By Sam Olley of RNZ

An evangelical church based in Christchurch is the latest to be accused of exploiting members for long voluntary hours and huge donations, despite the church owning assets worth millions of dollars.

The mega-church Arise, and Gloriavale Christian Community are already facing similar accusations.

Now former members of the Celebration Centre Church, headquartered in Christchurch, say they felt pressured to give thousands of dollars in tithes, and work part-time for free, to help the church make money tax-free.

The Celebration Centre Group's latest financial reporting shows the church received over $1.1 million in tithes and offerings in 2020.

It also received over $2.2m in Ministry of Education funding and childcare fees.

But former members have told RNZ they felt pressured to work unpaid at the church's three Christchurch preschools.

Celebration Church's events centre. Photo / Belinda McCammon

One woman - who asked to remain anonymous - said she never signed a contract, but was rostered for preschool shifts for more than five years.

"It wasn't like, open and clear. And I did question it a few times. But I was told that as long as we're faithfully giving, then it's gonna be in their hands, and they're the ones running the church. 'God's gonna judge them one day, so it's on them. It's not our concern. We don't question these things'."

She said: "If you questioned anything, it was called offence. And they would say, like, 'if you're offended, you've got a hard heart'."

The woman said she felt "pressured" to volunteer for more than 20 hours per month in the preschool, and ushering, and driving people from all over the city to church - on top of the hours she was already spending in services and prayer groups.

Outside of Celebration commitments, she worked a part-time job, but said 40 per cent of her income went to paying tithes to the church, covering the costs of food and toys for the children at the preschool, and using her own petrol and car for pick-ups.

She said the church expected this level of commitment from all members, regardless of their financial circumstances.

"I was just a high school student or university student so not earning a lot of money."

She said she "definitely" felt exploited, and when she left Celebration, she briefly joined Arise, which she says was an improvement.

"I remember going to some Arise services and being like, whoa, this is so great. There's not as much pressure to do things here. It's not as intense."

The Celebration Centre Group had $10.8m in equity in 2020, according to its latest financial report filed with Charities Services.

It has seven subsidiaries and pastor Murray Watkinson is a listed trustee for all of them.

One woman said she gave thousands of dollars to the church and spent dozens of hours a month volunteering for its business ventures, including an onsite cafe.

"I gave a lot of money, I gave a lot of time, a lot of energy, but it was my responsibility. And now that I know that, I think, dammit. I wouldn't have done that if I had have known myself better, I wouldn't have got wrapped up in the whole thing."

She was a Celebration member for four years.

"When I look back now I call it 'the disease to please'. I was always trying to please them."

Another ex-member told RNZ they gave tens of thousands of dollars in tithes to the church over a decade, and they said they were never told where the money went.

"I'm never going to get that back. I don't have anything to show for those 10 years, we're financially worse off because of them."

They now cannot afford to buy a house.

"When I talk to my husband now, I realise our house deposit is in Celebration."

She says she spent long hours each month volunteering in the church's business Cafe Jireh, unpaid.

It sells food to members, and customers who come in from outside of the church.

"You had to find a service [volunteering] area, and you were constantly pressured to be in a service area. And if you weren't in a service area, you weren't really part of the church. You just kind of attended."

Celebration Centre Church. Photo / Belinda McCammon

She described Celebration as "quite a toxic environment".

"They have a really big thing about submitting to leadership and making sure that you are submitted."

She told RNZ: "They just take whatever they want, like your desires or your vulnerabilities, and they just manipulate it to work to achieve their agenda."

She said when she told the church she was leaving, it responded: 'Well, you can't leave.'

"I left without a single acknowledgement."

And in a written statement, another former member told RNZ they spent an average of 50 hours a month volunteering for the church, for eight years.

"And that was the norm - the basic expectation of all members. Celebration is a 'total institution' in that regard," they said.

"It wasn't until I went to another church that I realised it isn't normal for a church to demand that much of your time every week, if you're not employed part-time with them."

They were based in the cafe.

"Volunteers run the cafe for free - manning tills, making food ... But apart from the fact that no one is getting paid, it runs like a normal hospitality business."

They said Celebration was "built around a few personalities, surrounded by a lot of flashing lights and money".

But they felt "ashamed" to question this.

Celebration's website shows the church has set up a phone app for people to donate and pay tithes, and it says: "We advance the Kingdom with our giving."

The website's slogan is "One church, many locations" and it says the church has branches in Christchurch, Nelson, Warkworth, Kaikohe and overseas in Rarotonga, California, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Kenya and Uganda.

It says the "Apostolic leader" Murray Watkinson founded the church in 1990.

His sermons drew widespread criticism in 2020, when videos on social media appeared to show him mocking mixed-race, bisexual and transgender people.

In a statement, the office of the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Michael Wood, said there were "concerning" reports coming from a variety of faith-based organisations in Aotearoa.

It said all people should be treated "respectfully and lawfully" in churches.

Watkinson and the Celebration Centre Group did not respond to RNZ's requests for an interview or comment, about the church's finances, volunteering, and the content of sermons.

- RNZ