Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony. A cult from Korea, present in Auckland. In April 2017 the NZ Herald reported The New Zealand Korean Churches Association has been warning New Zealand Korean congregations about the cult because of their concerns that the cult deceptively recruits new members before separating them from their families, and tries to take over churches. They plan to warn other denominations as well, since the cult also targets non-Koreans. In November 2017 Mt Albert Baptist Church had trouble with the cult, as reported by the NZ Herald: "It is the tearing apart of family relationships that is the hardest to watch, but also the destroying of an individual's future," [lead pastor Steve] Worsley said. "The process of thought reform is astonishing. People of good character end up deceiving people. Shincheonji teaches a theology of deception." In November 2016 the Church of England formally warned 500 parishes in London.

The group is reported to still be actively attempting to recruit from New Zealand evangelical churches in May 2019. Mind control techniques used by the group include deception and relationship control (to the extent of taking new members back to Korea to live with group members in order to keep the new members away from family and friends, as mentioned in this NZ Herald article). Also known as New Heaven and New Earth church, Zion Christian Centre, with a front group Mannam Volunteer Association, Shincheonji (also sometimes spelled "Shinchonji") was founded in the 1980s by Lee Man-hee who is believed by followers to be the second coming of Christ. The cult teaches that only they have truth, and only Lee Man-hee can help people to understand the Bible – both cultic claims.

	Danger: The group/person or belief/practice is considered dangerous due to mind control or particularly bad doctrine. These groups (or people) have a strong tendency to damage their members/followers.
	Hot Topic: The group/person or belief/practice has recently featured in the secular news media, has generated notable correspondence, is a popular conversation topic, etc. Note that this rating has nothing to do with the "cultishness" of a group.

Printed on 20 January 2021 at www.cults.co.nz.
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