Destiny Church says it has no plans to build an exclusive housing area for members in South Auckland. But investigations by 3 News have uncovered a piece of land that the church has put a conditional offer on.
The property in Wiri, Auckland, is on the market and 3 News contacted the owners today. They refused to confirm if they were in negotiations to sell it to Destiny Church.
No one from the church headquarters in Mt Wellington would appear on camera today to discuss Bishop Brian Tamaki's plans to create a Destiny city for his parishioners.
Tamaki outlined his vision in conference last weekend.
"From zero right till when you are a hero in heaven, we'll track your education, we'll track you right through".
Tamaki then asked the thousands who had gathered to consider selling their homes and moving to Auckland to fulfil the great purpose of god.
"All I need is every single person in this room in their heart to say yes, I would strongly urge you to go home and think about it and talk about it with your spouse," says Tamaki.
While the church still refused to answer questions it did release a statement saying, "The church has given the opportunity to its members who currently reside out of Auckland, who have the skills with taking the Auckland operation forward to relocate to Auckland to help."
"There is absolutely no obligation on the part of any member or their family to shift to Auckland or financially contribute," says the Church.
The land in Wiri is a ten acre block with one big building and a large open space behind.
Three News believes this is the land Bishop Tamaki was referring to, when he spoke in his address about having signed up a conditional agreement with real estate agents.
Several tenants we spoke to today have been told by the owners that the Destiny Church had put a conditional offer on the site.
The tenants say Brian Tamaki has been there a number of times, and a large group from the church were wandering through yesterday.
3 News