Destiny Church is a charismatic Christian church with headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded as City Church Auckland in 1998 by Pastor Brian Tamaki it initially had a membership of 20 people, but within two years, had grown to 300 members and had adopted the name "Destiny Church". Destiny now has twenty churches, located throughout New Zealand and in Brisbane, Australia. The church is characterised by its large and diverse multi-cultural congregations which, by the beginning of 2005, had increased in size to more than 10,000 followers. Charismatic is an umbrella term used to describe those Christians who believe that the manifestations of the Holy Spirit seen in the first century Christian Church, such as speaking in tongues (skeptics unsure of this practice claim it to be a mere showing of glossolalia), healing and miracles, are available... Christianity is the worlds largest religion. ... Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Bishop Brian Tamaki Pastor Brian Tamaki is a controversial leader of the Destiny Church, a Christian movement which has become well known in New Zealand. ... Brisbane by night Brisbane is the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. ...

Destiny Church has been active in campaigning for a return to Christian moral values in New Zealand society, particularly for the "sanctity of marriage between a husband and wife". In August 2004, it attracted considerable criticism from gay-activists for its protest against a bill creating civil unions which gives the right to heterosexual and homosexual couples to join in a civil union. This protest had the support of around 6,000 marchers who were for wearing black T-shirts with the slogans "Enough is Enough" and "I'm standing for family values". This was characterised by current-affairs programme Holmes as being similar to a Nazi Party rally. The march was met by a counter-protest of about 2000 people, including MP Georgina Beyer [1] (http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/443454%3Fformat=html) Morality is a system of principles and judgments based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong. ... Marriage is a relationship and bond, most commonly between a man and a woman, that plays a key role in the definition of many families. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... On 9 December 2004 New Zealand Parliament passed the Civil Union Bill, establishing the new institution of civil union, available to same-sex and de facto couples. ... A civil union is one of several terms for a civil status similar to marriage, typically created for the purposes of allowing homosexual couples access to the benefits enjoyed by married heterosexuals (see also same-sex marriage); it can also be used by couples of differing sexes who do not... Paul Holmes (born 1961) is a radio and television broadcaster in New Zealand. ... The Nazi swastika symbol The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... Georgina Beyer is the worlds first transsexual Member of Parliament, currently (2004) MP for the Wairarapa electorate in New Zealand. ...

A follow up demonstration in Auckland along with the Christian Life Centre and the City Impact churches took place in March 2005. This demonstration gathered close to 5,000 people marching up the main street of New Zealand's biggest city. The march was once again met by a small group of counter-demonstrating students, numbering around several hundred. [2] (http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/477666%3fformat=html) 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Members of the Destiny Church formed the political party Destiny New Zealand in 2003. That year, Tamaki predicted that Destiny Church would govern New Zealand by 2008. However, recent polls show Destiny New Zealand's support at only 0.5%—well below the 5% threshold needed to enter Parliament without an electorate MP. Current Destiny New Zealand logo Destiny New Zealand, a Christian political party in New Zealand, centres around the charismatic Destiny Church, founded and led by the televangelist Brian Tamaki. ...

Destiny TV, a television ministry, was launched in 2001 and produces 30 minute programmes that ran every weekday morning on New Zealand's national television broadcaster. The programmes are entirely funded by donations from Destiny Church members. Despite fitting criteria for a government charter that called for more religious and Māori programmes on television Destiny TV was pulled from air in late 2004. Destiny TV currently broadcasts in the South Pacific and Australia. Programmes and live services are also broadcast over the internet.

Tamaki was ordained as a bishop by kaumatua Manuel Renata on June 18, 2005. [3] (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10331506) A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Kaumatua are respected male tribal elders in a Maori community who have been involved with their whanau for a number of years. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ...

On 27 February 2005 the national leader of Baptist Churches of New Zealand, Brian Winslade issued an open letter criticising the Destiny Church. In the letter Winslade gives several reasons why he believes "the Destiny political movement ought not to be supported by the Christian community of New Zealand". February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

In the United States

Destiny Church is a church in Oklahoma, USA. Oklahoma is a southwestern state of the United States and its U.S. postal abbreviation is OK; others abbreviate the states name Okla. ...

External links

• Destiny Church Glasgow, unrelated to New Zealand Church, also has churches in Edinburgh, Oban, Dublin, Inverness, Munich, Rosenheim & India (http://www.destiny-church.com/index.htm)
• Official website (http://www.destinychurch.org.nz/)
• Destiny New Zealand Political Party official website (http://www.destinynz.org.nz/)
• Open Letter of Brian Winslade (http://www.ccanz.net.nz/articles/openletter.html)
• "Density Church", a parody of the official website (http://www.densitychurch.org/)
• Discussion of Destiny Church's similarity to a cult (http://jasper.bryant-greene.name/2005/06/22/destiny-church-is-a-cult/)