Houses of The Holy
This from the ‘Toronto Star’
“Loaded down with second-hand clothes pulled from the ceiling-high piles in her hair salon, she’ll give out the goods to homeless people on downtown Toronto’s grittiest streets.
Missions like this aren’t cheap for people like her and other volunteers at the church. “We’re poor folks,” says Houghron, describing the majority of the 3,000-strong congregation who attend the spaceship-shaped church at Hwy. 400 and Finch Ave.
The hairdresser scrapes together $600 of her own money each month to keep up the program because the Prayer Palace – one of Canada’s largest evangelical churches – stopped running it five years ago. Other charitable works, like a promised orphanage in Brazil, either dried up or never materialized.
Meanwhile, the three white pastors – Paul Melnichuk and his 40-year-old twin sons, Tim and Tom – lead lavish lives in contrast to the mainly working-class black families that make up the bulk of the church.
Between them, the pastors have amassed a real estate fortune worth about $12 million. Each owns a multi-million-dollar country estate north of Toronto (Tim’s is worth as much as $5.5 million), they share a Florida vacation villa, and the pastors and their wives drive luxurious cars – among them a Porsche Cayenne SUV, a Lexus RX 330 SUV and a Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 convertible.
Congregants are largely unaware of the pastors’ extravagant lifestyles.
Loaded down with second-hand clothes pulled from the ceiling-high piles in her hair salon, she’ll give out the goods to homeless people on downtown Toronto’s grittiest streets.
Missions like this aren’t cheap for people like her and other volunteers at the church. “We’re poor folks,” says Houghron, describing the majority of the 3,000-strong congregation who attend the spaceship-shaped church at Hwy. 400 and Finch Ave.
It is that last sentence that makes my ‘bood boil’. Every mega-church Christian will mindlessly assert ‘my Pastor is a really good guy’ and would never ‘rip us off’. Then why are the financilas for Churches like hillsong and Riverview NOT made available upon request…?
March 7th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Who said we are EC…?
Now that is an assumption.
its not pointless when people sincereley seeking the truth (eg. embalzoned / myself) come across this information and realise what we are involved with and then move out, back into orthodoxy.
What someone is svaed into - is just as important as what they are saved from!
March 8th, 2007 at 6:46 am
Oh, come on - it’s an assumption that you are EC? That’s bordering on the ridiculous. And a bit of a lame come-back.
“Northern Community is an attempt to capture the innovative and creative energy of the “emerging church” in an established church setting.”
And trying to seperate yourself from Northern Community for the sake of this conversation would only prove that you are debating now for the sake of debating
We clearly have difference of opinion on the position of churches such as hillsong in the body of christ. Do you think that they offer christ at all? Do you consider them a church?
Yes, I personally disagree with some of the practices/beliefs of such churches, just as I do with some of the practices/beliefs of most Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal and Emerging Churches. But I don’t think catholics need saving from being catholic. I do think that most of them could do things differently but that is only my opinion and it would be arrogant of me to equal my opinion with God’s.
If you MUST speak on the negative, why not speak against those practices that you think are ungodly (as you do already) rather than the group in general? Surely demonising a group in general only serves to set up a division? If I recall my statement was against your generalisations towards the group.
March 8th, 2007 at 7:40 am
Shmatt, I agree that it is better to speak against the practices of different groups rather than making generalisations and speaking against the group as a whole. However, my question would be at what point are the practices of a particular group unhealthy to the point that being a part of that group is unhealthy? In such a case, I feel that one must speak against the group, because it is too difficult to distinguish between what is healthy and what is unhealthy. It has all intermingled.
I believe Hillsong has well and truly reached that point…..
March 8th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Shmatt, I think lionfish can seperate himself from Northern Community considering he is not involved in northern community and does infact live in Western Australia, when Northern Community is a church in the northern suburbs of melbourne. Lionfish has never participated in any congregation of Northern Community - although he is most welcome
I and Dan (who host the blog) are in leadership at Northern Community but obviously many of our commenters such as lionfish and you are not.
People who comment on signposts are not neccesarily involved in an emerging church style faith community - some are, some are in mainline churches and others are more church alumni.
March 8th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Of course my previous comment makes the assumption that signposts is not a congregation of Northern
Something that someone said to me yesterday that it actually was!
March 8th, 2007 at 8:20 am
“Seek out a local church that shows Jesus and practices Love. If you search for a church that believes what you believe, please tell me where you are because I’d like to live in a utopian world, too.
You won’t find a church that does, says or represents all you think should be; your left hand is not exactly like your right, but both are hands. Try not to major in minors when shopping for a church.
Don’t choose a church because of the beauty of its stained glass, its music ministry, because it openly accepts gays and lesbians, has some ministry or cause dear to your heart; do not choose a church by its activities, or because the priest, minister or pastor is nice and a good speaker.
Don’t choose a church because it ministers to you, meets your needs, has good instructive teachings, nor because it ministers to others, meets their needs, etc.
A church can have beautiful stained glass and a colourless soul, pretty music but a tone-deaf heart, accept gays and lesbians not because it seeks to serve all peoples but seeks the praises of people.
A church can have a lot of members and activities and be spiritually dead or few members and activities and be spiritually alive and quality focused, have an eloquent speaker who says what you want to hear but not what the Spirit needs to say.
A church can feed, cloth, challenge and help you but leave your spirit starved or an infant. A church can spend time and money ministering to the poor and others and it not be of God.
Jesus said people would minister and do good things in His name, yet He says He will, upon being asked, say He never knew them because they did not know Him. You can serve and do good but for the wrong reasons and motives.
Look to the heart, determine and discern by the Spirit the church’s motives, its foundation, and most of all, look to see if they know Jesus. If they know Jesus, you will see Jesus and the evidence of His Love. Ask yourself how much the people involved or reached are like Jesus, and so judge successfully”. Matt. 7:15-29.
March 8th, 2007 at 9:58 am
amen!
March 8th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Jack, please don’t go quoting bible verses like the one above - you are ruining my disillusionment of the good Book!…..