15 February 2006
Dear Friend,
Hillsong Emerge has recently received media attention regarding an offer of funding for a Crime Prevention Program for youth in the Blacktown area.
The funding offer of $414,479 was made to Hillsong Emerge and six other community partners. Following the submission of the application, one of those partners, the Riverstone Aboriginal Community Association (RACA), withdrew its support of this partnership. RACA made a number of demands on the community partners and the government department responsible for the grant in order to remain committed to the partnership.
Many attempts were made to meet these demands, however all efforts to include RACA were unsuccessful. On 1 February 2006, we were advised by the Federal Government that the offer of funding had to be withdrawn due to the change in the original partnership structure. The government indicated that Hillsong Emerge and the remaining partners are welcome to reapply in future funding rounds.
The Australian newspaper's claim that Hillsong Emerge was "stripped of a $414,479 federal grant following allegations it obtained funds by exploiting and deceiving the Aboriginal Community", is totally untrue and without foundation.
Since Hillsong Conference 2005, The Australian newspaper has run articles attempting to attack and discredit Hillsong Church and its community initiatives through Hillsong Emerge. We believe these articles to be agenda driven and politically based.
Hillsong Church and Hillsong Emerge subscribe to a high level of accountability and ethical standards. While there may continue to be attacks on our credibility and name, we as a leadership, want to assure you that we remain committed to practices that are both legally and biblically above reproach.
There is a media section on our website
www.hillsong.com/media where you can find our responses to these types of news stories. We encourage you to take advantage of this not only for your reference but to set the story straight with work colleagues, friends, and family members who may be unfamiliar with our church.
Thank you for your continued love and support.
Yours faithfully,
George Aghajanian
General Manager
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It's an email i got ages ago