Douglas Martin, who was convicted of filming up girls' skirts in 2013, was an elder in a controversial religious movement under FBI investigation.
The Two by Twos, a fundamentalist Christian sect, is under FBI and NZ Police investigation for allegations of sexual abuse.
The sect believes it is the only true path to heaven.
This week, MP Hamish Campbell confirmed he was a member. Many ex-members claim Campbell is an “elder” in the sect.
It’s a church with no official name and no buildings; an underground religious movement; a fundamentalist Christian sect. Some even say it’s a cult. Whatever it is, the mysterious group commonly known as The Two by Twos has people talking. The FBIand NZ Police are currently investigating allegations of sexual abuse within the church, and ex-members are starting to pry the lid open on the cloistered community. Senior journalist Anna Leask reports.
The Two by Twos are followers of the King James Bible. Photo / Thinkstock
In the beginning, there was a disgruntled Scottish missionary.
In the late 1890s, William Irvine had been sent to Ireland as part of a Protestant evangelical movement known as the Faith Mission.
Pairs of men and women - pilgrims or workers - were sent from town to town to preach and convert the masses.
The Faith Mission co-operated with other churches, which Irvine vehemently opposed.
He became increasingly disillusioned and soon went rogue.
Irvine wanted to emulate the ancient New Testament church that centred around a simple life of faith and service with an emphasis on poverty and homelessness.
He encouraged his followers to “sell all” and become itinerant, celibate and homeless missionaries who travelled “two by two” and were sustained by faith alone as they spread his message.
He condemned church buildings and decreed that worship was only ever to be in private homes.
He did not give his movement a name, believing salvation came through following the example of Jesus rather than adhering to a particular name or organisation.
The fundamental beliefs he espoused were “ministers without a home, and the church in the home”.
Irvine’s doctrine eventually made its way into New Zealand,and it is estimated that there are currently around 2000 members.
But until recently, they have stayed very much under the radar.
“It’s hard to know why it has become secretive,” said former member Dr Kyle Eggleton.
“There’s nothing in the literature that gives an understanding … it wasn’t secretive at the very beginning. But when William Irvine was excommunicated … from then it became a little bit more secretive - and then later on quite secretive.”
Like the majority of members Eggleton, 52, was born into the sect.
Dr Kyle Eggleton was born into the Two by Twos and left when he was 26. Photo / NMZE
“The Two by Twos are a multi-generational, high-control group. I was the fourth generation of my family to be born and raised in it. I left when I was 26. I still have family members in it,” he said.
“How people participate in it does tend to vary a little bit between family to family. My family were quite liberal, so we didn’t go along to the same number of meetings that more devout members would.”
So, how does it all work?
Overseers, workers and elders - who’s who?
Every country has an overseer, and in New Zealand, that is a man named Wayne Dean. His “2IC” is Tim Hamilton.
Dean did not respond to the Herald‘s request for an interview.
The next step down the ladder is the ministry, aka clergy, aka preachers.
These are brother workers and sister workers who are sent by the overseer in pairs to work in “fields” - a particular geographical location.
These pairs - a senior and junior - are homeless, carless, and jobless.
“Workers own nothing - they just have a suitcase … they move around from house to house, maybe spending two or three nights in one house and then move on to another house,” Eggleton explained.
“And while they’re in the house, the people would provide all their care, all their food and provisions. Some wealthy families might donate a car for the workers to use and pay for the petrol.
“Otherwise, they receive donations - often quite secretive donations - to fund their day-to-day activity.
“Because they don’t have bank accounts, that money is given to an ordinary member of the Two by Twos known as a ‘friend’. They put that money into a bank account and look after us and then withdraws money or pays money to workers whenever they need it.”
Hamish Campbell, National MP for Illam.
A friend who left the church explained how workers rose in the ranks.
“People enter the ministry because they feel a calling for it,” they said.
“There are some who make a life choice for an easy life - no job, given money, given cars to use, stay in homes, get cooked the best food.
Each “field” has up to 200 members and a number of “house churches” over which an “elder” presides.
Every Sunday at 10.30am, groups of friends meet for house church.
Further meetings - for Bible study or prayer - are held on Sunday and Wednesday nights. These are the homes of less senior elders.
There are also “public” gospel meetings where various house church groups convene and listen to the workers preach.
And there are a number of “conventions” each year, usually at rural properties.
“They spend five days there, and most people will be living on site. Often there are dormitories set up or some people will take tents or campervans,” said Eggleton.
“You’re expected to go and there are three meetings per day - morning, afternoon and evening, and the workers will be preaching over those periods of time and hymns are sung.
“Then the overseers would come in as the keynote speakers.”
It’s worth noting here that there seems to be a plethora of names and labels used to describe the people, places and practices within the Two by Twos. So the terminology here may differ from what others use.
What happens at a ‘house church’?
Sundays are the main event.
Between 10 and 20 people gather in an elder’s lounge, usually sitting on chairs around the perimeter set up in a “giant circle”.
In the middle of the room will be a small table displaying the “emblems” - a square of bread and a teacup containing fortified wine.
Within the morning meeting, friends who have professed - more on that later - can speak or “give their testimony”.
“They stand up and talk about what’s on their mind and relate it to a bible verse... the King James Bible is what they use of course,” said Eggleton.
“They might speak for a couple of minutes and then sit down. And then someone else would stand up and do a similar sort of thing and sit down. Everyone has a turn.
"Friends" attending a Wednesday night gospel meeting in Christchurch. Photo / George Heard
“There’s no discussion that goes on - no one will ask questions. There’ll be a general ‘amen’ at the end of each person’s testimony, and that’s it.
“From when they walk into the meeting, there’s very little or no conversation … you walk in very silent and you sit in your chair and wait for the elder to start the meeting up.”
House church lasts an hour, and at the conclusion the elder and friends share the bread and wine.
Sunday night meetings are also known as gospel or mission meetings.
“It’s a little bit like the Wednesday night meeting - it’s in a community hall and the workers would just preach for 20 minutes each and there’s some hymns and prayers and it lasts about an hour.”
At certain points in the year, the workers are away from the field - at conventions or travelling - and gospel meetings are replaced with study meetings held at elders’ homes.
The head worker will provide a list of topics that could be covered - reading a particular chapter or verse of the bible for example.
“It’s a similar structure to the Sunday morning meeting - people are meeting in small house groups and taking turns to talk on that particular topic,” said Eggleton.
“Once again, there is no discussion - everyone takes their turn generally in silence.”
The structure in real life
Documents provided to the Herald reveal a “who’s who” in the Christchurch fields of the church.
The city is split into two fields - north and south.
The north comes under the eye of brother workers Andrew Juby and John Watt, while the south has sister workers Karen Schofield and Lauren Freeman. The latter ran a gospel meeting at a community hall on Wednesday and could be seen preaching from outside the event.
Sister workers Karen Schofield and Lauren Freeman preaching at a recent meeting in Christchurch's south "field". Photo / George Heard
South side elders - who host house church every Sunday and include MP Hamish Campbell’s father, Bruce - are based in Yaldhurst, Merivale, Fendalton, Lincoln, and Halswell.
Campbell is also considered an “elder” by many people spoken to by the Herald.
He has hosted Sunday night meetings at his home. The Herald now understands this was during a period when the sister workers were out of the field study meetings replaced their gospel sessions.
Who gets to speak at house church?
Sunday mornings are not a free-for-all for friends. They have to achieve a significant milestone before they are eligible to join in.
“You speak once you’ve professed - professing is when you make a public declaration that you want to serve God or be part of the church,” said the ex-friend.
“Usually, an opportunity is given by the workers in one of their last gospel meetings in the field - they call it ‘testing the meeting’. They’ll announce a hymn and say: ‘If anybody’s wanting to start to serve God or let people know what’s on their heart - they can stand to their feet during the chorus or during the last verse’.
“And that’s when you profess, and it’s after that that you start speaking at a meeting. But you have to be baptised before you can have the bread and wine.
What the Two by Twos believe
In 2022 Cherie Kropp-Ehrig published Preserving the Truth: The Church without a Name and Its Founder, William Irvine.
She spent years researching the movement and published all the information she gathered on a website aiming to “ inform, educate and preserve”.
On Telling the Truth, she explains the main points of the doctrine.
That the fellowship is God’s “ONLY true way; therefore, all other church members, preachers, churches and religions are ”false”.
That salvation comes by grace and works, is earned or merited through faithfulness and righteousness and is not possible without their fellowship.
That their ministers are God’s “only true ministers”, are the “supreme authorities” in biblical interpretation, and have “authority and rule over members”.
The viewpoints of the overseer and workers are considered “as authoritative as the written word” and their traditions are either “equal in importance with God’s commands”.
Crucially, they live under the belief that when they die, they either receive “eternal life in heaven or eternal punishment in hell”.
Two by Twos believe the only way to get into heaven is by being a member of their church. Photo / NZME
Eggleton said the sect’s “core belief” was that “being in the Two by Twos is the only way to heaven”.
“And that everyone else is going to hell,” he said.
The ex-friend told the Herald: “I’ve been brought up to think that if you want to get into heaven, we’re the one true way to get to there … that the people in our church are the only people that are ever going to be in heaven.
“I was born and bred into it. I loved what I’d grown up with. I married someone who was born and bred into it.”
What are the rules?
Along with the 10 Commandments, there are a number of other unwritten rules for Two by Twos.
As with any religious group not all members follow all rules, or follow them as strictly as the next person.
Kropp-Ehrig published an extensive list, but the crux is:
Women should wear their hair long and keep it off their face. (They often wear it up on their heads in buns, which led to the term “bunheads” for their nameless church).
Most jewellery and cosmetics - and all tattoos - are “taboo”.
The “ideal” for women is to “dress modestly”. They are “not to wear” pants, sleeveless garments or anything with a low neckline. They are encouraged not to follow “fashion trends” and to “stay a good distance behind the styles of the world”.
For males, “no articles of clothing prohibited” but they “do not wear shorts”.
There should be “no participation or attendance at organised sports events” - but the rules around movies, recreation and swimming vary by area.
The book published in 2022. Photo /www.tellingthetruth.info
No smoking, no drinking (outside meetings), no gambling, no swearing or slang.
Christmas and Easter are recognised, but many friends avoid cultural traditions and do not exchange gifts, and cards, put up decorations or prepare special meals.
Marriage to “outsiders” is “highly discouraged” and in some regions, people are asked to quit the church if they do.
Remarriage is prohibited, and considered adultery but is “permissible when prior spouse is deceased”.
Sunday is a day of rest with no working and “curtailed recreational activities.
Baptism is required “in order to go to heaven”.
Members should only miss a meeting when they are sick, and they must go to one full convention a year.
Joining and leaving
If you’re not born into the Two by Twos and you don’t marry a friend or elder, you’d be hard-pressed to get in.
Eggleton said only those “professing” and their children could attend Sunday meetings. Gospel meetings were public but unlikely to be an easy place to join the church.
“You can go along to the gospel meetings, but you have to know where they’ve been held and they’re not advertised generally,” he said.
“They used to advertise - go around and do little letter drops in the area that they would be holding the gospel meeting in. That’s the way in which they tried to get people in.
“But I don’t think they do letter drops anymore, and I don’t think, I don’t think they advertise in newspapers, at all.
“So you have to be in the know or be invited by a member to come along.”
Many ex-members say they left the church after becoming disillusioned or concerned about its doctrine and practices. Photo / 123RF
The ex-friend said they watched several family members pull back when they became disillusioned by the church and the people running it.
“That really shook me … because I’ve been brought up to think that if you want to get into heaven, we’re the one true way to get to heaven,” they said.
“So even though I agreed with them, I was concerned for (their) soul, and it really upset me. I was really distressed because that’s just what we were taught.
“I was just trying to reconcile all the things we’ve been taught and then work out - actually what does the Bible actually say, and I was starting to notice disparity between some of the things we taught and what’s scripture.
“I couldn’t understand at the time. I didn’t know about exclusivity, which is basically when you believe you’re exclusive to, you know, get access to heaven … I didn’t know about coercive control.
“All of a sudden it was like, I really wondered if I was odd because there aren’t too many people in the church you can talk to when you’re going through all this.
“I just came to see that, how could we - when our way started in the late 1890s - decide that only the people in our church are the only people that are ever going to be in heaven? What right do we have to do that?
“And that was the moment for me. It’s just so arrogant.
“But it took a long time to process … we’ve been in meetings all our life, we grew up hearing these things and it was normal for us and so it’s this conditioning.
“It took me a long time to unpack it.”
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
