As Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was putting Auckland into a snap lockdown on Saturday night, Destiny Church leaders Brian and Hannah Tamaki were packing their bags.
The couple left the city for Rotorua, arriving around midnight, where they told a crowd gathered for the Sunday morning service that they had escaped Auckland to avoid the Alert Level 3 restrictions.
It comes as concern mounts over some churches defying lockdown rules and spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic.
As First Up's Matthew Theunissen reports, Sunday's service wasn't just about avoiding lockdown.
