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12 July 2013

Press release

Joint Evangelical Alliance and Avanti Ministries statement

In October 2012, the Evangelical Alliance received a detailed complaint about the validity of the testimony of an Avanti Ministries' evangelist, Tony Anthony, and his book Taming the Tiger.

Following discussions between Evangelical Alliance and Avanti Ministries, Avanti agreed to set up an independent panel nominated by the Alliance to investigate in a confidential manner the allegations against Tony Anthony.

The independent inquiry panel was made up of three respected members of the UK council of the Evangelical Alliance: John Langlois (chair of panel), Keith Civval and Robert Amess.

The panel produced its report on 26 June 2013 and concluded, based on the evidence submitted to it, that large sections of the book Taming the Tiger, and associated materials, which claim to tell the true story of Tony Anthony's life, do not do so.

Both the Evangelical Alliance and Avanti Ministries take serious note of the findings of the report and as a result Avanti has concluded that it is not appropriate to continue to support Taming the Tiger.

The board of Avanti Ministries are now considering the ramifications for Avanti Ministries' future.

The Alliance and Avanti Ministries would like to thank the independent inquiry panel for their diligence in producing its report.

The Alliance and Avanti Ministries are deeply saddened by the findings of the panel. However, they recognise the good work that Avanti and Tony Anthony have done over the years around the world and the impact this will have on the charity, and specifically Tony and his family.

End note: 
Bios of panel members available upon request
Panel members are not available for comment

11 July, 11pm
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Media Enquiries

Andrew Green
Email: info@eauk.org
Phone: 020 7520 3853 or 07734 194 445

Notes to Editors

The Evangelical Alliance
We are the largest and oldest body representing the UK’s two million evangelical Christians. For more than 165 years, we have been bringing Christians together and helping them listen to, and be heard by, the government, media and society. We’re here to connect people for a shared mission, whether it’s celebrating the Bible, making a difference in our communities or lobbying the government for a better society. From Skye to Southampton, from Coleraine to Cardiff, we work across 79 denominations, 3,500 churches, 750 organisations and thousands of individual members. And we're not just uniting Christians within the UK – we are a founding member of the World Evangelical Alliance, a global network of more than 600 million evangelical Christians. For more information, go to www.eauk.org.