Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says he didn't expect communes to put in for a share of the provincial growth fund but Gloriavale's application has shown anyone can try.

Gloriavale is a closed fundamentalist Christian group based at Haupiri on the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand.

The Provincial Growth Fund is a 3 billion dollar treasure chest the New Zealand Government has created to promote regional growth.

Jones said the application would be considered professionally like any other but that did not mean it would see the "fiscal light of day."

"I wouldn't want to knock out any particular application till we had all the facts.

"But the reality is that particular organisation does represent something of a morality play," Jones said.

The Opposition National Party's economic development spokesman Paul Goldsmith said it's not clear to him "how New Zealand benefits from giving money to a closed community."

Massey University Professor Peter Lineham said Gloriavale have "set themselves up on the Coast as a curious little isolated place that wants to have nothing to do with the world.

"Well, then what are they doing asking for the world's money? That's what I'd like to know."

"Gloriavale comes with a whole lot of baggage. And the Government cannot be comfortable," Lineham said.

Gloriavale's spokesman declined to comment about the application to the Provincial Growth Fund when contacted by 1 NEWS.

Source

• tvnz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: Stuff

A musician, she still lives at home:

I grew up in a Hare Krishna community called Bhaktivedanta Manor, an 80-acre estate that is the biggest Hare Krishna community in Europe.

My parents and younger brother and sister all live in a house nearby, and growing up we spent all day, every day at the temple.

I had an incredibly special childhood. We'd start every morning with worship and would dance and pray several times a day. Most meals were eaten communally with the 300 residents of the community.

A lot of the produce for our meals came from our own farm. The estate is a very beautiful place and includes extensive woods and a lake, and there was a primary school on-site.

We were raised communally with the philosophy of simple living and high thinking. Growing up, we didn't watch TV or listen to pop music and were aware that popular culture was something that didn't sit well with our value system.

The Hare Krishna movement, based on a strand of Hinduism, was founded in 1965 by AC Bhaktivedanta. The ultimate goal of Hare Krishna devotion is to attain Krishna Consciousness through ethical living and spiritual devotion.

Devotees do not gamble, ingest alcohol or drugs, including caffeine, and restrain from sex except within marriage for the purposes of procreation.

I was a really happy child cocooned in this perfect world until my parents decided to send me to the local school when I was nine to prepare me for senior school.

I found the experience intimidating and a huge culture shock.

I was extremely worried that people would find out I was a Hare Krishna. Continue reading

Article and Image: The Telegraph

Church spokeswoman Anne Williamson told the New Zealand Herald that Destiny had no intention of inserting itself into this year's election contest, despite its "Enough is Enough" march on Parliament in 2004 in protest against civil unions.

The new headquarters has been developed on a 3.1ha site of an old pillow factory in Druces Rd, Wiri, valued for rating purposes in 2011 for $7.65 million.

Destiny is not disclosing how much it cost to outfit the facilities which includes a school, early childhood centre, gym, recording studio and function rooms as well as an 864-seat auditorium called The Sanctuary.

The church asked each church to donate $1000 to supplement the proceeds from the sale of its previous base in Mt Wellington, valued at $4.9 million.

The complex boasts what is said to be New Zealand's biggest permanent LED wall, a 24-metre-wide screen.

Giant photographs of founders Bishop Brian Tamaki and his wife Hannah hang in several public spaces in between the various buildings.

In his main sermon, Tamaki warned his congregation to watch out for false prophets and to maintain regular church attendance so Destiny elders could help them to detect wolves in their midst in sheep's clothing.

Pastor Hannah Tamaki is the wife of Destiny Church's founder Bishop Brian Tamaki. She denies the complex is "a gated community" and calls it a "gift to the community".

"You don't have to be a [Destiny Church] member to come along to the events here," she says.
"You don't have to be a giving type to come along here. It's just part of what we want to give to our community."Watch interview

10 things you may not know about Destiny Church

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• 3 News
• New Zealand Herald
• Image: 3News

The group, now numbering over 400, lives communally on the shores of Lake Haupiri, inland from Nelson Creek.

Despite growth at the commune, the overall vaccination rate on the West Coast fell to 79 per cent for eight-month-old babies in the last quarter, the worst figure in the country.

Ministry of Health chief adviser, child and youth health, Pat Tuohy said the ministry was aware of the high decline (opt out) rates on the West Coast and was working with the West Coast District Health Board to help it achieve the immunisation health target.

"There are similar communities throughout New Zealand so it would be unfair to single out the West Coast in terms of removing them from the DHB's statistical denominator," he said.

Gloriavale Christian Community is a small Christian group based at Haupiri on the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand.

The group was founded in 1969 by Neville Cooper (Hopeful Christian), an Australian-born evangelist who was invited to preach in New Zealand. He founded what became known as the Springbank Christian Community near Christchurch in the South Island. When this community grew too big for its property, the members bought land on the West Coast and shifted there over a period from 1991 to 1995. They named their new property in the Haupiri Valley "Gloriavale" and established the Gloriavale Christian Community. This property is about 60 km inland from Greymouth.

In 1994 Cooper was jailed for five years for sexual assault on several young girls, boys and women. He was released after 18 months.

Known by some outsiders as the "Cooperites", the group rejects this name and members refer to themselves only as Christians. Members of the community live a fundamentalist Christian life in accordance with the teachings of the New Testament. The community attempts to uphold the example of the first Christian church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:41-47) for its principles of sharing and holding all things in common. The group teaches that the only true way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to the commands of God.[3]

The community earns its income from several ventures including dairying and the manufacture of gardening products made from sphagnum moss.

Source

• The Greymouth Star
• Wikipedia
• Image: westpointtales.blogspot.co.nz
  

The theme of the conference was "The challenge of the sects, in the horizon of the new evangelization".

It was reported that at the meeting it was agreed sects have a greater impact among Catholics whose faith is not based on a personal encounter with Christ and his ecclesial body, or resulting from true initiation to life in Christ.

The meeting also noted that the Year of Faith is the appropriate occasion to grow in faith, personally and communally, and in its testimony.

In sharing the challenges which the Church finds facing various Portuguese-speaking countries, the urgent need for Christians to engage in the promotion of a fair, free and united society, as an inalienable requirement of the faith, was highlighted.

The Bishops were received by the President of the Republic, Taur Matan Ruak, in an atmosphere of great cordiality, and by Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who spoke about the priorities of his government for the coming years.

An opportunity was provided to celebrate the Eucharist in various parishes in and around Dili. Particularly significant was the Eucharist concelebrated on Sunday, September 9 in the Cathedral of Dili, in thanksgiving for the 450th anniversary of the evangelization of Timor. The Mass was attended by the President, the Prime Minister, other members of the government, various authorities and countless faithful.

The meeting was attended by Bishops representing Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor, as well as Fr. Maia Joseph, President of Fundação Fe and Cooperação (FEC) and Fr. Morujão Manuel, Secretary of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference.

Source

• Fides
• Image: Galenfrysingers.com

The church offers four services a day to hundreds of followers, often asking its members to give to God for his blessings.

Associate Professor Peter Lineham from Massey University says the NZ group is part of an international organisation involving 120 countries. He believes the Brazilian-based church is a sect.

The Pay and Pray movement, also known as the Prosperity Gospel, teaches that the more you give in sacrificial donations the more they say you will receive in return.

Some former members of the Pay and Pray Church are disenchanted and speaking out against what they say are unethical practices.

Watch Close Up Video

Source

• TVNZ
• Image: Image