The ARISE Church in New Zealand, after an independent review of abuse and misconduct, is refusing to pay the legal bills of the person they hired to conduct the independent review of abuse and misconduct… even though her legal problems were a direct result of the investigation.

Last year, the problems at ARISE became news outside the evangelical world after journalist David Farrier wrote about them. It was a big deal because ARISE had a dozen satellite locations throughout New Zealand, an eight-figure budget, and a membership of over 10,000 people. It was only after a former member told Farrier about the abuse and emotional manipulation within the church that he began digging into the details.

He learned that members were expected to give the church far more than a mere tithe, that “interns” had to pay for the privilege of “serving” the church, that a pastor and his brother were aggressive to the point of physical abuse, and that non-disclosure agreements were used to maintain silence. Later, Farrier wrote about a former church member who alleged sexual abuse by her ex-boyfriend—a leader in the church—only to be chastised by another leader for having pre-marital sex with her new boyfriend.

The reporting had an effect. Last May, ARISE announced that the founders and lead pastors of the church, John and Gillian Cameron, along with John’s brother Brent, were all resigning.

ARISE’s governing board apologized for “the pain and suffering some staff and volunteers have encountered” and admitted to being “unnecessarily demanding or aggressive”… but they didn’t confirm specifics. Instead, they said they had hired an outside group, Pathfinding, to conduct an independent review.