I recently received a copy of a letter that an alumnus wrote to the Board of Directors. Although the Board knows his identity, for the purposes of the blog, he wishes to remain anonymous as he said, “I do not want any honor coming to me for what I wrote and such – I’d rather see God honored than me.” I thought many of his suggestions to the Board were excellent and he has given permission to share this with the alumni body. He also asks that you kindly “forgive any spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.”
The letter is long, but is very much worth reading. You can access the full copy by clicking here. Read it then come back and give us your thoughts.
Here are just a few quick excerpts to whet your appetite:
Simply put: apologize. This is the first step toward change and seeking solutions. The issues being addressed by hurting alumni threaten to tear apart the TM family, to injure the body of Christ and even risks disenfranchising many believers as well as non-believers should this situation become more public. These issues will not simply go away. The Teen Mania family has a responsibility to humbly examine these issues and to be willing to make any changes to correct these problems.
We need to be reminded of how God sees us in relationship to Him. When God calls us as His followers to be part of His family, we are to call him Father. We are not slaves. Nor are we generals. We are reminded that if we are to be first in His Kingdom, then we should seek to be the last. God desires our hearts to be that of servants; not the appearance of legalistic leaders seeking their own interests.
Elitism is another unfortunate poisonous element of the Honor Academy that is blindly supported by all levels of the Teen Mania family….Any part of the Honor Academy that bestows any special title, prestige, or achievement of perfection needs to done away with.
Another issue is the continued strength of commitment and integrity to professional standards in finances and contracts. Both internally and externally Teen Mania’s practices have come under question in recent years. Interns have observed things they believe to be professionally questionable and make them feel like they are lying to vendors and not adhering to the value of integrity. Alumni have made complaints that their and other contracts have not been honored. These issues need to be fully investigated, preferably by outside trustworthy sources to find out the truth and to make proper recommendations on what professional changes need to be made to insure Teen Mania’s professional integrity. This includes leadership being willing to limit the amount of financial compensation they receive from the organization’s treasury. These areas are something where perfectionism is desirable and even potentially, very likely attainable. The guidelines of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, should just be that, guidelines. The realm of faith and spiritual development is one where judgment and perfectionism should not be practiced. But in the worldly realm of accounting, professional standards and legal contracts is not as forgiving. Here is where an attitude of excellence can make an excellent representation for our faith.
28 comments:
Having just finished the entire letter, I wish I could co-sign it. It is definitely a letter that the ENTIRE TM family needs to read, and grasp onto with both hands.
June 8, 2010 6:50 AM
Anonymous said…
RA, thanks for sharing my open letter.
I sincerely hope that the Board considers what has to be said in this letter. I pray that they are humbly willing to investigate the practices and concerns within TM. In the same way we are directed to search our hearts as Christ teaches us. I pray that TM is willing to submit to accountability and outside resources (read: not affiliated with TM in anyway) as our concerns are investigated.
Dear Readers, please do not give me any honor or accolades regarding what I have written. I only ask that you continue to speak up about your hurts and concerns so that we may all find healthy and productive ways to move forward with our lives and the calling of all the Body of Christ ~ The Great Commission.
I hope to share an open letter to all Alumni in the near future, on how best we all (both hurting and not-hurting alumni) can address our concerns and move forward in a God-honoring way.
God Bless and may you BE a blessing,
BLUE LANTERN (pseudonym of course)
June 8, 2010 6:58 AM
Eric P. said…
:Applause:
June 8, 2010 8:55 AM
Eric P. said…
Oops, sorry; I forgot the “no accolades” part.
June 8, 2010 9:01 AM
Youth Pastor said…
Very good letter.
God gives grace to the humble.
He opposes the proud.
I don’t want to see any loser in this situation….only humility on both sides of the equation. Care and concern where its due. To those who are hurting, hope for forgiveness to come. This can be a powerful thing if TM can humble themselves to that level.
I, myself, as a Youth Pastor, have been asked by dozens of parents about whether I’d recommend TM for their high school graduates. I believe, because of the experience I had and the stories I’ve heard from others, I have single handedly helped 25 or more students make an alternative choice for post-high school plans. This type of ripple effect could have a severe impact on TM. However….if changes are made, I do believe redemption can come and the internship can be better than EVER….serving the Kingdom of God as its sole purpose…while developing young people all over the world.
June 8, 2010 9:40 AM
dan said…
Fantastic perspective and I firmly add my second (Or third? 6th?) to this. Consider this letter signed by another alumnus.
Dan Gross
June 8, 2010 10:09 AM
Shaina Smoker said…
Amen!
Shaina Smoker
June 8, 2010 10:34 AM
CarrieSaum said…
I have mixed feelings about the letter, but none of which involve the changes this alumnus proposes. For those changes, I give a very emphatic “hear hear!”. For the rest I give a thoughtful shrug.
June 8, 2010 11:19 AM
gc1998 said…
+1 carriesaum.
June 8, 2010 11:55 AM
Anonymous said…
It is a nice letter. It is very thoughtful and heartfelt. The problem is that the HA is a cult at it’s center. Remember that commercial – how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? The center of the HA is rotten. The idea is inherently nice. The program maybe has good intentions – but it doesn’t work. It would be nice to maybe see some of these changes implemented and to see kids not so egregiously taken advantage of by the TMM ministry machine – but in the end you’re only good to Teen Mania if you pay them and have talents and skills they want – otherwise you are put in other jobs they don’t want to pay people to do – and well the rest is history. I think a kid in his late teens that really wants to develop skills in many of the area that the HA provides – is to just do something else. Maybe we should start a facebook for onfire awesome youth – that way you can still meet people from all over the country – the only true benefit of the Honor Academy – and not have to go there.
June 8, 2010 12:39 PM
Eric P. said…
Anon– Or there’s YWAM…
June 8, 2010 1:42 PM
Philip E said…
Eric,
A lot of YWAM’s bases have serious problems as well involving teachings(my brother did a DTS where a speaker said it was ok to steal from grocery stores because they had impulse buy aisles).
There are also bases that have even worse things than I’ve heard at TM(I’ve heard stories of far more abuse than anything alleged on this site about TM). It all depends on the leadership at the specific base that you’re at. Some are great, others are good, and some are terrible.
June 8, 2010 2:27 PM
Eric P. said…
Philip– True, probably a fair proviso. I have heard scattered stories of abuse now that you mention it, but, as I’ve understood it, it’s issues with specific base leaders rather than the philosophy of the group as a whole.
But that discussion’s probably better suited for a YWAM alumni blog…
June 8, 2010 2:47 PM
Mynda said…
I would like to add my name to the support as another alumnus.
Mynda Camphouse
2 Cor 7:14
Then if my people who are called by my name will Humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, (That is all of us) I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
June 8, 2010 5:58 PM
Anonymous said…
Phillip E, these aren’t allegations. These are people’s stories. Don’t pull a RL/DH and imply that what people are struggling through are just allegations. Shame on you.
Anon
June 8, 2010 6:44 PM
Shannon Kish said…
What about Master’s Commission?
June 8, 2010 6:54 PM
Anonymous said…
RE: YWAM
Please be aware that YWAM has a long history of abuse.
There have been at least two books (that I know of)
published by persons abused at YWAM.
YWAM may have good and noble intentions, and it’s true
that some people have a good experience with them.
It’s also true that there are tons of stories of abuse.
Please do not recommend YWAM for anyone without first
going online and doing a careful search about their
problems. Yes, there are also blogs and websites
for former YWAMers.
Another issue: the abuse at Teen Mana and the Honor
Academy (or mistakes if you want to limit it to
that) are not unusual. These problems have unfortunately become rather widespread within Christianity today. There are many churches, ministries, etc which are spiritually abusive, some
are also financially abusive, as well as legalistic
and just problematic. Some are theologically sound
but still abusive in behavior. There are websites
about spiritual abuse out there if you want to
just google it. It helps to know this because otherwise you might have the mistaken or naive
impression that once you got out of Teen Mania
and the HA that whatever else you get into that is
called Christian will be OK. Not so.
I recommend researching spiritual abuse and reading
some of the helpful books out about it.
Two books are avaialable free online now, both
by Ron Enroth, Churches That Abuse and
Recovering From Churches that Abuse. The book
The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by Jeff
VanVoneran is also helpful. There are others out
there, including the book Twisted Scriptures by
Alice C…… (can’t remember her last name). Some
of that book was available free online not sure
if it’s still up there.
Studying the core issues can help you to avoid
it in the future. Many people have terrible
traumatic experiences in church settings.
Another good website is “spiritualabuse.org”
by Lois Gibson. Although her background is from
the UCC, I think you will find very similar
behaiors, problems, and issues.
Young people especially should know all about YWAM
(or any group) before signing on….the good
but also the bad.
I must say some of these behaviors and problems
could be more about human flesh/sin/ignorance/
weakness than just about any one group, whether
YWAM or any other.
YWAM has done some great ministry and some people
are fine with them, but many suffer extreme
trauma and are hurt for years.
Thanks.
June 8, 2010 7:37 PM
Anonymous said…
I am not questioning YWAM’s motives or inentions,
but something has long been seriously wrong with
YWAM. It’s not just a few bases or leaders, either,
it’s a core problem of the entire ministry. I think
a vague apology was offered in 2008 acknowledging
some had been hurt, but it was blamed on the diversity
of YWAM’s theology due to its structure.
I myself was badly spiritually abused at a YWAM
facility, and they are well knows (as is Teen Challenge) for the practice of suddenly throwing people out with nowhere to go and no money. I was
thrown out for the crime of asking if there was
another ministry I might look into. I was also
falsely accused for no reason of having a weapon
(which I did not). I was accused of being prideful
when I shared problems I was having about my
salvation.
Again, these are human issues and it’s true that
YWAM has done some very good ministry (I think?)
but please carefully investigate them.
Someone who has been badly hurt alrady at HA
could have a disaster if they jumped into YWAM.
YWAM is known for its shepherding practices (this
isn’t admitted) so you are not allowed to ask
questions, just OBEY. They used to force all their
missionaries to partake in group confessions…
some have reported feeling so pressured that they
made up “sins” just to get it over with. They
definitely practice scapegoating.
http://www.powertostand.com/ywamindex.htm
http://www.inplainsite.org
/html/youth_with_a_mission.html
Christi-Anarchy by ~ Dave Andrews (Author)
http://theirothergospel.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/no-human-rights-in-ywam/
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/y05.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vAm1k22NTg
http://www.caic.org.au/biblebase/abuse/encourag.htm
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/m05.html
bk “Lead us Not Into Decption” by Alan W. Gomes
is available as a free pdf
Keep in mind the authors may not specifically mention YWAM (not sure) but it is a known published fact
that both were writing about their experiences while
with YWAM.
Moral Government is a doctrine that YWAM has taught
and emphasized…there are many theological problems
with it.
http://www.caic.org.au/zabusive.htm
http://ywhammed.wordpress.com/tag/religion/
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/youthwithamission.html
http://www.erwm.com/Revival%20or%20Apostasy.htm
http://www.powertostand.com/YWAM/letterYWAM.htm
A Letter to YWAM Leadership
The two bks are called “Deliver Us from Deception”
and “Christi Anarachy”. They may not be specifically
about YWAM per se, but were birthed out of bad
experiences both men had there.
June 8, 2010 8:30 PM
Big MIKE said…
First, EXCELLENT letter. well thought out, well written and great points. I guarantee that TM will NOT do everything listed in that letter but just taking the steps to hear it and admit to the number one thing, people are hurting, and then apologize to them in my books would be a great first move. The next move in my opinion will not be so simple, but is also necessary and thats change from the inside out.
Second: Anon @ 12:39, I hate to say it but what does your comment help? Honestly, alot of the reason nobody at TM is listening is becuase of comments like that. Just something for us all to think about
Third: When did this become a YWAM blog? 🙂
Fourth: How can we as an alumni body pro-actively come together and see change as a whole that can in turn affect the body of TM? After all the alumni association is not governed by TM in anyway, telling them what should happen as an alumni association can just happen if we choose to make it happen. So what can we do? thoughts?
Fifth: Thats it, just wanted to see if you’d keep reading 🙂
Blessings!
Mike
June 8, 2010 9:48 PM
Philip E said…
Anon at 6:44,
Do you realize that if they aren’t allegations, you are saying that noone on this site is stating that TM has done anything wrong?
Shame on you for attacking a comment without understanding the meaning of the words in it 🙂
June 8, 2010 10:42 PM
Joe B said…
Agrees with Philip at 10:42 🙂
June 8, 2010 10:45 PM
David Dyer said…
I want to register on the forums but the Admin banned my address? Help!
June 9, 2010 10:55 AM
Recovering Alumni said…
Hey David – send me an email at recoveringalumni at hotmail dot com and I will take a look.
June 9, 2010 10:55 AM
Hillary said…
Admin banned mine as well. I think its a glitch? Admin never had my address.
June 9, 2010 1:05 PM
Recovering Alumni said…
We banned some domains that were used mostly by spammers…email me and I’ll get it figured out.
June 9, 2010 3:09 PM
Shannon Kish said…
I AGREE with this letter.
Anyone seen the letter from DH yet? I am wondering where it is.
June 10, 2010 1:39 PM
Anonymous said…
Sorry for posting so much YWAM stuff, but to those
who are interested enough in checking any of it out
their problems are very similar to Teeen Mania’s and
someone was mentioning referring someone there.No
offense, but wouldn’t you have wanted to be warned
prior to enrolling at HA?
Spiritual abuse is widespread and studying about it can help put experiences at one place into a wider perspective which can aid healing.
Won’t be posting any more YWAM stuff here but there
is a good reason for what was posted. Sorry about
that.
June 10, 2010 2:17 PM
Anonymous said…
No problem 2:17 . . . I’m glad you shared what you did. This problem is bigger than TMM.
June 10, 2010 2:43 PM