‘There was a lot of psychological bullying’.
by Megan Cornwell, Premier Christianity:
Matt and Beth Redman’s new film Let There Be Light explores the emotional abuse the couple experienced at the hands of Soul Survivor’s Mike Pilavachi. They spoke to Megan Cornwell about why they made it, and what they hope will change in the Church.
After all these years of carrying this, how does it finally feel to have your voices heard?
Matt Redman (MR): We’ve put out a couple of little statements in the past, but it’s been nice to speak in more detail. Really, the hope is that we’ll help a lot of victims. Every time we’ve said anything, there’s a wave of people coming forward. Hopefully this will unlock some more freedom for people – and help the Church think about some of these safeguarding structures.
Beth Redman (BR): When you can’t stay, but you can’t say, you can look flaky, or like you’re against something, but the truth is so different. We would have loved to have stayed in Soul Survivor and been part of that wonderful ministry, shaping the lives of young people.
It’s a relief to be able to tell the truth, but it still feels very sad. It feels, in many ways, we’re still doing it in isolation. The silence from a lot of leaders, even today, is part of the problem. Why can’t we just say: “It is wrong that somebody abused their platform and privilege, and we stand with survivors.” I don’t know what is so hard about that.
Do you have a sense of what is stopping leaders from speaking out?
MR: When this story first broke, I can understand why there was disbelief. Now, you’ve had the investigation – nearly 150 people were spoken to – and all of these claims of coercive control, emotional, psychological, spiritual, physical abuse have been substantiated.
At that point, it becomes harder to understand why there’s such a culture of silence. There can be a fear of say[ing] things in the social media domain, but it’s so important, because there’s people who need to be spoken up for.
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