Monday, 24 April 2023

New discovery: the other intern programme, where Mike Pilavachi personally invites the participants


If you visit the Soul61 website, there's not a lot to see right now. The website is flagged as under construction. Given the details that have been removed from the Soul Survivor Watford website that seems quite convenient. So I thought I'd take closer look at Soul61. And I made some discoveries that surprised me.

Where does this info come from?

I used the Wayback Machine to turn back the clock to how the Soul61 website looked in these years: 2013, 2016, 2022. Sadly, it didn't have archives from the other years. More on how this works at the bottom my previous post.

Information for the course in 2022/2023 is very limited in text form. A video of Pilavachi explaining the course is given. Sadly the Wayback Machine has problems archiving videos so this isn't available.

I happened to take a look at one of the trustees' reports that Soul61 are obliged to file at Companies House. That was surprisingly informative. So I looked up the reports from all the other years. You can see these for yourself - go to the Soul61 page and look at any of the files labelled 'Total exemption full accounts'.


Not one, but two intern programmes

In my previous post the I found the text changes mentioned 'intern' and 'soul61 leadership'. I jumped to the conclusion that these meant the same thing, and the words were interchangeable. 

I was wrong.

You see, Soul61 have run two different programmes. And their differences are quite striking.


The Leadership course

The Leadership Course features heavily on the Soul61 website in 2013, 2016 and 2022. 

It seems to have open entry - you fill out the form provided on the website. References are required. However, it might be that some candidates are turned down at a later stage in the process.

The Leadership Course costs money to join - £4,650 in 2013, £6,500 in 2016, £3,000 in 2022.  That figure includes accommodation, but not food.

One aspect of the programme every year is the opportunity to go on trips with Pilavachi. This is phrased like this in 2013:

In addition, the course has optional overseas ministry trips with Mike. In the last couple of years Soul61 students have gone all over the world: California, New Zealand, Norway, Australia, Holland. The point of these trips is to see what God is up to around the world and to learn about ministry in different contexts. It really is a great way to learn how to think like a leader. It’s also a great chance to hang out, travel and for Mike to show you some of his favourite restaurants. Those of you who draw the short straw might end up on a trip to Birmingham with Andy.

(Source Placements in March 2013

If we check this against the trustee's reports for Soul61, we see that some trips were large (22 to Cambodia in 2011-2012) and others were smaller (5 went to Holland in the same year). 

The Soul61 website says all participants of The Leadership Course live together.
(Source: FAQs in April 2016)

The Leadership Course took 18-39 people each year in 2013-2022 (except in 2020-2021 when it paused due to Covid).
(Source: all of the Companies House reports)

The Leadership Course has a structure. There's a teaching strand to the course - 2 days per week in 2013. Teaching comes from Andy Croft and a range of other speakers, including Ali Martin, Beth Croft, Jeannie Morgan and Mike Pilavachi. There also seem to be 3 days per week 'on placement' for the participants. Options in 2013 were: church planting, events management, kids' work, media, outreach, production, youthwork. By 2016 this had evolved into two streams: leadership and worship.

(Sources: Teaching page in July 2013 and The Leadership Course page in April 2016)

It's open to those aged 18-24




The Intern programme

Mike Pilavachi selects the interns on this programme:

Interns are generally those that Mike Pilavachi meets (through his role as Executive Director for Soul Survivor or as Pastor of Soul Survivor Watford Church), whom he feels demonstrate strong leadership potential. Mike Pilavachi invites these individuals to shadow him on his speaking engagements for a year.

(Source:2017-2017 Trustees report, page 3)

Interns seem to have different activities. See this extract from the 2015-2016 trustees report:

...four additional students travelled alongside Mike Pilavachi on his UK and international engagements.


The intern programme is free:

Intern costs are funded by donations, primarily from Soul Survivor Watford and Soul Survivor Ministries.


Interns seem to live in the same accommodation as those on The Leadership Programme:

When they are in Watford, the interns also share accommodation with the Soul61's [sic], and attend the same teaching.

(Source of both extracts:2017-2017 Trustees report, page 3)


Soul61 took 2 - 4 interns each year from 2011-2022.
(Source: all the reports from Companies House)


There are no mentions of the intern programme on the Soul61 website in 2013, 2016, or 2022. It's possible that it's mentioned in the video on the 2022 website.


There are no mention of interns on the Soul61 Twitter account



So...

The question this sparks for me is... why? Why is one Soul61 venture given so much more online publicity than the other?


---
Update: I dug deeper into the intern programme and found some odd lines of accountability


Tuesday, 18 April 2023

Why did Soul Survivor remove these phrases from their website?

When news of the investigation broke, I spotted a recent change that had been made to the Soul Survivor Watford website. I’ve taken another look and discovered many more changes that I missed first time.


On the Soul Survivor Watford website - Meet the Team

On this page four of the biographies had phrases taken out between 22nd March and 10th April. The change may have occurred before or after the announcement. In addition, as previously noted, the Mike Pilavachi section was moved down the page.


Andy Croft section 

22nd March (highlight added by me)

Andy is the Senior Pastor of Soul Survivor Watford. He is married to Beth (who often leads worship for us) and they have four young sons. As a teenager, Andy was one of Mike’s interns, he then went on to get a First Class Degree from Cambridge in Theology before coming back to work for us. Andy has authored a number of books with Mike, loves to work out at the gym with a Rocky soundtrack as motivation, and is a big C.S. Lewis fan.

10th April

Andy is the Senior Pastor of Soul Survivor Watford. He is married to Beth (who often leads worship for us) and they have four young sons. Andy got a First Class Degree from Cambridge in Theology before he came to work for us. He has authored a number of books with Mike, loves to work out at the gym with a Rocky soundtrack as motivation, and is a big C.S. Lewis fan.


Mike Pilavachi section

22nd March (highlight added by me)

Mike started this church family in 1993 by gathering a bunch of people who wanted to reach out to teenagers in Watford. He also started the Soul Survivor charity and has been awarded an MBE for his services to young people. In his previous life he was an accountant who could never quite balance the books but now he travels the world sharing his passions for Jesus and terrible jokes. At home he loves to sit in his garden, watch his grape vines grow and cook Greek feasts. He has written a number of books (most with Andy) including Wasteland, Storylines, Everyday Supernatural and Lifelines. 

10th April

Mike started this church family in 1993 by gathering a bunch of people who wanted to reach out to teenagers in Watford. He also started the Soul Survivor charity and has been awarded an MBE for his services to young people. Mike loves to sit in his garden, watch his grape vines grow and cook Greek feasts. He has written a number of books (most with Andy) including Wasteland, Storylines, Everyday Supernatural and Lifelines.


Jon Stevens section 

22nd March (highlight added by me)

Jon has been part of the church family for 25 years and working for us since 2015. Fresh out of uni he travelled the globe with Mike (which he tells us does count as work) before becoming part of the senior management team at Starbucks and then Heathrow. Jon helps shape our structures, pastoral teams and our administration (i.e. he keeps everything ticking).  He was ordained a priest in 2020 and is also a curate at St Albans Cathedral.  Married to Clare, with three kids, he makes an amazing Waga's katsu curry and takes great pride in his luscious green lawn!

10th April

Jon has been part of the church family for 25 years and working for us since 2015. He was part of the senior management team at Starbucks and then Heathrow before coming to work for us. Jon helps shape our structures, pastoral teams and our administration (i.e. he keeps everything ticking).  He was ordained a priest in 2020 and is also a curate at St Albans Cathedral.  Married to Clare, with three kids, he makes an amazing Waga's katsu curry and takes great pride in his luscious green lawn!


James Barlow section 

22nd March (highlight added by me)

James joined us from Stafford in 2011 when he was on our Soul61 leadership course. He’s been part of the team here and at Soul Survivor on and off ever since! He trained in theology and youth ministry and has just been ordained. As well as being part of the team here, James is Curate in Charge at St Andrew’s Watford. His busy life is fuelled by his love of coffee. James is married to Be (who looks after our children’s work) and they recently became parents to a gorgeous little girl.

10th April

James joined us from Stafford in 2011 and he’s been part of the team here and at Soul Survivor on and off ever since! He trained in theology and youth ministry and has just been ordained. As well as being part of the team here, James is Curate in Charge at St Andrew’s Watford. His busy life is fuelled by his love of coffee. James is married to Be (who looks after our children’s work) and they recently became parents to a gorgeous little girl.


See for yourself:


Soul Survivor Website - Home page

On this page the Soul 61 section was modified between the dates listed.

21st March (highlights mine)

Soul61 is the part of Soul Survivor that’s about identifying, training and equipping young leaders. We are currently running an intern programme where young leaders come and spend time with Mike and the team in Watford. If you would like to support the work of Soul61, you can give here. Thank you!

Current version

Soul61 is the part of Soul Survivor that’s about identifying, training and equipping young leaders.


See for yourself:



How do we know these changes happened?

The evidence of these changes is captured from the Wayback Machine, a facility run by a US charity called the Internet Archive. They trawl the Internet using automation at regular intervals archiving the content of websites. The frequency of checks tends to reflect the profile of the website. For example, they archive the BBC home page several times a day. 

The Soul Survivor Watford and Soul Survivor websites are lower-profile, and archived less frequently. The information here is taken from the closest working archive dates to the announcement of the investigation.

We can't tell who requested these changes. Pilavachi may not have known about these.


Update on 25th April 2023 I've looked more closely at the history of the Soul61 website and made a surprising discovery.