Mercy Multiplied

File:A Girl Called Hope logo.png

Mercy Multiplied was founded in 1983 by Nancy Alcorn. She had previously worked for eight years as an athletic director in a Tennessee Department of Corrections facility for delinquent girls, then to supervise foster-care placements with an Emergency Child Protective Services unit investigating cases of abuse and neglect,{{cite web | last=Transformed Magazine | title=Bring Increase to Your Life – The Power of Giving | url=http://transformedmagazine.com/people/living-better-at-50-plus/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027232156/http://transformedmagazine.com/people/living-better-at-50-plus/| url-status=dead| archive-date=October 27, 2011| access-date = July 22, 2012}} {{rs|date=August 2023}} and then Director of Women at the Nashville Teen Challenge program.{{cite news | last =Waters | first =Jen | title =Mercy Not Strained; Christian Mission Nurtures Young, Distressed Women |newspaper =Washington Times| location=Washington DC | date=August 8, 2003 }}

Alcorn opened the first Mercy Ministries home in West Monroe in 1983 (which until 1987 was better-known as "Covenant Ministries"). A second home was opened in Nashville in 1996 followed by new corporate headquarters in 2001.{{cite web|title=Mercy Ministries Canada – History|url=http://www.mercyministries.ca/AboutUs/History.html|access-date=November 4, 2012}}{{sps|date=August 2023}}

The organization went international in 2001, opening two facilities in Australia followed by further homes in the United Kingdom in 2006, New Zealand in 2007 and Canada in 2010.{{rs|date=June 2023}}{{sps|date=August 2023}} Following widely publicized abuse scandals, they announced the closure of the Australian homes. The Sunshine Coast facility closed in June 2008{{cite news|last=Mundi|first=Rex|title=Mercy Ministries to close Coast home|url=http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/mercy-ministries-close-coast-home/340315/|access-date=October 23, 2012|newspaper=Sunshine Coast Daily|date=June 7, 2008}} followed by the Sydney (Baulkham Hills) home in October 2009.{{cite news|last=Pollard|first=Ruth|title=Mercy Ministries to close|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/mercy-ministries-home-to-close-20091027-hj2k.html|access-date=November 5, 2012|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=October 28, 2009}} Mercy Ministries New Zealand registered the domain name for A Girl Called Hope on September 21, 2010, completing the transition to this new name on January 28, 2011.{{cite web|title=A Girl Called Hope: A Leopard Can't Change {{sic|It's|nolink=y}} Spots |url=https://thetruthaboutmercy.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/a-girl-called-hope-a-leopard-cant-change-its-spots/ |website=The Truth About Mercy |access-date=September 21, 2017 |date=January 28, 2011 }}{{rs|date=June 2023}}{{sps|date=August 2023}}

The organization also opened homes in St Louis, Missouri and Sacramento, California in 2005 and 2009 respectively.

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While the Mercy Multiplied website states they are a non-denominational Christian organization, the organization is also considered to be evangelical,{{cite news|last=Pollard|first=Ruth|title=Mercy Ministries admits claims were false|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/mercy-ministries-admits-claims-were-false-20091216-kxl4.html|access-date=October 23, 2012|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=December 17, 2009}} charismatic{{cite news|last=Hannan|first=Caleb|title=Jesus RX: The untold tale behind Mercy Ministries one-size-fits-all prescription for recovery|url=http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/jesus-rx/Content?oid=1198270|access-date=October 23, 2012|newspaper=Nashville Scene|date=October 2, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004011435/https://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/jesus-rx/content/?oid=1198270|archive-date=4 October 2010}} and fundamentalist,{{cite news|last=Zwartz|first=Barney|title=Cult-rescue group concerned about Mercy Ministries|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/exorcism-healers-totally-misguided/2008/03/18/1205602343838.html|access-date=November 4, 2012|newspaper=The Age|date=March 18, 2008}} both as an organization and in their approach to treatment.

Its website states that the founder, Nancy Alcorn, established the following three financial principles for the program:{{cite web | last=Mercy Ministries| title=Who We Are | url=http://www.mercyministries.org/who_we_are/founder.html| access-date = July 22, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415075707/http://www.mercyministries.org/who_we_are/founder.html |archive-date=15 April 2013}}{{sps|date=August 2023}}

1. Accept girls free of charge;
2. Give at least ten percent of all donations to other organizations and ministries; and
3. To not accept any state or federal funding as it interferes with the freedom to share Christ.

The program treats all disorder through faith- and prayer-based means in place of professional support and treatment. Former residents and staff have reported that the organization seized social welfare payments from residents, contradicting the first principle, and a 2009 investigation in the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that residents at the organization's home in Sydney, Australia were required to sign over their Centrelink benefits during their stay at the program. A ruling by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in the same year also saw the organization admit that its claim that its program included support from "psychologists, dietitians, general practitioners and counsellors" was also false, and ordered them to pay restitution to some residents affected by this practice.

The Mercy Multiplied website states that they are supported solely by donations from individuals, organizations and other ministries. They host fund raising events throughout the year,{{cite web|title=Mercy Ministries of America – Run for Mercy|url=http://mmoa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=RFM2012HomePage|accessdate=November 12, 2012}}{{rs|date=June 2023}}{{sps|date=August 2023}} and invite visitors to their website to donate by becoming a financial partner or "sponsoring" a girl.{{cite web|title=Mercy Ministries of America|url=https://secure3.convio.net/mmoa/site/Donation2?3160.donation=form1&df_id=3160&JServSessionIdr004=1z5824og31.app305b|accessdate=November 12, 2012}}{{rs|date=June 2023}}{{sps|date=August 2023}}

Mercy Ministries Australia was investigated by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) and found to be in breach of the Trade Practices Act 1997 and guilty of "false and misleading advertising" of their services, including advertising that their program was free of charge when their clients were in fact required to sign over their government welfare benefits. The former directors were required to issue a written apology as well as undertake to partially compensate the former residents from whom they took monies.{{cite web|title=Undertaking to the Australian Competition and Consuming Commission|url=http://www.accc.gov.au/content/item.phtml?itemId=906586&nodeId=3e5d2c62fdfda22b0c1c708fe24326ff&fn=Undertaking.pdf|accessdate=November 12, 2012}}

Mercy Multiplied state that their counseling curriculum "combines biblical principles of healing and unconditional love with best-practice clinical interventions".{{cite news|last=Dumm|first=Stephanie|title=Mercy Ministries responds to its critics|url=http://www.lincolnnewsmessenger.com/article/mercy-ministries-responds-its-critics|accessdate=October 27, 2012|newspaper=Lincoln News Messenger|date=March 14, 2012}} All treatment offered at their residential homes is faith based, aimed at removing demonic influences on the souls of the girls.

This curriculum was said to have "replaced" "Restoring the Foundations" in 2009 by one media source,{{cite news|last=Bannerman|first=Lucy|title=The problems with therapy|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-problems-with-therapy-vlt66k63j7w|access-date=October 27, 2012|newspaper=The Times|date=September 7, 2009}} and in another, was said to have been "renamed" Choices That Bring Change.{{cite news|title=Nancy Alcorn admits problems at Australian Mercy Ministries|url=http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/NEWS06/808010410/1006/NEWS01|accessdate=October 27, 2012|newspaper=The Tennessean|date=August 3, 2008}} This change occurred in June 2008, following revelations that "Restoring the Foundations" involved the practice of exorcism/demonic deliverance.{{cite news|last=Tim|first=Brunero|title=Mercy Ministries exorcism books leaked|newspaper=LIVE News, Australia|date=November 26, 2008}} However, as of October 27, 2012, the Mercy Ministries of America website states that "Mercy Ministries does not perform or endorse exorcisms as part of its treatment curriculum".{{cite web|title=Mercy Ministries of America – FAQs|url=http://www.mercyministries.org/who_we_are/about/faqs.html|accessdate=27 October 2012}}{{sps|date=August 2023}}

Modules of Restoring the Foundations, used by Mercy Multiplied until June 2008, included "salvation", "forgiveness", "godly/ungodly beliefs", "generational curses", "soul/spirit hurts" and "demonic oppression".{{cite web|title=Comprehensive description of Restoring the Foundations|url=http://rtfi.org/?q=content/comprehensive-description-restoring-foundations|accessdate=October 27, 2012}}

Although Mercy does not characterize itself as engaging in conversion therapy, girls who are suspected of having homosexual feelings for one another are required to sign "separation contracts" which stipulate they will not be alone together.

Complaints by former residents of Mercy Ministries include "emotionally cruel and medically unproven techniques", such as exorcism and residents being required to sign over social welfare payments to Mercy Ministries.{{Cite news |date=17 March 2008 |title=They Sought Help but Got Exorcism and the Bible |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/they-sought-help-but-got-exorcism-and-the-bible/2008/03/16/1205602195048.html}} Girls in their care are forbidden to reveal to others why they are enrolled, all disorders are treated the same because they believe they are all caused by demons.

Since early 2008, the organization has attracted considerable media attention in Australia, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom, drawing criticism of their employment of unqualified staff,{{cite news|last=Hannan|first=Caleb|title=Jesus RX: The untold tale behind Mercy Ministries' one-size-fits-all prescription for recovery|url=http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/jesus-rx/Content?oid=1198270|accessdate=January 9, 2013|newspaper=The Nashville Scene|date=October 2, 2008}} overall medical negligence,{{cite news|last=Feineman|first=Carol|title=Mercy Ministries needs more than the bible for its treatment methods|url=http://www.lincolnnewsmessenger.com/article/mercy-ministries-needs-more-bible-its-treatment-methods|accessdate=January 9, 2013|newspaper=Lincoln News Messenger|date=March 14, 2012}} seizing benefit payments of patients in contradiction to their promise of not charging for services, and the use of demonic deliverance in their approach to treatment.{{cite news|title=Exorcisms, cruel techniques|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-03-17/exorcisms-cruel-techniques-part-of-mercy-ministry/1074820|accessdate=January 9, 2013|newspaper=Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)|date=March 17, 2008}} One member of the Australian Parliament referred to the organization as "a particularly bad example of a money-making cult."

The company's rebranding efforts from Mercy Ministries to Mercy Multiplied, but also including the new brand A Girl Called Hope in New Zealand, were criticized as attempts to silence critics.{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=Jennifer|title=These Women Went to Christian Counseling Centers for Help. That's Not What They Found.|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/cover_story/2016/04/at_mercy_multiplied_troubled_young_women_come_to_believe_their_mental_health.html|website=Slate Magazine|accessdate=October 27, 2017|date=April 24, 2016}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.mercymultiplied.com/ Mercy Multiplied website]
• [http://www.mercyuk.org/ Mercy UK website]
• [http://www.mercycanada.ca/ Mercy Canada website]
• [https://www.facebook.com/agirlcalledhope/ A Girl Called Hope (formerly Mercy Ministries New Zealand) Facebook page]
• [http://www.faithtalks.com/posts/nancy-alcorn/ Interview with Mercy Ministries Founder Nancy Alcorn]

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Category:Christian charities based in the United States

Category:Christian organizations established in 1983

Category:Organizations based in Nashville, Tennessee

Category:Charities based in Tennessee

Category:1983 establishments in Tennessee

Category:Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in the United States

Category:Residential treatment centers