: By Sarah Steele – Let’s Talk About Sects – 19/10/2022 When widespread abuse is uncovered at a New Zealand cult, a family must turn to the legal system in an effort to save themselves and their community from the all-powerful leaders. Filmmakers Noel Smyth and Fergus Grady documented the impact…
: RN Drive, ABC, Sky Kirkham, Producer – 17/10/2022 Founded in New Zealand at the end of the 1960s by an Australian preacher, the Gloriavale Christian Community is home to around 600 people. Led by a small group of ‘shepherds’, members are isolated from outside society and ex-communication means exile from…
: RNZ – 1/09/2022 A former Gloriavale woman says the Christian community’s leaders thought they were above the law. The Employment Court has been hearing evidence from leavers who claim they were working in slave-like conditions and exposed to sexual harassment and abuse from a young age. Read more here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018857067/gloriavale-leaders-thought-they-were-above-law-ex-member…
: RNZ – 31/08/2022 A court has heard distressing testimony from a former Gloriavale woman who says her treatment at the secretive Christian community made her suicidal. The Employment Court has also heard evidence girls as young as eight were worried about being groped while serving food. Read more here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018856906/court-hears-distressing-accounts-from-ex-gloriavale-women…
: RNZ – 30/08/2022 A court has been told victim blaming and shaming was standard at Gloriavale, where girls caught in inappropriate relationships with married men were called ‘whores’. Six former Gloriavale women want the Employment Court to rule they were employees, not volunteers, during their time at the West Coast…
: Newshub – 30/08/2022 A court has heard a Gloriavale woman sometimes didn’t eat or drink while working extremely long hours, and would get in trouble if she stopped. She’s one of six former members seeking a ruling from the Employment Court that they were employees, not volunteers, at the Christian…
: Description A new documentary hitting cinemas today is lifting the veil on West Coast commune Gloriavale. It follows the lives of two ousted members, John Ready and Virginia Courage, plaintiffs in court proceedings accusing the community leaders of human rights and employment breaches. The gritty watch is a rare snapshot…
: By RNZ – Saturday Morning – 13/08/2022 Sharon Ready has lived in the Gloriavale community for 50 years, first entering as a 15-year-old when the community was based in Springbank, Rangiora. “It’s my turangawaewae,” she says. “This is where I stand because my faith, I started there as a Christian…
: By Damien Venuto – NZ Herald – 28/07/2022 Sharon Ready currently lives above an aircraft hangar that served as the former commercial base for Gloriavale. It’s cold, dark and damp, but she stays on because this is where her family and deceased relatives are located. “Sharon is what I would…
: Twitter – John Campbell – 21/06/2022 Twitter conversation – John Campbell, Liz Gregory, Rosanna Overcomer Listen here – (Note: conversation starts at 11 minutes 15 seconds into the recording) www.twitter.com/1NewsNZ/status/1539080676070215680 Will Gloriavale ever change? Join us for a conversation with @JohnJCampbell, Liz Gregory (Gloriavale Leavers' Support Trust) and former Gloriavale…
