Brian Tamaki
Encyclopedia
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
organisation in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
which advocates strict adherence to fundamentalist biblical morality, and is notable for its position against homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, its patriarchal views and for its calls for a return to biblical conservative family values
Family values
Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
and morals.
Personal life
In his autobiography More than meets the eye: Bishop Brian Tamaki, Tamaki describes his early life:Born in Te Awamutu
Te Awamutu
Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it...
in the Waikato
Waikato
The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...
region as the eldest in a family of five, Tamaki spent his childhood years on the family farm, called "Te Manuka", in the rural area of Te Kopua. His devoutly religious mother
took her sons to the Te Awamutu Methodist Church on Sundays. Tamaki describes his father as an alcoholic who showed no interest in fatherhood. During Tamaki's childhood the family moved from the farm to Te Awamutu and then on to Tokoroa
Tokoroa
Tokoroa is the third-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato district. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the Mamaku Ranges, it is mid-way between Taupo and Hamilton on State Highway One...
in 1970. While in Tokoroa Tamaki became interested in rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and a little later came to enjoy pig-hunting and participating in a rock-band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
playing the pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
circuit. Two of Tamaki's brothers, Doug and Mike, are well-known tourism venture operators in Rotorua.
Tamaki dropped out of secondary school
Secondary education in New Zealand
Secondary education in New Zealand takes up to five years, covering the ages 13 to 18, corresponding to the school years 9 to 13.- Types of school :...
at fifteen, before completing the fourth form and took a labour job in the forestry industry. In his teens he impregnated Hannah Lee and the unwed couple moved to Te Awamutu, where Tamaki worked on a dairy farm owned by his uncle and aunt. Tamaki and Lee had their first child, Jasmine, in December 1978. Later at 21, Tamaki joined the Ngaruawahia
Ngaruawahia
Ngāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 km north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipa Rivers...
Apostolic Church. He lost his farm job and he and Lee returned to Tokoroa, where he attended the Tokoroa Apostolic Church. Tamaki became heavily involved with the church after pastor Manuel Renata baptised him in December 1979. Since Tamaki and his partner had not married, Renata would not allow him to carry out all the functions of the church. Tamaki and Lee then married at the Tokoroa Presbyterian Church on 22 March 1980. Fourteen months later they had their second child, a girl named Jamie.
In 1982 the Tamakis attended the Apostolic Church's Te Nikau Bible College in Paraparaumu
Paraparaumu
Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies in the Kapiti Coast, 50 kilometres north of the nation's capital city, Wellington....
, and also had their third child, Samuel. Tamaki became an ordained elder
Elder (Christianity)
An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...
, and then (in September 1984) a pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
in the Tokoroa Apostolic Church. Tamaki went on to establish the Rosetown Community Church in Te Awamutu, the Lake City Church in Rotorua, City Church and then Destiny Church in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
.
On 18 June 2005 kaumatua
Kaumatua
Kaumātua are respected tribal elders of either gender in a Māori community who have been involved with their whānau for a number of years. They are appointed by their people who believe the chosen elders have the capacity to teach and guide both current and future generations...
Manuel Renata ordained Tamaki as bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Destiny Church movement (which totals 15 churches throughout New Zealand and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
).
Tamaki advocates prosperity theology
Prosperity theology
Prosperity theology or gospel is a Christian religious belief whose proponents claim the Bible teaches that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians. Most teachers of prosperity theology maintain that a combination of faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will...
.
Church and politics
In 2003 several members of the Destiny Church started the Destiny New ZealandDestiny New Zealand
Destiny New Zealand was a Christian political party in New Zealand centred on the charismatic/pentecostal Destiny Church. The party described itself as "centre-right". It placed a strong focus on socially conservative values and argued that the breakdown of the traditional family was a primary...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
, led by Richard Lewis
Richard Lewis (politician)
Richard Lewis is the leader of The Family Party, a political party in New Zealand, and was formerly leader of the now de registered Destiny New Zealand, a conservative right-wing Christian party associated with Destiny Church....
. The party ran candidates in most electorates in the 2005 general election
New Zealand general election, 2005
The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the...
, but garnered less than 1 percent of the vote – well short of the 5 percent threshold required to enter Parliament without winning an electorate seat.
Destiny New Zealand was promoted by a nationwide tour and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
labelled "A Nation Under Siege". Tamaki features in the DVD and accompanied the tour. The DVD shows Tamaki decrying what he sees as four problems with New Zealand society: "a Government gone evil, a radical homosexual agenda
Homosexual agenda
Homosexual agenda is a pejorative term used by some conservatives in the United States to describe the advocacy of cultural acceptance and normalization of non-heterosexual orientations and relationships...
, the media: a modern day witchcraft" and "the retreat of religion in New Zealand".
In 2004, Tamaki predicted the Destiny Church would be "ruling the nation" before its tenth anniversary in 2008.
Destiny Church claims a close relationship with New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, USA, the church of Bishop Eddie Long
Eddie Long
Eddie Lee Long is a controversial preacher and the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a megachurch in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, near Lithonia. When Long started as pastor for New Birth Church in 1987, there were 300 church members...
. Tamaki cites Eddie Long as a mentor and "spiritual father".
In the media
At the NelsonNelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
meeting of the Destiny New Zealand
Destiny New Zealand
Destiny New Zealand was a Christian political party in New Zealand centred on the charismatic/pentecostal Destiny Church. The party described itself as "centre-right". It placed a strong focus on socially conservative values and argued that the breakdown of the traditional family was a primary...
"A Nation Under Siege" tour, Tamaki attacked the media, the government, the Green Party
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a political party that has seats in the New Zealand parliament. It focuses firstly on environmentalism, arguing that all other aspects of humanity will cease to be of concern if there is no environment to sustain it...
and Grey Power (a lobby group for the elderly), referring to the Greens as "pagans", Grey Power as "self centred" and the media as "modern day witchcraft".
In 2004 the Sunday Star Times reported that Mr Tamaki “hijacked" $450,000 from elderly couple Barry and Marian Wilson. The Wilsons lent the money, which they had received from the sale of nautical clothing label Line7 in the mid-'90s, on the understanding that it was to be used to purchase a block of land in Rotorua for the construction of a church. It was reported that after almost 10 years and countless attempts to contact Mr Tamaki and his wife Hannah, the Wilsons had given up hope of ever recovering the full amount. The Sunday Star-Times asked Mr Tamaki for a response to a series of questions regarding the loan, but he declined to respond.
In 2004 Sunday broadcast a documentary of Tamaki and of the Destiny Church. The Rev Dr Philip Culbertson
Philip Culbertson
Philip Leroy Culbertson, BMus, MDiv, PhD is a scholar in Practical Theology. He was a lecturer at the University of Auckland School of Theology and was Director of Pastoral Studies at St John's Theological College until his retirement in 2007. Before this he taught at the School of Theology,...
of the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
said: "As far as I can tell it's a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
".
In July 2005 Tamaki had directed "highly offensive abuse" at Newstalk ZB
Newstalk ZB
Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio network operated by The Radio Network of New Zealand . It is available in almost every radio market in the country, and has news reporters based in many of them...
host Mike Yardley while off-air during an interview on July 20.
In his autobiography Tamaki denies that the abuse happened.
In May 2006 a poll ranked Tamaki the least-trusted of 75 prominent New Zealanders.
In June 2006 Tamaki expressed opposition to Sue Bradford
Sue Bradford
Sue Bradford is a New Zealand politician who served as a list Member of Parliament representing the Green Party from 1999 to 2009.- Early life :...
's private members Child Discipline Bill
Child Discipline Act
The Crimes Amendment Act 2007 is an amendment to the New Zealand's Crimes Act 1961 which removed the legal defence of "reasonable force" for parents prosecuted for assault on their children...
, which removed the legal defence of "reasonable force" for prosecutions of parents who have assaulted their children.
In May 2007 the Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
"Most Trusted People"' poll again ranked Brian Tamaki as New Zealand's least trusted of 75 prominent persons.
In July 2008 TV3
TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
broadcast "Inside New Zealand:The Life of Brian", a documentary by reporter Ross Jennings. Jennings claimed to "go inside the head of the Destiny Church’s home, inside his boat, inside his church and yes, even inside his flashy wardrobe."
Cult allegations
In a Close-Up TV interview on the subject Tamaki denied that his church is a cult claiming that “if we are a cult then the Catholics, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Baptists, and the Pentecostals are all cults as well. Because we believe – we have the same actual orthodox tenets of belief.”Richard Lewis, spokesperson for Destiny
Destiny Church
Destiny Church may refer to:*Destiny Church Groningen, a network of churches based in the Netherlands and South America*Destiny Church , a network of churches based in New Zealand...
, earlier in the same interview deflected the criticism by re-defining the term in a pejorative sense saying “Well a cult is umm some exclusive community out in the backdrops of nowhere, but Destiny is the opposite of that; we’re in the middle of Mt Wellington, our doors are always open, as Bishop says; we broadcast live, we’re an open book”.
Views on sexuality and marriage
Radio PacificRadio Pacific
Radio Pacific was a New Zealand talkback radio station. The station also broadcast an extensive selection of horse racing commentary.-History:The station was originally started in Auckland in 1978 on 1593am...
host John Banks
John Banks (New Zealand)
John Archibald Banks, CNZM QSO is a New Zealand politician. He served as Mayor of Auckland City for two terms, from 2001 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2010...
aired an interview with Tamaki that attacked a New Zealand AIDS Foundation's takatāpui
Takatapui
Takatāpui is the Māori word meaning a devoted partner of the same sex. In modern terminology, a person that identifies as takatāpui is a Māori individual that is queer, in other words gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or transsexual...
(Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
for LGBT-person) HIV-prevention project, in which Tamaki referred to traditional Māori pre-colonial intolerance for male homosexuality, painting a picture of a society which, he claimed, exterminated gay and lesbian people. However, many Māori academic authorities question the basis for this claim.
The broadcasting of Tamaki's preaching against homosexuality on Television New Zealand
Television New Zealand
Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to, and stylized as TVNZ, is a government-owned corporation television network broadcasting in New Zealand and parts of the Pacific. It operates TV1, TV2, TVNZ7, TVNZ Heartland, TVNZ U and new media services....
has led to numerous complaints to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Television New Zealand pulled the original opening episode of his series Higher Ground, because it "had language and phrases that did not meet industry standards of accuracy, fairness and balance".
Tamaki does not recognise the sex-reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
of the transgender
Transsexualism
Transsexualism is an individual's identification with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender...
former MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Georgina Beyer
Georgina Beyer
Georgina Beyer was the world's first openly transsexual mayor, as well as the world's first openly transsexual Member of Parliament, and from 27 November 1999 until 14 February 2007 was an MP for the Labour Party in New Zealand.-Early life:Georgina Bertrand was born and assigned male at birth, and...
: Tamaki referred to Beyer in his autobiography as a male.
Views on women in politics
Tamaki regards the lack of male leadershipLeadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
in New Zealand, including the leadership over one's family, as "the work of the devil
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
". He claims that Parliament reflects this alleged lack of male leadership. In his autobiography he defends his attitude towards women by pointing to the role of his wife Pastor Hannah Tamaki in the Destiny Church organisation, and also says "God is very specific about the role and function of men".
Georgina Beyer confronted Tamaki at the "Enough is Enough" protest in Wellington in August 2004, charging "Your hatred is totally intolerable". Beyer also compared Tamaki to despot
Despotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...
s like Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
in a 3 News
3 News
3 News is the television, internet and radio news service of New Zealand's TV3. Its flagship bulletin, which airs every evening at 6:00pm, is anchored by Hilary Barry and Mike McRoberts. Carolyn Robinson and Simon Shepherd are weekend and substitute anchors...
interview.
Publications
- A Nation under Siege: A social disaster has hit our nation (2005) Directed by J Cardno. Rated M. DVD format.
- Brian Tamaki's autobiography: More than meets the eye: Bishop Brian Tamaki. Auckland: Tamaki Publications, Destiny Churches New Zealand, 2006. ISBN 0-473-11242-6