Stan’s still a man of Destiny
Brian Tamaki strikes out at The Beehive as hundreds gather for church event, writes Craig Hoyle.
KIWI pop star Stan Walker has headlined an event at Destiny Church, performing for the congregation despite public calls for him to withdraw his support.
Walker addressed a crowd of more than 1000 people last night, telling them they were part of a movement that will spread around the world.
He also shared personal stories telling how his father had been saved ‘‘through the grace of god’’.
The pair were speaking together as part of the Man Up conference, which aims to ‘‘strengthen men to become better Fathers, Husbands, and Leaders in their home and community’’.
Walker performed a number of his favourite hits, encouraging the crowd to clap and sing along.
Hundreds of men in matching black T-shirts gathered for a haka earlier yesterday, in scenes reminiscent of Destiny’s march on parliament in 2004 to protest against civil unions.
Walker faced appeals to cancel his appearance after Destiny Church’s Brian Tamaki suggested that ‘‘human sin’’ was to blame for natural disasters such as earthquakes.
Tamaki made the claim in a sermon on November 13, the day before a 7.8 magnitude quake devastated Kaikoura.
He later doubled down in an interview with Willie Jackson, singling out certain ‘‘sexual sins’’ such as homosexuality and sex before marriage.
Tamaki rejected weeks of criticism yesterday, telling his congregation he would fight back against any political attempts to censor Destiny.
‘‘Nobody’s gonna be shutting this church down,’’ he said. ‘‘If God opens it, no man can shut it.
In fact, I’m thinking maybe I should shut some of them down. The Beehive, that’s a good place to start.’’ LAWRENCE SMITH / FAIRFAX NZ
‘ Nobody’s gonna be shutting this church down.’ BRIAN TAMAKI
Massey University’s Professor Peter Lineham, who authored a book on Destiny Church, said it was likely Tamaki never expected his remarks to explode publicly the way they did. ‘‘I think he is feeling a bit wounded. He’s feeling persecuted.’’
Lineham is gay himself, and said Brian Tamaki was pleasant to deal with at a personal level while maintaining a Bible-based judgement of homosexuality.
Hannah Tamaki took to social media yesterday to vigorously deny that she or her husband are homophobic.
‘‘I have never said I hate anyone,’’ she posted on Twitter.
‘‘I have gay family & friends… I tell them I love them.’’
A petition on change.org calling for the government to strip Destiny of its tax-free status has now attracted more than 123,000 signatures, but Lineham doubts it will go very far.
‘‘We certainly cannot strike people from the Charities Register based on what a member of the group says – no matter how inane or stupid the comments might be.’’
Yesterday’s Man Up event wasn’t Walker’s first visit to Destiny. The Take it Easy singer performed at Destiny’s No Limits conference in 2014, and was seen at an open day for the church’s new premises that same year.
He was due to take the stage again today at 10am for a discussion with his father and Hannah Tamaki.