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Reform MS reveals controversial church prayed for her during candidate selection

17 Aug 2026 5 minute read

Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni MS Catherine Cullen – Image: Senedd Cymru

Emily Price

A Reform MS has revealed that members of a controversial evangelical church prayed for her throughout the process of becoming a candidate for the party.

Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni MS Catherine Cullen discussed her faith in an interview with evangelical YouTuber Faith Jarvis on her podcast, Faith Speaks Louder.

Victory Church Cwmbran has faced controversy in the past, including allegations that vulnerable people were exploited through a rehabilitation programme and claims that people could be miraculously healed of serious illnesses.

The church was founded in 2009 by prominent far-right activist Richard Taylor, a self-confessed teenage criminal, burglar and drug user who said he found Jesus in a jail cell.

In 2010, he took over an industrial warehouse and established it as a branch of Victory Outreach UK, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity where he served as a director.

Whistleblowers later came forward to expose the conditions of the church’s rehabilitation programme, alleging they were forced into hard manual labour, working up to six days a week without pay in order to build a new church premises.

Taylor was also accused of orchestrating a large-scale hoax surrounding claims of miraculous healings at the church.

Rumours of life-changing encounters with God spread across social media in early 2014, drawing believers from around the world to Victory Church in Cwmbran after a local man was said to have walked out of his wheelchair during a sermon by Taylor.

In an interview with Premier Christianity magazine published in March 2014, senior church pastor Clyde Thomas claimed the man had been confined to a wheelchair for 10 years following a car accident, before suddenly getting to his feet, lifting the wheelchair above his head and walking away. Thomas also claimed that the man’s doctor had verified his healing.

The magazine article stated: “More reports of miracles followed as the church held meetings each night.

“A healing from leukaemia; a girl who had been sexually abused as a child was saved; ‘John’ from France, who threw his walking sticks away, and an addict on methadone was instantly delivered with no withdrawal.”

Taylor was removed from office in June 2014 following internal financial disputes and his admission that he had violated his ministerial vows for committing adultery against his wife.

Victory Church Cwmbran was then brought under the control of Elim Church Incorporated, giving the national denomination oversight of its theology, finances and legal affairs.

Pastor Clyde Thomas took over as leader of Victory Church Cwmbran following Taylor’s departure and remains at the helm today.

Healing events still take place at the church, with video footage from this year’s Easter celebrations showing guest preacher Suzette Hattingh speaking in tongues before inviting people with terminal illnesses or conditions which doctors had deemed incurable to line up in front of the stage, where she prayed for their healing.

During the event, members of the congregation were also instructed to perform a series of stretching exercises before further prayers were offered.

They were then invited onto the stage to describe alleged healings they said had occurred during the sermon, including a woman who said a haematoma had been healed, several people who reported improvements to shoulder problems, and another woman who said she had been healed of gallstones.

At the end of the event, Hattingh urged those who believed they had been healed to return to their doctors to be “properly tested” before coming back to church to “give glory to God”.

Hattingh also warned attendees not to stop taking medication prescribed by their healthcare professionals, telling them: “God is much bigger than your tablets.”

Nation.Cymru asked Ms Cullen whether she supports the practice of speaking in tongues by faith healers and whether she believes it can cure terminal illnesses.

We also asked whether she believed it was exploitative to suggest that serious illnesses can be cured through divine intervention or speaking in tongues.

Ms Cullen did not respond to the questions.

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