The pastor who had an addiction

There is an interesting story that I found while browsing through Youtube. A pastor named Michael Guglielmucci based in Australia had told his congregation four years ago that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He then went on to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for his church by preaching throughout the world about his illness and even wrote a hit single about his situation. Then two years after he had said he had terminal cancer he came out saying it was all I lie and he made it up. Pastor Guglielmucci then confessed that he made up this story because he had been addicted to pornography for sixteen years.

This was obviously a crisis for Edge Church International, where he was a pastor and his father actually started the church. What it is interesting though is how he handled this crisis. The pastor first told his family, because they didn't know and then he went on to do a interview with a news station in Australia. During this interview he explained how ashamed he was of lying to so many people and how he knew it was wrong during the whole two years that he lied. He went on to say how all the money they had collected would be given back and the money made from the music sales would all go to charities. He asked for forgiveness from everyone effected from this lie and he physically looked saddened during the interview with what he had done. This situation was especially hard, because this was the son of the pastor who had started the church.

In the end though this technique of having one on one interview with a news channel and then the father publicly speaking to the congregation was able to stave off any bad effects. They may have lost some followers, but in 2008-2009 annual report they still increased their annual income to accumulate over 6 million dollars. Their approach was to ask for forgiveness and to be open about the lies. Since they are a christian organization the majority of their followers were able to forgive. If he had been in a press conference the situation may have turned out differently, but since it was in a controlled interview the really tough questions were never asked. His ability to show remorse also helped his cause and because this only effected those apart of the church, he was able to focus his message more.

References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcswYwQczPc
http://www.edgechurch.com/filestore/pdf/Edge_Church_International_Ltd_2009_Annual_Report.pdf