required to assign their Centrelink payments to Mercy Ministries for the duration of their stay.

The ACCC was also concerned that during this period, Mercy Ministries misrepresented that it offered professional support from psychologists, dieticians, general practitioners, social workers and counsellors, when the level of professional support was not available as represented.  Mercy Ministries did not employ this range of professionals.  It did facilitate access to external professionals upon request from residents.

To address these concerns, as part of the undertaking, the former directors:

• acknowledge that they were persons ultimately responsible for the conduct of Mercy Ministries, and admit its conduct was false, misleading and deceptive, and likely to contravene sections 52, 53(aa) and 53(e) of the Trade Practices Act 1974
• signed a joint letter of apology to past residents in the relevant period
• offer a payment of $1050 to each of the past residents in the relevant period, and
• undertake to attend annual trade practices compliance training for three years.

Mercy Ministries operated its program in two homes, one located on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, and the other in Sydney.  Both of these homes have now closed. Mercy Ministries has ceased trading and has advised the ACCC it is in the process of being wound up. 

“Given the vital role charitable organisations have in our society, and the trust placed in them, it is imperative that their conduct is of the highest standard, especially in their dealings with vulnerable and disadvantaged members of our community,” ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said today.  “The utmost integrity is expected from charities – by the ACCC and the public at large – and it should be delivered.
 
“Misleading conduct of this kind is a matter of serious concern, and I am pleased that those directors ultimately responsible for the conduct have offered both an apology and payment to the young women affected.”

Section 52 of the Act prohibits corporations from engaging in conduct that is misleading and deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive.  Section 53(aa) prohibits corporations from falsely representing that services are of a particular standard, quality, value or grade.  Section 53(e) prohibits corporations from making false or misleading representations with respect to the price of goods or services.  Individuals responsible for the conduct or management of a corporation are also prohibited from knowingly causing or permitting the corporations to engage in such conduct.

http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/906552/fromItemId/142

ACCC News Release (expanded.)

Full ACCC Ruling

The Times

Lucy Bannerman

Anyone can call themselves a counsellor, but is regulation really the answer?

…. The experience of Shona Fleming, 24, from Doncaster, who underwent therapy offered by an organisation with extreme religious views, underscores some of the difficulties. Three years ago, she was struggling with bulimia, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Then she heard through her church about a free counselling service that promised to help. Mercy Ministries UK — motto: “Lives transformed, hope restored” — describes itself as a “distinctly Christian organisation dedicated to helping girls and young women — ages 18 to 28 — who specifically seek our care for a variety of addictions and hurts”.

Fleming checked into its residential counselling programme at a house in the village of Oxenhope, Yorkshire. Minimum stay is six months and contact with friends and family is limited. She found the experience so distressing, she calls it “Mercy Miseries”.

The group, founded by Nancy Alcorn, an American Christian evangelist who blames psychiatric illnesses and homosexuality on “demonic activity”, has homes in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. It claims it has helped more than 2,500 girls worldwide to overcome depression, eating disorders, addiction and other “life-controlling issues”. It is believed that about 20 young women are now in care in the UK home, which opened in 2006.

Fleming claims that her nine-month treatment — involving intense study of “demonic oppression” — left her deeply disturbed. And she also says the in-house solution to bulimia was 45 minutes of “couch time” after every meal, during which girls were forbidden to go to the lavatory unaccompanied. Group counselling revolved around study of a bizarre “hellfire and brimstone”-style self-help manual, Restoring the Foundations, seen by The Times. Exercises include “Sins of their Fathers”, which links patients’ conditions to any “iniquities” in their family history, such as abortion or homosexuality. The final chapter, “Demonic Oppression”, instructs how to “cast out demons” through “deliverance” and include charts linking demons to everything from cancer, anorexia, Aids and rock‘n’roll.

During her one-to-one counselling, Fleming claims that her counsellor blamed a “little girl demon” for her depression and eating disorder. “If sessions got too intense, she would break out in prayer or start speaking in tongues.” She was encouraged to stay in the programme by her family, who are committed members of Abundant Life, an US-style “charismatic” church in Bradford, with strong links to Mercy Ministries. Feeling confused and increasingly introverted, Fleming recalls being called into the main office by three senior members of staff.

“They said I wasn’t moving on with my issues and had to confront the ‘little girl demon’ inside me. They told me to walk around the room, and started walking around me, praying, speaking in tongues. It was getting louder and louder. They were saying, ‘Talk to the little girl, tell her she’s got to go. Tell her she’s got to leave’. I was freaked out.”

She believes that what took place was an exorcism. “I look back on it now and it seems crazy. I should have worked it out, but I felt vulnerable.” Now a confident woman, Fleming feels that she has overcome her problems — despite counselling, not because of it. “I really did come out worse than when I went in,” she says.

Arianna Walker, executive director of Mercy Ministries UK, says that dozens of girls who have been through the UK programme thanked Mercy for improving their life. One such example is Joy, 21, a former self-harmer from Bedfordshire, who joined in 2007. “I probably wouldn’t be alive today without Mercy,” she says. “I never thought I could exist without feeling desperately low, but I decided to go to Mercy Ministries for one more attempt at life. I found an abundant life that is not like anything I’ve ever known.”

Joy has joined the Abundant Life Church, where she pays to attend its “leadership academy”. She says that, unlike Fleming, she found study of “demonic oppression” therapeutic.

Walker says: “Unfortunately, as with any organisation dedicated to helping those in need, there are occasionally those who express frustration with some aspect of the care they have received. MMUK takes such complaints very seriously.” She denies exorcisms are performed, and says that study of “Restoring the Foundations” was discontinued in June 2008: “Our emphasis is on the power of God’s grace and unconditional love to help hurting young women overcome addictions and past hurts.”

She adds that, although the charity supported proposals for government regulation, the Tennessee-based organisation will be changing the title of its staff from “counsellors” to “facilitators”, once new legislation comes into place — “so that our approach to supporting young women is more accurately described according to UK terminology, instead of American.”

Mercy Ministries is one of an estimated 100,000 organisations believed to be offering counselling or psychotherapy in the UK. The NHS is investing more than ever in “talking therapies”, with £173 million earmarked to increase the number of cognitive behavioural therapists throughout England by 2010/11…..

The article can be found here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/mental_health/article6945170.ece

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/16/1231608986802.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Time to have mercy on the broken of mind and spirit

January 17th, 2009

“Ever wondered how to exorcise a demon? There’s a handy publication that guides the uninitiated, with subheadings such as “doing the actual deliverance”, “identifying additional demons” and “what to do with obstinate demons”.

The claim the service is free is also untrue. Residents are required to transfer Centrelink benefits to Mercy Ministries.

Social security-funded exorcisms. That’s your taxpayer dollars at work, folks. Yet no one, beyond the brave young women who spoke out about the abuse, has done anything to stop it.

A couple of politicians have expressed concern – the former Democrats senator Lyn Allison said: “It is high time this religious group was investigated and called to account for what their victims describe as emotional and spiritual abuse”, and the South Australian Labor MP Ian Hunter described Mercy as a “money-making cult, posing as a Christian-based counselling service”.

This sorry saga has exposed the weakness of our complaints bodies – few, if any, are prepared to investigate despite detailed complaints from several young women over their alleged mistreatment.

Neither the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission nor the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would disclose whether they had investigated Mercy, and the Queensland Health Quality and Complaints Commission said it would “monitor the operation of Mercy Ministries and is in the process of conducting further assessment of the Ministries’ practices” but stopped short of proceeding with a resident’s complaint.

In March last year the federal Minister for Human Services, Joe Ludwig, said: “I am very concerned about these serious allegations, and I have asked Centrelink to investigate its payment arrangement.”

So has Centrelink investigated? “Centrelink conducted a full investigation into the appointment of Mercy Ministries as nominees for Centrelink payments,” the general manager, Hank Jongen, said. “Investigation of the current customers reveals nothing untoward. There are no records of any complaints about the nominee arrangements.”

Nothing untoward? Casting out demons, isolating young women from their parents and friends, preventing them from accessing psychiatric care and medication, inappropriately supervising doctor’s visits – how is any of this not untoward?

Again, it is left to the consumers to hold these groups to account. Forget the eating disorder, the depression, or the related alcohol or drug problems – take on the money-making machine of the Hillsong Church, the coffee chain Gloria Jeans and their related entity, Mercy Ministries, because the Government bodies established to monitor their activities are busy doing something else.”

Click here to read it.

Handbooks allegedly used to perform exorcisms on sick girls at the controversial Mercy Ministries residences in Sydney and on the Sunshine Coast have been leaked to LIVENEWS.com.au.

Mercy Ministries, which is bankrolled by the Pentecostal Hillsong Church, has previously denied performing exorcisms on residents.

The documents, obtained clandestinely by a girl who “escaped” the group’s clutches, shows counsellors how to rid ‘demons’ from girls struggling with anorexia, depression and drug addiction.

Mercy Ministries’ activities hit the headlines in March this year when former residents claimed they were subjected to exorcisms, were cut off from friends and family and had to sign over their Centrelink payments to the group.

Some of the young women say they had little or no access to the promised psychologists and other mental health professionals but were instead counselled by bible studies students whose solution to all problems was prayer.

Earlier this year the then head of Mercy Ministries, Peter Irvine, said exorcisms were not practised at the residences. Mercy Ministries has been forced to shut their Sunshine Coast residence.

“There’s no exorcism, no driving out of spirits it’s not how the program works,” he told Today Tonight’s Marguerite McKinnon earlier this year.

But the handbooks tell a different story and corroborate accounts given to LIVENEWS.com.au by former residents of Mercy Ministries.

In the handbook, under a section entitled ‘Identifying Additional Demons’ those practising the exorcism are advised to ask the demon’s name, but not for any more details.

“They sometimes talk: they may threaten the person or you. They have been know to say, ‘I am going to kill you,’ and other unsavoury phrases. Command them to be quiet in the Name of Jesus,” the book advises.

Later, the book, Restoring The Foundations, published by an American Christian group, warns those exorcising demons to be firm.

“The minister’s attitude is one of commanding,” it reads.

“He needs to be firm and prepared to press in. He does not need to be loud. (Demons are not deaf.) The ministers’ commanding attitude resembles that of a person speaking to a little “yappy” dog commanding him to go home and stop barking.

“We also want the ministry receiver to set his will to resist and then command the particular demon or grouping of demons to leave him, in Jesus’ name. This is repeated until the demons are gone.”

Later in the book, those performing the exorcism are given more complex techniques in a subheading called ‘What to do With Obstinate Demons’.

Later a list of ‘Scriptures that Demons Hate’ is provided.

“But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you,” is one such passage singled out.

The emergence of the exorcism handbook lends weight to other claims made by girls who went through the Mercy Ministries program.

Megan Smith (not her real name), who spoke to LIVENEWS.com.au earlier this year, said her panic attacks only got worse.

“I was self-harming,” she said.

“I was cutting my arm with anything I could get my hands on – scratching with anything from my nails to paper clips.

“I never really had a problem with self-harm beforehand. When you tell them about self-harming they said I was trying to get attention and I was taking their valuable time away from girls with real problems.”

Finally, she was subjected to an exorcism.

“The counsellor gave me a list of different demons – demon of anger, demon of unforgiveness, demon of pride, there were lots of them and I was told to go away and circle the demons I had in me or around me,” said Smith.

“I was really scared… they cast demons out of me, one by one, and they became quite excited and animated during the process, and spoke in tongues.

“It was the counsellors and myself and they put their hands on me and started praying one by one for each of the demons that were on the list to be cast out of me.

“After each demon was cast out I had to say ‘I confirm the demon of X has been cast out of me in the name of Jesus and is unwelcome to return.’

“The whole time I was there, all I heard was that I’m demonic.

“Even after the exorcism, when I had the next anxiety attack, I was told that they had already cast the demons out, so therefore I was obviously either faking it, or I had chosen to let the demons come back, in which case I was not serious about getting better.

“They kept telling us that the world can’t help us, professionals with all their ‘worldly qualifications’ can’t help us, only Mercy could because only they have God’s power.

“So when I was kicked out for being ‘demonic, unable to be helped, not worth a place at Mercy’ and because I had taken too long to pray to become a Christian… it left me worse than I had ever been before in my life.

“They told me I would never get better now because I had blown my chance. I started cutting my arms and wrists more than ever, with their voices echoing in my mind as I did it.”

Suicidal and self-harming after being removed from the program, which she now thought was her only hope, she went to see a “proper psychologist to prepare me to go back to Mercy to help me fit in better.”

“The psychologist had never heard of them but told me to stay away from them… that person helped me more in the 40 minute session – really listening to me and understanding me.”

LIVENEWS.com.au has contacted Mercy Ministries for comment and is still awaiting a response.

http://livenews.com.au/Articles/2008/11/26/EXCLUSIVE_Mercy_Ministry_exorcism_books_leaked

Click here to read it.

Hillsong: Exorcicsm in the Suburbs

Tim Brunero

Mercy Ministries kept saying there were no exorcisms.

The Hillsong backed group seemed prepared to cop the charge that they forced sick girls in their Mercy Ministries residential program to sign over their Centrelink payments.

They seemed comfortable admitting that while they advertised girls would have access to psychiatrists and other health professionals, in fact, the only treatment they were really offered was housework and bible study.

But they didn’t want to own up to the medieval practice of exorcisms.

And you can’t blame them. Who would want to admit they had been trying to cure anorexia, drug addiction and other problems with such hocus-pocus?

They’d already lost high-profile sponsors like Rebel Sport, Bunnings and LG after news of their activities broke earlier this year.

But the girls I spoke to earlier this year when the scandal hit the headlines were unequivocal – they had been exorcised.

And now they believe they have hard evidence – documents, taken from a Mercy Ministries residence by a girl who “escaped” the program, that give instructions on how to exorcise demons.

The documents, provided to LIVENEWS.com.au, are highly disturbing.

Under subheadings like ‘Identifying Additional Demons’ and ‘What to do With Obstinate Demons’ detailed instructions are given on how to rid a person a possessed person.

“They sometimes talk: they may threaten the person or you. They have been know to say, ‘I am going to kill you,’ and other unsavoury phrases. Command them to be quiet in the Name of Jesus,” the book advises.

Later, the book, Restoring The Foundations published by an American Christian group warns those exorcising demons to be firm.

“The minister’s attitude is one of commanding. He needs to be firm and prepared to press in. He does not need to be loud. (Demons are not deaf.) The ministers’ commanding attitude resembles that of a person speaking to a little “yappy” dog commanding him to go home and stop barking,” says the book.

Megan Smith (not her real name) told me in March after her condition worsened at the group’s Sunshine Coast residence and she began self-harming she was exorcised.

“The whole time I was there, all I heard was that I’m demonic,” she said.

“They kept telling us that the world can’t help us, professionals with all their ‘worldly qualifications’ can’t help us, only Mercy could because only they have God’s power.”

It sounds unbelievable that this group funded by a large influential church could be so irresponsible to think they could cure serious illness with prayer.

It’s one thing to con your flock to tithe a chunk of their income to the church, to pass off concerts as worship, to be browbeaten by charismatic preachers like Pastor Brian Houston, and to finish each service by laying hands of the sick and speaking in tongues.

It’s another to endanger vulnerable young women.

You might find it hard to believe.

But having grown up in the Hills district when Hillsong was just getting its patter down you can be assured this church is as crazy as it sounds.

Having been to one of their ‘HSC Hype’ study camps for Year 12 students, where they tried to brow-beat kids into becoming born again and stories about exorcism were de rigour – I have no doubts these stories are quite true.

Knowing as I do that Brian Houston’s first book was the decidedly un-Christian tome You Need More Money I find it easy to believe the claims of the many girls I have spoken to.

I believe former residents, who refer to themselves as “Mercy survivors”, when they say the group has recently attempted to remove their critical clips from YouTube and has attempted to remove references on Wikipedia to the recent controversy.

At the end of the day, you can’t blame Mercy Ministries for trying to deny there were exorcisms at their centres.

But when people start coming forward with exorcism handbooks, you’d think you’d admit the game is up.

LIVENEWS.com.au contacted Mercy Ministries for comment. They are yet to respond.