Sunday, December 6, 2009

Associate Pastors Join Hoodwink Game

In a latest development highlighted by a CT reader, Calvary Church's Associate Pastors, namely Pas Steven Kum (SK) and Pas Peter Ong (PO) has join in the hoodwinking game.

In an effort to restore Calvary's brand image, SK and PO have turned to an online marketing and public relations website to publicize their strategy to counter the adverse publicity generated by the recent expose in The Star newspaper on the crisis in our Church.

In an article entitled "Calvary calm on convention centre crisis" , the writer, Deborah Peter talks of Calvary's strategy to "not react strongly to recent allegations in the press about mismanagement of funds".

The article quoted Karthi Palanisamy, managing director of Crush Communications who said,
"Keeping quiet is a wise approach since the focus should be completely on the establishment's members [donors/contributors], solely to whom Calvary is accountable instead of the general public."

Mr Karthi Palanisamy was probably ignorant of the fact that Calvary Church has also received lots of funds from the general public in fund-raising events organised for the CCC project such as carnivals, golf and bowling tournaments, conserts, art auctions placed in a shopping complex and "Buy a brick" campaign as well as collections of donations from the public at Christmas and Easter shows at the stadiums.

CT is of the opinion that in a situation where contributions and donations from the general public have been solicited, the Church must be accountable to the public as well, not just the members.

Here are some statements and claims made in the article by our Associate Pastors :-

1. "Steven Kum, associate pastor of Calvary tells A+M this is the right strategy to pursue in order to restore the brand's image."

(CT never knew that our dear pastors regard "Calvary" as a brand. How snobbish have they become!)

2. "Calvary has not held back money in terms of CCC's building expenses. Also, Calvaryland, our large welfare home ministers to over 20 inmates, not 4," Kum said.

(CT is surprised that the number of inmates has suddenly jumped from 4 to 20. If the 20 are real inmates and not counting the care-givers, cook, gardener, security guards, the home staff and the Church ministerial staff, then it is good. Of course, there's still a lot more work to be done to justify the millions spent on the home.)

3. "Peter Ong, a fellow associate pastor confirmed the Calvary Convention Center (CCC) project has not been abandoned, instead has been temporarily put on hold."

(What cheek! Just a couple of weeks ago, the Church announced over the pulpit that they have served a notice of default and non-completion to the main contractor. Now, PO says the project has been temporarily put on hold. Isn't this called a lie?)

4. "Calvary Church under the leadership of Rev. Datuk Prince Guneratnam has a congregation of 3000 to 3500 (comprising 4 locations) and was established in 1968."

(CT is of the opinion that the pastors should be honest and upfront about the actual numbers of worshippers. At its peak, perhaps our Church had up to 3,500 including babies and toddlers but this is Not the situation now. At most, CT reckons the present number is about 2,500.)

Click here to read full article: Calvary calm on convention centre crisis


This is the statement that PG, BOD and Associate Pastors have constantly used to defend their actions, "Calvary believes situations arising within the church should be handled internally as opposed to having dirty laundry aired publicly."

CT has posted a research article in Berita Calvary which explains why the article in The Star newspaper, cannot tarnish our God's name in Malaysia. It may have rocked the image of Calvary Church KL and our Pastors and Deacons but God's image is unshakable.

Click here to read, "Crisis can Rock CC but cannot Rock God"


The "misleading" article is probably another PR and face-saving exercise, organised by our PG and Deacons.

.

15 comments:

CC Voting Member said...

Hi,

Referring to the article in http://www.marketing-interactive.com/news/16689, our APs sounded "childish"

a. " It's 20 not 4" Aiyo, one will expect the number of inmates in Calvaryland will have increased by now. The expectation is "in the hundreds" lah for a 30 million facilities. Guess who should have the number at the finger tips, its CC not CT !

b. "Temporarily put on hold" What ? Is this state of CCC planned or stumbled upon due to mismanagement on the part of CC/BOD leadership.
More important, why has our Sovereign God allowed it ?

Come on Pastors.

Stop treating us like naive children!!!!

December 5, 2009 7:12 AM
(Reposted by CT here)

WATCHMAN said...

RE: Article - "Calvary calm on convention centre crisis" by Deborah Peter

MISSES THE POINT TOTALLY

If there is 'sign' to tell us PG & BOD, and now, the Ass. Pas Steven Kum & Peter Ong --that they have lost it completely, the quotes below taken from the article say it all:

"Calvary has not held back money in terms of CCC's building expenses. Also, Calvaryland, our large welfare home houses 30 to 40 residents currently, not 4," Kum said.

The matter is not whether there are 4, *20, 30 0r 40 Residents!--CalaryLand is a FAILED project (cost RM10 MILLION and left idle) because it did not carry out what it was intended to do as spelt out to the world, no less.
* (by the way, when I was read it yesterday, it was stated 20,then today changed to 30-40.Overnight the increase '300%'-beware that's exactly how they will tell you, always manipulative with words & figures!! Wow, certainly 'amazing' --who did they 'grab' to make up the numbers. By their criteria/vetting it would have taken at least 6-10 years to reach this no. of residents)

Peter Ong, a fellow associate pastor confirmed the Calvary Convention Center (CCC) project has *not been abandoned, instead has been temporarily put on hold.

*Sure sounds like a pro Politician's answer! And Still no information release to the Congregation about the dire Consequences which they already know they are in a BLACK HOLE.

As part of its plan to repair its **brand image, Calvary has written a letter to the Star to set the record straight on what the church considers the facts of the story.
**BRAND image! so Calvary is concern with its Brand. This confirmed PG run it like a Company not a CHURCH for Jesus--God help us!

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating," Calvary's Kum said.
INDEED, we have 'tasted'--and it is POISON to be spat out.

CC under these sort of 'pastoralship' is a complete shame--their responses showed beyond any shadow of doubt, they are fallen 'ministers'.

December 5, 2009 3:56 PM
(Reposted by CT here)

Calvary calm on ccc??? said...

There is some discrepancy in the reporting in this article. When I first discovered this article which was posted on 3/12/09. it read as,
"Also, Calvaryland, our large welfare home houses 30 to 40 residents currently, not 4," Kum said."

After I commented in CT yesterday and later did a check again the website has changed this sentence to this,
"Also, Calvaryland, our large welfare home ministers to over 20 inmates, not 4," Kum said."

So somewhere between the first and second day of posting, the Author had the figures changed.

December 5, 2009 8:02 PM
(Reposted by CT here)

PR Tricks said...

I was utterly shocked to read pastor Steven Kum saying that church is pursuing "the right strategy in order to restore the brand's image".

When has church become a brand name? Shocking that pastors are treating the purpose of church to be similar to a brand name.. How hurt our Heavenly Father must be to see the way His shepherds are treating the Church? Doesn't it tell us how these leaders are playing and flirting around with worldly ways?

God does not need mere men to play branding for His church...it is because men have shamed His church that they now feel they have to plan a strategy to restore the brand's image!! It is best that these wayward pastors and leaders stop telling lies, repent and leave the church otherwise God will act to refine and cleanse the church leadership.

God will purge, purify and restore the Church's name, not through the means and plots of sinful men or through some skillfully devised PR or branding strategy!

December 5, 2009 10:15 PM
(Reposted by CT here)

servant of the cross said...

Wow! Damaged control by church PR department. Just like a corporate that faces a scandal.

Faithfulness. Dependability. Trustworthiness. All of these are different facets of the same character trait.

God ordained the local church to be a gathering of the faithful. In an EARLIER GENERATION, members of a local congregation made a commitment to God and to each other to be the visible representation of God's light to their community. Commitment to a local congregation was synonymous with commitment to the Lord. Scandal like this was a rarity, if it happened at all.

Today, CC as I read & perceived is run like a company. An egoistic leader building his own kingdom and own vision. And imposing these visions to the naive sheeps. (If it is god’s will and visions it will not fail.)

So they decided to they must "market" themselves to attract and hold potential and keep existing "customers." But churches that cater to what the "customers" want to hear can seldom afford to share with those people the message they desperately need to hear.

So how important is faithfulness? Pick up your newspaper and see how many tragic headlines can be traced to a lack of faithfulness. A politician demanding and receiving bribes while in office. He peddled public contracts for personal gain. Faithfulness. Dependability. Trustworthiness. Everyone values it: few practice it consistently. Yet models of faithfulness do exist. Many live lives of faithful obscurity-their reliability taken for granted. Others have demonstrated faithfulness while in the public eye. Billy Graham has always been one of my personal heroes. A lifetime of service without a hint of financial or sexual impropriety.

God Bless!

December 5, 2009 11:21 PM
(reposted by CT here)

Gangrene Poisoning said...

The lying habit is like gangrene and it has spread from the SP and SAP to Associate pastors and BOD and buddies group...

The body will be entirely poisoned and lead to disastrous results.. what a good surgeon has to do is actually to remove the infected portion and isolate it or else the good parts will also turn bad.

What a shame that the poison has been festering for past two years. Now we are wondering, watching out and waiting for God's intervention to stop this terrible CC leadership demise from happening...

Why are CC pastors and BOD still so stubborn to cling to their lies and empty talk? The plots and plans have already been exposed, so there can be no more hiding.

Crisis management is already too late....Pastors and BOD better to ask for God's forgiveness, repent from your wayward ways, and at least save some face of whatever little that is left, now rather than be sucked in further into the mud.

Is writer our outreach pastor's wife? said...

Just being a busy-body but I think the Deborah Peter may be our outreach pastor Andrew Peter's wife.

If I am right, then she is also working for Datuk Sri Ram, PG's strong supporter. You guys should remember his whole family. His son, mother and in-laws were the ones who put the resolution for members who don't give to CC must be discipline by BOD or something like that. They also put resolution to close all blogs. Remember?

I may be wrong, because got many Deborah Peter in Malaysia.

'God Has Spoken' said...

From the Sunday service (06 Dec 09) message by a Pastor at a local Church—
this is what sound and Spirit filled good teaching is:

When the church is not a House of Righteousness— It becomes a house of RIDICULE! How true, as it is happening in CC.

Here are few KEY Markers to know if God’s Glory is in the House. ( when there is God’s presence there is always God’s glory) Does CC under the ‘shepherding’ of PG & his BOD & Assoc pas. has them?

Marker 1. When the voice of God’s Word is heard.
(Matt 17:2-5; Acts 9:1-6, Rev1 :12))
But, , in CC PG hears only his own voice and so do the BOD & Ass.Pas and hypnotized followers

Marker 2. When Jesus Christ ALONE is magnified
But in CC, PG glorify SELF, and BOD, Ass.Pas and hypnotized followers worship PG.

Marker 3. When we are all KINGDOM minded. (Amos 5:4-5) God says not to seek the (physical) place which will be reduced to nothing!
But, PG is Brick & Mortar minded—building CCC monument to impress with the “feel good” factor! to show SUPERFICIAL concern for the sheep, marginalized, destitute, sick & poor, needy, but has great concern & emphasis for things of personal interest and with gains! -- the list of
which have already been amply exposed herein CT by all & sundries.

The most tragic of all in the present CC crisis, PG, his BOD & Ass.Pas and hypnotized followers think, perhaps like Samson, that ‘ he can go out as before and shake himslef free’ (Judges 16:20)
BUT he did not know that the Lord had left him.

IN THE LIGHT said...

VESTED INTEREST?

It is known Sri Ram has in his business stable a construction business too. And he is said to be roped-in by PG/BOD or had actually ' volunteered' to be in involved in the multi million CCC project. Well, how & why and on what terms only they would know-- because nothing is ever disclosed for decisions taken "behind closed doors".

PG & BOD may continue to "manage" the crisis in their Sly ways by whatever means: intimidation, PR spin, smear campaign etc, but those who are pressing for the TTG CAUSE will surely prevail as God stands with them.

Kelvin T.L. Lim said...

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

Ps. Kelvin Lim here from Johor Bahru. I have been following Calvary Today (CT) closely for a while now... and I have been praying for the Lord's intervention that healing, restoration and forgiveness may take place for all in Calvary Church (CC).

I have and will always be an encourager for Truth, Transparency & Godly Governance and an advocate for a closure to the whole saga.

However, the fight still lingers-on... the situation has not change or improve... the original purpose of the blog has somewhat been clouded by personal accusations, opinions etc.

I know that I am stirring the hornet's nest... but I pray that we come to an understanding that we will have to give an account for our actions, speech, behavior etc. (I am NOT exempted too) in everything we do (leaving your comments in this blog too).

It is my encouragement to you... brother & sisters, that we leave the whole situation to the Lord... as the Lord is just & righteous.

The offending party and everyone else will not escape His judgement. Lets move-on.

3Rs... Real, Realistic & Relevant!

lwb said...

is this why Jesus Christ said "it's much harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God than a camel to go through the eye of the needle"?

perhaps when this entire saga is all over.. we can all look back and ponder as to why a church accumulates so much earthly wealth in the first place?

does earthly wealth teaches us anything about faith, or how we measure our faith in today's term?

sometimes i do wonder if a plain, 2 copper coins can achieved more for the Kingdom of God than, hundreds of million of ringgit?

help me see.. oh Lord.

old time member said...

Hello Ps Kelvin Lim,

Nice to hear from you again. This is the time of the year I remember you clearly as one of the soldiers in our Christmas presentations years gone by.

Now coming to your observation that CT is now clouded by personal accusation. I have also been following CT very closely. From what I observe, CT has been reporting to the members what TTG have discovered and what TTG have done. We know in details the resolutions they submitted for our AGM and even the task force meetings.

We must appreciate CT people for keeping us updated and letting us know exactly what is happening and what the church has done wrong. For years we have been giving our hard earned money which I feel very angry that SP, AP & BOD have used our money for personal purposes and not helping the poor as they have announced to us.

How can anyone report such kind of action and not get upset especially when you have no power to do anything. Even now when I read that "the church has engaged a well known lawyer to defend them" my blood is boiling.

You see, instead of calling for a meeting with the members to solve the problem, they use church money, people's offering money given to God to further the Kingdom of God, they take to pay for legal fees to big time lawyer to fight in court.

Whose doing all this? PG & BOD.
Whose decision all this? PG & BOD.

The church and members cannot do anything, so you blame us for commenting personally about them. Young man, although I respect you as a pastor but let me tell you, we are all aware that we are accountable for what we say. I believe CT people also know that they are accountable for what they say and I tell you young pastor, all they are saying is the truth, exactly what is happening in Calvary church. I know because I also attend the AGM and other meetings and I also check to see if these people tell the truth or make up stories. So far they only report the things that really happened in the meetings.

MORE OFFERING PLEASE? said...

$$$ DOWN THE DRAIN!

"the church has engaged a well known lawyer to defend them"

This is yet ANOTHER WRONGFUL use of CC's members offering to Cover-up PG & BOD!
They have been using money from CC's coffer for all useless purposes as a result of all their own Blunders/covetousness :
-Architect & Consultants fees for all the 3 failed CCC
Plans since Hartamas time,
-Top Lawyers fee for their "Opinions" for issues
such as the contentious vote from Congregation
"Vote" for CCC,
-Transfer of approx. RM2 MILLION to CIM, PG's
lavish Lifestyle in the disguise of 'missions' travel
- More Consultant Fees for CIM's hanky-panky
- More $$$ for the Stop Work of CCC for BIG TIME LEGAL CASE with Main Contractor!

ALL the monies of CC are spent on to cover their sinful acts !!!
May GOD have mercy on His people to stop PG & BOD from plundering the Church any further.

No More God's Presence n Glory in CC said...

PG and BOD are fleecing CC members and worshippers to cover their own sins. PG and BOD are being brought to court to answer for their own wrong doings and unjust acts but why are they so daring to use church funds to cover their own sins?

These wayward leaders have no right to use the church funds to save their own skins! They should use their own monies to defray the legal costs. Church funds are collected for specific purposes and not to cover PG, pastors and BOD's unrighteous deeds.

In the first place if they are Christlike these matters shouldn't have arisen and as they had already happened then, these leaders should repent and step down immediately. Why was there the need for the legal action to take place and consequently why do PG and BOD need to "seek out a well known lawyer to defend them"?

Isn't it because they were all unrighteous and irresponsible and dragged CC down the road of deception and shame...and further wasting all the monies which were meant for God's kingdom work.

There is no more fear of God in CC and God's voice is no longer heard in Calvary Church. Jesus' Name is no longer magnified in CC only PG's name is important and the SP and BOD's faces have to be safe guarded. CC leadership has missed out on being kingdom minded instead CC leadership is now so engrossed to build the shell and core CCC at all expense.. it is all about the magnificent rainbow building BUT the presence of God and God's glory has already left Calvary Church.

The saddest part of it all is that because of their own sins and refusal to repent for the last two years PG, pastors and BOD are not even aware that God's presence and glory has already left CC!

ABC said...

Ps Kelvin Lim & Old Time member

I concur with Old Time member who explains very well to Pastor Kelvin Lim but I wish to add something. It takes a lot of lies to cover one lie....this seems the way PG, PG2, BOD are going.

There is one incident in particular about Ps Phil Stevenson about the failure to give him the love offerings collected for him..... it was one of the "malicious allegations" but it turned out to be true by the short audio sent by Ps Phil himself.

When King Saul disobeyed, the Lord removed His spirit from him......
then the Lord gave the Israelites King David.....

Can this not be the way, the Lord will deal with our PG?

ABC

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