Arise Church, New Zealand’s largest church, has been ordered to pay more than $173,000 to four interns after the country’s Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruled they were employees and deserved compensation.
We last wrote about Arise Church after church leaders commissioned an internal report into allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct within the congregation, found the results damning, and then refused to release it or address the complaints, resulting in an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs.
Senior Pastor John Cameron resigned after this initial revelation, and in total, 545 people came forward with stories to tell, including current and former staff members, past board members, and students. As multiple accounts of racism, bullying, manipulation, extravagant spending, sexual harassment, and abusing the interns through overwork emerged, the government intervened. According to 1 News:
“As part of the agreement, Arise accepted the way it ran parts of the programme at the time meant the interns had been employees. It also acknowledged it had breached minimum employment standards as a result and apologised to the four.”
For example, some of the interns were ordered to do yard work at Cameron’s home on their days off, including gardening, trimming hedges, digging holes, and mowing his lawn. Others reported paying money to the church to become interns, then working 50 hours a week of unpaid work, with the expectation that they would get another paying job to make ends meet. While dozens of interns have alleged miserable conditions and mistreatment, only four are receiving compensation.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment:
“The investigation examined arrangements involving individuals who participated in the church’s internship programme and assessed the real nature of the relationship between the parties….Labour Inspectorate investigation that found the interns were employees rather than volunteers.
The agreement, recorded in a consent determination issued by the ERA), includes ARISE Church accepting that the way it implemented parts of its internship programme at the relevant time meant the four former interns were employees and acknowledging breaches of minimum employment standards occurred as a result. ARISE Church also offered an apology to the interns concerned.”
Likewise, Arise Church said in a statement:
“Since 2023, the Labour Inspectorate has been conducting an investigation into our former internship programme. It ultimately believed the way we implemented parts of our internship programme with four former interns meant an employment relationship existed between Arise and these four former interns.
We have agreed we fell short in this regard, and agreed to a consent determination with The Labour Inspectorate. As part of this, we are paying an agreed amount of arrears, as well as offering the below apology:
We deeply regret that you placed trust in a church community and experienced hurt and disappointment as a result. This likely affected your relationship and trust in church and even in God. This is tragic and for this we are deeply sad and truly sorry. Our door remains open if you would like to offer any further feedback for us to take on board or if it would be helpful to achieve some closure and healing.”
As for former Senior Pastor John Cameron and his co-pastor wife, after resigning from the church they quickly launched a new one, Riverland Church, which has grown to several hundred people and two services.
