The Gloriavale Christian Community is a small and isolated cult located at Haupiri on the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand. It has an estimated population of 700 as of June 2023.[1] It has operated on a property owned by the registered charitable Christian Church Community Trust since 1991.[2]
Gloriavale was founded in 1969 by travelling evangelist Neville Cooper ("Hopeful Christian").[3] Originating as the Springbank Christian Community, the group established a settlement called Gloriavale in the South Island's West Coast Region during the 1990s. Gloriavale Christian Community became a self-sufficient cult with its own school and various agricultural, tourism, and transportation businesses including a short-lived airline called Air West Coast.[4][5]
Gloriavale Christian Community is known for its fundamentalist Christian beliefs and practices.[6] Key beliefs and practices have included an emphasis on large families and female submission to male headship. Members (also known as the Cooperites)[7] wear distinctive uniforms; with males wearing long-sleeve blue shirts and trousers, and females wearing long blue dresses and scarves.[8] Gloriavale has also controversially shunned members who have left the community over disagreements with the leadership.[9]
During the early 21st century, Gloriavale attracted significant media coverage and public interest in New Zealand following various allegations and incidents of sexual and physical assault, and workplace exploitation including the 1995 conviction of its founder Cooper on three counts of sexual abuse.[10] Two separate Employment Court rulings in May 2022 and July 2023 found that its members including women and girls were employees who were subjected to prolonged labour exploitation and servitude.[11][12] In May 2022, Gloriavale's leadership apologised for various acts of abuse and labour exploitation that had occurred within the community.[13] Several Gloriavale leavers including Lilia Tarawa and Gloriavale Leavers' Support Trust have sought to raise awareness of abuses in Gloriavale and help former residents integrate into New Zealand society.[14]