Stories of child abuse, rape, and other forms of cruelty and subjugation have emerged. A wide-ranging government investigation into the community began in 2015, leading to a number of charges. News of controversial practices in the community led to the police making daily checks on the community in 2018.
In July 2020, the New Zealand Police in conjunction with Oranga Tamariki launched Operation Minneapolis, an investigation into child abuse at Gloriavale, after receiving information about alleged abuse of an 11-year-old boy. In September 2020, a 20-year-old man was charged with doing an indecent act on three boys between the ages of 12 and 16 years. He was discharged in September 2021 without conviction after pleading guilty – the offences had occurred when he himself was a teenager and the court felt there was a low risk of him reoffending.
On 22 March 2021, 1News reported that two Christchurch-based lawyers Nicholas Davidson KC and Stephanie Grieve had been asked by the trustees of Gloriavale's governing Christian Church Community Trust to hold an independent inquiry of allegations of sexual abuse at Gloriavale.
On 11 August 2021, the New Zealand Police, Oranga Tamariki and the Teaching Council confirmed that they were investigating allegations of physical and sexual abuse of students at Gloriavale's school, which has 204 students ranging from Year 1 to Year 11. Several staff had also been stood down for unspecified reasons. Police claimed that at least 60 people in Gloriavale had been involved in "harmful sexual behaviour".
On 26 May 2022, the New Zealand Teachers' Disciplinary Tribunal suspended the teaching license of former Gloriavale Christian School principal Faithful Pilgrim for three years. Pilgrim had endorsed the teaching license of a teacher named Just Standfast, who had sexually abused a child on two occasions in 2012 and 2016. The Tribunal had investigated Pilgrim after receiving a complaint from the Gloriavale Leaders' Trust that he had endangered children by covering up the teacher's offending. Standfast pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual contact with a child in 2019.
In mid September 2022, Gloriavale Christian School principal Rachel Stedfast claimed that a small group of people had made a coordinated campaign to close down the school by filing complaints against most of its teachers. As a result of the complaints, the affected teachers had been suspended from their teaching duties while the complaints were being investigated. Stedfast stated that none of the suspended teachers had been accused of physical sexual abuse.
Read the full text
Abuse in Care inquiry
On 16 October 2025, Police and Oranga Tamariki revealed they conducted an investigation into the practice of silencing babies and children by covering their mouths and noses. During the Abuse in Care inquiry, they heard from ex-Gloriavale members that the group's founder, Hopeful Christian, taught parents to cover children's mouths and noses to stop them crying, until the child was struggling to breathe. As a result of the investigation, two unnamed Gloriavale members were given formal warnings. The Police and Oranga Tamariki conducted a meeting at Gloriavale to educate the community on the physical, emotional, and legal ramifications of the practice.
Official investigations
In late September 2020, WorkSafe New Zealand dispatched inspectors to Gloriavale to investigate claims that some members had been forced to work for more than 20 hours a day. The news company Newshub also reported that current Gloriavale members had been targeted by the sect's leadership for speaking to the media. As a result of the Newshub investigation, Justice Minister Andrew Little had ordered the police, WorkSafe and the Labour Inspectorate to launch a second investigation into allegations of "controlling behaviour" and labour exploitation at Gloriavale.
On 1 October, Little, in his capacity as Minister of Workplace Relations, ordered a major review into practices at Gloriavale after Newshub obtained a government report from July 2017 reporting "oppressive psychological practices", possible exploitation, bullying, manipulation and coercion within the community. On 2 October, WorkSafe instructed Gloriavale's leadership to improve their work practices but found no evidence to suggest that the religious community was not managing the risk of workplace fatigue. WorkSafe had conducted a workplace assessment during which a team of four inspectors assessed Gloriavale, four subsidiary companies, and 13 workers.
On 10 August 2021, 1 News reported that several former Gloriavale members had alleged that they had been forced to sign a document waiving their right to legal advice when joining the community. The Labour Inspectorate also investigated a so-called partnership agreement as part of its inquiry into long working conditions.
May 2022 Employment Court ruling
On 21 February 2022, three former Gloriavale residents – Hosea Courage, Daniel Pilgrim and Levi Courage – challenged two earlier Labour Inspectorate inquiries in both 2017 and 2020, which found that they were volunteers and thus not entitled to pay or employment rights. Consequently, the Labour Inspectorate had declined to investigate the labour conditions, including alleged long working hours, at Gloriavale. The plaintiffs want the Employment Court to determine their employment status while they lived at Gloriavale and to determine whether they were exploited as workers. Courage alleged that Gloriavale residents were forced to work and beaten and starved as punishment for refusing to work or not working fast enough. Courage also alleged that he was beaten by his parents and authority figures.
On 10 May 2022, the Employment Court ruled in favour of Courage, Pilgrim and Courage's legal challenge, accepting that they had been employees at Gloriavale since the age of six. The Court found that the trio had been forced to perform "strenuous, difficult and sometimes dangerous" work when they were legally required to attend school. This landmark decision has the potential to encourage other former Gloriavale residents to pursue legal action against the religious community. In response to the Employment Court ruling, WorkSafe New Zealand confirmed that it would send inspectors to investigate conditions at Gloriavale. In addition, the Charities Commission commenced an investigation into Gloriavale's trust over allegations of unpaid child labour, beatings, and the withholding of food. If these allegations are proven, Gloriavale would lose its charitable status, costing it its donee status and tax benefits.
Following the Employment Court's ruling in May 2022, Silver Fern Farms announced on 24 May that it would no longer be supplying offal to Gloriavale's trading company Value Proteins. In addition, Westland Dairy suspended milk collection from Gloriavale–operated farms. In addition, meat processing company Alliance Group confirmed that it was reconsidering its relationship with Gloriavale in light of reports of labour exploitation. That same month, WorkSafe inspectors travelled to Gloriavale and issued nine improvement notices relating to the management of hazardous substances, machines and traffic at the community's grounds in Haupiri. By 15 August 2022, Gloriavale had complied with six of the nine notices, with the remaining three due to be completed by November 2022. In addition, WorkSafe had issued a total of 19 improvement notices to four Gloriavale businesses since September 2020.
In response to Westland Milk's actions, Gloriavale's subsidiary Canaan Farming Dairy sought a High Court injunction, prompting Westland to agree to continue collecting Canaan's milk until the Employment Court made a ruling on a second labour exploitation case filed by several former Gloriavale women. On 4 October, High Court Justice Jan-Marie Doogue ordered Westland Milk to continue collecting milk from Canaan Farming Dairy's three farms Bell Hill, Gloriavale and Glen Hopeful on the condition that it did not hire any minors or associate employees under the age of 18 years. In her ruling, Doogue ruled there was no evidence that Canaan had breached its obligations as an employer and that the company was not a party to the Employment Court case which had sparked the contract move suspension. She also rejected Westland's claim that it had lost customers as a result of its business relationship with Canaan Farming. Gloriavale Christian Community including Canaan Farming Dairy director Samuel Valor welcomed the High Court's ruling and emphasised the community's willingness to comply with employment requirements.
On 22 November 2024, the Employment Court ruled that the previous Overseeing Shepherd Hopeful Christian had been the employer of Courage, Pilgrim and Courage during the periods that the three plaintiffs had worked in the Gloriavale Community.
Second Employment Court case
In August 2022, Radio New Zealand reported that six former Gloriavale women named Serenity Pilgrim, Anna Courage, Rose Standtrue, Crystal Loyal, Pearl Valour and Virginia Courage had filed a second case with the Employment Court to determine whether they were employees or volunteers at Gloriavale. The case was set to begin on 29 August and expected to last three weeks. The Employment Court heard from 49 witnesses, who testified about various abuses including an alleged institutional culture of misogyny and victim blaming, sexual harassment of female members, and being forced to work for long hours with no breaks and little food.
Two witnesses, Naomi Pilgrim and Pearl Valor, testified about being denied medical treatment for various health issues including dental problems, damaged fingers, and sustaining back injuries from difficult and long working conditions. In early September, Virginia Courage and Rosanna Overcomer testified about community leaders shaming and sexually harassing female members of the community. On 19 September, one former Gloriavale leader, Zion Pilgrim, testified that the leadership had threatened to strip him of his leadership positions for raising concerns about sexual offending.
The following day, Pilgrim testified that Gloriavale had received millions in child welfare benefits from the New Zealand Government despite requiring children between the age of 6 and 18 years old to work long, punishing hours. On 21 September, Crystal testified that she had only been given one week of maternity leave after giving birth to her eldest child. She also testified that young mothers were expected to work long hours and were given little time to spend with their children. Trudy Christian testified about children being subject to frequent corporal punishment, while former member John Ready testified about his epileptic daughter suffering third degree burns after experiencing a seizure while working in the kitchen.
On 23 September, the defence opened its case. Gloriavale Christian School principal Rachel Stedfast disputed claims that the community's women were forced to work and mistreated by the elders, likening life there to a Māori marae. She testified that Gloriavale was a harmonious community where members happily worked and gave their wages to the community. On 27 September, defence witness Purity Valor testified that Gloriavale's leaders were unaware about sexual abuse within their community. She also claimed that media coverage of Gloriavale had resulted in the community being "slandered" and members receiving public abuse. On 28 September, the Employment Court heard testimony from Sarah Standtrue that Gloriavale's leadership had burnt a book that her husband had written, but that he had been readmitted to the community after apologising. Standtrue claimed that members of Gloriavale were free to leave. Standtrue's daughter Compassion testified that Gloriavale disputed allegations of members being overworked, abuse, and denied food and care.
On 29 September, Joanna Courage testified in defence of her grandfather Howard Temple, Gloriavale's Overseeing Shepherd. She disputed claims that Temple had abused or behaved inappropriately towards female members of the community. Courage also disputed the plaintiffs' allegations that they had been overworked. On 30 September, accountant Gordon Hansen testified that Gloriavale had received NZ$4.8 million in government funds in the 2021 financial year including NZ$2.3 million in Working for Families payments, NZ$2 million in early childcare education grants, NZ$283,000 in Ministry of Education grants and NZ$229,000 for midwifery services. Gloriavale's barrister Philip Skelton KC testified that the majority of Gloriavale's income came from its farming businesses, which generated NZ$19.5 million that year. The Employment Court case was adjourned until 2023.
In December 2022, Gloriavale confirmed that it would no longer hire the services of defence lawyer Philip Skelton KC since it was unable to sustain the costs of a legal team. The community Shepherds Samuel Valor, Howard Temple, Stephen Steadfast, Noah Hopeful and Faithful Pilgrim would instead conduct their own defence with the assistance of Peter Righteous. On 18 January 2023, Chief Employment Court Judge Jude Inglis confirmed that she would visit Gloriavale in February 2023 to better understand the evidence presented in Court. The trial was scheduled to restart in Christchurch on 13 February before shifting to Greymouth between 20 and 24 February.
On 13 February 2023, Gloriavale resident and mother Priscilla Stedfast gave testimony disputing earlier testimony by the six leavers – Standtrue, Valor, Pilgrim, Courage, Loyal and Courage – about harsh and abusive working conditions on Gloriavale. Stedfast stated that she was never an employee and never intended to be one. She testified that people were free to leave Gloriavale without being ostracised as the leavers suggested. Stedfast also testified that Gloriavale supported leavers by providing funds, transportation, and denied that they restricted contact between members and leavers. On 17 February, the Employment Court heard testimony detailing the sexual offending of the late Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian. On 20 February, Gloriavale resident Temperance Hopeful argued in her testimony that introducing employment laws and wages would destroy Gloriavale's way of life. She alleged that the employment case was an attack on the commune's faith and disputed the plaintiffs' allegations of slave labour, describing it as a "labour of love to those who love to serve Christ by serving one another."
On 24 February, Chief Judge Christina Inglis along with lawyers, court staff, leavers Virginia and Anna Courage and Pearl Valor, and members of the media toured Gloriavale's Haupiri site to gain a better understanding of the reclusive community and the evidence being presented at Court. The tour was guided by Purity Valor and her husband Samuel Valor, a Shepherd in the community. On 27 February, Overseeing Shepherd Howard Temple admitted that Gloriavale's leaders had made mistakes and promised to report future abuses to the Police, rather than appealing for repentance and forgiveness. During cross-examination on 28 February, Temple rejected assertions by the leavers that Gloriavale's leadership imposed their religious faith on the community's children through isolation and ignorance, contending that the community sought to protect their children from "sinful" world influences.
On 1 March, Temple confirmed during testimony at the Employment Court that Police were investigating allegations of forced labour, slavery and servitude at Gloriavale. On 20 March, the Employment Court heard testimony from the plaintiffs' lawyers that the Crown had known about Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian's sexual abuse crimes since the mid-1990s but had failed to help the community deal with his crimes.
On 28 March, Gloriavale leader Samuel Valor apologised for delaying proceedings after the community's leadership hired a lawyer named Carter Pearce despite earlier claiming that the community could not afford legal counsel. Gloriavale leavers lawyer Brian Henry stated that he had only learned about Pearce's hiring on 26 March, a day before the Employment Court hearing resumed on 27 March. In late March, the Employment Court heard closing arguments from the defendants and the plaintiffs. On 29 March, Gloriavale's lawyer Pearce and Valor disputed the plaintiffs' assertions that Gloriavale had exploited and mistreated them. They argued that Gloriavale was a voluntary religious community and not a "hidden capitalist market" as the plaintiffs claimed. On 30 March, the plaintiff's lawyer Henry argued that Gloriavale entrapped and exploited its female members from birth through religion and education, resulting in them being subservient to the community's patriarchal leadership. He argued that the plaintiffs were employees rather than volunteers. Justice Inglis has reserved her decision.
On 13 July, Employment Court Judge Inglis ruled that the six plaintiffs Courage, Valor, Pilgrim, Standtrue, Courage and Loyal were employees rather than volunteers at Gloriavale. In her judgement, Inglis stated that girls and women in the community were raised from young to work in "deliberately-gendered roles including cooking, cleaning and washing clothes" and that the plaintiffs were born into and kept in "servitude" (which is illegal under New Zealand law). Inglis also found that dissenters were threatened or punished with exclusion from the community. While the decision was hailed as a long-fought victory by the plaintiffs including Courage, Gloriavale's senior leadership confirmed that they would appeal the Employment Court's decision. In addition, the Labour Inspectorate confirmed that it would reopen its investigation and consider enforcement action if the women were found to be employees.
On 9 December, the Court of Appeal dismissed most of Gloriavale's appeal against the second Employment Court ruling. While the Court declined leave on four questions of the law, they identified and invited submissions on two of these questions. On 15 December, Employment Court Chief Judge Inglis ruled that the "Overseeing Shepherd" at Gloriavale was the employer of the six female plaintiffs. The Overseeing Shepherd at the time was Howard Temple.
Investigation into Gloriavale School
On 17 July 2023, the Education Review Office (ERO) launched a review into Gloriavale School in light of the Employment court ruling that girls were only provided with a limited education that prepared them for life in the sect.
On 30 October 2023, ERO released its review on Gloriavale School. The report found that Gloriavale did not meet many of the criteria for registering as a private school and identified several problems including the school not providing tuition beyond Year 10, that the quality of tuition was below the standard of many state schools, inadequate staffing levels, and that female pupils were offered a lower quality of education than male pupils. In addition, 26 pupils in the so-called "Awhina class" were taught at home by their mothers.
On 3 July 2025, ERO released its second review on Gloriavale School. While the agency found that Gloriavale had made some improvements during its second visit in late 2024, it concluded that the school had failed three of the eight registration criteria: namely providing suitable staffing for children with complex additional needs, suitable equipment for children with complex emotional needs, or a physically and emotionally safe space. The report found that 40 percent of Gloriavale's school aged population attended the school while about half were homeschooled and the rest were enrolled with correspondence school Te Kura On 18 December, the Ministry of Education cancelled Gloriavale School's registration, citing insufficient evidence that the school was complying with registration criteria. The deregistration is expected to come into effect on 23 January 2026.
On 22 January 2026, the Ministry of Education confirmed two options for school-age children in Gloriavale: allowing students to enrol at an existing state school in the West Coast and operating a Te Kura hub at Gloriavale. The Education Ministry also confirmed it was negotiating establishing a Gloriavale unit as part of an existing state school. On 23 January, the cancellation of Gloriavale School's registration was delayed after the school board sought a judicial review by the High Court of the Education Ministry's decision to cancel its registration.
On 3 September 2026, the Secretary of Education Ellen MacGregor-Reid confirmed that Ministry would cancel Gloriavale's registration, citing a special ERO review finding that the "school was not a physically and emotionally safe place for students." The Ministry of Education also sought to lift High Court orders preventing the school's closure. In response, a spokesperson for the Gloriavale Christian School Board expressed opposition to the Ministry's decision to cancel the school's registration and said it was considering legal options. The Children's Commissioner Jane Searle supported the Ministry's decision, while stating that Gloriavale children needed carefully managed transition plans and assistance to protect their education and well-being.
Third Employment Court case
In mid-August 2026, nine former Gloriavale members sought legal damages and declarations of slavery and servitude after Employment Court Judge Christina Inglis ruled that the Labour Inspectorate had failed to properly investigate allegations of forced labour, child labour, slavery and servitude at Gloriavale between 2017 and 2021. The Employment Court also found that labour inspectors's failure to investigate the conditions of children was a legal error due to legislation defining an "employee" as a "person of any age." The nine plaintiffs have each sought $250,000, totaling $2.25 million in damages.
Civil litigation
John Ready's 2021 civil lawsuit
In February 2021, former Gloriavale member John Ready filed a civil claim at the Christchurch High Court seeking to remove the board of trustees of the Christian Church Community Trust, the registered charity behind Gloriavale, and replace them with a public trust. Defendants named in the lawsuit included Fervent Steadfast, Faithful Pilgrim and Gloriavale leader Howard Temple.
In mid-May 2021, Stuff and The New Zealand Herald obtained court documents relating to Ready's lawsuit against Gloriavale. The plaintiffs' lawyer alleged that the community bred sexual predators, exploited members as forced labour, and required members to give up all their possessions, including property, money, and any future earnings, to the Christian Church Community Trust. Gloriavale's leadership denied these allegations, contesting that they were untrue or historical.
The legal action concluded 10 June 2021, with the Christian Community Charitable Trust agreeing to be overseen by the Public Trust for a period of 18 months. During this time the Public Trust would provide regular reports to the High Court of New Zealand.
BNZ bank accounts dispute
In late 2022, the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) attempted to close Gloriavale's commercial accounts, citing an employment court ruling in May 2022 that found that three former members were employees rather than volunteers. In November 2022, Justice Rachel Dunningham ordered BNZ to keep Gloriavale's bank accounts open pending a hearing in late May 2023. On 30 May 2023, in a hearing at the Christchurch High Court chaired by Justice Helen Cull, Gloriavale sought an interim injunction to keep its BNZ bank accounts open pending a trial. Gloriavale's lawyer Richard Raymond KC argued that Gloriavale had not breached the bank's terms and conditions. He also questioned BNZ's decision to use a Wikipedia page listing at least 17 allegations against the community as evidence. BNZ's lawyer Will Irving defended the bank's right to terminate customers' bank accounts at any time and argued that Gloriavale's alleged use of forced child labour breached BNZ's human rights policy.
In September 2023, the High Court ruled that BNZ be required to continue providing banking services for the community. In late June 2024, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand allowed BNZ to challenge an interim injunction requiring the bank to keep Gloriavale's accounts open until a trial could determine whether BNZ could terminate its relationship with Gloriavale.
On 9 December 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by BNZ against the injunction preventing the closure of Gloriavale's accounts. BNZ agreed to continue providing banking services to Gloriavale for a period of three months from the date of the Court's decision. The court proceedings affected 16 Glorivale-owned entities and a total of 83 bank accounts. BNZ would continue to bank with some individuals affiliated with the community. Following the ruling, Gloriavale's trust's chief executive Phil Jamieson said that the closure of Gloriavale's bank accounts would not affect the community's existence.
2024 class action lawsuit
On 23 July 2024, four former Gloriavale members, Anna Courage; Pearl Valor; Gideon Benjamin and Hosea Courage, filed a NZ$10 million class action lawsuit against Gloriavale and five government agencies, claiming they had been held as slaves since birth by the community's leaders. The plaintiffs also sought a High Court ruling that the New Zealand Government had breached international treaties by failing to protect children from child labour.
