Wilfred Allen Subritzky (20 November 1925 – 23 December 2015) was a New Zealand lawyer and property developer, active from the mid-1950s until the mid-1980s. His company, Universal Homes, mass-produced houses in standard designs, and sold 14,000 houses over the 30-year period of Subritzky's involvement.

Biography

Subritzky was born in 1925, and lived in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. In 1971 he became involved in the charismatic movement, and became an independent evangelist and healer. Subritzky's

faith healing Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healin ...

ministry, Dove Ministries, distributes pamphlets, books and videos of his teaching and his evangelistic healing meetings. He was a charismatic

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

but the style of his ministry was more similar to

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

s such as the late Derek Prince. Subritzky was a proponent of the Toronto Blessing and its introduction into New Zealand. He frequently attributed problems, whether physical, spiritual, emotional or psychological, to the influence of

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s, which he claimed to "cast out". He also claimed to have insight through the " word of knowledge" into people's sins, which have made them vulnerable to demonic influence. Skeptics questioned his claim that he had ability to cure ailments such as asthma, arthritis and cancer, stating that he used

psychological manipulation In psychology, manipulation is defined as an action designed to influence or control another person, usually in an underhanded or subtle manner which facilitates one's personal aims. Methods someone may use to manipulate another person may includ ...

to make people feel as though they were healed. Subritzky was a friend to the controversial Nigerian "prophet" T.B. Joshua and publicly supported him amidst criticism that Joshua's "miracles" were not of God. In 1986, Subritzky and other conservative Christians helped establish the Coalition of Concerned Citizens, a right-wing Christian pressure group formed to oppose the socially-liberal policies of the Fourth Labour Government. He was married to Lucy Patricia (Pat), who died in 2011. Subritzky later married Kaylene. In the 1991 New Year Honours, Subritzky was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for community service. Subritzky published his autobiography ''On the Cutting Edge: The Bill Subritzky Story'' in 1993. In 2014, Subritzky's estate in Lynfield, Mount Roskill was sold to Ryman Healthcare with an estimated market value of $16.2 million. The property was developed by Subritzky and his first wife, Pat, in 1960 and featured several homes, a pool, tennis court, sheds and a separate office wing from where Subritzky ran his businesses. Subritzky died on 23 December 2015.

Honorific eponyms

Subritzky Avenue in Mount Roskill was named after him.

References

External links

Dove Ministries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subritzky, Bill 1925 births 2015 deaths New Zealand exorcists Faith healers New Zealand Charismatics New Zealand evangelical leaders New Zealand anti-abortion activists Religious leaders from Auckland New Zealand people of Ukrainian descent Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal