At a community
meeting on Sunday 20th of November, representatives of the Hillsong community
service arm, Emerge, met with local community members to address concerns about the distinction
between religious recruitment and social welfare.
Leigh
Coleman, head of Emerge, says
the organisation is a professional
charity and does not believe it is appropriate to bring religion into welfare
activity.
Emerge has been operating in the
area for several years and runs programmes including financial assistance for families
in need, a non-residential drug service, aged care,
micro enterprise development and
personal development courses for girls in local high schools. Emerge is
funded by Hillsong
Church member donations
and works under the Redfern Waterloo Authority.
It is legally classified as separate from the sometimes-controversial Hillsong Church.
One of the chief
community concerns raised at the recent meeting was the ‘street
teams’. Street teams, identified by
their bright orange T-shirts, are made up of volunteers from Hillsong Church
who wander targeted streets offering help to residents with tasks such
as gardening. Emerge’s Vera Coleman insists the volunteers have strict orders “not to cross the line”
in pushing the Hillsong religious agenda
onto those they help.
Emerge said
volunteers were subject to reprimand for crossing the line, but that if someone
asked about religion then they were encouraged to assist the person in coming to Hillsong. They admitted this
sometimes involved physically taking people to Hillsong services. A young
female street team member said street teams were about “building
community and building family” and that the vast majority of those whom
volunteers help never attend a Hillsong service.
The 188 Kids programme,
run by the Church arm, also sparked a level of distrust among some who feel Hillsong is targeting young, vulnerable children. 188 Kids
volunteers run activities and bible story workshops for young primary
school-aged children on the weekend at the PCYC. Hillsong representatives
stressed that parental permission is needed
before any child is allowed to attend.
Faye Williams, a
secular welfare worker, argued that there
are many organisations doing similar
work to Emerge in the area that do not enjoy the same generous funding. Further concerns were raised about Hillsong
activities in schools and whether religious ideology influenced the advice
given to students on questions of sex and sexuality.
Emerge, however, got the thumbs up from the Aboriginal Housing Company, which congratulated the organisation on its good work in the community.
Mick Mundine said
that Emerge shows love in the community and should not be condemned. Leigh Coleman also expressed support for the AHC, which he said was the expert
authority on many social issues and strategies for Redfern.