Kia ora decultivists,
Finally: Our speaker line-up for Decult 2026 is live! Have a look. We’re so excited to share it with you.
50 presenters – authors, academics, podcasters, therapists, victim advocates and cult survivors from Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, United States, Canada and Germany – will join us on stage for Decult 2026 at Christchurch Town Hall on 24 – 25 October. A dozen more will join us online for the special Zoom program tailored for American and European time zones, “around the clock & around the world”. We’ll add more of them to the line-up soon.
You might have seen yesterday’s announcement that the first female Māori Anglican bishop of Te Waipounamu (the South Island of New Zealand) will open our conference as a local dignitary. It sends a strong message that we are not fighting religious beliefs but coercive control, which still gets deflated. We welcome people of faith to attend Decult so they can learn and cult proof their communities – while we are aware of the awful history of faith-based abuse in Aotearoa, especially for indigenous people. A fine line to walk.
In an interview with RNZ, Bishop Susan Wallace said: “When people have experienced harm or coercive control it matters that there are spaces where they can be heard without being dismissed and where healing can begin.” Race Relations Commissioner Dr Melissa Derby from the NZ Human Rights Commission is opening day two.
SNEAK PEEK OF PANELS & PRESENTATIONS
Along with live streamed keynotes from Rachel Bernstein and Dr Christine Marie, Decult 2026 will have 30+ panels and solo presentations, all recorded to watch later too. Some topics that our speakers will address:
- Healing families (and how to help someone out of a cult)
- Māori in cults (and what colonisation has to do with it)
- Legal initiatives (and what to learn from the Victorian Parliament Inquiry)
- Sexuality, purity culture, queerness and gender expression
- Christian nationalism and tradwives
- Children’s rights and safeguarding them
- Spiritual, meditation and wellness cults
- Religious trauma, grief, suicide and complex PTSD
- Cult recovery therapy and peer support groups
Let us also introduce the three wise men who will help facilitate our conference: Julian Noel (Ngāpuhi) is a writer, actor, entrepreneur and storyteller who won awards with his one-man-play BONES at the 2026 Nelson and Dunedin Fringe Festivals. He will be our main MC in the Limes Room at Town Hall, from where all sessions are live streamed, and take us through the weekend together.
Mark Darbyshire is a data analyst, actor, Justice of the Peace and Decult trustee who organised the first Doomsday Comedy tour in New Zealand earlier this year. Ten years ago, he left the high-control Revival Church he was born into. Mark will be the MC for the second stream in the Victoria Room. You can catch his latest short film, “Elijah’s Ladder”, in the 48Hours film competition regional finals next week.
Last but not least, former Mormon bishop Ganesh Cherian from Wellington, who also joined the Doomsday Comedy tour, will host the popular Survivor Story Jam. The performers and presenters in this Saturday session will stay a surprise until they come on stage. Like last time, this is going to be the guaranteed highlight of our weekend. Watch the 2024 Story Jam and you’ll know why we’re so passionate about creative voices of courage.
Early-bird general tickets and concession tickets for students, Community Services Card and Gold Card holders are selling fast, so book now:
