The religious group has about 2500 members and 60 ministers in New Zealand, meets in homes and has no official name but is commonly known as Two by Twos or The Truth.

Its spokesperson has confirmed police here are investigating at least one former minister for historical abuse and it is aware of 14 cases of allegations against members.

The sect is not registered as a charity, it has no buildings and members are encouraged to tick 'Christian non-denominational' on the census.

Elliot* recently left the church because of the way historical child abuse allegations were handled.

"In your article was more information than we'd ever been given as a church. I was concerned about the lack of accountability. Read more