Review: Under His Command

Mark Honeychurch - 26 May 2025

John Campbell recently released a new TV show on TVNZ where he investigates the controversial Destiny Church and its leader, “apostle” Brian Tamaki. The show is called Under His Command, and it’s quite short - running to five episodes, each only around 15 minutes long.

The show looks at the church from a few angles, starting with episode one which opens with the story of ex church member “Te Ahi”, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to her fears that church members, especially those connected to the church’s Man Up program, may find her and punish her. The episode also includes several clips from Tamaki’s sermons online, where he rants and raves about how gay people are paedophiles, māori are dole bludgers, and everyone’s a terrorist - the Māori Party, TVNZ, 98% of immigrants… the list goes on. Tamaki talks about his followers being an army, with generals, battalions and platoons, and military strategy. The episode ends with Tamaki saying he “might have to burn down parliament”.

Episode two focuses on Destiny church’s charity status, questioning why the church has had so many regional charity organisations registered with Charities Services, only for them to later on be deregistered due to a lack of activity (not submitting annual returns, etc), and also questioning whether Destiny church actually deserves charity status, given that the church doesn’t actually do much in the way of social good, and is often involved in what most New Zealanders would consider antisocial activities (protesting at LGBT events, painting over rainbow crossings, etc). The piece about Destiny’s registered charities felt a bit hollow to me - it felt like it was being suggested that there was a nefarious reason behind all of these charities being registered and then lapsing, but it seems far more likely that these churches were simply bad at filling in and submitting paperwork - I think Hanlon’s Razor is probably relevant here. I would imagine that many of these regional churches either folded, or figured out that they could still operate as a non-profit without needing the extra paperwork involved with being registered as a charity. The episode then has some quotes from Tamaki talking about how he’s planning for his followers to increase the size of the church by having children who are born into the church and are brought up in their ways, saying “the breeding program in this movement is all about firstborns”. This sounds a lot like how Gloriavale have swelled their numbers, and is a bit worrying to say the least. It ends with a weird quote about how these firstborns are going to be “a new species of humans” - this seems to be a heady mix of biblical nonsense and a total lack of understanding of genetics and speciation.

Episode three looks at tithing in the church - an area that’s been focused on by the media in the past, given Tamaki’s love of a good show, having people throw money on stage like they’re at a strip show. Although it’s pretty galling to see Destiny church so brazenly asking for money, to me this doesn’t seem too different to many, many other evangelical churches around New Zealand who have EFTPOS machines, forms to fill out to enable regular bank transfers, large buckets for cash donations, etc. John then talks about how Tamaki made big promises about building a new, modern church facility when fundraising over a decade ago, and how the big promise turned into a much less impressive arrangement where an old pillow factory was rented out by the church for their current headquarters - a rental agreement that is due to expire soon, with the church having to move to a new location. I’m sure this upheaval will be accompanied by another attempt by Tamaki to take as much money as he is able to wring from his loyal followers. The episode ends with John Campbell details how scared the 20 or so members and ex-members of the church he spoke to for the series are - with a real risk of negative repercussions if the church leadership finds out.

Phil Twyford

Episode four, the last full 15 minute episode, starts with some great archival footage of the early days of Brian Tamaki’s church career, with some shocking crimes against fashion. Through this footage, the episode chronicles how the church, under Tamaki’s leadership, has moved towards being more conservative and more confrontational, and John suggests that this is a business decision - a deliberate tactic, using controversy to increase visibility in the media and gain new followers. It’s also pointed out that Tamaki considers the church to be a “gang” - albeit one that’s backed by God. Worryingly, MP Phil Twyford reveals that NZ Police have recently accredited both Man Up and another of Destiny church’s programs, Legacy, as “wellness providers”, able to offer rehabilitation services to convicted offenders - although when asked for comment, NZ Police stated that they had removed this accreditation (possibly as a result of the questioning). In this episode the word “cult” is finally used in relation to the church, a comparison that definitely needs to be laid out in more detail.

John Campbell

The last episode, only 10 minutes long, is a nice change of pace, with John Campbell jumping into a car and driving to Destiny church’s headquarters in Auckland and back in the hunt for answers. This episode is obviously more for show than anything else, as the church had previously told the creators of the TV show that they had no comment to make, and that they wouldn’t grant an interview with Brian Tamaki. Despite this rejection, John uses his impromptu visit to the site as a way to bring together the first four episodes in a way that makes for enjoyable viewing; using roving cameras and handheld microphones inside Destiny church reception to give a sheen of investigative journalism, while John looks at the camera and reads out all of the tough questions he wanted to ask Brian Tamaki directly.

Overall this is a well-produced show, although I would love to see something made that’s lighter on the speculation and contained more deep-digging into the finances of the church, showing just how rich Brian Tamaki and his family are, and how little of what the church promises its followers that it ends up delivering. If you would like to watch it, you’ll need a TVNZ account to do so on TVNZ+: