Opposition to an Exclusive Brethren chapel being built in a Havelock North residential street is a case of “Nimbyism by stealth”. Lawyer Matthew Lawson made the comment while acting for the Hastings Gospel Trust in a Hastings District Council Resource Consent Hearing last Friday. The application involves demolishing a house on a 758sqm Reynolds Road Read more
When the priests told me that my sexuality must be changed, it never occurred to me to challenge what they were saying. I grew up in the Exclusive Brethren – a reclusive sect that tightly controls members’ lives and forbids social contact with non-members. The Brethren were firmly anti-gay, and my first awareness of the Read more
On June 30 Braden Simmons attended an informal session with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. Eleven days later, two lawyers, a private investigator and a forensic expert showed up at Simmons’ Mangere Bridge home just before dawn. They had a court order to search every electronic device in his home. The Read more
The Exclusive Brethren has included in its prayer agenda a request to its members to pray for a National Party victory in the coming general election. The prayer agenda, a confidential document, is distributed world-wide. The actual words in the prayer agenda are for the “right Government which maintains Christian principles” to win the New Read more
The Exclusive Brethren has asked its members to pray for the Inland revenue department (IRD) after a breakthrough settlement in a tax dispute. In a prayer agenda, the Exclusive Brethren church told its 45,000 worldwide members it had received a “favourable settlement” in a dispute over schools’ fees. “Outcome – NZ IRD matter – a Read more