In 2020 the Revd. Canon Mike Pilavachi, Associate Pastor at Soul Survivor, Watford, was given the Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to evangelism and discipleship amongst young people in the United Kingdom" via his music festivals and church. The citation read as follows: "He has shaped a spirituality and discipleship for generations of young people in which the primacy of worship, evangelism, provision for the poor, ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit and a love for scripture are non-negotiable. This award for evangelism recognises that, above all, Soul Survivor has been the place where tens of thousands of young people have found faith. What is more, Mike has exercised this ministry with exemplary humility, humour and self-sacrifice." 

However, in April 2023 it was announced that Canon Pilavachi had stepped back from his ministry on account of safeguarding allegations. The Church of England's National Safeguarding Team was called upon jointly with the local diocese to conduct an investigation. More than 150 people came forward with allegations of coercive control, emotional, psychological, spiritual and physical abuse spanning decades, all of which were substantiated. He was subsequently issued with a written warning, a sanction which many people considered too lenient. Recently, well-known figures in the charismatic evangelical world who worked with him have published individual statements describing their own painful experiences. He currently has no authority to minister within the Church of England.

In view of the enormous harm caused by Canon Pilavachi to staff members and interns of Soul Survivor, and the distress, dismay and confusion occasioned by the revelations about his appalling conduct to the many people whose Christian faith it shaped, it is surely highly inappropriate that he retain his Alphege Award. We, the undersigned, therefore call upon the Archbishop to revoke it with immediate effect. Allowing him to retain it could suggest a degree of official denial, or even connivance. Doing so, by contrast, will send a clear message that toxic, authoritarian church cultures and abusive behaviour by prestigious church leaders, notwithstanding the apparent fruitfulness of their ministry, will not be tolerated within the Church of England.