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| Neville Cooper, Gloriavale and the Debate That Refuses to Fade Away |
More than eight years after his death, Neville Cooper, better known within the community as Hopeful Christian, remains one of the most debated religious figures in New Zealand’s modern history. For some members of the Gloriavale Christian Community, he was a visionary who built a self-sustaining faith-based settlement from the ground up. For critics and former members, however, his story is impossible to separate from the controversies, convictions and allegations that followed him throughout his life. Paramount+ documentary Devotion: Obedience or Betrayal has once again placed his legacy under the spotlight, reopening questions that have never really gone away.
The documentary digs into the origins of Gloriavale, the community’s strict rules and the man who shaped its identity for decades. It is a story that feels almost unbelievable at times: a former Australian fruit shop worker survives a plane crash, reinvents himself as a preacher, creates a religious movement and eventually oversees one of New Zealand’s most talked-about communities.
Depending on who you ask, it is either an extraordinary tale of devotion or a cautionary lesson about unchecked authority. Born in Toowoomba, Australia, in 1926, Neville Barkley Cooper left school at just 12 years old to help his family run a fruit shop.
Faith was already a major part of his upbringing, but a near-fatal plane crash in 1965 proved to be a turning point. After surviving the incident, he became increasingly devoted to religious work and began preaching as part of an evangelist mission. It was not long before he arrived in New Zealand in 1967, convinced he had found the ideal place to build a new religious movement.
By 1968, Cooper had relocated his family to Rangiora and helped establish the New Life Church. That partnership did not last particularly long. Differences with fellow religious leaders soon emerged, and Cooper ultimately decided to go his own way.
The result was the Springbank Christian Community, a settlement built around communal living, shared resources and strict religious teachings. While many organisations spend years discussing mission statements, Cooper appeared to prefer writing the rules first and asking questions later.
Under his leadership, Springbank expanded rapidly. The community developed schools, churches and several businesses, including plumbing, gas fitting and vehicle repair operations.
Farming also became central to daily life. Cooper introduced a points-based reward system linked to the profits generated by community enterprises. Eventually, personal bank accounts disappeared, and members relied on allocations distributed through the communal structure.
The lifestyle Cooper promoted was highly structured. Women wore modest uniforms, traditional family roles were emphasised and community members were expected to follow strict behavioural guidelines.
Teachings encouraged large families, opposed divorce and discouraged contraception. Supporters argued these principles created stability and unity. Critics saw them as evidence of a system that left little room for personal choice. The debate, unsurprisingly, never settled.
In the early 1990s, Cooper moved the community to a larger property in the Haupiri Valley on New Zealand’s South Island. The new settlement became known as Gloriavale, named after his first wife, Gloria Cooper.
What started as a small religious movement gradually evolved into a substantial community complete with schools, churches, communal kitchens and large farming operations. Additional businesses ranging from sphagnum exports to pet food production helped turn the settlement into a significant economic enterprise.
However, the most damaging chapter of Cooper’s life arrived in the mid-1990s. In 1994, he was convicted on multiple indecent assault charges and sentenced to prison. Some convictions were later overturned on appeal, leading to a retrial on several charges.
In 1995, he was again convicted on three counts of abuse and received a five-year prison sentence. One of the most notable moments during the proceedings came when his son, Phil Cooper, who had already left the community, testified against him.
Despite serving time in prison, Cooper retained influence among many followers. Reports over the years suggested that some community members were not fully aware of the details surrounding his convictions.
Even while incarcerated, he reportedly continued corresponding with supporters through letters. Following his release on parole, he returned to a leadership role and remained deeply involved in community affairs.
Although Cooper stepped down from Gloriavale’s Board of Trustees in 2010, his influence hardly vanished overnight. As the community’s “overseeing shepherd,” he continued shaping leadership decisions, baptisms and internal regulations.
In many ways, he remained the central figure around whom the community revolved. Some observers joked that stepping back from power looked remarkably similar to staying in power, just with a different job title.
Financially, Gloriavale continued expanding. By 2017, reports indicated the community controlled assets worth more than $40 million.
At the same time, former members increasingly raised concerns about working conditions, community discipline and what they described as coercive practices. Cooper himself was never charged in relation to those claims, but the allegations contributed to growing public scrutiny of the organisation he founded.
On 15 May 2018, Neville Cooper died following a battle with cancer. Leadership subsequently passed to Howard Temple, but Cooper’s presence remains deeply embedded in Gloriavale’s culture and history. Even after his death, discussions surrounding his role continue to shape how the community is viewed both inside and outside New Zealand.
Reaction to the documentary and renewed coverage of Cooper's life has been sharply divided online. Some viewers describe the story as fascinating, pointing to the scale and endurance of the community he built.
Others argue that any discussion of his achievements cannot be separated from his criminal convictions and the experiences shared by former members.
Across social media, many have expressed surprise at how much influence one individual maintained over a community for so many decades, while others say the documentary raises difficult but necessary questions about leadership, accountability and faith-based organisations.
What remains clear is that Hopeful Christian left behind one of the most complicated legacies in modern New Zealand religious history. To supporters, he offered an alternative model of community life.
To critics, he symbolised the dangers that can emerge when authority goes largely unchallenged. Years after his passing, the arguments continue, the questions remain, and Gloriavale still attracts intense public curiosity.
After watching the documentary, where do you stand on Neville Cooper’s legacy? Was he a visionary founder, a deeply flawed leader, or something far more complicated in between?