Baby in the witness box as Gloriavale mum tells ‘other side of the story’
Friday, 23 September 2022
A baby has made a rare appearance in a court witness box as a Gloriavale member hit back at those saying women in the religious community have little choice over their lives.
Rachel Stedfast, who is the acting Gloriavale school principal and has nine children, testified at an Employment Court case centred on six women who are arguing they should have been recognised as employees, not volunteers, for the domestic work they did for years at the religious sect.
Stedfast, 39, was born at the Springbank Christian Community, which later relocated to the West Coast and became known as Gloriavale.
She began her testimony at the hearing in Christchurch on Friday by saying she wanted to tell “the other side of the story of what most people have heard”.
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Stedfast said claims women in Gloriavale were “ignorant”, “brainwashed”, or “robots just doing what we are told” were untrue and designed to discredit anything that women in the community had to say about their way of life.
“It is made out that everyone living at Gloriavale has suffered immense trauma and hurt, but this is not true.
“People who have left think that they can speak for us. I believe that those still living at Gloriavale should be allowed to speak for them themselves and be heard.”
Shortly after starting her evidence, another Gloriavale woman walked up to the witness box and handed over Stedfast’s baby, who needed attention. Stedfast settled the baby and continued with her testimony while holding her infant.
Babies are not unheard of in courts, but are a rare sight in a witness box. It’s more common is for them to be handed to a parent for a cuddle in a criminal court dock before the parent is taken to jail.
Having children in Gloriavale
Stedfast said she was offended by the suggestion that she and other Gloriavale women were forced to have children.
“I love having children and I feel empowered to be able to bear children. Men can’t do this and will never be able to experience what I can. The ability and power to give life to another is something I wouldn’t trade for anything the world could offer,” she said.
She added the Gloriavale leaders had no say in her choice to have children.
“I have never had any of my children for the sake of the shepherds. This is my personal choice and I am offended by the accusations made about my choice not to kill my unborn babies.
“I love each one of my children and can tell you that they weren’t born for the purpose of becoming financial assets to the leaders of this community.”
When asked about earlier testimony from Crystal Loyal, who said she was forced to return to work just one week after giving birth while her baby was placed in a childcare centre, Stedfast said this was not normal practice.
She said when women had babies, they had “a full solid time off”, then worked only a few hours a day to allow their babies to get into a routine.
When she was working in the early childhood education centres in 2015 to 2020, the youngest baby there was “6 weeks old, maybe 4weeks”, but only if their mothers were working in the centre.
She confirmed that when a baby was registered to the centre, the centre would receive a government subsidy.
The leadership
Stedfast repeatedly emphasised that the Gloriavale leadership did not control her, but instead led and guided her. She denied women in the community were subservient to men, but said woman chose to submit themselves to their husbands.
“The Bible says the man is the head of the woman and the head of the man is Christ. Now there is an order and it is called God’s order. True Christians know God’s order. Christ is over the man, the man should submit himself to Christ. And then the woman is to submit herself to the man, and children submit themselves to their parents,” she said.
“Submitting is about giving out of your own free will that authority to the person over you. So as a woman I give my husband that authority over me and I put my trust in him.”
When asked about the leaders at Gloriavale all being men, Stedfast said she fully trusted the leaders of the community. “The spiritual side of the leadership can only be by men, that’s according to God’s word.”
She said this did not mean she was not allowed to disagree with men, but if she questioned anything about the teachings of the servants and shepherds, she had to ask her husband if what she was questioning was right.
“So it is kind of like, you don’t just stand up and say, ‘I disagree with you’.”
She said this was “a humble way of being”.
Stedfast said the Gloriavale leaders did not benefit from their positions of power. “They go to their graves penniless, yet surrounded by loved ones. The reality is our leaders have given up all their worldly goods, their money, their inheritances and their very lives to make it possible for me to live the life I have chosen without the stresses that some of my counterpart mothers outside the community are faced with daily.”
Working in the community
Stedfast said claims that children as young as 5 were made to cook breakfast before school were untrue. She started helping with meals when she was 8 because she asked if she could help because it “was such fun”, she said.
She told the court about her training and work as a teacher and later school principal, and said it was her choice to become a teacher.
She confirmed she received a Government salary for the work, but said she had no desire to keep the money for herself and chose to have it go into an account that benefited the community as a whole.
“In reading the Bible, I personally see my role as serving God according to his commands. I love to serve my sisters and brothers in Christ the way he served others when he was on earth.
“I want to share this wonderful blessing with others and so I give my time and energy to help others in whatever way I can.”