It reads: “I forsake all that I have to follow Christ, renouncing forever all personal ownership of houses, lands money and all other possessions. Whatever I own, I now give to the poor and needy of this world or share with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
“I give the overseeing shepherd of our Church Communities the absolute and unfettered right to administer and use all the property, assets and money of the Christian Community Trust for the benefit of everyone within these communities.”
One of the plaintiffs signed the document on December 7 1977.
It’s explained that any person can apply to join the Gloriavale community and as a term of joining they complete the application.
Lawyers asked to lead independent inquiry into issues arising at Gloriavale nzherald.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nzherald.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gloriavale runs several farms and businesses, including honey production, trophy hunting, health food supplements and sphagnum moss. The trust’s annual return says it owns the communal living facilities, operates a private school and three early childcare centres, along with 11 companies including Air West Coast Ltd, dairy, deer and sheep farms, midwifery services, a honey company, and an offal plant. It does not pay its workers as employees and does not pay tax. The return says it has 40 volunteers working 1200 hours a year. Its annual revenue was $18m – down from $20m in 2019. It reported a surplus of $2.78m, up almost $1m from $1.8m in 2019, and its net assets were $41m, up $2.8m from $38.3m in 2019.
Connie s story: Gloriavale leaver who reported father to police opens home to him
32 minutes to read
She escaped from Gloriavale and told police of the years of physical abuse she and her younger sister endured at the hands of their father. But when it was his time to get out, she took him in as she navigated the normal things most of us take for granted: technology, fashion, earning her own money and relationships. Now her family is at the centre of a civil case set to shake up the commune, writes Alanah Eriksen.
It may seem pretty normal.
A young mum in ripped jeans on a Saturday morning in a house of her own giving her two sons a glass of chocolate milk each. The little boys then playing in their lounge filled with colourful toys and watching cartoons, their mum speaking the odd word in te reo Māori.