None of the material on this website implicates the general members of the congregation.

From firsthand experience, the congregation are genuine Christian people, sincerely seeking a connection with God.

The current leaders of the CFO are the same men who led the organization when it commenced some 50 years ago.

Back then, those among the congregation, like me, were rightly excited about what our church had to offer the community. We expected a great influx, and we prepared for that with large-scale building programs to cater for them.

Fifty years on, and none of that has eventuated. In fact, some CFOs are down to a few dozen loyal families and the second and third generations from those families that were born into the church.

This has to represent a failed opportunity in anyone’s view.

The congregation has diligently poured themselves into every aspect of the ‘Elder’s Program’. The CFOs leadership could not have expected any more from them.

Reports from the inside.

The reports coming from current and former congregants carry one repeated theme.

‘This is a Church without life and going nowhere.’

The question should be asked, ‘Well, why does it still exist at all’?

The creators of this website are asking that same question, and we make the following observations:

• The CFO is flush with far more cash and assets than are necessary to serve the dwindling congregations they receive each Sunday.
• This appears to handicap the capacity for the Christian message to promulgate.
• It appears the underutilized assets of the CFO could be better used by other churches, showing growth and relevance to the community.

So why wouldn’t the leaders of the CFO not find more worthy custodians of these assets?

That would require a level of self-reflection that included the possibility that the direction the CFO leaders are promoting is simply wrong.

It would require those leaders to be prepared to give up leadership control of the CFO to others and to resign their positions and employment.

The questions in the online survey on this website explore these very issues.

The Elephant in the Room

It is vital to keep all possibilities in mind. And one cannot look past the elephant in the room. These leaders receive very attractive employment conditions.

• Tax-free interest-free loans with no repayments necessary.
  • $2.5M of these private loans to the Presbytery existed on 30 June 2024. This was an increase of $920,000 in the 12 months since 30 June 2023.

• A very credible witness has confirmed to Samson Rising that these loans are often never repaid to the Church.

• They are forgiven as rewards for achieving outcomes that suit senior leadership, or they are forgiven when a member of the Presbytery retires’.

• This means $2.5M of money gifted to the CFO as ‘Tithes’ is being given away to the leaders. This website is in the process of estimating how much money has been given to the Presbytery (via the forgiveness of private loans) since 2013. This information is publicly available on the ACNC website. We’ll report this figure to you soon.

• Entertainment (hospitality) expenses of $218,098 for 2023.

• Overseas and Interstate travel expenses $266,930 for 2023.

• Private motor vehicle expenses of $208,312 for 2023.

• Private health insurance paid by the church.

• Plus, salary and superannuation.

Many of the Presbytery are now aging, and finding other employment would likely be a daunting contemplation.

Men of that age usually have an eye on their retirement fund balance and focus on building retirement savings to support them in retirement.

Elsewhere on this website we detail how the control mechanisms of the CFO could be used by a small group of men to maintain control indefinitely.

Samson Rising is calling for an investigation by the ACNC and the Office of Fair Trading as to whether:

• Pay conditions of CFO leadership are excessive in the circumstances?
• Independent advice has been sought to ensure the pay conditions of leaders are in line with public expectations and comparable organizations.
• The control mechanisms available to CFO leadership are being used to improperly retain control and thus represent a conflict of interest.
• The appointments and retention of so many family members to the committees and ministry positions can be justified.
• The decades-long re-election of the same people to committee positions is consistent with the governance requirements of the ACNC and the public interest.

The Samson Rising team believes those Committee members who’ve had control of the CFO for so long should consider stepping down and allowing fresh ideas to find their way into Committee policies and procedures.

By completing the online survey on this website, you will be providing information that will assist the ACNC and the Office of Fair Trading in answering some of the questions we’ve referred to above. The online survey is the most important part of this website.