Last week Telecom was the organisation having the bad week. This week it is Brian Tamaki and Destiny Church.

In the midst of stories about the departure of Pastor Andrew Stock and over half of Destiny's Brisbane congregation, the cult has been shaken to its core. Finally, a significant number of the cult's congregation have seen the real light by confirming the media stories about eftpos machines in church, onerous tithes, $300 signet rings and men only meetings. Pastor Stock and some of Brisbane's Destiny flock finally revolted against these things and probably the newest amendment to the church's covenant, that of the need to give up small luxuries like digital television and coffee in order to increase their tithing.

Already Bishop Brian and his trusty sidekick Richard Lewis have been on the airwaves in a pr blitz to say that things are all okay in Destiny Land. Personally, I don't believe anything that they are saying about many of the Brisbane congregation coming back to the church. However, if this is true, it really does show how either scared or brainwashed the congregation members are. We can almost expect a denial to come tomorrow from Pastor Stock or another disgruntled former congregation member.

The one shocking statement that has come from Tamaki during all this has been his declaration that he considered taking a vow of poverty (as Catholic clergy do) but that God had answered and said that He didn't want Tamaki to be poor. Well, this statement must get a Tui award nomination at year's end as I doubt that the Almighty would have said that.

After all, no cleric in any mainstream church in this country would be paid anywhere near the salary that Tamaki enjoys. While Tamaki refuses to disclose the exact amount, I would have to believe (as many do) that the flash mansion, the Harley Davison's and the expensive wardrobe don't come out of thin air. Tamaki's poor parishoners (and there are many of them) still dote upon their leader with gifts that he says he is embarrassed to receive. I have to say that many a modern dictator (for example Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin) has been reportedly embarrassed about the spontaneous gifts they too received from supposedly grateful members of their populations. This is all while the dictators continued to live in splendour and the people in great poverty.

Now it appears that Destiny is going through the first phase of what other cults have experienced in the period before their eventual collapse. The questioning of the cult's premise, principles and leadership are often the first signs that something isn't right.

This week's media blitz is probably the first sign that Bishop Tamaki is beginning to feel threatened. I think that we are about to witness the slow decline of his church.