CultNEWS101 Articles: 8/13/2025

New Zealand, Gloriavale, Sexual Abuse, Legal, His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, Live Cut Show, 764

1 News: Luxon 'very concerned' by Gloriavale leader's sexual abuse admission

"Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he is "very concerned" about the admission of abuse from Gloriavale's leader but would not be drawn on potential Government oversight of the West Coast commune.

Howard Temple, 85, earlier denied 24 charges, including several of sexual offending against girls and young women at the West Coast commune over 20 years.

However on Wednesday, Temple pleaded guilty to an amended set of charges, including five of indecent assault, five of doing an indecent act, and two common assault charges.

A further 12 charges were dropped.

He was remanded on bail until August 11, when a sentencing date would be set."

KLFY: 2 men missing in Southern California were members of same religious organization: officials

" ... Ghanem was a member of "His Way Spirit Led Assemblies," a religious organization based in Hemet, and had been a devout member for roughly two decades, his sister previously told KTLA.

He also worked for Fullshield, Inc., a pest control business that was owned and operated by the religious group. The business now operates under the name "Maxguard," according to detectives.

He had left that organization shortly before his disappearance, police said. According to Ghanem's sister, her brother had left the ministry and the pest control business when he moved to Nashville to reunite with family.

"He was really happy. He was ready to start his new life… turn over a new leaf," Jenny said, explaining that Ghanem had returned to Southern California "to recapture some of his clients" for the satellite office he was hoping to start for his Nashville pest control business.

KTLA reported in November 2023 that caught Fullshield's attention. The company sent him a letter on May 8, roughly two weeks before his disappearance, accusing him of competing with their business."

WFLA: Parents warned of 'online cult' after 13-year-old arrested

The Pasco County Sheriff's office is warning parents about the dangers of what lurks online.

The warning comes after the sheriff said an 'online cult' led deputies to arrest a 13-year-old boy last Friday.

WFLA: Pasco sheriff: 13-year-old involved in 'online cult' had possession of child porn, bestiality

The Pasco County [FL]  Sheriff's Office is warning parents about the dangers of what lurks online. The warning comes after the sheriff said an "online cult" led deputies to arrest a 13-year-old boy last Friday.

The 13-year-old is accused of having possession of child porn and bestiality. The sheriff's office said this started on video game chat rooms. Last month, they received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a Discord group with several people.

"On this Discord group, there were several people there, encouraging a young girl to cut herself and harm herself," said Sheriff Chris Nocco.

Nocco said the group was called a "Live Cut Show." The IP address led them to a 13-year-old in Pasco County. Deputies said the boy admitted to encouraging two other minors to cut themselves.

"The 13-year-old was also in possession of documentation of instructions for committing mass murder, other violent attacks, building bombs, and then concealing evidence," Nocco said.

The sheriff said this is a global issue and they know there are others out there. He said this starts on gaming platforms."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

Leader of secretive New Zealand commune admits abusing young female church members

Several former members of the commune described in evidence how the sect's rules gave rise to what they said was a culture of sexual and physical abuse.

AP

July 30, 2025

WELLINGTON: The leader of an isolated and conservative Christian commune in New Zealand pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a dozen indecency and assault charges against women and girls who were members of the religious group.

The admission of guilt from Howard Temple came three days into a trial at which he was accused of abusing members of the Gloriavale commune, aged between 9 and 20 over a period of two decades.

Complainants who appeared in the opening days of Temple's trial at the Greymouth District Court said he had touched or groped them while they were performing domestic duties, including in front of other Gloriavale members during mealtimes, Radio New Zealand reported.

They told the court they were too scared to challenge the leader and feared being told the abuse was their fault.

Temple, who is 85 and known as the Overseeing Shepherd of Gloriavale, earlier denied the two dozen charges, and was scheduled to face a three-week trial. But on Wednesday, his lawyer said the leader would admit to an amended list of 12 crimes.

They included five counts of indecent assault, five of committing an indecent act and two of common assault, Radio New Zealand reported. Some were representative, which means the charges reflect multiple similar acts.

Temple's lawyer didn't respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Howard Temple was charged with decades of abuse as leader of a remote, conservative sect

The charges against the leader spanned from 1998 to 2022 and involved nine complainants.

Gloriavale, a community of about 600 people who live at a settlement on the South Island's remote West Coast, was founded in the 1970s and is mostly estranged from the outside world. Members share all property and money, don't speak to relatives who leave the group, and work and study within the commune.

The sect is known in New Zealand for its conservative beliefs and doctrines. Women and girls wear navy-colored ankle-length dresses with white headdresses, adherents are required to have large families and only men can serve in leadership roles while their wives and children are subservient.

Temple, who was born in the United States and served in the US Navy before migrating to New Zealand, has been the leader at Gloriavale since his predecessor, Hopeful Christian, died in 2018. Christian was sentenced to four years in prison in 1995 on charges of indecent assault against a 19-year-old woman and successfully appealed against convictions on other sexual offending.

Members said the group's rules enabled abuse

The sect attracted attention during a broader official inquiry into decades of abuse at New Zealand's state and religious institutions.

Its final report, published in 2024, found that Gloriavale had for decades prohibited members from reporting crimes to outside authorities. Several former members of the commune described in evidence how the rules gave rise to what they said was a culture of sexual and physical abuse.

Less than a year before he first appeared in court, Temple gave evidence to the inquiry. In his testimony, he said his leadership and a 2020 police investigation into abuse at the commune had prompted "a totally different attitude and way of thinking" in how leaders responded to sexual abuse complaints.

Reporting processes had been inadequate before, he told the inquiry. But now all complainants were believed, Temple said, adding that he had reported alleged abusers to law enforcement himself.

"I will push and I will teach and I will expect it of these people in Gloriavale," he said during the 2022 hearing. "There will be no more abuse in Gloriavale."

He made a public apology in January for abuse by others in the commune, which was rejected by former members of the faith as insincere.

Sentencing likely to come later this year

Temple will next appear in court in August, when a sentencing date for his crimes will be set. Indecent assault carries a penalty of up to seven years in New Zealand.

The country's police welcomed his guilty pleas Wednesday.

"While it would not be appropriate for me to comment further ahead of sentencing, I'd like to acknowledge the victims," Inspector Jaqueline Corner told the AP. "This is a direct result of their willingness and courage to speak up."

https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Jul/30/leader-of-secretive-new-zealand-commune-admits-abusing-young-female-church-members

LEAVING GLORIAVALE

LEAVING GLORIAVALE

1 News

https://youtu.be/kGE3hb2AsHU?si=DTwkLAc2LL9mLP6T 

Former Gloriavale members prepare to sue Government

Wellington court reporter

The Post

July 2, 2024

Former Gloriavale “slaves” are preparing to sue the Crown for not protecting them at the closed community.

The case has yet to begin but the intended plaintiff wants details about an inter-departmental committee set up nine years ago to look at the remote community on the West Coast.

After a win in the Employment Court where six women raised at Gloriavale were found to have been employees, and not just working as part of their commitment to the Christian community, their lawyer Brian Henry was seeking information he said was needed to file documents to start the next case.

Associate Judge Andrew Skelton reserved his decision at the High Court in Wellington on Tuesday.

Henry said it was thought there would be about 46 former Gloriavale members to make the claim. They needed to identify public servants who were negligent and then they could sue. The aim was to make the Crown liable for the actions of the public servants.

The Crown had evidence that the first intended plaintiff, Anna Courage, and others who would join her were in slavery and that Gloriavale was a slave camp, Henry said.

They were trying to identify the public servants who knew people were enslaved and didn’t protect them, Henry said.

Identifying details of the public servants who might be involved have been suppressed, as has some other information.

During the hearing the judge was shown a segment about Gloriavale that had screened on the TVNZ Sunday programme in 2015. Sunday was recently cut to save money at TVNZ.

Henry said the programme seemed to have triggered setting up the committee that he now wants information about.

However, he said government officials had knowledge ‒ or were reckless if they didn’t know ‒ as early as 1996 that should have prompted them to act to protect Gloriavale children.

Gloriavale was a business, profit-centric, without any labour costs and the leaders in charge of the money. Members were fed and clothed on $39 each a week government grant, he said.

“We want to see what they did in this committee, surely someone had the sense to say, What’s going on here?” he said.

The community’s founding document, “What we believe”, needed to have been analysed because it was a charter for slavery, Henry said.

However, the Crown said the intended plaintiff was using the wrong process and there were other ways to find out the names.

Lawyer Aedeen Boadita-Cormican said they were not seeking to diminish the experience of the intended plaintiffs but there were clear legal rules.

Some documents had been provided where possible but in future a draft claim should be prepared and discussed with the Crown, she said.

Information could only be supplied if it was relevant and the Crown needed to know who the intended plaintiffs were before they could decide what was relevant, Boadita-Cormican said.

Some of the information had high privacy concerns, she said.

The process of seeking information could not be used in the hope that the basis of a claim might be found, and it could not be “speculative fishing”, Boadita-Cormican said.

Nothing suggested bad faith by any of the public servants and in the absence of bad faith the individuals had immunity from being sued, she said.

It wasn’t enough to say, these things happened so someone must be to blame, someone must have dropped the ball, Boadita-Cormican said.

https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350328817/former-gloriavale-members-prepare-sue-government

CultNEWS101 Articles: 10/9/2020

Satanic Temple, Religious Freedom, Abortion, QAnon, Gloriavale, New Zealand, MLM

AP: Satanic Temple sues company that rejected group's billboards

"A lawsuit filed by the Satanic Temple alleges that an advertising company unfairly refused to display some billboards promoting a ritual offered by the group to help people bypass abortion rules in some states.

The group, based in Salem, Massachusetts, announced Wednesday that it has sued Lamar Advertising in Arkansas state court. The suit accuses the Louisiana-based company of religious discrimination.

Lamar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Satanic Temple says Lamar refused to display eight billboards in Arkansas and Indiana promoting what the group calls its "religious abortion ritual." The Satanic Temple describes the ritual as a 'sacramental act that confirms the right of bodily autonomy."

By performing the ritual, the group says, people can claim a religious exemption from mandatory waiting periods, counseling, ultrasounds and other measures that some states require before an abortion can be performed."

NPR: House Votes To Condemn QAnon Conspiracy Theory: 'It's A Sick Cult'

"The House overwhelmingly approved a resolution condemning QAnon, the fringe movement that promotes wide-ranging conspiracies about the U.S. government and yet has enjoyed a rising tide inside conservative politics in part because of tacit encouragement from President Trump.

The measure passed 371-18, with one GOP member voting present.

QAnon is a "collective delusion," said House Rules Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., 'We all must call it what it is: a sick cult.'"

Stuff: Second senior member leaves secretive sect Gloriavale over management concerns

"A second senior member of secretive religious sect Gloriavale has left the community over concerns with how it is being run.

Selwyn Love, the father of Dove Love who appeared in the TVNZ documentary on the community, left Gloriavale earlier this week.

Love was a servant leader, one of 16 shepherds and servants that make up the leadership council, which oversees the business operations, the various private schools, and the decisions over who should marry whom.

This group of 16 men is subservient to a group of four senior shepherds who run the tax-free Gloriavale charitable trust, which runs the lucrative business operations of the group."

The Financial Diet: How I Accidentally Ended Up Working At An MLM

" ... It had been three and a half weeks and I hadn't even gotten my first paycheck but somehow I made it to this new leadership role. I received a "Leader's Binder" and Jessica asked me to stay a bit later to discuss my new position. I had a little pep in my step walking to her office because obviously a promotion meant more pay right? WRONG. While Jessica explained my new role, I patiently waited to hear anything regarding a salary increase. In the end, when nothing was mentioned, I asked, "And what is the pay for the leadership position?" My boss replied, "Oh, well, a leader knows that they're not going to get paid for all the investments they make upfront." She continued, "I'm training you as a leader now and giving you the tools for success for when you have your own office."

I was shocked. This lady wanted me to take this promotion and work extra hours for the same pay. I'm sure my face showed my confusion as I left her office. "Oh wait! I have your first paycheck!" Jessica said behind me. I took the envelope from her with a smile because AT LEAST I was finally getting rewarded for my first weeks' worth of work."

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Podcast: The cult of Gloriavale

Lilia at her baptism at Gloriavale.

Megan McChesney
Noted
December 27, 2017

PODCAST

When Lilia Tarawa fled from the religious cult of Gloriavale, she turned her back on the only life she’d ever known.

The deeply moving story of a girl who grew up in this isolated community on the South Island’s West Coast … and what happened when her thirst for truth and knowledge became too great to ignore.


“Mum freaks out, like, ‘God has cursed us’. Dad’s like, ‘Don’t be silly, woman!’ and I’m sitting here thinking, ‘Are there people from Gloriavale coming to get us? Will they come and force us to go back? And I’m scared out of my wits.”

“We don’t want women who are independent. We don’t want to be raising women who are leaders. A woman’s job is to submit to the men.”

https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/social-issues/podcast-the-cult-of-gloriavale/

My life in a religious cult: 'The most dangerous place in the world is the womb of an ungodly woman'

After her childhood in a secretive cult founded by her grandfather, New Zealand woman Lilia Tarawa risked hellfire and damnation to escape. In this book extract, she shares a slice of her life at Gloriavale Christian Community

Lilia Tarawa
The Guardian
August 29, 2017

On the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, a religious cult named Gloriavale Christian Community closed itself off from the rest of the world in 1969.

Founded by the self-styled and self-named Australian religious leader Hopeful Christian – who was convicted and jailed on three charges of indecent sexual assault of a young woman in 1995 – the 500-strong community was run according to a strict and oppressive interpretation of fundamental Christianity.

Women had to cover their heads, show no flesh so as not to tempt sin from the menfolk, do all the domestic work, submit to their husbands and birth as many babies as they could.

Eight years ago, Lilia Tarawa – granddaughter of Hopeful Christian – escaped with her family into what she had always believed to be the evil, wicked world. This is an extract from her memoir about her life in the cult.

“Take out your Bibles.”

Every day began with a Bible reading.

I lifted my desk lid and removed the thick King James Bible that had been issued to me. It was an old book that had been rebound in the community print shop. I stroked the dull-red cover and held the book to my nose. I loved the musty smell of the pages.

“We’re reading from Hebrews 13:17,” Peter pointed to the boy closest to him. “Nathan, read one verse and then you others continue around the room.”

Pages rustled for a brief moment before Nathan began in a clear voice. “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves ... ”

The boy beside Nathan picked up the next verse. After each of us had read aloud, Peter finished the chapter. For the rest of class we were taught that to sacrifice one’s self-will and serve the church was the only way to salvation. There was a godly order established in the church – the highest power was God and then Church leaders. Husbands were to submit to the church and wives must submit to their husbands. Children came last and were expected to obey their parents who served the Lord.

“The leaders watch for our souls. If you are obedient to the church you will live long on the Earth and the Lord will bless you,” Peter told us.

He began to pray for our salvation and we clasped our hands and bowed our heads. He thanked God for the wonderful place the leaders had built for us and prayed that we would be saved from the lusts of the world.

We had two more classes after that and I was impatient for them to finish. Today was Friday, PE day, and I couldn’t wait to be out on the field, kicking a soccer ball around.

Peter dismissed us and we tore down to the field, with Jubilant messing around as always and making us laugh at his jokes.

Gloriavale didn’t allow competitive games because it was cause for people to be lifted up in pride. We had to play soccer without keeping score, which I thought was stupid because the whole point of sport was to win. The long dresses were so frustrating to run in but I tackled the football off Jubilant anyway. I didn’t care if my dress flung up, there was no way I was going to let our team lose.

Our teacher for the session was Nathaniel Constant so I knew to be careful not to make him angry because his fuse was extremely short. Grace and I called him “Nathaniel Constantly Annoying” behind his back. We kept our distance from his aggres­sive temper. It didn’t deter Jubilant though. He kept on with the jokes, kicking the ball to the wrong player – anything for a laugh.

Nathaniel yelled at him, then he yelled again. Jubilant cooled it for about five minutes but it wasn’t in his nature to behave even though Nathaniel’s anger was building.

It only took one more smart remark before his temper erupted. “Get out! Leave! Now! Get up to the main building. Go!”

Jubilant grumbled and left the field, but not without throwing a last snide comment. Nathaniel tore after him, caught up and kicked him, then bashed him across the head.

The game halted and the class watched, stunned into silence as Nathaniel kicked our classmate again and then again. He forced him to walk and kept smashing him across the head and kicking him for the entire 30 or so metres to the main building. Jubilant was sobbing and trying to protect himself as he stumbled up the road.

Even though the church taught that it was godly for disobedient children to be beaten, this was so wrong. I was only 11 years old but as I stood there, helpless and watching, my hands to my throat, I knew with every fibre of my being that this was wrong. It was the most shocking thing I’d ever witnessed.

I couldn’t keep playing and neither could the other kids. We were numb from the shock of what had happened. All of us left the soccer field and returned to the classroom. I couldn’t concentrate and after school I found Grace and fumed in disbelief about what had happened.

That evening I poured it all out to Mum. She was furious, both at what Nathaniel had done but also because she couldn’t do anything about it. She was a woman and had little power to intervene in the men’s realm. Both of us waited to see what punishment the men would give Nathaniel. Nothing happened and he continued teaching us. I was disgusted.

***

The incident fanned my loathing for Gloriavale’s stance on child discipline into a raging furnace. The leaders called it godly, but I thought it was abuse. I couldn’t see how beating a child because you felt angry and full of rage was a demonstration of God’s love.

Some leaders not only encouraged violent beatings but scolded parents who were lenient. This was a church that preached non-violence and was anti-war, yet it saw fit to punish their young for minor errors. The leaders defended their philosophy based on the scripture “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Some men took this literally, using weapons like polystyrene pipe to beat their sons. Certain other members rebelled against the impositions and refused to treat their children badly, and I witnessed loving relationships between many parents and their children.

A wife would, in strict confidence, show me her young children, who had horrific marks on their legs, bottoms and backs where her husband had beaten them. Rage boiled in my chest when I saw those poor children suffering. I vowed to unleash the fury of hell if any husband of mine ever laid a finger on a child of ours in malice.

***

One quiet morning I was in the high school with my head down studying, as were my 30 other classmates. I was having trouble with a difficult maths problem and bit my lip in deep concentration.

Suddenly a loud noise jolted me out of focus. We looked up from our books, all of us startled. It was Shepherd Fervent bursting into the room.

Fervent was dragging his son Willing by the collar of his shirt and he yanked him to stand before the class. I cringed.

“Children look here!” Fervent commanded.

We didn’t want to look. Willing’s eyes were puffy and red. He’d been crying and he hung his head to the floor.

Fervent puffed out his chest and threw back his shoulders. His balding head caught the light from the window and he smoothed down the sides of his oily hair. “The Bible says, ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord’,” he shouted. His other hand held a limp leather strap. “Proverbs says, ‘Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die’.”

I couldn’t stop looking at the strap because it made me sick to the stomach. Fervent was going to make an example of Willing?

How could he do that to a boy of 13?

“What do you have to say, son?” Fervent poked his son.

Willing stared at the ground and mumbled an apology for being disobedient to his father. I felt a sliver of hope. Maybe the apology was enough to clear him?

Fervent spat a lecture of how godly parents beat their children to submission.

Then he turned to his son.

I screwed my eyes shut, thinking Fervent was going to strap Willing’s hand, but my stomach dropped with horror at his next words.

“Pull down your pants. Bend over.”

In that moment I wanted nothing more than to kill Fervent. To my eyes he was scum of the earth. Willing looked shocked, but obeyed his father.

Fervent took a wide stance and drew the strap back over his head. Without warning the belt flashed down and bit into Willing’s flesh. He moaned and whimpered with pain. Fervent didn’t stop. With all his strength he whipped the poor boy again, and again, and again.

Bile rose in my throat and I turned away from the appalling scene. Fervent was a pig and no man of God. My knuckles turned white and I gripped the desk in fury. How dare that man – a leader – treat a child this way?

I shut my eyes to block out the horror and covered my ears. I couldn’t watch even though I knew I risked punishment for showing disagreement. The whole time I prayed, “Please God, let it stop. Please make it stop.”

When the beating ended I still couldn’t look up. My heart knew it was disrespectful to gawk at Willing’s exposed flesh. At the very least, I’d offer the boy some respect in his shame.

I stared at the pencil groove on the edge of my desk, and my eyes burned with unshed tears. Fervent left his humiliated son standing at the front of the room. The room was deathly silent. When the overseeing teacher gave him a curt nod, Willing stumbled to his desk and buried his sobs in his hands. The class ended and I stumbled to the lockers in a daze.

From that moment I had nothing but love and compassion for Willing. I was popular and loved at school because I was a gifted student of high-status birth so I did my best to include him in my social circles.

An exclusive group of us would meet in the evenings to play basketball or soccer. We were the misfits and the ones who thought outside the box. Willing hung out with us and I developed something of a crush on him which I dared not tell anyone for fear of punishment.

The rules, though, didn’t change my feelings. What I believed was that all children deserved love.

***

Babies were a big part of life in Gloriavale. Birth control and abor­tion were strictly forbidden and we were proud of how we didn’t murder children in the womb like so many people in the world.

Grandad was very fond of bragging that we had the biggest families in New Zealand. He liked to show visitors a photo he’d taken of all the children who were number three or more in birth order, saying, “None of these children would be here if their parents practised birth control and didn’t have a faith in God.”

A favourite sermon of his was to preach about how lucky we were to have been conceived by Christian parents. He’d say, “Guess where the most dangerous place in the world is? It’s not on the road in cars. It’s not flying through the air in planes. It’s in the womb of an ungodly woman.”

My grandmother bore 16 children to Grandad Hopeful before her death and I grew up surrounded by cousins’ babies. Grandad Hopeful would say, “Children are an inheritance of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is His reward.”

Mum taught me to knit all sorts of babywear – cardigans, booties, hats; I always knitted a matching set for each of Aunt Patie’s babies. Some of the women could knit a whole garment in just a few hours.

Childbirth was highly celebrated and parents were expected to prepare their children for the practicalities of having a large family. Boys and girls aged 10 and older would often attend their mother’s births to assist and learn about the procedure.

We birthed our children at home. There was no need to visit a medical institution for something that was a purely natural part of life. God had promised us that women who continued in holiness and faith would be saved in childbearing. But if there were problems with a birth then a birthing mother would be taken to Greymouth hospital.

The district midwife made regular visits to pregnant women and attended the births to ensure nothing went wrong.

The first baby I ever saw born was my Aunt Patie’s second son when I was 10. When he came out he had the umbilical cord wrapped round his neck, he was blue and wasn’t breathing. He was fine once the midwife got him breathing. Afterwards she asked me if I was OK, but to me this was normal because I’d never seen a baby born before, so I was blissfully unaware of how severe the situation was.

I was there to observe and help with my mother’s next four births: Asher, Judah, Serena and Melodie. Because I was now the oldest girl I learned all the child-rearing skills too. I bathed my younger siblings, changed nappies, helped with potty training and when the babies cried in the night I would climb out of bed to attend to them to relieve my exhausted mother. I watched the women help each other breastfeed, if one mother had an abundance of milk she would suckle the child whose mother didn’t have a good supply.

Women were allowed about two weeks off after giving birth but then they were straight back into the workforce. I always wondered how some of the ladies did it. They would birth during the night and the next morning be at the meal table to present the child to the community. The husband would make a big announcement: “The Lord has blessed us with a new baby boy and his name is Courageous.” Everyone would clap and cheer.

When Patie had her fourth child, complications arose after she’d gone into labour. Her waters had broken, she was fully dilated but the baby wasn’t coming. I was rubbing her back, giving her sips of juice and bathing her face with a cool cloth. The midwife decided she needed urgent medical help but we were so far away from any hospital with no time to wait for an ambulance. We would have to transport Patie ourselves.

The boys brought round one of the stripped-out vans, threw down a mattress, blankets and pillows and we helped Patie lie down. I sat by her head and held her hands as her body was being wracked by gigantic contractions. About 20 minutes into the journey we went over a sharp bump. Patie groaned and gasped out, “Something’s moved. I can feel the baby coming. Right now!”

I shouted, “Stop the van!”

Patie was clenching my hand, almost breaking it. I ignored the pain of it and repeated over and over, “It’s OK. Just breathe through it. Go with the pain.”

She was bearing down. The back doors of the van flung open, I scrambled out, the midwife climbed in and a few minutes later my tiny, screaming cousin Submissive was born. The midwife handed her to me after her mother had a cuddle. I cradled her squawking body in my arms. “Welcome, little girl. You’re going to be so loved.”

This is an edited extract from Daughter of Gloriavale: My life in a religious cult by Lilia Tarawa (Allen & Unwin)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/30/my-life-in-a-religious-cult-the-most-dangerous-place-in-the-world-is-the-womb-of-an-ungodly-woman

Inside Gloriavale, New Zealand's Controversial Christian Community

October 19, 2016
VICE

Nestled deep in the mountains on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island, Gloriavale is a Christian group styled along the lines of America's Amish community. Residents of Gloriavale wear clothes resembling that of the 19th century. They also use little technology or electricity.

Since its establishment in 1969, founder Neville Cooper has kept the community rigidly so cut-off from the outside world. With the number of residents totalling close to 600, Gloriavale is entirely self-sufficient with no individual allowed anything of his/her own. It's also common for the number of children in each family to hit double digits, most becoming parents in their teens.

Gloriavale has long been a subject of public fascination. Allegations of sexual abuse, tax evasion ,education deficits and deaths have made the Christian community a permanent fixture in the New Zealand media—and yet its inner workings remain largely a mystery.

This means for the most part, the public has relied on accounts of ex-Gloriavale members to understand daily life within the community. However photographer Cam McLaren was invited into the community and has allowed VICE an exclusive preview of what he saw.

VICE: Tell me a little bit about how your Gloriavale project came to fruition. They're notoriously reclusive, how did you get access?
Cam McLaren: I heard about the community around four years ago and found it really intriguing, but it wasn't until 2015 when when I decided to get in touch with them to discuss the idea of visiting. We basically went through a pretty big process of back and forth conversations, although it felt more like they were interviewing me. Eventually they welcomed me in, but it was only decided that I could take pictures when I had arrived and met with Gloriavale's leader, Hopeful Christian.

What was Hopeful Christian like in person? Did he lay out what was expected of you?
He's quite a proud man. People don't treat him like a god, but they respect him like an inventor, a leader, and a source of inspiration. Although I did wonder if this sense of respect was grown through Chinese whispers over time.

Gloriavale has been embroiled in multiple scandals. Having seen their lifestyle firsthand, do you think they're misunderstood?
I understand that there are huge social concerns around the community, especially around the safety of children, but the whole time I was a guest they treated me with total respect. I found that the children were really adored–treated very much so as the future of the community. I'm sure that Gloriavale has its problems and people with problems...but that's the same as everywhere else. Who doesn't have issues?

Was there anything you found particularly surprising about the way they live?
I was very surprised by the extent of the communities self sufficiency. At the time of my visit there were around 600 residents–that's a lot of mouths to feed. I was told due to their diets and lifestyles that the residents rarely need to leave the community to get medical treatment. Outside doctors regularly visit as well as dentists and other specialties that the community don't have within their ranks.

Gloriavale has assets of $40 million. Were there obvious displays of wealth in the community?
The land the community sits on is vast and would be worth a small fortune itself, but most of the buildings were pretty old and in need of upgrading. There certainly were not any displays of wealth, everyone presents themselves very humbly.

Where did you sleep?
I was shown to this room that was filled with flowers and there was a pink dress lying on the bed. There was an overwhelming sense of celebration. It turned out that it was in preparation for a new family who would be moving in shortly after I left and the dress was going to be worn by the new bride.

Were there any restrictions on who you could talk to?
I was allowed to speak with anyone, but for much of the time I was moving around the community alone. It's like any place, some people want to discuss the world, some don't, but the people of Gloriavale come from a massively diverse background. Many were highly educated and had been really successful outside the community before they entered.

Did going make you reevaluate the way you live in the outside world? Is there anything you've changed since?
Yeah after I left, I started really considering my place in society and how I was going to progress. Did I want to start my own family? Everything just became more clear after my visit. The simplicity of life in the community would make anyone think about their own lifestyle.

Cam's book "Gloriavale" is released by Etcht on November 1 available directly from his website cammclaren.com and select book retailers internationally.

http://www.vice.com/en_au/read/inside-glorivale-new-zealands-controversial-christian-community

A new documentary looks at the role of women in the Gloriavale community

AUGUST 6, 2016

NEWS.com.au

 

THERE is a world that is so secret, so foreign, and yet so close to us.

While they live modestly and innocently, the Gloriavale community on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island has been described as a cult that is more sinister than the idyllic location would lead you to believe.

Beyond the rolling green hills and snow-capped mountains is a very uniformed and regimented Christian community.

It is isolated and secular and the 500 members have very little contact with the outside world.

Members say they don’t want to associate themselves with the evil, adultery, drug use and fornication that the outside world engages in.

A new documentary, Gloriavale: A Woman’s Place, has explored life inside the community and how being a wife is the top job for a woman.

Dove Love. 22, features in the documentary and she is longing to get married.

She has been doing the washing for everybody in the community and she’s ready to be promoted to the role of a wife, where she is required to submit herself to her husband.

“I actually didn’t think I was getting married until about three hours before he walked through the door,” she said.

Watchful Steadfast showed up at Dove’s house with a bunch of flowers and she is required to accept the proposal when it’s offered to her.

Once a couple is married, and a woman vows to submit while the man vows to be the leader, they embrace for a number of minutes.

They are then carried to a “consummation room” immediately where they are expected to lose their virginities.

“God has given something wonderful to the human female above the animals,” an elder says in the documentary.

“He’s given her a seal, a guarantee. And that seal was to be given to her husband. He was the one to open it.”

Members of Gloriavale don’t get many choices — they are told what to wear and where to work.

Marriages are arranged when members are as young as 12 and Gloriavale leader Neville Cooper believes that’s the age a girl becomes a woman.

Cooper established the Springbank Christian Community in 1965 but the group rapidly grew and in 1991 Cooper bought a new property in the Haupiri Valley, 60km inland from Greymouth, and renamed the community Gloriavale.

A lot of controversy surrounded the community when Cooper, who changed his name to Hopeful Christian, was jailed on sexual abuse charges in 1995.

His son and a young woman fled the community and testified against Cooper.

Those who leave the community are shunned and they can’t contact those who remain part of the community.

Members of Gloriavale don’t marry out of love, and sometimes not even out of attraction.

It’s all part of the cycle that helps the members serve God by having more children to continue the following.

The documentary also follows a woman named Angel Benjamin, who was pregnant with her sixth child.

She believed it was God’s will, and he would impregnate her if that’s what he wanted.

The women in the community also hold a strong belief they were put on earth to bear children.

A man named Jeremy, claiming to be Dove’s brother, told New Zealand’s ZM radio station the leaders of the community made her marry Watchful.

“Girls are taught to submit,” he said.

“I know that she didn’t want to marry him. They’re just told that it’s God’s will. Basically, anything the leaders say is God’s will (members have) got to do that or they’re going to hell.”

According to Jeremy, he began to spread the truth about the “cult” and was banished.

“I was asking them if I could stay in the community because I’m married with a baby and they ended up saying ‘no you can’t’,” he said.

“I said ‘I’m not going’, and they were like, 'well, we’re not going to feed you. You’re not going to have a place to stay. You’re not going to have any work. How are you going to live here?’”

He was then called a trespasser when he continued to refuse to leave.

Jeremy said what Gloriavale leaders were telling people in the community were lies.

“And that’s obviously why they try to stop you from having contact with the outside world. Because you find out the truth about a lot of things and then you take that back and start spreading that around and people start leaving,” he told ZM radio.

Jeremy no longer speaks to anybody in Gloriavale, not even his family.

“Your whole life you’re told in there that the world is a big, bad, evil place. A lot of it is fear,” he said.

Members have said in previous documentaries they hold a lot of disgust and disdain for the outside world.

 

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/a-new-documentary-looks-at-the-role-of-women-in-the-gloriavale-community/news-story/656a37f706c71177401c13ee1e0057f1

 

The man behind the award-winning Gloriavale documentary

PAULETTE CROWLEY
Stuff.com
April 23, 2016

 

Documentary-maker Ivars Berzins on location at the South Island
 Christian community Gloriavale at Lake Haupiri.

It took a draw down on their mortgage to get documentary series Gloriavale off the ground, but the risk has more than paid off with international recognition for makers Ivars Berzins and wife Amanda Evans and this week's prestigious award at the New York Festival.

Turn on free-to-air telly to look for in-depth current affairs or a decent documentary today and it's a struggle to find anything compelling amongst the profusion of light "news" and reality TV.

So, a gem such as the documentary series about Gloriavale, the South Island Christian community at Lake Haupiri, restored some faith in the possibility that there is more to reality television broadcasting than The Bachelor, The Block, and The Voice.

The three-part documentary series won a prestigious award at the New York Festival this week in the renowned World's Best TV & Films competitions (community portrait category). It competed against titan docos funded by multi-million dollar budgets from around the world.

Understandably, the makers of the series, Ivars Berzins and his wife Amanda Evans, are thrilled with the industry recognition, which could well encourage more international sales and boost their good reputation in the business.

It's also a boon for other doco makers in New Zealand, who are increasingly struggling to get their products funded and shown through the traditional broadcast model.

Even in the good old days of "documentaries of the week" and long-format current affairs, making a living from producing documentaries was tough. However, Wellington-based Berzins, director of photography at Pacific Screen (Evans is the producer) has managed to succeed doing just that for three decades.

His career as a documentary-maker and as the former chief cameraman for TVNZ in Wellington has taken him to far-flung locations such as Antarctica, Norway, Germany, France, East Timor and Libya.

Television shows he's worked on range from Tagata Pasifika and Asia Downunder to current affairs assignments. His career highlights include working on his own docos: crossing the Sahara Desert in 40C heat to film Lost in Libya (about the Long Range Desert Group) and the Qantas Award-winning travel game show The $20 Challenge in London.

In 1996, Berzins and Evans formed their own company, Pacific Screen. It was inevitable that Berzins would branch out to tell his own stories.

"I've always had a commitment to documentary and 'actuality style' filming. I like telling stories that are not well-known and I've never really deviated from that. Other people in the industry have moved into making commercials and drama but I decided that's not really my bag."

Coming from a migrant background – his parents fled communist Latvia to search for freedom in New Zealand – has shaped Berzins' storytelling philosophy. "My parents always regarded the ability to have a free voice as a really important thing. Part of me believes that a big section of our society is under-represented and they need a voice."

The community at Gloriavale has certainly been given a voice, though they were reticent at first.

"We have always been intrigued by the Gloriavale story. It raises a lot of questions about where we are as a society, as well as where they are as a community. Their way of life is uniquely their own and they are not trying to impose that on other people. But I think sharing their story with the TV audience helps us all think about our own values and what's important in life.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but you can't deny some aspects of it are quite impressive and food for thought. The stories spark endless discussions with our kids and friends, and I think TV should be challenging. Not everything on the screen should come in bite-sized chunks."

The first two Gloriavale documentaries – A World Apart and Life and Death – rated their socks off. (The third is in production and expected to air in a couple of months). The response to the shows via social media was passionate and sometimes ferocious as people debated the way of the life in the extremely conservative, self-sufficient community, which some view as a cult or sect.

What is surprising is the amount of young people, who supposedly shun documentaries to plonk themselves in front of Teen Mom or Keeping up with the Kardashians, who have become avid watchers of the Gloriavale series. They have strong, independent opinions about the stories, which have become hot topics of discussion in school classrooms and on social media.

Berzins reckons young people are hungry for observational stories. "I really like watching people who are different to myself who aren't celebrities," tweeted one teen, which made Berzins' day.

Young people are, in fact, starting to look past narcissistic, selfie-dominated social media forums, he says, as is evident from the teens and young adults queuing up at film festivals. "A good yarn can re-evaluate where you are; make you ask what's going on in the world."

CHALLENGE OF THE INTERNET

However, documentaries are an endangered species in New Zealand, admits Berzins.

"The thirst for knowledge is still there. Unfortunately, I think we're poorly served in this country for issues-based television: flick through the schedule and you're more likely to find talent or cooking shows. That's all entertaining, but there's just not much meat on the bone anymore."

Just why broadcasters pander to a younger audience when; a) they've got no money and hardly watch telly anyway; and b) the Gen X and Baby Boomer viewers are cashed-up and still want to watch TV but lament the decline of quality content, is a mystery.

"I think they [broadcasters] are trying to sell to a younger generation who are drifting away from free-to air telly, whereas the older generation who grew up with and are quite loyal to it are increasingly ignored. I don't understand the business case for that."

But all credit to TVNZ for backing the Gloriavale series, and perhaps more in the future, says Berzins. "It rates incredibly well across all ages and yet it's got a backbone of old-style storytelling. It's kind of an anomaly."

How the reinvention of free-to-air broadcasting evolves remains to be seen, as is how anyone besides Google, Facebook and streaming services make any money from the web.

"It's the big question of the time: how to keep the creative industries going at a time where everyone expects something for nothing from the internet."

Financing documentaries in NZ (and other arts projects) is largely reliant on publicly funded grants. It's not easy. For example, despite Gloriavale receiving almost $460,000 in grants from NZ on Air, the dollars needed still fell short.

"We have, on occasion, drawn on our mortgage to get a programme started, ie, self-funding a pilot or teaser to show the broadcaster the look and feel of what we are aiming for, says Berzins. "We did this for Gloriavale."

He may feel like he's "the last man standing" in documentary storytelling but Berzins has no plans to hang up his camera while there are still yarns to be told.

"I feel lucky to be doing what I'm doing. I get excited turning up and not knowing about a person or their life. I'm on the same journey as the viewer. My eyes become the audience's eyes, and I get a great thrill from that.

"The future is always a bit scary. Free-to-air broadcasting is evolving – who knows what format we'll be watching in five years' time? But just because there aren't as many independent documentaries being commissioned, it doesn't mean I won't continue doing what I love doing. It might take some reinvention and novel ways to reach the audience but I will always love the viewfinder: it's hard to give it up."

http://i.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/79180855/The-man-behind-the-award-winning-Gloriavale-documentary

Gloriavale Christian Community abuse investigation continues

September 11, 2015
Sarah-Jane O'Connor

Police are still investigating allegations about the Gloriavale Christian Community but cannot comment on their progress.

The investigation into the remote West Coast group began in April after allegations made in the media about abuse.

Former members of the community have made allegations about physical punishment, brainwashing and sexual abuse of girls as young as 12.

A hotline was set up at the end of April a week after police had said they could not investigate without complaints.

A police spokeswoman said the investigation was ongoing and likely would be for "some time yet". Police have refused to give information on how many calls had been made to the hotline or the nature of any calls.

Gloriavale has been based at Lake Haupiri, inland from Greymouth, since the mid-1990s, after shifting from the original site in North Canterbury. About 500 people live in the community, including trained midwives and teachers.

It has been the centre of other recent controversies. A proposal to close the road leading to the remote property will head to the Environment Court after being given the go-ahead by the Grey District Council.

Concerns have been raised that it will block access for anglers and hunters to the Haupiri River area.

Although the community's school has met the criteria set by the Education Review Office, Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty raised concerns over the segregation of teaching.

Girls were taught cooking, sewing and childcare while boys were taught carpentry, engineering and faming. Teenagers in the community do not progress past Year 11 and do not sit external exams.

Her call to investigate the school over concerns for children's rights was turned down by a select committee last month.

http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/71969421/gloriavale-christian-community-abuse-investigation-continues

Gloriavale 'needs to be shut down' as secretive sect goes on the defensive

TVNZSource: ONE News
April 29, 2015

Concerned Kiwis are calling for the Government to intervene and shut down the Gloriavale "cult", as a former member says the religious sect will now be in "defence" mode to protect their way of life.

Yesterday, police called for residents of the West Coast Christian commune to reveal their experiences in light of new allegations by ex-community members of brainwashing, physical punishment and sexual abuse against girls as young as 12.

Do you have connections to Gloriavale? Tell us your story by emailing newsdesk@tvnz.co.nz

ONE News reader Daniel Bestic said: "Gloriavale needs to be shut down. Immediately. Horrible brainwashing and forced marriages are not something our country should allow to continue."

Posting to the ONE News Facebook page, Deb Leete Meads feared another Waco, referring to the violent siege of a religious commune in Texas during 1993.

"No more hanging about, nor being polite, storm it," she said.

Claudine Wharekura Kingi Murray called on CYFS to "do your job" and "protect the kids".

Tanya Eade agreed: "It's a cult and the children are pretty much brainwashed as they know of no other way of life. I agree something needs to be done."

As scrutiny surrounding the isolated commune increases, former member Elijah Overcomer, 26, also said Gloriavale's 16 leaders will now be in "defence" mode.

Speaking to the Timaru Herald he said the secretive sect will now justify how "bad" the outside world is, after television crews and a former member tried to gain entry into the compound.

"It probably wasn't the best thing to do. It will only put those living there on the defensive."

Mr Overcomer is married to former Gloriavale member Rosanna, who recently told TV ONE's Sunday about her 27 years of living a life of submission and fear.

“They really do seriously believe that if I walk out of there I’m sending myself and my kids to hell," Rosanna said.

"They turned on me like a pack of wolves," she said about the group and Gloriavale leader Neville Cooper, who was convicted for indecent assault and served two years in prison during the 1990s.

About 25 ex-Gloriavale members now live in South Canterbury.

Police added yesterday that they did not need a complaint against Gloiravale to act, but information would help in future investigations.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/gloriavale-needs-shut-down-secretive-sect-goes-defensive-6303712