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