 and the Diocese of St Albans carry out an internal investigation which has repeatedly been criticised for its lack of independence. The Telegraph has also reported that more than 100 people have already come forward to accuse Rev Canon Pilavachi of abuse. On Tuesday, Rev Canon Pilavachi officially resigned from his church saying: 'I seek forgiveness from any whom I have hurt during the course of my ministry. I have, on advice, made no comment on the allegations and will not make any further public comment as I do not believe it would be good for anyone if I took part in a trial by media or social media.' 'Wounded party' His comments caused outrage among a number of alleged victims who claimed that he is 'making himself the wounded party'. In his statement, Mr Redman, who has previously spoken out about his childhood in which his father committed suicide and he was abused as a child before joining Soul Survivor, added that a number of people, including himself and Beth, have come forward to the NST investigation claiming that they had been 'mistreated', 'ignored', 'patronised' or 'gaslit' by the Soul Survivor leadership. 'Historically there has been a failure of care in this area by those in authority at Soul Survivor – which makes this current moment even more critical to get right…' 'It simply cannot be that if a ministry is particularly fruitful, or a leader is particularly gifted, or we ourselves have benefitted from that ministry, then we are willing to turn a blind-eye to mistreatment of others un){kind=link}
Church founder Mike Pilavachi is accused of sexually and mentally abusing a ‘conveyor belt’ of young male worshippers
A Grammy-award winning Christian music superstar has come forward as an alleged victim of the Rev Canon Mike Pilavachi, saying: “I have spent years trying to fully heal from my time at Soul Survivor”.
Matt Redman, widely regarded as the most influential British worship music star and whose songs are played around the world, spoke out just days after the vicar and founder resigned from his church.
Pilavachi founded the Soul Survivor Watford church and its Soul Survivor festivals, known as “the Christian Glastonbury” which attracted around 30,000 teenagers each summer and ran for 26 years until 2019.
In May, The Telegraph ran a series of interviews with victims and former Soul Survivor staff members came forward to speak out for the first time about his alleged abuse.