An Open Letter To Soul Survivor
Soul Survivor Watford
Unit 5-7 Greycaine Road
Watford
WD24 7GP
A Constructive Proposal for Accountability, Healing, and Dialogue
Dear Soul Survivor Leadership Team
My name is Kevin Jessup and I was a participant on the BodyBuilders discipleship course in 1997. I write not only in my own capacity, but in solidarity with several others who, like me, now recognise ourselves as victims in the Soul Survivor scandal involving Mike Pilavachi and the organisational systems that enabled him.
This is not an easy letter to write. But I believe it is an important one. My aim here is to offer a constructive and actionable proposal - one that honours ongoing harm, yet points toward a different response from Soul Survivor as an organisation.
Background & Context
For many of us deeply involved in the Soul Survivor community - through festivals, local events, workshops and courses, what has come to light regarding Mike Pilavachi did not arrive out of nowhere. It affirmed patterns of spiritual/emotional control, manipulation, coercion, abuse, and silencing we experienced or witnessed over many years.
While the Church of England’s safeguarding process has concluded, the human process is far from over. To survivors, the silence that has followed feels like a continuation of abandonment - a culture that always put image, brand, and ministry ahead of real people’s pain.
We also accept that moving forward honestly will come at a cost: financial, emotional, institutional. It may transform how Soul Survivor operates. But after decades of pain, confusion, betrayal, and complicity, listening to and validating survivors is not optional - it is long overdue.
A Constructive Proposal: A Safe, Accountable Listening Space
In consultation with other survivors, past attendees, and former staff, we believe a practical and symbolic step the organisation can take is:
Establish a regular "listening space" or open forum - initially once a month, in person
(potentially in Watford) and/or online - where survivors, former staff, and attendees can share experiences.
This is not about PR, theology, or debating the past. It is about:
• A safe, professionally facilitated environment (by independent, trauma-aware facilitators, not current staff).
• A space where people can speak honestly about experiences in Soul Survivor, without interruption, denial, or judgement.
• A place where Soul Survivor as an organisation can listen, learn and begin to rebuild trust, not by defending the past, but by showing willingness to face it.
Why This Matters
Such a space would serve key purposes:
1. Healing & Validation - acknowledging survivors’ experiences as serious and worthy.
2. Accountability - admitting that harm was systemic, not just individual.
3. Transparency & Change - modelling leadership that listens before explaining.
4. Prevention - hearing lived experience is one of the truest safeguards against future harm.
Suggested Practical Steps
To ensure integrity, safety, and credibility:
• Partner with independent safeguarding and survivor-support professionals to design and facilitate these sessions.
• Publicly invite past attendees/survivors to participate, offering anonymity options.
• Publish a clear statement of purpose, affirming this initiative is survivor-centric, not a PR exercise.
• Commit to listening before responding - allow the first months to be about hearing, not defending.
It is also essential this process is led within Soul Survivor, not outsourced. Healing and accountability must be visible acts of institutional ownership.
We further propose forming an independent oversight board, appointed transparently, with diverse membership (faith, no faith, varied backgrounds). This helps ensure fairness, credibility and guard against insularity or self-protection.
Survivors and supporters need to see that Soul Survivor is taking active responsibility, not simply passing matters onto others so the institution can continue unchallenged.
In Closing
This proposal is not an accusation for accusation’s sake, nor an attempt to re-open wounds purely for pain. It is a call for reflection, empathy, and meaningful transformation.
I urge you to take this proposal with the seriousness it demands and respond in a manner that reflects the gravity of this request. I am hearing profoundly sad and painful stories being shared with me, as people recount their experiences via
www.soulsurvived.org. With so little acknowledgment of Mike Pilavachi and the wider scandal now on the Soul Survivor Watford website, it feels as though there is an attempt to wipe the slate clean and move on. The past cannot be erased, not for those who were deeply hurt, traumatised, and permanently affected and damaged by the actions of Mike Pilavachi and the leadership culture that enabled him.
I was shaped by Soul Survivor and once believed deeply in its vision. I still hope
that something redemptive can emerge from this painful chapter - but only if the organisation chooses honesty, openness, and listening over silence.
I welcome the chance to discuss how this could be developed further. I believe other survivors would too.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin Jessup