Gloriavale unmasked: Rotorua mother talks about life within a secret Christian community

It’s been just over four years since Constance Ready fled the Gloriavale Christian Community’s “reign of fear and control” in the dead of night.

The 26-year-old mother of two now lives in Rotorua after leaving Gloriavale, located on the west coast of the South Island, where he was born and spent most of his life.

Ready and three other former members spoke at Lifezone Church in Tauranga recently during an “Unmasking Gloriavale” event attended by about 70 people.

She told the audience that her decision to leave in August 2016 came after her younger sister, Prayer, who had Down syndrome, “passed away under very tragic circumstances” in 2015 at age 14.

“There was no opportunity or time to grieve or to heal or to process the loss of a very dear and precious person in my life. And it was during that year that the pressure definitely increased and increased for me.

“They pressured me during quite a few meetings … to move on. They basically said that my sister was gone, that she had passed away and that maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

“There was a geyser of emotions that I wanted to express in my own way and in my time, but I was not allowed, and that year after his passing it really brought it all to a head.

“And it was the night of one of these meetings that they were trying to coerce and tell me all their nonsense and I said … enough is enough, I can’t do it anymore.

“I thought if I gave up and allowed this to happen, what kind of person would I become and what part of myself would I lose … So that night I said, that’s it, I’m done.”

About 600 people currently live in Gloriavale.

Gloriavale was founded by Neville Cooper, aka the late Hopeful Christian, in 1969 in Cust, north of Christchurch, before the community moved to Lake Haupiri in the 1990s.

Ready’s father, Clem Ready, joined in the early 1970s and there were 13 children in the family: five boys and eight girls, including Prayer. His mother, two brothers and three sisters still lived in Gloriavale.

Ready and other former members claim that the community’s interpretation of the teachings of the Bible laid the foundation for all rules and regulations in Gloriavale, including what residents wore, ate, when they worked and rested, and who they had contact with.

The outside world was painted as “hostile, dangerous and immoral and doing the devil’s work” and the people who left were told they were doomed to hell, he said.

There was “absolute control” over the members, especially over the women who were expected to play subordinate roles.

Ready allegedly defying authority had serious repercussions, including imprisonment and various forms of other punishments, including extra work and rejection from the community.

Ready and the other speakers said that intimidation, public embarrassment, and rejection by other members were encouraged as a means of control.

His decision to leave Gloriavale represented a “great leap of faith.”

She and another member had “dared” to take the late Hopeful Christian’s car and it became “their escape ticket” to freedom.

“It’s really fun to look back and remember that little story of how I escaped in Hopeful’s car, but it was definitely a very scary experience at the time.

“I now live in Rotorua with my two beautiful children and I am a stay-at-home mom with an online health and wellness business … And I recently marked and greatly celebrated my anniversary of leaving Gloriavale,” she said.

Former member Rosanna Overcomer, who left the community seven years ago and lives in Fairlie, also spoke at the meeting, saying that life in Gloriavale was anything but carefree.

“The teachings in Gloriavale are more about suffering and endurance and giving up things to achieve perfection. Over the years, the community has become more and more strict.”

“They despise vanity, competition and any disobedience and this has led to a really strict dress code and a myriad of rules and regulations that must be followed.

“Marriages these days are usually arranged … and the couples are very young. It is not uncommon for families to have 10 children since they are not allowed to practice birth control,” he said.

Overcomer said cell phones were prohibited, there was little internet access, and men had to fasten the top button and could not roll up their sleeves, and members’ hands were not allowed to be in their pockets, even in cold weather.

She claimed that the members were not allowed to seek outside help from doctors, even when she suffered postpartum hemorrhages with her two babies.

“There are many sincere people in Gloriavale who believe that they are serving God in the best way possible. However, it has been labeled as a cult or a thought control group and Gloriavale is on the extreme,” he said.

“It is a system driven by fear … Members are afraid to express any minor opinion contrary to belief,” he said.

“His salvation and the threat of excommunication and hell are regularly held over his head, as are threats of illness or death if he leaves.”

She said that at age 18, members had to sign a vow of commitment promising to live in Gloriavale forever and be completely obedient to the Bible and authority “to the detriment and danger of their souls if they break this vow.”

They claimed that the vote also legally obligated members to own money and personal assets, and to speak to outsiders to preserve Gloriavale’s secret.

“The vote is a powerful reason why people stay in Gloriavale even after realizing that there is a lot of evil in the place. There is simply a lot to lose by leaving.”

The event was organized by the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust, whose trustees include Liz and Graham Gregory.

Liz Gregory is the general manager of the trust and the primary support worker.

She said the trust helped those leaving the country to establish themselves in the outside world.

That included helping them find housing, clothing, financial support, legal advice, career and educational advice and more, because many of those left with nothing, he said.

Gregory claimed that more than 165 people had left Gloriavale in recent years.

Last Wednesday, Constance Ready’s older brother, John Ready, filed a civil suit in Greymouth Superior Court seeking the removal of the trustees governing Gloriavale for alleged “misconduct, mismanagement and neglect” against supporters.

John Ready, who left Gloriavale in 2017 leaving behind his wife and 10 children, has a legal team working on the case supported by the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust.

During Wednesday’s leaders debate on TV3, National Party leader Judith Collins said there should be an independent investigation into Gloriavale, but Labor leader Jacinda Ardern said there shouldn’t be.

The Bay of Plenty Times tried to speak to one of the Gloriavale leaders about the former members’ claims, but was told that the leaders were “not interested” in commenting.