According to Paul Morris, Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University, ARISE is part of a "religious revival" in New Zealand's youth culture. Radio New Zealand's youth channel, "The Wireless," compared ARISE to Australia's Hillsong Church, and other papers have described ARISE as having, "a big youth following" The Church responded to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake with immediate shipments of shelf-stable food to the devastated city.