The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 74

74 The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, October 13, 1990 IB -si ix l-J II LJ 1 1 i -'0 Church assest the Toowoomba Motel. Pastor Howard Carter preached morality to the congregation which financed his affluent lifestyle. Then he was caught having an adulterous affair, greg Roberts looks at the saga of Australia's Jim Bakker. When his booming voice resounded around the hall during his weekly sermons, the audience was spellbound. "You have to hear Howard when he gets going to realise what it's like," said a former church member.

"He is absolutely mesmerising. Everything is said with such conviction and intensity, you feel emotionally exhausted at the end. He has you in the palm of his hand." The Howard Carter story begins in humble circumstances. When he founded the Logos Foundation in 1966 as a Christian educational organisation in his native New Zealand, he was a simple Baptist minister. Three years later he moved to Sydney to join a fundamentalist church, the Christian Faith Centre.

In 1971, the opportunity arose for Carter and his supporters to buy a building in Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains, which became Logos's headquarters. In the same year, he founded the Covenant Evangelical Church with a membership of 17. Since CHILLI westerly was blowing when 700 people gathered few 4 had been handled. Maureen Eddison, for many years a Logos member, said the letter was not truthful. "They should not try to make the situation look better than it really is," she said.

Mrs Eddison's family moved to Toowoomba six years ago to join the Logos community. Hers was one of five families which left everything behind in their home town of Mackay, on the Central Queensland coast. All five families have now left Logos, Mrs Eddison said. "The main problem was we felt we had lost control over our lives. It was all dictated to us from above and that was very oppressive.

Everything centred around Howard Carter; he had all the power." Others are not so willing to identify themselves. One man who has left the church was responsible for collecting tithes. "Some families were really struggling to survive after paying tithes and school fees," he said. "At the same time, Howard was jetting around all over the place and living the good life. He had the best of everything in his home while some members had trouble feeding the kids.

It was pathetic. We were never told anything about church finances how much was in the bank, what was spent where." Another family left after a church "shepherd" told the parents they should expel their teenage son from home. "The boy was playing up and causing a bit of trouble," explained a Toowoomba priest who counselled the family. "The shepherd told them to kick him out. He said the boy would be stoned under the Old Testament for behaving like that." How will the Logos Foundation fare without its charismatic leader? The national coordinator for Logos, Derek Brown, acknowledges the concerns about Carter's affluence and the church's stern modus operandi.

He suggested things would be different now without Carter: "We're undergoing a change in leadership style; it won't be one person leading so much anymore as a collective leadership. The church and Logos will also be much more separate." These changes, Brown said, are responsible for Logos's decision to shelve plans to build a $1 million complex on the outskirts of Toowoomba which would include an auditorium, a Bible college and offices. Brown denied the decision was connected to recent cash-flow problems. (Logos wrote to supporters last December asking them to give "prayerful consideration" to contributing to its election campaign which was suffering a "shortfall" of funds.) Brown also denied claims by Logos-watchers in Toowoomba that church congregations have declined since Carter's resignation. The resignation was painful, he concedes: "We certainly are apologetic for the disrepute it has brought on the church." However, "we have had very little negative feedback our people can separate the fact that one guy has needed to resign from what the organisation stands He agreed that the letter sent to Logos supporters about Carter's resignation "created the wrong A second letter to "clarify" the position was sent.

It is not known if Carter will remain in Toowoomba. (He has declined to return phone calls.) When the Herald visited his home, a woman said he was not there. "He really hasn't got a clue what he's going to do," she said. The family has no regular income because Mrs Carter was forced to quit her job at Logos at the same time as her husband. Brown said leaving town "might be in the best interest of Howard and his With or without Carter, Logos is not pulling any punches with its morals crusade.

An article on abortion titled "The New Barbarians" appears in a recent edition of Logos Journal. It features a gruesome illustration showing prostrate women being towered over by fierce-looking warriors wiping blood from late last June to hear their idol deliver his weekly fire-and-brimstone sermon in the assembly hall of Toowoomba's Harristown Pictures by MIKE LARDER tnd the DAILY SUN He is absolutely mesmerising. Howard Carter greedy are marching Carter said in a letter to supporters. "Now the Christians, the conservatives and the concerned must march also!" Voters didn't quite come to the party, but Carter got his message across. The June sermon was to be his last.

On August 6, after his return from an overseas trip, the 54-year-old father of four was called before a meeting of church elders. A female member of the congregation had confessed to a church or pastor, that she had been having an adulterous affair with Carter for several months. The elders had done their homework. They confirmed that Carter, without the knowledge of his wife, Jean, had been a regular visitor to the woman in her Toowoomba home. Adultery was a cardinal sin in the eyes of Logos, the body which had so thoroughly politicised the growing charismatic Christian movement in Queensland.

At the time. Logos would say only that Carter resigned after admitting to "moral In April last year, in an interview with Toowoomba's Chronicle newspaper, Carter said: "We have two basic commitments. One is State High School. Howard Carter was, as usual, in full flight. The Covenant Evangelical Church congregation talked in tongues: some cried: all were seemingly supremely happy as their senior pastor sung the praises of the Lord and warned of the dark fate awaiting miscreants.

Carter could do no wrong in the eyes of his flock. As executive director and founder of the church's political and educational arm, the Logos Foundation, he succeeded in placing moral issues at the top of the campaign agenda for the Queensland election last December. Logos spent $100,000 on a newspaper advertising campaign telling yoters that morality was the issue. Homosexuality and censorship should determine your vote, the electorate was told; corruption was not the major concern. "The greenies, the gays and the after admitting to "sins with a Or fellow evangelist Jim Bakker's extraordinary court performances after his sexual relationship with a former church secretary, Jessica Harm, exposed the hypocrisy within his Praise The Lord ministry? Like the Americans, Howard Carter was a formidable orator.

Apart from his immaculate suits, the stockily built man looks for all the world like the scores of middle-aged Darling Downs farmers who visit Toowoomba every day on business. But this was no ordinary man. a profound and personal commitment to Jesus Christ, the other is to family." That was about the time he began visiting his mistress at least once a week. She was to fall in love with him, but he would not consider leaving his wife. Feeling snubbed and desperately unhappy, the woman contacted the pastor.

Carter was forced to resign in disgrace, just as key fundamentalist leaders in the United States before him were. Who could forget the tears shed by Jimmy Swaggart when he was defrocked from his Assemblies of God church Logos links: extreme Right and reconstructionist then Logos has gone from strength to strength and now has churches throughout Australia and in New Zealand, Fiji, the Philippines, Canada and the US. In 1988 Logos again shifted headquarters when 70 members and their families moved to Toowoomba, a city of 83,000 which sits atop the Great Dividing Range, 130 kilometres west of Brisbane. Logos says Blackheath did not have the population base to support its growing membership. Besides, Toowoomba was more fertile ground for an emerging New Right church.

Toowoomba is regarded as the capital of Queensland's rural Bible belt which extends across the fertile Darling Downs to Roma, 200 kilometres to the west. The Christian Life Community, a church affiliated with Logos, was established there in the late '70s and had a membership of 400 before the move. The city is as solidly conservative as they come. At the time, the three State MPs from the Toowoomba district and the local Federal MP belonged to the National Party. The city was home to no less than 1 1 fundamentalist churches with an estimated membership of one in 25 townsfolk were committed to the cause.

The business community welcomed the newcomers with open arms. Says the Mayor of Toowoomba, Alderman Clive Berghofer: "They brought a lot of money to the city. They bought homes and not cheap homes they got jobs, often professional jobs. They pushed the city along." Logos's Derek Brown said the foundation had recently "drawn away from some of the extreme (reconstructionist points of view. Logos only supported capital punishment for premeditated murder and did not believe in a theocratic State, he said.

"We support democracy. We believe we have a positive contribution to make to society. The Christian Church has a responsibility to put the Christian perspective. Mr Brown said Logos had "real differences of opinion with the League of Rights and similar groups. He said Logos had some regrets about its Queensland election campaign: "Some people took it as an endorsement of a particular-political party and that was unfortunate.

We just wanted to raise some issues. of material in the Logos Journal. Reconstruc-tionists believe in a theocratic State based literally on the Old Testament. In a "reconstructed society, the death penalty could be imposed not just for murder but for such sins as rape, sodomy, incorrigible behaviour by teenage sons, and adultery. Articles by Dr Rousas Rushdoony, a reconstructionism founder, have appeared frequently in Logos publications, and Dr Rushdoony and Mr Carter were close friends.

The deviants and miscreants of this world may not have long to live in a reconstructionist society. Said Dr Rushdoony in a publication: those who seek to avoid all injury, all killing, as a means of creating a new world only succeed in giving the victory to evil. as its speaker at public meetings. "That Logos identifies closely with issues pursued by the league and similar groups is not in doubt," said Woodley, who was instrumental in organising mainstream Church opposition to Logos's Queensland election campaign. Links between Logos and the extremist American Christian Reconstructionism movement have been documented by Woodley in an unpublished manuscript.

Fascism, Fundamentalism and the New Right, and by Neville Buch, a postgraduate student with the University of Queensland's history department. Mr Buch found 56 articles written by reconstructionist authors over a 34-month period in Logos publications; tbey comprised about 17 per cent ri IKE many groups on the far Right of the I I political spectrum, Logos believes in a I Fabian-inspired plot by the United Nations to take over the world. Logos rejects, however, claims that it is closely connected to extremist right-wing groups both in Australia and overseas. The evidence suggests otherwise. In 1988, the Logos Journal published an announcement saying that the prominent League of Rights identity, Mr Jeremy Lee, had severed his connections with the league and joined Logos.

However, according to the Rev John Woodley, Uniting Church chaplain at the Queensland University of Technology, Lee continued to be advertised by the league for the next 12 months their swords What do you say after you say hello? 'Sgw y-TW. yj'Ll P0W nwPfrfffirr -i WwrV-flinrirwliiT rinim Logos publications describe homosexuality as "evil" and equate it with bestiality. Such sentiments are generally well received in Logos territory, where the foundation is backing a current campaign to declare Toowoomba a "Pro-Life Logos supporters include Mayor Berghofer, who doubles as a The welcoming party included the former Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who said Logos had a valuable contribution to make to society. The move to Queensland coincided with Logos intensifying its political efforts; the foundation has spent an estimated $600,000 on lobbying against proposals ranging from the Australia Active Listening Active listening skills and selection of the appropriate response style are keys to successful communication. Being Me A self-esteem course that helps you to develop your full potential as a happy and productive human being.

Learn Easy Learning made easy through the use of effective techniques, e.g. right-brain shunting, meditation, mind-mapping and creativity training; and adult learning principles. Mind-Mapping A multi-purpose tool with a wide field of application which uses the combined power of the right and left brain hemispheres to present ideas in a free-flowing and interrelated form. Negotiating A course in effective one-to-one and group negotiation which emphasises inter-personal skills and the human face of interaction in the professional, social and private spheres of human endeavour. Carter's home paid for by the church Conversation is a funny thing.

Had you met the hundreds of people from our previous weekend seminars in conversation skills, prior to their attendance, you'd probably have wondered why they came. But people can feel in control in some conversation environments, and uncomfortable in others, and that what's happening on the outside (the appearance) is not always what happening on the inside. In this seminar you will learn to be more confident, relaxed and spontaneous in all conversation environments. You will learn what to talk about, how to remember it. how to recall names and faces, how to read body language, how to get through the "critical" phases, and more.

This quality seminar is presented by communications professionals. It is well paced, stimulating and fun. "Everything I wanted plus a whole lot more. C. Moran "A thoroughly enjoyable weekend." B.

Dawson "Went tar beyond my expectations." T. Nielson Venue: University of Sydney, 9 30 am 5.00 pm Cost: $215.00 (Unconditional full refund guarantee) Dates: Sat 10th Sun 11th Nov. or Sat 1st Sun 2nd Dec Card to the Bill of Rights. Just last week. Logos announced its intention to campaign vigorously against proposed homosexual law reform in Queensland.

Howard Carter was the driving force behind this politicisation. Sources close to him say the pastor believed he had a God-given responsibility to try to force change at the political level if society was to be saved from sliding into moral oblivion. Now taking enrolments for October through January; for further details telephone Valerie at: Training People Pty Ltd PO Box 442 Milsons Point, NSW 2061 26 Willoughby Street. Kirribilli NSW 2061 Tel (02) 957 3040. Fax: (02) 957 3430 PHE Carter Family Howard and Jean.

The small plaque greets I il 121 xflx vfK vx I I Ju LJ visitors to the Carters' luxurious home in Toowoomba's Dorge Street. With breathtaking views over mountains to the south and the for a free brochure with full details (02) 929 8855 Learning Performance (Aust) Ply Ltd. (est 1980) Suite 3001 Northpoint Tower. North Sydney WAGNER WALTZING A MATILDA? local National Party MP. "They are trying to create a better society and get us back on the straight-and-narrow," he says.

Coverage of Logos by the local Chronicle and television station, Vision-TV, has been largely sympathetic. Not that Toowoomba is especially pure police confirmed that outside Brisbane, the district has Queensland's highest rate of sexual assault on children. Perhaps incongruously, Logos's main opposition in the city is to be found in the mainstream churches. In April last year. Carter applied to join the Toowoomba Ministers' Fraternal, whose membership includes almost all the city's priests.

The Rev Ray Lindenmayer, of the Uniting Church, successfully moved the motion at a meeting to reject the application. Carter reapplied just a week before his resignation. Lindenmayer said Carter was rejected because of "his extreme social, political and religious views his organisation exploits people's anxieties and insecurities to push their far right-wing Lindenmayer predicts Logos will crumble without its leader: "It is often the way when the whole structure of an organisation is so centred around a single individual." Howard Carter is the third major fundamentalist Christian leader in Queensland to fall from grace. In 1988, police investigated the finances of Dr Reg Klimionock, the senior pastor of the Garden City Christian Church in Brisbane, whose members include several senior National Party figures. A report by church auditors found Klimionock received $30,000 in expenses in addition to his salary package of $50,000.

Klimionock has since moved to the United Last year Pastor Clark Taylor, head of the Christian Outreach Centre one of the biggest fundamentalist churches in Australia was forced to quit. He confessed in a statement to 180 stunned church congregations that he "fell morally" by committing adultery. It was the same Pastor Taylor who on one occasion had bitterly condemned a teenage girl who fell pregnant before her intended marriage. Howard Carter in an interview last year described his church as "very "Our attitudes 'on divorce, marriage and homosexuality all come from biblical principles," he said. "Our families have had no divorces and we have only four or five unemployed people among our numbers." At the time, Carter would not have envisaged the implications of his departure from those principles.

THE BEST TEACHERS ARE THOSE WHO NEVER STOP it's from their peers, their students or from the place they actually gained their teaching qualification. The University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, is meeting the growing needs of teachers and the demands of a more specialised education system with a highly relevant range of postgraduate courses. This innovative University invites you to be a part of its growing reputation in educational research. All postgraduate courses can be taken part time and you'll have the opportunity to tailor a significant part of your course to reflect your personal areas of interest. MASTER OF EDUCATION (RESEARCH) or PhD MASTER OF EDUCATION (COURSE WORK) Perhaps, it's time you turned the educational tables and went back to the classroom.

The first lesson is easy; tear this ad out and call Margaret Thomas on (02) 772 9306 on Monday for more information. Brisbane Valley to the east, a hectare of immaculate gardens, the split-level L-shaped house, is valued at around $300,000. It was paid for with church funds but, as part of his settlement terms, title was given to Carter. It seems that life for the senior pastor was not all that austere. He travelled overseas frequently and drove a Mercedes-Benz.

He received a stipend which one Logos source described as "very Nor have Logos and the church been doing too badly, at least until recently. Their assets in Toowoomba are valued at about $10 million. They include the church school (the Toowoomba Christian College), 10 hectares of prime land near the University of South Queensland, and two motels the Toowoomba, which doubles as the Logos administration centre, and the Travelodge. Church members pay 10 per cent of their wage to the church, generating income estimated between $8,000 and 1 4,000 a week. They also pay 1 35 a month in fees for each child sent to the school.

Logos had no fewer than 3 1 staff last March, according to that month's edition of its glossy Logos Journal. They included a former South African naval officer who holds a senior position. The staff found themselves in a quandary when Carter's indiscretions became apparent. A decision was taken to send out letters to 8,000 Logos supporters explaining the circumstances of Carter's fall from grace. The letter said the resignation was made public at a church members' meeting, during which "Howard confessed to his moral failure and was publicly rebuked by the In fact, Carter was not at the meeting.

Church members were read a written statement. Some members were disenchanted, not just by the news of Carter's disgrace, but the way it KEIO UNIVERSITY WAGNER SOCIETY ORCHESTRA CHOIR with guest conductor CHITARU ASAHINA in concert with THE SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA The performance ne of Japan's finest amateur musical groups. A combined choir of 25 accompanied by the Keio Orchestra will perform short symphonic pieces, choruses from German and Italian operas and the Sydney premiere of their own striking arrangement of Waltzing Matilda. SUNDAY OCTOBER 14 3-30 pm CONCERT HALL, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TICKETS: $20 OR $15 CONCESSION GROUPS (10 or more) BOOKINGS: Opera House Ph 2507777 Ticketex Ph 266 4800 Presented by World Window Japan Enquiries Phone 283 4324 Nestled under the southern pylon of the Harbour Bridge, you'll stumble upon The Rocks. You'll find plenty of parking in Harrington St, and plenty of shops, restaurants and watering holes throughout.

Bus, train and ferry services are just a stone's throw away, too. For directions, call our hotline on 11606. No matter how you get there, you'll always find something hidden in Sydney's original village. The Rocks. UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN SYDNEY Macarthur SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE STUDIES.