ALLEGATIONS of abuse or “harmful behaviour” spanning three many years at St Andrew’s, Chorleywood, the Charismatic Evangelical church that launched New Wine and Soul Survivor, have prompted the diocese of St Albans to announce a “call for safeguarding information” and a “listening exercise”.
Terms of reference (TOR) published by the diocese on Monday state: “In 2024 and 2025, following safeguarding disclosures made to the diocese of St Albans and St Andrew’s Chorleywood, it became clear that there are likely others who’ve been harmed prior to now and haven’t been heard.”
The cases were “unrelated to one another, but related in a technique or one other to St Andrew’s Chorleywood over the period Eighties, Nineteen Nineties, and 2000s”, it says.
“Individual cases are being handled in response to individual circumstances, but it surely is felt that the knowledge, when regarded as an entire, leads firstly to a call for information and, secondly, a listening exercise. These will facilitate the identification of any potential further cases and permit those that wish to interact within the listening exercise the chance to accomplish that.”
The TOR emphasise that “individuals may decide to submit information with none expectation of private interaction. . . Participation within the listening exercise is entirely optional and can only happen where individuals actively want to be listened to in a private and facilitated way.”
The public call for information, issued on Monday, includes details of how one can contact the diocesan safeguarding team, either anonymously or not. The voluntary listening exercise will entail a written or facilitated conversation with a safeguarding skilled, the terms of reference state.
A diocesan press release says that “people can share their experiences in the way in which that feels safest to them, either securely online or over the phone.” Any disclosures of abuse shall be managed in response to the Church of England’s current safeguarding code, including referral to statutory agencies where required.
A summary of the “information and themes arising” shall be collated, anonymously, and made public, with a planned date of June 2026.
This exercise is being led by the diocese of St Albans with “the complete support and cooperation of the PCC of St Andrew’s Chorleywood”, the TOR say.
The diocesan safeguarding team will liaise as essential with the National Safeguarding Team (NST). It shall be “directly managed in confidence” by a safeguarding case-management group (SCMG), led by an independent chair, His Honour Philip Waller, a retired Family Court judge.
Other members of the SCMG are: the Bishop of Hertford; the Archdeacon of St Albans; the diocesan director of communications; the diocesan safeguarding officer; the Revd Jos Perris (an NSM within the Langelei Benefice and safeguarding training co-ordinator and trainer for the diocesan safeguarding team); and three representatives of St Andrew’s, Chorleywood. These are the Vicar, the Revd Tim Horlock; William Seddon, who has worshipped on the church for greater than 25 years, served as a churchwarden, and is now member of the parish safeguarding team; and a current churchwarden, Simon Jones.
There shall be “strategic oversight” from the diocesan safeguarding advisory panel (DSAP), which, alongside the St Andrew’s PCC, will receive anonymised update reports. Where essential, reports shall be made to the NST, while “serious safeguarding concerns” will managed by the SCMG and reported to the Charity Commission, “in agreement with the safeguarding delegation of trustees at St Andrew’s Chorleywood”. This shall be entered on the DSAP risk register, and shall be subject to scrutiny inside that group.
Among the goals set out within the TOR are to “discover support needs and respond in accordance with a planned survivor care strategy”; to “discover any outstanding risks and respond appropriately”; and to “allow us to know and address the past with integrity”. The diocese seeks to “discover any patterns or themes in historical experiences which will warrant further attention or a safeguarding response”.
The exercise will include “experiences, disclosures, or information concerning safeguarding concerns or abusive behaviour (including spiritual, psychological, sexual, or physical abuse) which will have taken place in reference to St Andrew’s Chorleywood in the course of the Eighties-2000s” and “concerns regarding individuals formerly or currently connected with the church (clergy, staff, volunteers, or lay leaders)”. It can even consider “institutional or cultural aspects which will have enabled harm during that timeframe”.
The document states that it would not include “evangelical theology and practice, except where directly relevant to patterns of harm or unhealthy leadership behaviour” or “re-visiting criminal allegations already handled by the police or the courts but it surely may review how the church/diocese interacted with statutory agencies”.
The exercise has been launched within the wake of a joint investigation by the diocese and the NST that found that Mike Pilavachi, the founding father of Soul Survivor, had exhibited “coercive and controlling behaviour” that led to inappropriate relationships, the physical wrestling of youths, and the massaging of young male interns (News, 7 September 2023).
Mr Pilavachi joined St Andrew’s as a youth leader in 1986. The songwriter Matt Redman was 13 when he first met Mr Pilavachi on this context. He has since spoken of tolerating “harmful behaviours” from Mr Pilavachi (News, 9 April 2024).
The Vicar of St Andrew’s from 1977 to 1996, the Rt Revd David Pytches, died in 2023 (Obituaries, 8 December 2023). The review of Soul Survivor conducted by Fiona Scolding KC reported that, when Bishop Pytches learned from Mr Pilavachi that Mr Redman was being abused by his stepfather, he organised a gathering with Mr Redman’s mother and stepfather (News, 4 October 2024).
“There was ‘counselling’ of the abuser by the use of prayer and referral to counselling of him and his wife. . . It is known that the character of the counselling focused upon whether Matt’s mother was responsible for the abuse going down due to the nature of the conjugal relationship.” It was a yr before the police were informed, on the instigation of a GP.
Bishop Pytches arrived within the parish after serving because the Bishop of Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. St Andrew’s was the primary English church that John Wimber, the Vineyard evangelist, attended on his visit to the UK in 1981. His signs-and-wonders ministry had a right away effect: Bishop Pytches recalled “holy chaos”, during which individuals fell down within the pews (News, 8 June 2023).
In 1989, the church launched the New Wine festival. A movie marking the thirtieth anniversary described how Bishop Pytches and his wife had experienced “signs and wonders” in Chile, and had “a revelation of how the facility of the Spirit could impact their homeland and so they longed to see God move within the UK”. The New Wine network now spans 14 countries and greater than 1000 churches.
Mr Pilavachi ran the youth work at the primary New Wine festival, before launching the Soul Survivor festival in 1993 (he continued to steer the youth work at New Wine for quite a few years). A church, Soul Survivor, Watford, was also launched in 1993, as a plant from St Andrew’s.
The call for information and a listening exercise launched on Monday pertains specifically to St Andrew’s, Chorleywood. It doesn’t constitute a review or an investigation.
This week, Judge Waller said: “As chair of the Safeguarding Case Management Group, and as a former chair of the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisory Panel and a retired Family Court judge, I know the way vital it’s that we hearken to those that have been harmed.
“This process is about making a secure and respectful space for survivors to share their experiences, helping us to learn, to act responsibly, and to make sure accountability. I’m committed to making sure that this exercise is conducted with fairness, transparency, and the utmost care for many who come forward.”
The TOR offer reassurance that “a trauma-informed approach shall be utilized in all survivor engagement, ensuring all communication and engagement minimise re-traumatisation”. Anyone with relevant experiences or knowledge is invited to come back forward.
