Hopeful Christian’s jailhouse letter reveals Gloriavale’s brutal child‑training beliefs

The Herald has obtained a letter written by Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian in which he instructs followers to eradicate the self-will of babies and children.

While in jail for child sex abuse, Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian wrote a letter to his flock impressing upon them the importance of eradicating the self-will of babies and children. The letter, which has never been disclosed publicly, has been obtained by the Herald. Investigative reporter Michael Morrah examines what it says and what it means for young people living at the reclusive West Coast sect.

The Herald has obtained a never-before-published letter from Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian – sent to his faithful while in jail for child sex abuse – in which he instructs his followers to break the self-will of babies “long before they are 2 years old”.

The six-page typed letter has been described as “evil” by high-profile barrister Brian Henry.

The letter was written on August 16, 1996, while Christian was behind bars after being found guilty on 10 charges of indecent assault.

Gloriavale founder and convicted sex offender Neville Cooper, who is also known as Hopeful Christian. Photo / TVNZ

Christian’s letter was addressed to “all my beloved Brethren in Jesus” and started with reference to his prison escort who Christian wrote was “really overcome” to learn of the love and care within the Gloriavale community.

The letter swiftly turned to focus on the need for parents to ensure their babies were disciplined.

“So often we look at the babies and little children and let them ‘move along their own way’ saying they are only babies and don’t understand. In doing so we find that they have learnt bad habits and self-will becomes harder to eradicate,” he said.

An excerpt from a letter written by Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian in 1996. The letter was written to his community while he was in jail. Photo / Anna Heath

Christian impressed on his followers the importance of training babies “right at the beginning of their lives” and urged them to set aside other natural and normal human feelings.

He said the “great enemy” in dealing with children was if parents adopt a “sentimental, soulish, emotional outlook on their children”.

The Gloriavale Christian Community is on the bank of Lake Haupiri near Greymouth. Photo / George Heard

Then came the most direct advice from Christian, whose real name was Neville Cooper.

“So, we all from the day of birth, need chastening. In other words, we don’t let babies and little infants develop self-will and doing things that are not acceptable.”

He said this preparation by parents must start before their child starts preschool.

“If we surrender our responsibility in dealing with the child’s self-will then we load the preschool ladies with a tremendous job that will upset their whole group.”

Christian said children shouldn’t be dealt with by angry or frustrated parents but emphasised that self-will must be “constantly stood against”.

Hopeful Christian's letter detailed a set of instructions to parents about child rearing. Photo / Anna Heath

Christian’s letter is at times contradictory.

He referred to chastening not as punishment but said it should be viewed in the sense of refusing childhood demands that are “out of order”.

He urged parents not to constantly growl or scold their children, saying it was better to “give a child a smack with a kind heart”.

Christian said smacking wasn’t punishment but a way of teaching right and wrong.

Auckland barrister Brian Henry has taken two successful cases against Gloriavale to the Employment Court. Photo / Cameron Pitney.

Barrister Brian Henry, who’s involved in ongoing legal action against Gloriavale – and Crown agencies overseeing the community – believed Christian’s letter formed the foundation for enslaving young people at the commune.

He said the emphasis on eradicating self-will in babies was the salient point Christian made.

“Self-will should be broken before they go into the little preschool. In Gloriavale speak, I understand that to be 3 to 4 weeks old,” he told the Herald.

Initially, Henry said he didn’t understand how self-will could be eradicated in a child so young.

“So, I flew down to the South Island to catch up with some of the [Gloriavale] leavers and I was horrified because they – without any compunction – they said, ‘it’s easy, you just put your hand over their mouth and pinch the nose till they go blue’.”

Henry said leavers he spoke to didn’t understand such an act was criminal or wrong.

Virginia Courage, who left Gloriavale in 2019, says she had to resuscitate a baby while living at the commune.

Former Gloriavale resident Virginia Courage told the Herald hand-clamping crying babies was a method taught by Christian – a claim backed up by evidence given to the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.

The Commission was told Christian “hated the sound of children crying” so encouraged parents to cover a child’s mouth and nose when they cried.

Courage said while living at the commune she saw infants turn blue after parents practised the hand-over-mouth technique and she once had to resuscitate another parent’s baby.

Courage also said during a married couples meeting in 2014 the discipline technique was endorsed by Christian and another leader.

Hopeful Christian's letter urged parents not to allow babies and children to develop self-will. Photo / Anna Heath

Henry said the worst line in the letter was when Christian said babies can’t be allowed to develop self-will and do things that are unacceptable.

“Because it tells you exactly what the intention is – not develop self-will. The baby has to be muted; it has to be controlled. It has to lose its self-will at this wee age. And they do it brutally,” he told the Herald.

The Herald revealed Thursday police and Oranga Tamariki quietly carried out a “mass allegation investigation” into the hand-over-mouth parenting tactics at Gloriavale following the release of the commission’s final report.

Police told the Herald they decided education rather than prosecution would be the most effective way to prevent parents from using the technique.

Gloriavale said it implemented a child protection, safety and wellbeing policy in 2022 and education programmes on safe parenting have been embedded in community life since 2016.

“The members of the Gloriavale Community uphold the national expectations of safety for children in New Zealand,” a Gloriavale spokesman told the Herald.

The spokesman said the hand-clamping technique is no longer practised.

Henry said Gloriavale’s public assurances can’t be trusted.

“They speak with a forked tongue. Their fundamental beliefs have not changed. They’re mind-bent that they’ve got God on their side and they’re right. Everybody else is wrong,” he said.

Gloriavale has been approached for comment on the content of Christian’s letter.

Christian died of cancer at the age of 92 in 2018.

Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the New Zealand Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.