Who was Hopeful Christian and how did he rise to notoriety at Gloriavale?

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Who was Hopeful Christian and how did he rise to notoriety at Gloriavale?

Who was Hopeful Christian and how did he rise to notoriety at Gloriavale?
Articles, Videos

By Brad Flahive – Stuff – 15/05/2018

[Video can be viewed in article link]

One of New Zealand’s most controversial figures has died after a battle with cancer, aged 92.

Hopeful Christian, founder of the Gloriavale commune and convicted sex offender, died on Tuesday at the secluded community on the South Island’s West Coast.

A former travelling preacher, Christian came to New Zealand from Australia in 1967 under the name Neville Cooper.

He set himself up as a Christian preacher and spoke around the country, but he quickly fell out of favour with mainstream religious groups because of his fundamentalist preachings.

Read more here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/103933602/notorious-gloriavale-leader-hopeful-christian?rm=a