Soul Survivor (charity)

Soul Survivor is a global Christian movement, based in Watford, Hertfordshire, part of the charismatic evangelical tradition.[1] From 1993 until 2019, it ran Christian summer festivals aimed at young people, as well as other events throughout the year. It is also the name of a church, centred around weekly worship services at its warehouses in Watford.

Soul Survivor
Founded1993
FounderMike Pilavachi, Matt Redman
Location
Area served
Worldwide
Members
1000 (Soul Survivor Watford, 2009)
35,000 (summer festivals)
Websitesoulsurvivor.com

Festivals

Soul Survivor was used as the branding of annual festivals, well known in British evangelical churches. The organisation was registered at Companies House in the UK, on 12 May 2000, and with the Charity Commission on 12 May 2011.[2][3] At their height, the festivals attracted 30,000 people annually, and in the financial year ending December 2019 during which the final festival took place, the charity had an income of almost £3,800,000.[3][4]

Beginnings

By 1993, the number of young people attending the annual New Wine charismatic evangelical Christian family conference every summer at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Somerset was sufficient for the organisers to launch a specific youth event. The first Soul Survivor conference took place in the summer of 1993, under the leadership of Mike Pilavachi, a youth worker at St Andrew's Church, Chorleywood.[5][4] The worship leader Matt Redman was also involved in the festival's founding.[6] Like New Wine, the Soul Survivor conferences were initially overseen by St Andrew's Church, before being established as independent entities.[4]

Growth of the festivals

1,896 young people attended the first Soul Survivor festival and in 1995, it was split across two weeks, named Soul Survivor A and Soul Survivor B.[4] By 2006, annual attendance across the two weeks was around 25,000.[7] Soul Survivor C was launched the following year at the Royal Cheshire Showground. In 2008, Soul Survivor A moved to the Stafford County showground with B and C remaining at the Royal Bath and West Showground. A fourth week was launched in July 2014 at the Thainstone Centre in Inverurie, later moving to Lendrick Muir in Kinross.[8] In 2017, Soul Survivor moved to the East of England Showground near Peterborough for the Soul Survivor B and Soul Survivor C festivals. The final Soul Survivor festival ended on 27 August 2019 at the East of England Showground, near Peterborough.[9]

Additional events

The Momentum festival, aimed at students and young adults in their twenties and thirties, was established in 2004. A further event, Naturally Supernatural, for the whole family, was launched in 2017.

Locations

Between 1993 and 2019, festivals were held at various sites across the UK. Brands and venues included:

Name Venue/Location Age Range Duration
Soul Survivor A Stafford County Showground, Staffordshire Teenagers 5 days
Soul Survivor B

Soul Survivor C

 Royal Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet (until 2017)

East of England Showground, Peterborough (2017-2019)

 Teenagers 5 days each
Naturally Supernatural Stafford County Showground, Staffordshire All ages 6 days
Soul Survivor Scotland Lendrick Muir, Kinross Teenagers 5 days

The festivals consisted of seminars, sporting events and art, music and drama workshops during the day, and a charismatic worship service followed by live bands in the evening.

Live albums

The worship events at the Soul Survivor festivals were often recorded, and each year a live album was released featuring the most popular new songs from the festivals. The albums contained original songs written by the worship teams, as well as traditional and contemporary songs from other artists and churches.

Soul Survivor Church, Watford

A church, based in two converted warehouses in Watford, Hertfordshire, shares the name Soul Survivor and has the same leadership team, but is a legally separate organisation. Started by Pilavachi, with a team of eleven from St Andrew's, Chorleywood, in its current form, the church was incorporated as a charitable incorporated organisation in June 2019.[4][10]

The church raised £1,789,628 to rebuild part of their site in June 2018.[11]

Soul Survivor Watford is a Bishops' Mission Order of the Diocese of St Albans,[12] and part of the Church of England.[13][14]

Soul Survivor
Mike Pilavachi in a Soul Survivor main meeting
DatesScotland: 21–25 July 2018
NSN: 28 July – 2 August 2018
Week A: 4–8 August 2018
Week B: 18–22 August 2018
Week C: 24–28 August 2018
Location(s)Staffordshire, Peterborough and Kinross
Years activeJuly 1993 - August 2019
Websitehttp://www.soulsurvivor.com/

Investigation into Mike Pilavachi

In April 2023, it was announced that Mike Pilavachi had "stepped back from all ministry," including his roles leading Soul Survivor, while an investigation was carried out into "non-recent safeguarding concerns".[15][16] The internal investigation was completed in September 2023, substantiating the allegations made against Pilivachi and concluding that "he used his spiritual authority to control people and that his coercive and controlling behaviour led to inappropriate relationships".[17]

Other events

UK
Main article: The Message Trust § Message 2000 and Festival:Manchester

In 2000, the Soul Survivor team partnered with The Message Trust on Message 2000 and Festival: Manchester, gathering 10,000 young people in the city.[4][18]

This was followed in 2004 with "Soul In The City", in London, a mission in which 20,000 young people from around the world gathered in the capital to undertake practical projects and evangelistic events.[19][4]

Soul Survivor also organised "Soul In The City Durban" which took place in Summer 2009 in Durban, South Africa.[20]

International

Soul Survivor has also held festivals and other events in the following locations:

Country Locations Established Status
Australia Melbourne 2000[21] Inactive (as of 2018)
Australia Sydney Active
Malaysia Selangor Active
Netherlands Putten 1998 Active
New Zealand Feilding 2007 Active
South Africa Durban Active
United States Newport Beach 2000 Active

Legacy

A seminar on vocation to Christian ministry was timetabled at the festival every year, often led by principals of Church of England training colleges.[4] Former Bishop of Kensington Graham Tomlin suggested that the events had a positive impact on the number of young church leaders training, particularly looking towards deployment in the church planting movement.[4]

The festivals were also influential in the growth of the charismatic worship movement in the UK.[4] Worship leaders Matt Redman and Tim Hughes, whose songs were sung internationally, began their careers at the events.[4]

See also

References
  1. "Women Directors Special: Soul Survivor". bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008.
  2. "SOUL SURVIVOR overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  3. "SOUL SURVIVOR - Charity 1080720". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  4. "Soul Survivor: Farewell in the Big Top". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  5. "History". Soul Survivor. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  6. Davies, Madeline. "'Honest songs will be relevant to people's lives'". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Church Times. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  7. "Soul Survivor Announces New Event for 2007". Christianity Today. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  8. "summer: Soul Survivor Scotland". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  9. "Soul Survivor festival to end in 2019". BBC News. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  10. "SOUL SURVIVOR WATFORD - Charity 1184088". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  11. writer, Christian Today staff. "Mike Pilavachi's 'day I'll never forget': Huge response to Soul Survivor rebuilding appeal". www.christiantoday.com. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  12. "SOUL SURVIVOR WATFORD - Charity 1184088". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Charity Commission. Retrieved 2 July 2023. Soul Survivor Watford is part of the Church of England and a Bishops Mission Order in St Albans Diocese.
  13. "Explainer: Soul Survivor". Religion Media Centre. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  14. "About". Soul Survivor Watford. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  15. "Christian youth festival founder quits over 'inappropriate massages' claim". MSN. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  16. "Safeguarding concerns related to church co-leader being investigated". Watford Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  17. "Concerns substantiated in Mike Pilavachi investigation". The Church of England. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  18. Cummings, Tony (June 2003). "Festival: Manchester". Cross Rhythms (75).
  19. Christian Today: Soul Survivor Announces New Event for 2007
  20. Soul In The City Durban
  21. Soul Survivor Melbourne: History Archived July 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
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