Destiny Church Auckland was officially launched July 4, 1998 and was originally known as City Church Auckland. However, the Tamaki’s love for the church began long before then.

 

Apostle Bishop Brian and Pastor Hannah committed their lives to Jesus the Easter of 1979 at an Apostolic Church gathering in Ngaruawahia at Turangawaewae Marae. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and were water baptised soon after. As Bishop explains it, “I had a completely different awareness and outlook on life. My hunger for the Bible was insatiable. The other driving passion that God put into my spirit was for his church – you couldn’t keep me away.”

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Apostle Bishop Brian attended Te Nikau Bible College before being commissioned by the Apostolic Church to establish a new church in Te Awamutu. This church quickly grew to become a prominent landmark of the local community.

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​Following Te Awamutu, they were called to the city of Rotorua where they again brought their trademark passion and love for people  -transforming a small and divided fellowship into one of the largest churches in the Bay of Plenty. 

 

God’s call to move to Auckland came in 1997. With relentless faith and only a handful of leaders, the Tamaki family relocated to Auckland and established a church in Pakuranga. A small commercial warehouse in Pakuranga was chosen as a suitable site and the building was converted into a church premises. City Church Auckland began with 20 members, mostly people from Lake City Church, Rotorua.

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By 1998 the church had grown to 300 attendees and in 2001 the church was renamed Destiny Church. Destiny Television was also launched to allow Apostle Bishop Brian to reach a wider audience throughout New Zealand. This was the first Christian programme of its kind in New Zealand and was completely funded and produced by the people of Destiny Church.

 

Apostle Bishop Brian quickly became a well-known preacher in New Zealand. His radical apostolic preaching style captured people’s attention in lounges across the country. His message of the transforming power of God touched many lives, and the church quickly out grew its first premises.

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In 2001, a larger corporate office and warehouse was found in the neighbouring suburb of Mt Wellington and work commenced to convert this new building into a church and administration offices. It was at this site that the manifestation of the churches vision to impact the local community was realised, and the site also grew to include an early childhood centre, a primary school, a recording studio, television editing suite, fitness centre and children’s church auditorium.

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The membership of Destiny Church Auckland once again increased, and so in November 2012, began another warehouse transformation, this time in the heart of Manukau City. The official opening was in 2014 by Dr Pita Sharples and was completely funded by the people of Destiny Church.

 

The Manukau City facility has an auditorium to seat 1400 with the largest, permanent LED screen in the southern Hemisphere, a large multipurpose room and cafe. The early childhood centre and school (now a full primary school and high-school) also moved to join the campus. The site also contains community Fitness and Medical centres and administration offices for the church leadership and ManUp International.

 

The power and authority of Destiny Church is in its unity – One church in many locations. Our churches and ‘Iwi Tapu’ tribes are in every main town and city across New Zealand, there are also Iwi Tapu tribes in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney as well as a growing international community via the live stream broadcasts of every Sunday service and Tu Tangata event.

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The leaders and people in Destiny Church have been involved in numerous history making moments and events locally, nationally and internationally over its 20 plus years, such as:

• In August 2004 Destiny Church lead the "Enough is Enough" march to parliament protesting the Labour government’s policy to lower the drinking age, legalise prostitution and introduce the Civil Union bill. The march drew thousands of supporters from Destiny and many other churches from all over the country.

• The Defend the Legacy march to defend NZ’s Christian heritage in Auckland in 2005

• An invitation for Bishop Tamaki to address the Maori Queen at her 40th coronation anniversary in 2007

• A mass gathering and delivery of a Statement of N.Z’s Religious Identity in Waitangi, 2008

• Destiny Church becoming an Urban Maori Authority in 2008,

• A personal invitation in August 2013 from Bernice King to perform a Haka as part of the 50 yr commemorations of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. on the steps of Lincoln memorial in Washington D.C

• The first of many of our community Big Feed events in 2013, feeding up to 1700 local people from South Auckland for free

• The launch of the #proud2Bdestiny campaign in 2014 to flood social media with the positive message of Destiny Church,

• The launch of ManUp and Legacy in 2015,

• The We Stand Because We Care march on Queen Street, Auckland in support of the White Ribbon Foundation, 2018

• The Tour of Duty’s to promote ManUp and Legacy in every major town centre in New Zealand throughout 2018 and 2019.

• An invitation for Apostle Bishop Tamaki to address the people at Te Tii marae during the Waitangi celebrations of 2019.

 

Destiny Church has firmly established itself into the psyche and landscape of New Zealand and is now the largest Maori and Polynesian church in the world. The combined membership in Destiny Church 2019, has grown to over 2000. It is a church that is creative and redemptive in all its expressions, impacting cities, countries and the world for Jesus Christ.