Hopeful Christian, the founder of fundamentalist Christian community Gloriavale, has passed away after a cancer battle.

The 92-year-old's death was confirmed to Newshub by his grandson.

The grandson, who did not want to be named and lives outside the community, said he "had a lot of good memories and a lot of bad memories" of his grandfather.

"I won't go to the funeral, and neither will a lot of his other grandchildren."

Christian, who changed his name from Neville Cooper decades ago, was a convicted sex offender.