The bizarre circus which is Towy Community Church appears to have consulted its PR advisers over at County Hall and decided once again to remove an article from its website advertising its intentions to set up a "life centre" in Carmarthen with Mercy Ministries, the controversial Tennessee-based evangelical movement which specialises in administering large doses of biblical tracts and "deliverance" therapy to young women with anything from eating disorders to what it terms "inappropriate sexual behaviour".
A previous article and link to Mercy Ministries disappeared from the church's website shortly before it went back to Carmarthenshire County Council to ask for a large cash injection back in December 2011, only to reappear in a reinvigorated form immediately after the gala opening of its bowling alley. At almost exactly the same time as it was submitting a licensing application to sell alcoholic drinks, despite promising local residents that it would not do so when it "consulted" them before the alley was opened.
Eagle-eyed readers have spotted several other changes to the church's website in recent days, all involving the removal of content.
Fortunately Caebrwyn has kept screenshots of some of the more interesting material which would otherwise have been air-brushed from the record.
Whatever their religious beliefs, local people must now be asking themselves whether they can believe anything Towy Community Church has to say.
17 comments:
Here's the link to the page that was removed - but cached in Google.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Gt9lEnE_yewJ:www.towychurch.co.uk/church/mercy-ministries.html+mercy+ministry+carmarthen&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=u
It is quite clear that more importantly there are other people who should not be believed.
This is so blatant and insulting that the Towy chuch and others think the public are swallowing
1.the unpalatable drivel of the Towy church.
2The way links to Mercy Ministries are put in taken out put in again as it suits them to get funding.
Of course blame lies with councillors who must question this sinister cult and council involvement.How many more times does this need to be said before the councillors in Carmarthenshire
wake up from what could be regarded as stupor and earn their money by representing the people in their wards not officers.
Perhaps the link below might provide clues as to "why this small organisation has risen so rapidly to such a position of prominence and received so much public money?"
http://www.actionplanning.co.uk/christiancharities.pdf
What amazes me is how many people in Carmarthen are totally naive to the fact the bowling alley has these links!
Surely these councillors now must pay attention and voice their concerns and that of the public!! Come on councillors grow a set and stop this happening!
Experience tells us that the general public usually believe"It won't happen to us." One day however someone in their family might become vulnerable and be drawn into something which would certainly not be to their advantage.It is the vulnerable in one way and another who are usually drawn into groups such as this.
Is there a qualified Social Worker in the house?
www.duedil.com/company/07181550/towy-community-church
Delyth,with you doing such an admirable job of campaigning for day centres to be regulated, any chance of adding "Social Work without accommodation" and "Mercy Ministries" to your campaign?
Me old Nan (a devout Christian) used to say, "Call every man a liar but God the truth!" Being such an insolent, sarcastic child who would try the patience of a saint, I would reply with, “What, even Christians, Nan?
According to the Daily Post, Mark Bennett, the founder of Towy Community Church is alleged to have said, “As Christians, we are passionate about helping those in need. Towy Community Church had previously supported a gap-year student at Mercy Ministries UK and decided to make a financial donation of £20 a month. We felt that helping women suffering from eating disorders, depression and self-harm was important ... It just means that for a period of time we decided to make a small monthly contribution to what we thought was a worthy cause ...”[1]
“Elfed Godding, national director of the Evangelical Alliance Wales is alleged to have said: “Mercy Ministries is not a member of the Evangelical Alliance. But Towy Community Church is." [1]
So readers, given the resurrection of the Mercy Ministry page on the Towy Community Church website, stating that “Towy Community Church is a partner church with Mercy Ministries UK” [2] and Mercy Ministries proclamation that, “We are also a member of the Evangelical Alliance, the largest body serving evangelical Christians in the UK,” [3] me old Nan’s words have come back to haunt me. Bless you Nan, you were the salt of the earth!
1. http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/church-linked-exorcists-given-council-2679320
2. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Gt9lEnE_yewJ:www.towychurch.co.uk/church/mercy-ministries.html+towy+community+church+mercy+ministries&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
3. http://www.mercyministries.co.uk/mercy-ministries-frequently-asked-questions.html
There are plenty of social workers that read this blog, unfortunately there is nothing they will do to protect these people unless something happens.... Obviously then its too late!
Money should not have been given to this organisation!!!
A qualification in social care does not necessarily mean we have wonderful caring people who will stand up and tell the council they are wrong!!god forbid they would lose their credibility within the council office and their job!! Yes they read the books, study and still listen to the criteria set by the council!!??????
I'm sure Jac o north has mentioned a particular member of staff linked to some form of church organisation....Follow the link from Jacqui thompsons blog!! Is this a truth I ask????.
You are right Anon 23.05 - evangelical meetings are held at this person's house most Tuesdays.
County Councillors please, please wake up before it's too late!
@ anon 23:05 - The reference to Social Workers, in my opinion is a little unfair to those who have spoken out and lost their jobs over it. The clue might lay in the LA's Financial Accounts under the heading, "other departures agreed." Until this is clarified, one can be forgiven for thinking that this could include compromise agreements or even holiday pay owing to employees dismissed. There is a lot that the public are unaware of presently!
In respect of "Money should not have been given to this organisation!!!" I and I am sure the majority of Carmarthenshire residents wholeheartedly agree with you.
Sorry, the point I was trying to get across in my message to Delyth above, is that organisations such as TCC etc, are described as "Social Work without accommodation," or in the case of Mercy Ministries UK, "Social Work with accommodation," and are set up by any Tom, Dick or Harry and go unregulated.
As for the particular member of staff you refer to. May God have mercy on his soul!
Anon 08.26
Isn't this a conflict of Interest and shouldn't this be declared?
Maybe we should all put our heads together and form a committee.
I find the whole situation very worrying indeed. It looks like we are going backwards not forwards.
Following hearing the facts of the death of the little 4 year old boy so brutally murdered by his mother and step father, and the comments made by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, that his death should be on 'all our consciences', what happens though when you complain, and continue to do so, but no one is listening and nothing is done about it? and if you keep on at them like I did, your life becomes a living hell at the hands of the Officers wishing to cover up the whole thing,and then investigating Officers and disciplinary Chairpersons are rewarded by promoting them to even higher paid jobs. It's not so easy, I know I've been there.
Committee sounds great!!, bring it on I for one would be extremely pleased to give my time for the benefit of the vulnerable inCarmarthenshire!!!
As for the money for other departures ...... There are many within social care that need to come under that in my opinn and still continue to work for the social car department!!!
Yes that is a personal opinion and I stand by it!!! Let them have their money conscience lives with them FOREVER!!!
As for comment 19.38, totally understand, the staff and their threatening behaviour.... Spot on with your comment!!, hope the councillors and hierarchy read this and take it on board!!!! I would love to speak to you.... We have so much in common!!! As do many others!!!
Cneifiwr, thank you for this blog and allowing us to speak freely and anonymously!!!
Delyth, THANK YOU!!! X x x
@ Anon 18:32 - Great idea and one which I would be proud to be part of!
@ Delyth 19:38 - Sadly, as I am sure the Trade Union can testify, your ghastly experience as a former employee is not unique. Currently, there is a lot that the public are unaware of! Keep up the good work and your campaign to regulate day centres.
@ Anon 02:22 - As we can deduce from Delyth's comment above and her horrendous experience described elsewhere in this blog, there are indeed many in Social Care, starting from the top down who deserve your opinion and should suffer the consequences.
Dear Anon @02.22 and anyone else interested. I am fortunate enough never to have needed Social Services, but I know there will come a day, just as my elderly father needs help now.
In other words, Social Services is not a field I can claim to know much about, but I understand how important these services are to so many.
I would be very happy to publish articles about social services in Carmarthenshire written by people in the field.
Obviously I would ask that anything that is written is truthful and accurate, and avoids libelling any individuals.
You can contact the author of the blog in confidence through the e-mail address at the top.
There are clearly things happening which are of real concern, and I hope that this blog can contribute to the debate, help people like me understand better what is happening and shine a little light on things.
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