New ‘shepherd’ for sect
The newly announced “overseeing shepherd” of Gloriavale Christian Community, Stephen Standfast.
Gloriavale has a new “overseeing shepherd”, as Howard Temple announced his resignation to community members while awaiting sentencing on sexual offending.
Howard Wendell Temple, 85, has been overseeing shepherd at the West Coast Christian community that some consider to be a cult since its founder’s death in 2018.
He is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in the Greymouth District Court to 12 charges of sexual offending against six girls and women while they worked in the community’s kitchen or dining hall. He changed his plea three days into a judge-alone trial in July.
Stephen Standfast confirmed to The Press that he is now the community’s overseeing shepherd.
“I think you would know that it’s quite a big issue,” the 48-year-old said, when asked how he felt about his new role.
He said he would rather prepare and issue a statement than answer questions by phone.
A variety of sources close to those in the community confirmed Temple had announced his resignation to community members via Zoom on Sunday night.
He spoke to the meeting for about 40 minutes about his court case.
“Nothing in his resignation was about his Christian witness or that he had brought reproach to the name of Christ. He didn’t open the Bible. But he did spend quite some time talking about the impact on businesses if he remained,” one said.
“It took me by surprise, to be fair. Changing his plea and standing down? “It’s just not normal,” another said. Standfast has been acting Overseeing Shepherd since Temple’s arrest. Temple has been serving bail in a Gloriavale-owned farmhouse nearby but has not been allowed on the main property.
Hopeful Christian founded the community in 1969 and chose Temple as his successor, and Standfast as Temple’s successor, before his death in 2018.
Christian was found guilty on three charges of indecent assault and spent just under two years behind bars. Temple, an American mechanical engineer formerly called Howard Smitherman, joined the community in the 1970s and was principal of one of three early childhood centres within the community.
The Press understands Standfast moved back to the main community with his family about a month ago, after living on Lake Brunner Station overseeing farming operations there since 2020. The community bought the property in 2019 with expansion plans.
The court heard Temple’s victims were aged between nine and 21, and the offending spanned from 2002 to 2022. Temple pleaded guilty to four charges of indecent assault, six charges of doing an indecent act and two charges of assault.
Most of the charges were representative, meaning he admitted indecently touching young girls and women’s bottoms and legs on multiple occasions while they worked in the dining hall and kitchen. He also told them he loved them and called one of them his “favourite girlfriend”.
He admitted touching a young woman’s breast while she was cleaning the men’s bathroom and kissing another’s neck while she was by herself making iceblocks in the community kitchen.
The assault charges related to touching a young girl’s waist and rubbing another girl’s body.
A Gloriavale spokesman confirmed Howard Temple’s resignation.
“His position has been taken by Stephen Standfast, who has been designated to replace Mr Temple for several years,” a statement said.
“Mr Temple succeeded the community’s founder, Hopeful Christian, upon his death in 2018.
“In the years since then, he has led a campaign to establish policies around child safety and well-being, as well as workplace health and safety.”
The statement added that Standfast had spent several years “working with outside agencies to support on-going changes for safety and wellbeing”.