"Hey Haters" - An Analysis of Steven Furtick's Volunteer Confidentiality Agreement - Don't Criticize, or You Agree to a Restraining Order

"I acknowledge that my breach of any of the restrictive covenants in this Agreement will result in irreparable damage to the Church. Therefore, in the event of any breach or threatened breach by me, I agree that the Church shall be entitled to an injunction from a court of competent jurisdiction enjoining me from committing any violation or threatened violation of this Agreement. I further agree that the Church shall not be required to post a bond to obtain such an injunction. All remedies available to the Church by reason of a breach by me of this Agreement are cumulative, none is exclusive, and all remedies may be exercised concurrently or consecutively at the Church’s option."  Concluding paragraph of contract volunteers must sign at Steven Furtick's church.

----------------------------------------

Note from the WD:  I don't ordinarily write such long posts, but I wanted to write this post for the benefit of Elevation Church members so they know what great peril they are in if they sign the document about which this article is written.

--------------------------

Hey Haters!!!  Steven "Hey Haters" Furtick and his Elevation Church have taken us to a new low in church manipulation:  Furtick's church volunteers must agree not to disclose any information about the church pertaining to finances, member contact information, and "church research and development activities" (church "R and D"? Are you kidding me?) - or the church may seek a restraining order issued by a judge to prevent you from talking about the church.

Thanks to the Wartburg Watch post last night, this brazen attempt at manipulation of their members by Elevation Church is now out in the open for all to see - click here to take a gander at the actual agreement. This document's exposure on the blogosphere hopefully will be another example of a church thinking they will abusively squelch dissent behind the scenes with no one knowing; not realizing their attempts may backfire when light is shone on their scheme (by us "haters"), giving people a glimpse of just how rotten and full of themselves the leadership is.

This goes well beyond just manipulation of members. By asking volunteers to sign this document puts well-meaning members of Elevation Church at great legal peril. If the church perceives a member is violating any terms of this document by publicly criticizing the church over finances - or even publicly disclosing abuse within the walls of the church - the church will consider them to have done "irreparable damage" to "the Church", and the church will seek a court injunction against the member.

Members of Elevation Church who might sign this or have already signed this agreement, I cannot urge you strongly enough: do NOT sign this, and if you have, send in writing a request rescinding your agreement to all terms of the agreement.

Members, do you know what this means when you sign this document and thereby agree that Furtick's church "shall be entitled to an injunction" against you? This means if Furtick and Friends believe you've talked bad about the church, or shared financial information about the church - or even raised allegations of abuse in the church rightly or wrongly - you have agreed that the church is entitled to have a judge issue a restraining order against you to silence you. And if you breach this restraining order and don't comply, you will be held in contempt of court.

The church can go to a judge with this document, and will show it and say that this member agreed NOT to release "confidential information", and make the case to the judge that you AGREED to have the judge issue a restraining order against you. Then if you violate it, you can be arrested for being in contempt of court.

Below are three arguments explaining why this is dangerous for you to sign this document, and how signing this document may require you at some point to violate your own Christian teachings and principles or be in great legal jeopardy - and how this is all designed to silence the "haters" - that is people who publicly criticize pastors like Steven Furtick.:

Getting an Injunction from a Judge Against You
This document is basically saying if the church believes you are disclosing information that THEY think is harmful to the church, that YOU agree to have a judge issue an injunction - which really is a temporary restraining order to stop you from doing what they perceive to be harmful to them. And it is not just that you HAVE disclosed information harmful to them, but if they BELIEVE YOU WILL IN THE FUTURE.

For example, if you are found to criticize the church publicly, say on a blog or Facebook like Chris Tynes did at Prestonwood - for any reason you deem worthy of criticism - Furtick and friends they may then believe you will disclose other "confidential information" like financial information such as salaries or budgets or future plans of the church.  They may also assume that you will use your contacts at the church to spread your "gossip". They will then go to the judge and show the judge that you agreed to have the restraining order issued against you to silence you against further spread of "confidential information".

Notice the agreement does define what is "confidential information" that you are not to share, but their definition includes the "...but is not limited to" phase - so basically confidential information would mean any non-publicly available information they think would be harmful. This could be information at a business meeting, a personal conversation you have with another member or pastor, etc.

If you contest this restraining order because you don't want to have a judge order you to be silent, then you will have to hire a lawyer and go to a hearing in a court to argue your side.

If you lose and the restraining order is issued and you don't comply with the judge's restraining order as a matter of conscience, you may be held in contempt of court and arrested and imprisoned.

Sounds so much like the New Testament church in Acts, doesn't it? This is a complete reversal of New Testament church activity: instead of Christians being persecuted for speaking the truth, the church (Furtick's church) is now attempting to be the persecutor of believers who may in the future dare to speak the truth about their church.

Church Disagreements or Church Abuse
Suppose you believe the church is acting abusively toward someone and you have made every attempt to raise the issue with church leadership privately to no avail- or if you fear going to them privately  - and you attempt to blog about what is going on in the church to warn others. Or maybe you just have a disagreement over how money is spent or even a theological disagreement.

If the information you share is "confidential" as in not publicly available - then they can go to the court and argue for an injunction that you agreed to when you signed the agreement.

Notice that the agreement states about the injunction:

"I further agree that the Church shall not be required to post a bond to obtain such an injunction."

Under normal circumstances a party seeking a judge to issue an injunction or restraining order to have someone stop doing something deemed harmful to the plaintiff, the plaintiff must put up a "bond" of some value in case the injunction is found to have been wrongly issued and brings harms to the defendant!  Makes perfect sense to keep organizations from seeking injunctions left and right. But the church is attempting to make this so one-sided that they don't want to have to put up their precious money to back up their claim that you are harming them. Who does such crap, and ask people who are offering to volunteer their time to agree to it?

Has any employer - let alone a non-profit for which you are trying to volunteer your time - asked you to sign such one-sided legal nonsense? What are they afraid of? What is so precious and secret over at Elevation Church that they must ask all employees and volunteers to sign this?

I can tell you: this is the sign of a cult. They are trying to silence you and intimidate you from publicly criticizing them. It is no secret how much Furtick and friends despise the "haters" who criticize their God-anointed efforts to save the world.

Give as Little Information as Possible

Elevation members, this might be the worst part, where they do tell you that you are allowed to disclose information about the church if required by law. 

"However, this provision shall not preclude me...from any disclosure required by law or court order, so long as I provide the Church immediate written notice of any potential disclosure pursuant to this subsection and take all reasonable and lawful steps to limit the extent of such disclosure."

 "Gee, thanks Steven, I'm glad you are allowing me the freedom to tell the truth to the police and other law authorities if I'm questioned about the church!!"

But look at that statement. They are requiring employees and volunteers to provide written notification of any "potential disclosure" when required by law or court order!  Are you kidding? I have to FIRST tell the church before I talk to the authorities? What rubbish!!

And why must I take "all reasonable and lawful steps to limit the extent of such disclosure?"

That is just crazy. Imagine there is an investigation of child abuse at the church, and a detective wants to interview you about it. By law, you must tell the truth to the detective. But are you first to notify Steven and friends before disclosing confidential information? And why must you limit the extent of the disclosure?

-------------------------------------

Anyways, this story is just another example of how these mega churches are too big for their britches. They want total devotion by the members, they want 10% minimum of your income (or God will curse you), and they want you to limit the disclosure of any information that might cast the organization in a negative light. They want you to sign a document forfeiting your legal rights to publicly criticize them. They want you to believe they are the single most important organization on the face of the earth, the one that is truly doing God's will. They require the head man to be viewed as being "the man of God" sent by God, appointed by God, and anointed by God, to tell you what the holy book says. They require you to admit that disclosure of information about what is going on within the organization regarding finances and strategy plans is to cause irreparable damage to the organization.

That my friends, is the stuff cults are made out of.....but even David Koresh and James Jones weren't so stupid as to put it all in writing and make people sign it. This is not a Confidentiality Agreement - it is more of a "Drink the Kool Aid Commitment" that I hope no volunteer will ever sign.

I've talked to a lawyer about this agreement, and he says it wouldn't likely stand up in court anyways. It is just an attempt to chill free speech. The church wants its members to know they have given their rights to talk freely over to their church, plain and simple.

So Elevation members, throw put this confidentiality agreement where it belongs - in the trash can. Tell them to run their background check on you, but that you will sign no such confidentiality agreement. You are signing up to volunteer your precious hours to your church, not guard America's nuclear launch codes. And Elevation employees who must sign this as a condition to maintain your employment, I feel sorry for you. In the real world, no one would ever ask you to sign something so one-sided as a condition for employment.

And watch Steven's "Hey Hater's" performance one more time, and you'll see the heart from which such a document is spawned:

SBC Prez Luter Says Latest North Korean Aggression Might be God's Judgment Over Gay Marriage Issue

"I would not be surprised that there's not a connection there....I would not be surprised that at a time when we are debating same sex marriage...I don't think its just a coincidence that there's a mad man in Asia who's saying some of the things he's saying." Fred Luter, linking North Korea's aggressive military posture to the debate of same sex marriage.

-----------------------

No, this is not the April Fool's post. I wish it were.

Fred Luter, president of the SBC, said in an interview last week that perhaps one of the reasons North Korea is now ramping up their nuclear program is because God is judging America for the U.S. Supreme Court debating the issue of gay marriage.

Listen to the radio interview excerpt below. It is shocking. Rick Wiles asks Luter if North Korea's renewed military aggression is God "unleashing" punishment on us. This is the level of nonsense that is driving young people away from Christianity, when they hear a prominent Christian leader like Fred Luter insinuate that God is judging the United States over the issue of gay marriage.

There are plenty of reasons why a person might be in support of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Amendment. But to take two events that are completely separate and distinct and link them into a cause and effect relationship using the "judgment of God" hurts the right's cause.  And it is why non-Christians actually FEAR evangelicals - our "men of God" think we're so stupid as to believe God is judging us because this week our Supreme Court happens to be considering the issue of gay marriage.

So come on, Christians - let's save America from North Korean aggression by opposing same-sex marriage - and be sure to tithe this week to stop homosexuality from spreading.

And if the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA - everybody head for the bomb shelters.

Helpful Sermon from Fellowship Church Worth Watching - Help for Those Who are Enduring Longterm Struggles

Tracy Barnes is one of the pastors at Ed Young's Fellowship church. I urge my readers to listen to his sermon last week. I wish I could embed it here on the blog, but the best I can do is give you the link here:

Tracy Barnes Sermon - Pain Management

Tracy spoke last week in the current series "Pain Management". Tracy's family has endured the incredible hardship of having their two young boys - Roger and Phillip - diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy back in the late 1980s. This awful disease causes a wasting away of all muscles. It is diagnosed when children are very young, and death usually occurs around age 20 to 25 from respiratory complications. Their son Roger died a few years ago, but Phillip is still bravely living with this disease, with the love and constant help of his parents.

In the sermon Tracy speaks from his heart to help people deal with painful life trials that have no end in sight. He gives three "stop signs" to help people live with joy despite living in a life-long struggle. A video is shown early in the sermon of how Tracy's wife Debbie has endured, her devotion to Phillip's care, and she speaks of her faith struggles and victories.

If you are dealing with long-term struggles and disappointments in life, Tracy and Debbie's story and the lessons Tracy shares in this sermon will be of great help.

There are so many touching parts of this story that will help you - from Tracy and Debbie's devotion to their boys, to the story of one of Tracy's daughters carrying the gene who decided to adopt a child from Haiti vs. birthing children, to seeing Tracy speak a word of encouragement and love directly to his son Phillip.

Thank you Tracy and Debbie and Phillip for telling your story. One of the most moving, touching, helpful sermons I've seen.

I hope my readers will take a few minutes to watch this.

Prestonwood Baptist Doesn't Call the Cops on the Molester, But They Call the Cops on the Church Member Who Asks Questions About the Molester

Readers - it is hard to believe another SBC mega church has banned a long-time church member for daring to demand questions of its leadership through social media.

Sound familiar?Don't these guys learn from each other's mistakes in how they try to bully critics and questioners?

At Prestonwood Baptist Church, a long-time church member - an educated, professional, family man - recently became aware of the church's non-reporting of molestation of  several young people at the church at the hands of John Langworthy of Prestonwood back in 1989. Brett Shipp of WFAA covered the story here, and ABP covered it here. I wrote about the Prestonwood/Langworthy scandal here, here, and here.

This church member then did the unspeakable - he dared to use social media to ask questions of his church leadership. He had questions like, presumably, why did the church leadership NOT contact the police so they could investigate? Did the church warn the next churches or schools that Langworthy went to work at? This church member posted a few posts on the church Facebook page, which were promptly deleted. He then called the church to schedule a meeting - but it was abruptly canceled, and when he showed up at the church anyways he was turned away and told he was no longer welcomed at his church. You can watch the video of his visit to the church here, and you can visit his Facebook page here. You can follow his Twitter feed here.

The church then played the "he might be a threat" card by filing a "Suspicious Person Report" with the local police. Sound familiar?

Prestonwood knows this man and his wife and kids. They know he is not a threat. They even know his questions are completely legitimate. But they would rather ban this man from his church, disrupt his family life and punish he and his wife for asking questions. Are they worried how this will affect this man's wife and children to have their husband and father banned from their own church under threat of arrest - just for asking questions of the holy man of God and his friends?

The Wartburg Watch is going to cover this story more in depth tomorrow, so stay tuned.

I hope this church member continues to use social media to expose their attempts to bully him and intimidate him, and more importantly shine more light on the Prestonwood/Langworthy scandal.

But how ironic is this: Prestonwood apparently did NOT issue any trespass papers or "suspicious person's report" against Langworthy when he was found to be touching young boys at the church....but let a church member ask questions about how they handled the Langworthy case, and HE gets the boot.

Don't call the cops when the music man is molesting minors...but quickly call the cops when the faithful member wants to know why the cops weren't called to report the molester.

Don't report the molester to the cops...but report the "suspicious" church member who wants answers to his questions.

Can things get any crazier in the Southern Baptist Convention?

"World-Wide" Evangelist Shows How to Handle a Talker in the Audience

Below is one of my new favorite preacher videos.

Readers, I introduce you to Mr. Larry Smith, traveling evangelist, sole proprietor of the "Larry Smith World-Wide Ministries".

By "world wide", I think Larry means "KJV churches mostly in northwest Indiana, and small churches like those where Ergun Caner now preaches".

In the clip below, from Larry's January 20th sermon at First Baptist Hammond, Larry yells at, and attempts to humiliate some man who is apparently talking in the audience. Watch this. It is classic. Notice the fake smile, and his inability to ignore the talker. And his sarcastic "Love you"  - and a pronouncement to the talker that "you reap what you sow". I guess in Larry's bible Galatians 6:7 reads, "Do not be deceived. Larry the Evangelist is not mocked. You will reap what you sow." This will make you laugh, then it will make your skin crawl.

You can't tell it from the brief snippet, but this is from Larry's classic sheep-beating tithing sermon that he regularly preaches, entitled "Does Your Wallet Have a Hole In It?" [sadly, I've heard a few SBC pastors preach about God poking holes in your purse] posted at his website. Larry tells people point-blank that the tithe is a debt they owe, they need to tithe on all Christmas gifts received to avoid God's curse on their finances, and real Christians will develop a payback plan to pay God for any income or gifts on which they have not tithed in the past.

Larry might think he is "world-wide"....I think in this video he shows he is more "world-class" - as in world-class horse's patoot.

Although he does tell the young man "I hope to God you're not a Hyles-Anderson student; I hope God not".

Amen, Larry, I hope not either. And if he is, I hope your little tantrum caused him to wake up and get out of Dodge.

H/T:  Stuff Fundies Like