Gloriavale leader Howard Temple has resigned as Overseeing Shepherd after being convicted of sexual offending against girls and women at the West Coast Christian community.
Temple, 85, has been replaced by Shepherd Stephen Standfast.
Temple pleaded guilty to five charges of indecent assault, fiveof doing an indecent act and two of common assault just days into a judge-alone trial in Greymouth last month. He was on bail awaiting sentencing.
Formerly known as Howard Smitherman, Temple is a former US Navy engineer who became Overseeing Shepherd in 2018 after the death of the community’s founder, Hopeful Christian.
“His position has been taken by Stephen Standfast, who has been designated to replace Mr Temple for several years. Mr Temple succeeded the community’s founder, Hopeful Christian, upon his death in 2018. In the years since then, he has led a campaign to establish policies around child safety and wellbeing, as well as workplace health and safety.
“Mr Standfast, 48, has spent several years now working with outside agencies to support ongoing changes for safety and wellbeing.”
Following Temple’s conviction, Gloriavale leaver Virginia Courage said he was generally well-liked but had different personas.
“Howard is viewed as a very nice, gentle person – very respectful to women, very well mannered. The truth is, he actually is, when he’s Howard the person, but when he steps into his cult persona as the Overseeing Shepherd of Gloriavale, the person who’s keeping the rules and the person who’s making sure everyone’s on the straight and narrow, he’s the cult-Howard,” she said.
Barrister Brian Henry said Gloriavale’s leaders would present the charges against Temple as “lies of the system” working against the community, but his admission of guilt differed to the conviction of Christian, who was jailed on indecent assault charges that he denied.
“This time he [Temple] has admitted it, he’s pleaded guilty to charges which expressly state he had intent to sexually abuse these girls,” he said.
“Howard Temple is in a different situation to the others who have been prosecuted in the last couple of years. He is someone who created the environment they’re in. He is one of the original establishers of Gloriavale. He’s been in the top job since the 1990s. He’s a ringleader, he’s actually one of the king sex offender crims in my book.”
Temple's position has been taken by Stephen Standfast. Photo / George Heard
In January, Temple delivered a public apology on behalf of the church for abuse at the community between 1950 and 1999, following a Royal Commission of Inquiry recommendation last July.
The commission had urged the Government to do everything it could to ensure the safety of Gloriavale members and their children as a result of findings that leaders allowed physical and sexual abuse at the community.
A multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit was filed against Gloriavale and five government agencies last year by former members, who claim they were held as slaves from birth by the leaders. It followed a separate High Court action alleging five government agencies knowingly allowed abuse to happen at the community.
In two landmark Employment Court cases in 2022 and 2023, Chief Judge Christina Inglis ruled nine former members were community employees, rather than volunteers.
