Located on the Western coast of New Zealand’s South Island, Gloriavale is a Christian community where everyone wears blue, seemingly obeys every rule, and a committee of 16 men makes all of the decisions. Secretive, elusive, and with a shifting power dynamic, the leaders claim that the community is not a cult.

If you’re born into Gloriavale, you are not permitted to spend any of your free time with members of the opposite sex – at least until after you’ve been married off in a pre-arranged union. Once man and wife come together in holy matrimony, contraception is entirely forbidden, so most couples have as many as 12 children.

As religious sects go, Gloriavale does not live up to our common expectations. Instead of shunning industry or technology, members of this community work hard to develop an industry. They have formed the biggest dairy company in the region. Along with farm labour, Gloriavale residents also work on site in the group’s aeronautics company, as well as domestic work of cooking and sewing.

But, as New Zealand TV producer Amanda Evans, producer of a new documentary on the community, told Moncrieff today, Gloriavale remains elusive and mysterious. The community is closed, so second and third generation members know next to nothing of the outside world, beyond entrenched beliefs that it is ungodly.

The sense of community is palpable, and at times it is a charming and charmed existence, to live a life of unwavering certainty, Evans told Jonathan McCrea.

But there can be no ignoring that the closed-off nature of Gloriavale means that questions need to be raised. For instance, the elder men who call the shots also know the blood-line relationships of everyone at the commune, meaning they are the only ones to know which marriages are incestuous. And the group’s founder, Neville Cooper, has served time for sexual assault charges.

Though, as Evans says, he has served his time, and constantly being asked about it by the media has fostered the feelings of distrust with the outside world.

In an Irish exclusive, Evans two documentaries on the Gloriavale community have been made available to viewers to rent for the cost of €1 each (you can find part one here, and part two here). You can see the trailers for the documentaries below. Jonathan McCrea's interview with Amanda Evans can be heard in full below: