Gloriavale leavers outline hopes for reform or closure of the sect
Leavers are calling for any closure of the Gloriavale community to be gradual and supported, with all assets sold and the proceeds given to residents and those who have left.
The Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust has released a document written in consultation with a significant number of leavers looking at what a healthy Gloriavale could look like.
It also examines how a potential closure of Gloriavale would play out in the best interests of both former and current members.
It says the level of abuse uncovered by police in recent years had produced “a stream of hurt and abused people”.
The trust says the document does not seek to establish whether reform or closure is preferred, but rather “what leavers would like to see if either of those options play out”.
Gloriavale has come under renewed scrutiny in recent weeks following a TVNZ documentary series, Escaping Utopia, which made further disturbing revelations about the West Coast community.
The trust’s document, which was developed last year, says a healthy Gloriavale requires basic freedoms for its residents, suitable leadership for its activities and repentance for past wrongdoing.
The document called for religious freedom where people are free to read the Bible themselves and hold beliefs based upon their own understanding and conscience.
It calls for people to have control of their finances, the number of children they have, their education, who they marry, and access to quality healthcare and information about the outside world.
It says the current leaders should be removed and replaced with three elected leadership groups for church, civil administration and business, to provide a separation of powers to help ensure leadership consistently acts in the best interests of people.
“If Gloriavale were to end, through whatever means, a suitable ending for Gloriavale should give its residents maximum help and preparation for a new life and recompense those who have already left for past wrongs,” it says.
The document suggests any ending of Gloriavale should be an orderly, phased and gradual process that would enable residents to prepare for a new life in the outside world and maximises the sale value of community assets.
“The ending should also be a total end, with assets sold, legal structures dissolved, and no rump or remnant group of people allowed to remain on the site,” it says.
Educational preparation for any resettlement would include financial literacy training and career planning advice, and each family would have a tailored resettlement plan supported by agencies and churches.
All Gloriavale assets should be sold and put into a resettlement fund for distribution to residents and leavers, the document suggests, and be shared out taking into account each member or former member’s time spent living at Gloriavale, the number of their dependent children and their financial contribution to the original community.
Replying to the document on Wednesday, a Gloriavale spokesperson said: “Although the views of leavers and the Leavers’ Trust have value in an informational sense, the community leaders need to consult with Gloriavale members before making strategic announcements for Gloriavale’s future.
“The community remains committed to working with the New Zealand Government and other appropriate stakeholders to ensure that Gloriavale is sustainable for future generations, which is the appropriate course of action.”