Many thanks to the many contributors of this history, including family and friends of founding members, along with books and written sources. Please connect with us if there are material errors. Our gratitude to Lauren Rosanowski who compiled the majority of this history.
Springbank, which became Gloriavale, was founded by self-proclaimed preacher and evangelist, Neville Cooper. Leavers describe it as a system built on one man’s personality, that morphed over time into a society that resembled a communist dictatorship.
So who was Neville Barkley Cooper (later renamed Hopeful Christian)?
Born in Tawoomba Australian in 1926, Neville left school at the age of 12 to work in his father’s fruit shop. Other sources say he left school at 14 and worked for a panel beater.
It is told that his father was a hard man and his mother was frugal and mean, having brought up Neville and his siblings in the depression. It was understood his parents argued quite a bit, and his wife didn’t show signs of being a submissive wife. At 16 Neville left home, estranged from his family. He enjoyed rugby league and being quite intense he was involved in lots of activities.
Early 20’s
Towards the end of the war he joined the Air Force for less than a year, but he never went into active service. His older brother died in Africa during the war and this had quite an impact on him. Sources believe in his early 20s’ he had some sort of mental crisis described as burnout or some sort of breakdown episode. He stayed with his aunty during this time and she was involved with the Church of Christ.
Conversion Experience
It was while he was in this period of poor mental health and living with his aunty, that he said he had a spiritual conversion experience and “God called him to be his minister”. He was around 21 and fervently began his pursuit of the Christian Life. At church Neville met Gloria Perry and married her in 1949 (Neville was 21, Gloria was 16).
He attended a Bible School for a short period of months in Sydney, only to leave again saying these Christians lacked zeal. This was to be a much-repeated theme throughout his ministry. He didn’t think other Christians were as intense as him.
Presentence reports from 1995 say that Hopeful reported that he worked with people from prisons and the underprivileged and says that he and his wife always had a large number of extras around their various homes. He travelled to various parts of Australia as an evangelist working with Aboriginals and others he believed would benefit from his knowledge as a Christian.
Many reports from people who knew Neville at the time said he was difficult to approach and he quickly stuck trouble and became out of kilter with people. He moved around many churches, lasting up to 2 years in some locations.
At the age of 23 Neville began preaching, establishing himself as an itinerant preacher. He was young, energetic and resolute in his beliefs. The idea of having a faith-based life where he would trust God for his daily needs was appealing to him. His mission to take the Word of God to as many people as possible was in the style of a ‘hellfire and brimstone’ preacher. His charisma drew many people to hear his messages preached from marquees, the ministry labelled the ‘Voice of Deliverance’. Due to his early air force training, Neville was able to fly a light aircraft to remote places to deliver his message. Often away for days or weeks at a time, Gloria was left at home with a young and ever growing family. One thing about him is that he was consistently intense.
Gloria was a good wife and Hopeful spoke of his appreciation for her and the sacrifices that she made. Even though they had a large family (16 children in total), the family seemed to function reasonably normally, although there were times of deprivation, and neglect.
For the next 15 years a pattern emerged, where Neville would move his family to align himself with a Christian church or ministry but he would ‘fall-out’ with with them. The family would them move and set up in a new town and attend a local church, only for another disagreement over theology or doctrine. They were regularly moving every 12-18 months at some stages.
Life wasn’t always smooth, with his mission caravan going up in flames, and then a miraculous escape from a crashed areoplane. But these difficulties just instilled in Neville greater sense of calling.
Neville tried to start a precursor to a Christian community in an area where Aboriginals and down and outers would be able to come to the farm. He made some plans with his friend Mel Hibert but again there was a falling out and it never came to fruition.
This common theme kept coming through that he felt unsupported and hurt by people who deserted him and who had a lack of loyalty. Those close to him said he didn’t seem to have the strength to push through with projects on his own, and he needed to use others. He needed to have others who were strongly loyal to him to help him achieve his vision. While this pattern repeated itself, Neville’s itinerant ministry continued to grow and he was well known and liked as a courageous, convicting preacher.
Visits to New Zealand and Itinerant Preaching Ministry
In his presentence reports, Neville stated that he came to New Zealand several times prior to his permanent move here in about 1964, as part of his work. After arriving on the last occasion they apparently made several moves before settling in North Canterbury. The date of 1964 conflicts with other evidence that he had been to New Zealand on a three-month preaching tour, and was once again invited to preach in New Zealand in 1967. Regardless it appears it was during 1967 that he took his family with him (there were nine children by this time), with the prospect that perhaps they might settle and make a life in NZ. In the late 1960s there were quite a lot of revivalist ministries in New Zealand and while Neville was touring New Zealand the family settled in Feilding. Neville was drawing big crowds to his events and was somewhat of a celebrity. His message continued to be one sacrificing oneself for the needs of others, seeking to live in a Godly manner and giving all glory to God.
Early years at Cust
Neville and the family moved around several NZ locations, and around 1968 the family moved south to Rangiora. Revival meetings were being held at the Christian Revival Centre (later known as New Life Centre), and they had an outpost at Rangiora. Peter Morrow and other visiting speaker were the main evangelists during these meetings, but at some point Neville was invited to come along. Perspectives vary at this point about the mechanisms of what occurred. Neville told his followers that he was invited by the Christian Revival Centre to share in the leadership of the Rangiora group, but that is disputed by people who were leaders at the time. They say Neville had a way of ingratiating himself into a group and before long he ended up taking over the gathering and putting himself in as the leader.
Memoirs and letters from Christian leaders to Neville at the time show that they tried to make him aware of some concerning behaviors, but the old pattern remained and Neville cut contact and fellowship with the Christchurch Revival Centre around 1970.
This time, instead of relocating his family, Neville hired the St Johns Ambulance Hall (down the road from the church) and began holding Sunday services to continue his evangelism. Most of the group moved with him although, later a few families left and rejoined Christchurch Revival Centre which later established as the Rangiora New Life Church. A loyal member said the reason these families left was because they, ‘”could not handle Hopeful’s preaching of the book of Acts regarding the sharing life, having all things common, and loving our neighbour as ourselves.”
Cooperites
Neville gathered a large following and they became known as the ‘Cooperites’. As the group grew they were respected and admired by the wider community for their practical, helpful and compassionate ways of life. They worked on projects such as establishing gardens, and doing up old cars and giving them away, as expressions of their Christian living. Neville preached that Christian living should be seen. At this early stage, this was already shaping not only what the community did but also how they looked. Women were encouraged to dress modestly with mid-calf length dresses and a renouncement of ‘worldly’ vanities.
Springbank Property
George Harrision was a local who had four children, and owned a farm at Springbank, near Cust, Rangiora. In 1970 Neville’s first born, Faith, married Alan Harrison. This was followed by John Harrison’s marriage to Neville’s daughter Grace. Over time the community used the farm at Springbank as the base for the Christian Ministry. Various blocks were owned by different parties – George & Janet, Alan & Faith and John and Grace, and over time his relationships with each couple got a little complicated.
John was farming on the property, having borrowed from the bank to purchase the land from his parents before his conversion. John explained the situation like this: “When I had been converted to Christ for 18 months and married for 6 months, I got rheumatic fever, was in bed, very ill, for 6 months, and the fever damaged a valve in my heart. During this time in bed, Hopeful visited me every day, sharing the scriptures with me. One scripture he shared was Romans 13:8, “Owe no man anything…..” I then started praying and decided to sell 300 acres and clear my debt. I was only left with 100 acres (40ha) and was certain that I couldn’t make a living off that. Surprise, surprise, Grace and I did OK on our little block. Hopeful never once suggested that I give that block to the community, and I never thought of it myself. After approximately 10 years a brother said to me that the community did not follow private ownership but that we were following the book of Acts, those having lands or houses, sold them and laid the money at the apostles feet, and distribution was made to every man as he had need. I didn’t have to think about it, or pray about it, that was my heart, I had just not thought about it. I discussed it with Grace, and we gave the land to the Trust, willingly and lovingly. This was Grace’s and my land, and no-one, not even my father George Harrison, had any say over our decision to give it to the Church. Several years later we had some inheritance money came to us, and we did not even think about it, we just gave it to the community on the night we received it. The sharing, caring life toward the people living as members of the community is everything to us. Those who chose to leave were not part of what we were building.”
Alan Harrison maintains that Neville Cooper never put any pressure on the family that owned the land to donate it and he didn’t apply pressure on the family to receive donations. He admitted that a few of the fanatical adherents did but not Neville. Any donations made by the family were made willingly and without coercion. Other family members and people close to the family don’t agree that coercion didn’t play a part.
Alan owned the 50-acre block on which a community primary school built, following Neville’s assertion that there must be a place where parents could be assured their children were receiving a religious education focussed on high moral standards. This grew quickly and shortly after a secondary school was also opened. As activity at the Springbank flourished, Neville decided to move his family to the property in 1976. This was followed by a strong encouragement for many others, especially young married couples, to relocate their lives to the property and live a Godly life alongside one another. Accommodation, laundry and dining blocks were built and a small farm helped the members to live out their desires to be self sufficient. Some members still worked outside and their wages supported the community. There was a strong sense of purpose amongst the people; everyone was working together for the common good.
Neville had firmly established his control over what appeared to be a reasonably loyal group of new recruits, and it’s during this time that an unhealthy underbelly of the sexualized environment began to become even more prevalent. Neville was becoming bolder in his “marriage education sessions” interfering in many marriages for years to come. This activity set the scene for the eruption of sexual abuse that was to be exposed during the early 2020’s.
Christian Church at Springbank
In 1977 Neville formally established his own church, calling it the ‘Christian Church at Springbank’. Initially there was to be a leadership team of Neville Cooper, Howard Pilgrim and Bobby Dawson (David Courage), who followed him from Australia. However, Neville’s force of personality won out. They were not able to reign him in.
With the new church came a move to stricter and more monitored everyday life and behaviour. Rules were growing around dress, worship, gender roles, parenting. Couples needed Neville’s permission to marry, and he emphasised that they should marry young. Timetables and rosters were introduced to organise people for daily life events such as mealtimes. Where once the community had been respected and admired by outsiders, now a sense of suspicion and apprehension was growing. Coming together to share all in common was being replaced by living together to share all in common. Bit by bit, the community was working itself to being shut off from the outside world. During this time there was an increasingly sexualised environment being promoted within families. Hopeful said he didn’t want people to be prudes, and children should see sexual activity between married people as normal.
In February 1979 Neville held his last open preaching session in Rangiora, closing down the church gatherings at the St John’s hall in favour of meeting only at Springbank. Evangelism continued however, as van loads of young people from the community would drive to Cathedral Square in the Christchurch CBD to witness and share their testimonies of salvation and Godly living. It is during these years that many young people from their mid-teens – early twenties, joined the community. A high number were singles travelling from overseas, looking for some meaning for their lives. This community answered their desire to belong to something.
However, as the seclusion and influence grew there were a number of people who had been involved in church and community who choose to leave. Notably, in 1979 Faith, Alan and their family left the Springbank property and the community, following growing concerns over the power and control that was being displayed, and other issues.
As time continued, Neville looked to other religious communities to refine and shape his ideals of Godly life. The Amish, Mennorites, and Hutterites featured, although he saw the Hutterites as the closest to living a Biblical life. In 1987 some elders from a Hutterite community in the United States visited Springbank at Neville’s invitation. Also, about 30 young unmarried community members from Springbank travelled to the United States and toured the Hutterite community. Interestingly the visiting elders were not agreeable to the ways that Neville was directing the community, including the establishment of one man as the ruler, the lack of accountability, theological differences and the highly sexualised environment.
Questions soon arose as to who would own the land, especially if there was a division in the church. Neville discussed this issue with the men, and it was decided that the land would be owned by a trust, and the beneficiaries of the trust would be the people who believed what we believed. “What We Believe” was born (as amended from time-to-time!). This foundational document detailed what it meant to be part of this Church, and part of it was the binding Commitment vow – where members promised to hold to the doctrines the church, obediently, to the peril of their souls.
Information provided by the Royal Commission said that, “Alan Harrison offered to sign over the land to us if we built him a new five bedroom house in Rangiora. He provided the plans, we built the house, and he gave us the land.” (Alan and his family left in 1979, but had allowed the community to continue operating on their land during the intervening years.)
In 1989 the official purchase of the land was complete and the land transferred to the newly formed Trust. Interestingly, court records showed that the purchasers of the land were Neville Copper and Robert Dawson – both Australian immigrants were who legally not allowed to own land in New Zealand without Government approval. Perhaps this explains why on the sale and purchase document they both selected the option stating their status was “NZ Citizen by Birth”. This was patently untrue. This piece of evidence was traversed in detail during the 2022 Pilgrim Employment Court proceedings, where Faithful Pilgrim was taken through the document. He recognised this was not true, and affirmed that both Neville Cooper and Robert Dawson were Australian citizens. It is clear, that the original purchase of the land from Alan Harrison at Springbank was based on deceit. You can read the whole agreement here:
1990’s
In 1990 Neville Cooper changed his name to Hopeful Christian.
By this stage the community had grown both in number of people and in industry. Many businesses had been established in the quest for self-sufficiency and self-support. Methane gas conversion, mechanical work, flights, dairying, trade work such as electrical, carpentry, plumbing and teaching were some of the skills and capabilities held within the community. The growth of the community was of keen interest to Neville and those he now had in leadership under him were known as Shepherds. They were  chosen from those who were showing leadership in business areas, but it because a more spiritual and pastoral role, with Shepherds and Servant being allocated onto the hostel floors in later years.
In 1991 there were two significant events that shaped the future of the community. Firstly, the community purchased 917ha of land on the West Coast (followed by another purchase which brought the total ownership to 1700ha at a later date). Secondly, in March 1991, Gloria passed away after suffering from a brain tumor. Gloria and Neville were married 41 years and had 16 children. In honour of her, Neville named the new property on the West Coast ‘Gloriavale’.
Move to the West Coast
The migration to the West Coast occurred over a 3 year process, with some families remaining on the Springbank site, while others went to help on the Gloriavale site. They began with the building of infrastructure for community life. First the dairy sheds were built, followed by the accommodation blocks. These were hostels for where each family, depending on size, would be appointed one or two bedrooms with several families sharing a floor. Â Dining facilities, large commercial kitchen, school rooms and office spaces followed in time. As infrastructure grew and businesses were established, the community began the migration from Springbank to Gloriavale. By 1994 the community had fully moved to the new West Coast location and Springbank was sold at auction. Leavers comment on the prevalent pioneering attitude which meant they suffered through some cold winters, and lived in inappropriate lodgings. There was no privacy, safety of security. And numerous sexual offenders were already establishing their patterns of predation in the community.
Newspaper articles from 1993 and 1994 affirm that leavers were speaking out about the community, and Police held concerns that there was an unregistered school running from the Haupiri site. The Ministry of Education got involved, and shared their concerns about the early childhood centre and the school and refused to give them licences. Read the articles from 4/08/1993 and 06/08/1993.
In January 1994 ERO completed a review of the Springbank school and somehow were satisfied that the community were teaching a balanced curriculum, although admitted that, “In some instances prograames had been modified so their content was consistent with the sect’s beliefs. The Cooperite school distinguished between girls and boys in the opportunities provided for students, the difference reflecting the community’s long-term expectations of the students as members of the community.” The school at the Springbank site shut soon after the property was auctioned and the school on the new Gloriavale site was allowed to continue without registration provided its facilities were brought up to scratch. Read the article here.
Raids at Springbank and Gloriavale and Hopeful Christian Arrested
In June 1993 the Police began an investigation in Neville Cooper following allegations of sexual misconduct. Dawn raids were executed on July 20th 1993 at both the Springbank and Gloriavale properties, which resulted in the arrest of Neville Cooper.
Meanwhile former members of the community started to speak out publicly about what had been occurring at the community and why they left. Mel Hanson and Eric Miller spoke to the NZ Listener in 1994. They elaborate on the issues of authoritarianism and control, sexual harm, child abuse, ostracism, arranged marriages, education, illness and more. You can read the Listener article here.
Imprisonment for Hopeful Christian
The Police investigations continued and Hopeful was charged with a range of sexual offences against many individuals. His trial started 8th August 1994 in Christchurch. He was found guilty on ten counts of sexual violation against 5 complainants and was held on remand. Judge Noble presided over the proceedings. Redacted notes of evidence can be read here.
During his time on remand Steve Anderson Probation Officer interviewed Hopeful Christian (19 August 1994) to assess him ahead of the sentencing. You can read the report here. He stated,
“The sense of entitlement this man must have had with his victims reflects his arrogance and whilst some of that arrogance appears to have been humbled by his current circumstances, he still presents himself as being absolutely blameless and projects his anger to his victims and their assertions about him. The tragedy for these people must be extreme and from my discussions with colleagues who have interviewed the victims the sexual abuse represents only a small part of the “angst” they experience today.Â
At the present time I see no signs that this man has the capacity to accept responsibility for his offending and make such change that would give hope for a possible reformation. What the future holds is unknown but one can only hope that he will change prior to his regaining his liberty, be that under the guidance of the Kia Marama Programme or not. I consider he represents a risk of reoffending in the future if he fails to move from his current refusal to accept culpability. The future of the Gloriana Community is unknown but I can not help but wonder the future of the children in particular should he return to live there in the future.”
On 2 September 1994 Judge Noble sentenced him to six years imprisonment. His full sentencing remarks can be read here.
Notes from the Judge:
“By anyone’s standard this was reprehensible conduct.”
“I record the aggravating features of these actions as first the abuse of absolute power and trust; secondly, sexual abuse carried on in the guise of education, preparation for life or marriage on unsuspecting, vulnerable and naive subject; thirdly, that the totality of the offences represents a persistent course of offending over a lengthy period of time involving a number of complainants; and finally in the case of xxx, these were very serious indecent assaults involving forceful penetration with an instrument leading to injury.”
Hopeful Appeals his Conviction and wins
Hopeful went to prison in September 1994, but maintained his innocence and requested an appeal. He claimed that the jury was misdirected by the Judge. You can read the application for appeal here and the submissions put forward by Hopeful Christians lawyer, McVeigh and Junior Counsel A Powell.
On 2 May 1995 Hopeful Christian won the appeal. Three Judges heard the appeal – Casey, Eichelbaum and Henry. Hopeful’s charges were quashed and a retrial ordered. Read the judgement delivered by Casey, Eichelbaum and Henry here. Hopeful had spent approximately 9 months in prison by this time (or 6 months if he was released while he awaited the appeal – this is not clear) and he walked free and returned to the community to spend time with his wife and young son of 11 months.
Second trial Gets Underway
The case came again to trial in December 1995, but only the most serious of the charges from 1984 involving one complainant were taken to court this time. Judge Hattaway presided over this case. On 14th December 1995 the jury found Hopeful Christian guilty on all three charges of indecent assault (being found at the higher end of this category of offence). Judge Hattaway commented it was one of the most distressing cases he had had to sit in on, and he considered the jury’s verdict was correct on the evidence. He sentenced him to five years imprisonment. Read Judge Hattaway’s judgement here. Read Press article here.
Attempt to Appeal his sentence failed
Hopeful originally applied to appeal both the conviction and the sentence, but he only followed through with the appeal on sentences stating it was manifestly unjust. Read the application here  and the grounds for his appeal here. Eichelbaum, Thomas and Heron heard the case and ruled on 6 May 1996 that Hopeful Christian’s appeal had failed and he would be remaining in prison. Read the judgement here.
Judge Eichelbaum stated, “As the second Judge emphasised, the acts involved a gross invasion of the victim’s body, cruel, degrading, and humiliating, accompanied by pain and physical injury and the risk of psychological harm, and repeated on two further occasions. Any one of the offences was
no less serious than sexual violation by rape.”
“Today such offending would be charged as sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, an offence carrying the same maximum penalty of 20 years as sexual violation by rape. At the time of the offences the facts would only sustain a charge of indecent assault, where the maximum was 7 years.”
Hopeful continues to run the community from prison
During this time the community was led to believe that Hopeful’s imprisonment was due to his religion and preaching of the gospel. It was “persecution of the Church”. Hopeful was still directing the church and would read out sermons for them to listen to over the telephone, and he wrote them letters – like how to discipline your children.
Hopeful Gets out of Prison
However, with the weight of evidence against him, and strong condemnation from the judges who found him guilty, Hopeful only served around 11 months of his sentence this time, being released on parole on 27 November 1996 for good behaviour. This time brought the total length of time in prison to approximately 20 months – after originally being sentenced to 6 years and then 5 years on the retrial. He returned to Gloriavale and was eventually reinstated fully as leader – although some say he never actually stood down. The victims understandably felt let down. Some former members decided it was time to move on from the fight, feeling that if Gloriavale wanted Hopeful back even after everything he’d done, then what more could they do?
2000’s
Buoyed by his ability to evade disasters and imprisonment, Hopeful confidentially lead the community into a time of extreme devotion – to him and God. The second generation of “born-in” members were being married off in large numbers, and the community started to experience impressive growth. A few teens left, but generally, these members were obedient, loyal, submissive and fully indoctrinated into the community way of life. The businesses were bustling along, but they relied on child labour to keep the community finances ticking over. Physical punishments, humiliation and cruelty were widely used by members and leaders to keep their members bound to the system. An explosion of sexualised behaviors took off amongst the youth, but it went largely unchecked. Leaders were aware, but they inadequately dealt with offending parties. They hardly had any contact with the outside world, their wider family connections were cut. It was the perfect recipe for a cult disaster.
Meanwhile Gloriavale was starting to establish relationships in India, and they linked up with an orphanage and decided to formalise their relationship. An Indian Gloriavale community was eventually established.
It was a blow to the community when Hopeful’s much loved daughter Miracle, and husband Perry and their children left the community to try to stablise their family. They were the first family that had left for a long time.
2010’s
A number of second generation singles started to leave the community, believing there must be a better life elsewhere. During this decade was an increase in expulsions for anyone who disobeyed or dared question Hopeful or the leadership. The rules got tighter and tighter. It’s during this decade that the first second-generation married couple with children left the community. Rosanna and Elijah Overcomer’s departure sparked a desire in them to expose the wrong, bring the truth and free their families from Gloriavale. Rosanna and Elijah settled near Timaru, attending a local church, where members soon got involved in underground missions work. Over this decade upwards of 130 people left the community, with a peak of around 35 people in 2015. Most notably was the Ben Canaan family who came out with 12 children.
Gloriavale was still interested in international outposts, and they began a relationship with a group in Kenya, and started supporting them. They didn’t quite get to the “wearing blue” stage, but Gloriavale was financially keeping them afloat. Many leavers are adamant this is a scam ministry.
Gloriavale embarked on a PR mission and between 2014 – 2018 three documentaries were produced by NZ Funding (Pacific Screen) showing a loving and caring community. However, their attempt to recruit new members from the outside failed. Some people attempted to join, but many quickly recognised the unhealthy and unsafe community it was. The documentaries had another impact. It brought ex-members out of the woodwork to share about the underbelly of the Gloriavale community – the abuse, the neglect, the physical disciple, and the control over every aspect of people’s lives. The media attention has continued to focus on Gloriavale to this day. The Police were alerted and there were calls for the Charities Services to investigate. This lead to a period of time where Gloriavale made promises of change, but their promises were not sincere, and life continued on, and even got worse for some.
Men were being expelled for having contact with the apostates, and husbands and wives were being separated by the community. Children were caught in custody battles and there was much grief as serious shunning took centrestage.
Hopeful died in May 2018 at the age of 92. The mantle passed to Howard Temple, an ex-Navy Marine who had joined the community in his mid-30’s back in the 1980’s.
In 2019 the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust was set up to assist the growing numbers of leavers.
2020’s
The leaving trend continued with another 130 or more members having left by the start of 2024. By now the Police were involved as another explosion of sexual abuse among boys was made public. Girls who suffered abuse were also finding their voices, and a series of prosecutions were underway. Police stated that over 138 potential victims of sexual and physical abuse had been identified, and over 400 crimes committed. 17Â men were charged by 2023, and 18 more were under investigation. (update by the start of 2025, more than 20 males had been through the courts for sexual abuse, some physical abuse, and three fraud charges.
Most prominently was the guilty plea of their new Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple in 2025. He admitted to 12 amended charges relating to long-running sexual offending against girls and women. These were: Â Five counts of indecent assault, five counts of doing an indecent act, and two counts of common assault. In December 2025 he was sentenced to 26 months in prison. Controversially, later in that day the same judge allowed Howard to seek an appeal for a manifestly unjust sentence, and he granted him bail back to the Gloriavale property he was residing at while awaiting trial. He now awaits the appeal. It’s fair to say that victims and other current and former members feel let down by the justice system’s decision to allow him out of prison while he awaits the appeal. Accountability has been difficult to achieve.
Additionally Police also announced an investigation into forced labour, servitude and slavery after an Employment Court loss. Leavers also began court action on a number of fronts (including a civil slavery case) and many of these actions are still underway to this day.
Gloriavale is under pressure on every corner. But they firmly believe that “the gates of hell will not prevail against them.” The also hold to a firm faith that the Lord will come back any day to take the faithful to glory, and if they just hold on to the end, they will be saved. Safety is still seen in the confines of the group.