Destiny Church pastor Derek Tait has a vaccine pass despite his vows

Wednesday, 19 January 2022

Derek Tait has led the Freedoms and Rights Coalition rallies in Christchurch.

A Destiny Church pastor known for his refusal to get a Covid-19 vaccination because he trusted his faith to protect him appears to have been vaccinated.

Christchurch’s Destiny Church pastor Derek Tait recently told his flock via his Facebook page he was not getting vaccinated.

“I personally am NOT getting COVID Vaccine,” he wrote.

“But that’s my choice/decision, no hate no judgement if you do get Vaccinated, each man (& women) have to make their own informed decision…. My faith in Christ & belief in the strength & health of my immune system means I don’t need it & if I did get it it would not harm me (sic).”

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Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki addressed thousands of anti-lockdown protesters at a protest at the Auckland Domain on October 2. He attended a second event on October 16, but maintains he did not organise either (first published October 30).

However, on Tuesday Tait produced a vaccine pass at a Rangiora eatery in North Canterbury which Stuff has agreed not to name.

The owner of the outlet said Tait had entered his premises about midday on Tuesday.

Tait, who wasn’t wearing a mask as apparently he has an exemption, showed the vaccine pass on his cellphone, holding it above the counter.

Destiny Church pastor Derek Tait reaches out to a member of the Muslim community during the call to prayer and peace vigil North Hagley Park in March 2019.

“I said ‘I didn’t think you guys got vaccinated’. He said ‘who told you that?’“ the business owner told Stuff.

He then told Tait his business did not serve Destiny Church people, not because of their religion but because of Tait’s behaviour after the terror attack on two Christchurch mosques.

Members of Destiny Church met opposite the An-nur (Al Noor) Masjid to proclaim Christchurch a Christian city on April 22, 2019. It was the day the mosque met for its first call to prayer since the shootings on March 15.

At the time Tait said his group opposed the national broadcast of the first Muslim call to prayer by the mosque following the March 15 terror attack.

'The purpose was to stand out in the open and to declare that Christchurch and New Zealand belongs to Jesus Christ who is the one true God,' he said.

The business owner said the shootings had deeply shocked him, and he found the Destiny Church rally to reclaim Christchurch for Christianity abhorrent.

“We had just returned from a trip to Oman, Jordan and Egypt when the mosque shootings happened. We had a fantastic experience and everyone we met was so lovely.”

The eatery owner said Tait had argued with him when he was asked to leave and he decided to call the police.

Either the vaccine pass was false or Tait was telling his followers one thing and doing another, he said.

“They lead vulnerable people down a pathway they are not prepared to go down themselves,” he said.

According to sources, Tait has also been banned from the Coffee Culture outlet in Rangiora due to his apparent vaccination status.

He would sit outside with vaccinated people and make it difficult for staff to enforce the law, a patron said. He was not seen to offer a vaccination pass, the patron said.

Tait was asked for comment but did not respond.

The pastor is a prominent member of the Destiny Church and has been its leader in the South Island since 2008. The church claims to be the largest Māori and Pacific Island church in the world and derives most of its income from tithes.

Tait has been active in the Freedoms and Rights Coalition group formed by the Destiny Church to protest Government measures to handle the Covid-19 pandemic.