Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian dies | Stuff.co.nz

There is probably no religious group New Zealanders have seen more of over the past decade than Gloriavale.

The West Coast Christian community has been featured in a series of documentaries and many news reports.

The allegations made against the community by former members have been well covered - the forced marriages, the sexual and physical abuse, the shunning of anyone who leaves, and the complete financial domination of all members.

The trust owns land worth about $10 million along with buildings, vehicles and equipment worth about $20 million.

Gloriavale members live within the confines of the West Coast base, sign over all their assets to the trust when they join, and work unpaid for the community.

Any income that community members earn is donated to the trust to cover food, medical costs, clothing and laundry costs for the community.

Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian dies | Stuff.co.nz

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

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.

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

ADDENDUM::Greens keep up criticism of Gloriavale school

I have been picking through the various articles concerning this Gloriavale cult out of New Zealand.  Here is another article focusing on the education of the young girls in the sect.

What female students at Gloriavale's school are being taught is a question that will be put to Government inspectors.

Catherine Delahunty, education spokeswoman for the Green Party, has entered into a war of words with the Christian community over how young people there are being taught.

She is concerned that students appear to be pressured into completing NCEA early so they can work in the community, saddling young women who would excel at university with "endless laundry".

The school has hit back and rubbished Ms Delahunty's earlier claims its students were not achieving NCEA, pointing to high pass rates achieved last year.

Officials from the Education Review Office (ERO) will appear before a select committee next week, and will face questioning over ERO's positive assessment of Gloriavale's school.

Ms Delahunty said she planned to ask ERO officials whether boys and girls have exactly the same subject choices available to them, and what NCEA internal assessments were being sat.

She is concerned the school's narrow curriculum prevented pupils, especially girls, from going on to tertiary study, and instead steered them towards domestic roles within the secretive West Coast community.

"I respect the benefits of a practical education, but am very concerned about the idea of young women being saddled with endless laundry and denied the opportunity to further themselves," Ms Delahunty said.

Greens keep up criticism of Gloriavale school

Gloriavale's men the match-makers - National - NZ Herald News

In some respects, this group shares similarities with the Amish although

The secretive Gloriavale community was founded by Neville Cooper (also known as Hopeful Christian) in the 1960s.

It has been embroiled in controversy since the 1990s, when Cooper was jailed for five years on a raft of sex offences.

Gloriavale was in the news in recent months, amid claims of brain washing and child and sex abuse. Police set up a free phone number after appealing for any information from members or former members of the sect.

Yea, No.  Scratch that, this cult is nothing like the Amish.

A new documentary on Gloriavale has revealed more about what it's like to live in the isolated West Coast community - and how its residents react when someone walks out.

Gloriavale - Life and Death on TV2 tonight returned to check in on the marriage of Paul Valor and Pearl Hope, a young couple who have grown up in the conservative Christian community.

The couple now have a daughter named Esther and were shown during the show having a son named Josiah.
Paul and Pearl, like all married couples in the community, were chosen by the leaders of Gloriavale.

The show's narrator explained that the senior men decide everything, arranging all the relationships through a mix of planning and prayer.

Paul provided further insight into the process.

"The leaders - they have got lists of all bloodlines and so when you come and ask them to get married, they can get you a list of, you know, five or six girls who you can marry without any problems and they'll all be within your age bracket ...

that's what we call the shortlist."

One of the leaders can be heard telling him: "God has got somebody specially prepared for you".

The 22-year-old said it was the lord's will for him to marry Pearl.

"I want to marry a godly wife, the only really godly women that I personally know are here."

Pearl, also aged in her early 20s, said she chose to love whoever God wanted her to marry. "And that's a decision you make and it's not hard, it's easy."

Gloriavale's men the match-makers - National - NZ Herald News