A secretive sect under investigation by New Zealand Police for abuse says fellowship is voluntary, and members are free to leave if they wish.
But others who’ve left the group known as the Two by Twos or The Truth say it’s not that simple, with coercive control keeping many locked in.
One woman, who was a fourth-generation member, left the group four years ago.
She spoke to 1News anonymously, as she worried about the consequences of being linked to the church, which was estimated to have two and a half thousand members in New Zealand alone.
It has no official name, no buildings, and no charity status.
Ex-member: ‘People don’t realise what’s happening to them’
“They are controlling the information that you get and discouraging you from looking at certain information. They’re controlling your experiences and the expectations on you, what you talk about, the way you present yourself.
“The coercion and the control that there is over people. People don’t realise it’s happening to them until you take a step back,” said the woman.
New Zealand Police have contacted 27 alleged victims of sexual abuse in the church, with 10 individuals filing reports.
A police spokesperson said two offenders have been convicted.
‘Beliefs imposed from infancy’ says former member, academic
Twenty-six years ago, Kyle Eggleton quit the group and is now an Associate Dean at Auckland University.
He said even if members aren’t sexually abused, they’re still left with trauma from being part of the church.
“Most people are born into it, so you have your beliefs and values imposed upon you from infancy through childhood, and it’s very much fear-based.
“So you’re told that this was the one true way of going to heaven. All other churches were false, no one else would go to heaven,” said Eggleton.
He said if people did not follow the rules, they could be asked to stay away.
“So if you didn’t obey the rules, there were some shunning activities that would occur, so social exclusion.
“People would be invited to certain activities or they might be asked to stand down from participating in the meetings that went on,” said Eggleton.
Participation is voluntary, says overseer
Church overseer Wayne Dean said the group respect the views of former members but they did not agree with what is being claimed.
“All of those in our fellowship are united by a common faith in Christ and belief in the Bible. Our leader and spiritual guide is Jesus Christ.
“Those of us who follow a call into the Ministry do so voluntarily to share our faith and the simple teachings of the Bible.”
Dean told 1News that the church conducted free public Gospel services that any member of the public could attend, and “any participation in our fellowship is voluntary, and people are free to leave if they wish”.
Call for more action on ‘coercive control’
Former Exclusive Brethren member Lindy Jacomb now ran the Olive Leaf Network, which she said helped those who’d left “high-demand religious groups”.
“I would like to see greater awareness around group coercive control and the inherent dangers that are found within it.
“Coercive control can be illegal under certain circumstances in a domestic setting like intimate partner violence … but there’s no laws around it for when it’s a group doing that to an individual,” said Jacomb.