In April 1972, I quit high school and left home at the age of 16 to join the local Children of God commune in Port Alberni. A few months earlier, in January, the Vancouver Sun published a four-part series on the Children of God taking over the operations of the Jesus People Army in Vancouver. A month after I joined the Children of God, the local newspaper Alberni Valley Times published an article about me joining their commune. That newspaper no longer exists, so I obtained a copy from Library and Archives Canada. I have reproduced here that article and the Vancouver Sun series because of their historical significance in providing details of this little known aspect of British Columbia history.
These newspaper reports are in chronological order, the same as the excerpts I provide appear in my memoir, starting with the Vancouver Sun articles then the article in my home town newspaper the Alberni Valley Times. This chronology is important to my story because if I had been aware of and read those Vancouver Sun articles there is a strong possibility I may have been convinced not to drop out and join the Children of God. However, as I explain in my memoir, although my parents had the Vancouver Sun delivered daily to our home, it is unlikely they read those articles. When those articles were published, they would not have had any reason to be interested in their subject matter. It was my dad who read the paper daily, but he was mostly interested in sports and politics, and wasn't particularly interested in religion. So, I'm almost certain he didn't read them, or perhaps only skimmed them. If either he or my mum had read them, certainly they would've at least mentioned to me all the allegations against the Children of God in those articles. But they seemed not to know anything about the group, and neither did the Catholic priest they took me to for counselling. When I spoke to Father Mark Lemay he asked me to tell him about the group I was involved in. He did not express any concern about them, and certainly didn't refer to the Vancouver Sun articles and the criticisms of the cult they contained. That strongly suggests he wasn't aware of those articles. The AV Times article came out after I joined the Children of God, yet even then Father Mark still had positive things to say about them:
Father Mark Lemay and Rev. Len Jenner agree that most of the bad things circulating about the Children of God have been based on rumour and the Sun series.
“I haven't had much contact with them,” says Father Mark, “but from what I've seen and heard, they seem like a sincere bunch of young people trying to get a message across. I can't see anything wrong with that.”
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I have provided transcripts of the following Vancouver Sun articles. I have transcribed them verbatim, including the many grammatical mistakes, odd punctuation, and inconsistent spelling and capitalization. Also note that throughout these articles the reporter refers to the Jesus People's Army, however it's actual name did not include that apostrophe, so Jesus People Army.
Lisa Hobbs, “Teen Menace Feared: amid religious sect rivalry”, The Sun, January 7, 1972
Lisa Hobbs, “B.C. Pays Jesus Army Grant: courses never got started”, The Sun, January 8, 1972
Lisa
Hobbs, “Radical U.S. Children of God sect think it's just great: B.C.
gov't fund for Jesus People's Army”, The Sun, January 10, 1972
Lisa
Hobbs, “Scripture Cards Back Breaking With Family: Children of God
provided with instant answers”, The Sun, January 11, 1972. On the same page 11 as that article, there was a brief article titled “Jesus Freaks Authentic” that quotes the moderator of the United Church of Canada who advised against criticizing “Jesus freaks.”
Then on January 14, 1972, the Sun published a brief article without a byline titled, “Sect Denies Forcible Detention: Children of God members speak”, which quotes three Vancouver leaders who rejected criticisms and allegations.
Lisa Hobbs, “Teen Menace Feared: amid religious sect rivalry”, The Vancouver Sun, January 7, 1972. Page two subtitle: “Girl tells of long ordeal during stay with city sect”
[This front page article included a photo of the woman whose story is featured, holding her baby. The caption states: "Refugee from radical religious sect, Beverley Block, 19, holds 11-month-old son Christian in doorway of Vancouver home. She says she was held incommunicado at premises run by the Children of God."]
A radical religious act which claims to convert young people from drugs to Christianity is fast establishing itself in Vancouver.
Anxious parents claim that the sect “brainwashes” the young, who disappear and are held incommunicado for weeks, even months.
The sect is the Children of God, whose activities and financing are being investigated by police and legal authorities in the United States. In Vancouver, however, it is being assisted by a provincial grant.
The grant known among followers as “the Gaglardi Grant” comes from the B.C. government and totals as much as $2000 monthly. It is paid on the advice of a special advisory committee which consists of an official from the Children's Aid Society, Catholic Family and Children's Services and the special placement division of the mental health department.
Attempts to contact Phil Gaglardi, Minister of Rehabilitation and Social Welfare, concerning the grant have been fruitless. Messages left at his office by The Sun have not been answered.
The officials have approved payment as they sincerely believe the money is going to the Jesus People's Army and that it is being used in a well organized educational and retraining program that brings former drug-users back into school and society.
In reality, the Jesus People's Army was absorbed late last August by the children of God; furthermore, no educational program exists.
Within the last two weeks there has been talk of a break between the two groups, yet both still seem to be somehow related, an impression that has been conveyed by words and actions by the local head of the Jesus Army, Russell Griggs.
At the core of the currently confused relationship between the two evangelical groups is a struggle for leadership over a vast, profitable army of young people seeking hope and salvation.
Grigg's opponent in the struggle is an American, David Berg, known to his followers as “Moses”. There is more at stake than leadership of the 100 strong Jesus Army. As well as the monthly provincial grant of $1200 - $2000 and the community pot of about 25 welfare cheques at $80 each, there is a is a thriving bakery, use -- if not ownership -- of a Chilliwack ranch and a lodge near Hope, and substantial regular donations from religious people who admire evangelical style work.
For local parents of teenagers who have “turned on” to evangelical Christianity, first through the Jesus Army and now through the Children of God, the stakes are too high to be measured in such terms. They involve their children's future, education, job training, physical health and psychological well being.
Beverly Block is 19 years old. Small and thin, with waist length brown hair, she could pass for 16. Beverly is one “refugee” from the Children of God. She freely admits that her background is not the most stable yet her experiences, which social agencies have verified, focus on what is fast becoming a groundswell of complaint against the children of God.
Beverly was admitted to Vancouver General Hospital's psychiatric ward in late June. She was an unmarried mother and her child was taken into temporary custody by the Children's Aid Society.
Beverly remained at VGH until the end of August. Then she disappeared. While the Children's Aid Society searched for her, as the temporary guardianship of her child was lapsing, Beverly was taking Bible classes and living with the Children of God.
She cannot remember the details of her first meeting with the sect, but she clearly remembers the days and nights that followed that meeting.
“I was living in one of their houses for women. Maybe on 5th Avenue West, maybe on Seventh. I'm not sure. It had a biblical name. Like everyone is given a biblical name I was called Pika.”
“All day long I attended Bible classes at Shepherd's Call, the coffee house and office at 1655 West Broadway. It's the headquarters of the Children of God.
“When I went there, I wasn't so bad: ll I did was read the Bible everyday and prayed. I hadn't eaten in a week or so. They kept me in this room, plugged into earphones with tapes from the Bible. I wanted to go outside just for some fresh air, but nobody would let me. Once a guy physically blocked my way.
“I think if I had been left alone, I might have been okay, but even when I had a bath, a woman came with me. One thing I did not like, I had $70 in my purse from my welfare cheque and some girl came and took it. Then she went off to Texas. I tried to keep it but she insisted I'd given it to her. I think -- I remember vaguely -- signing a paper. Everyone turns everything over to them and maybe this was the paper that I signed.
“I've got two sisters, 17 and 24, and they told me they came to Shepherd's Call many times trying to see me. But they were never allowed to. I wasn't even allowed to receive letters from them or from my father. They even took away my baby pictures.
“When I first went to the Children of God and found out what it was like, that's when I should have got myself together and gone. But I was used to people telling me what to do. I still wanted to leave, but by now I was crying all the time and couldn't do a thing by myself.”
Beverly's next memories are of a long and confused drive. She did not know where she was or where she was going.
In reality, the Children of God, apparently frightened by her deteriorating condition, drove her to her father at Slocan, who immediately took her to the hospital at Trail.
On her release in mid November, Beverly returned to Vancouver and contacted Children's Aid to get her baby back.
Said Eleanor Mclaughlin, social worker at Children's Aid Society: “We had attempted to locate Beverly on 46 occasions, phoning the Jesus People, including the Shepherd's Call coffee house. They say they had advertised for such a person on their bulletin board, but there was nobody there answering to our description.”
Beverly also tried to reclaim her possessions – money, clothes, personal effects, including her identification, even her baby's bassinet.
“When I was taken to Slocan, I had nothing, nothing, not any ID or even my glasses. Later on, I got my glasses back, that was all. They take everything. You turn it over to them. It's supposed to go into a community “pot”. In return they give you somebody else's clothes and third hand furniture.”
Another mother told her story, but this time it was about her 17 year old son. She asked for anonymity as her boy is still with the Children of God “and frankly, they scare me”.
Her son was a scholarship student at an independent school on Vancouver Island.
During the Christmas holidays a year ago he made his first contact with the Jesus People when he was picked up hitchhiking in the city.
“He returned to school and went through to the summer term doing excellent academically,” his mother said. “I was away briefly during the summer and when I returned all that he could talk about was hell fire and damnation. Until then, he had every intention of finishing his twelfth grade and I had taken it almost for granted he would go on to university. But now he told me he would not go back to school, that education was a waste, and he moved into a Jesus house at 1776 West Twelfth Avenue.”
“I called Russell Griggs and argued with him. I never let up on it. He told me not to worry about a thing. He told me my son would be going into school. “We are going to get them enrolled in the nearest public school, he said. “That was all right with me.
“But he did not get them enrolled in any school. So I fought over this. Then he told me they would all be enrolled in correspondence courses. I said that was OK if it meant my son would finish Grade 12. And he assured me that he would. “Everything will be taken care of,” he said.
“I started telephoning Shepherds Call, but I was never put through to my son. So I rang Herb Capozzi, and he told me to get cracking and get in touch with Mr, Brothers (minister of education) in Victoria. I did and he said he had never heard of any such program. They were lying, Russell Griggs was lying. The department of education had never heard of them as far as I could find out.
“I guess I put too much pressure on the Jesus People. One morning at 2 a.m. I had a telephone call from an unknown, unidentified person saying my son had left a message. He was leaving Vancouver. I was not to try and contact him, and I had put too much pressure on him.”
The mother said she phoned the North Vancouver police, who advised her to call Vancouver.
“My boy was missing for 11 days and I nearly went out of my mind. By the end of that time, whenever the phone rang, I nearly fainted with fright. Every night I phoned Shepherd's Call only to get a runaround.
“Then one night, he phoned to say he was in Burlington, Wash.” Burlington and Seattle are the Children of God's two main Northwest American “colonies”.
“So I phoned my lawyer and he phoned the sheriff down there. The sheriff said he could take no action as the sect appeared to be doing no harm. But soon after that, Griggs phoned me and said he would like to see me.
“I took my adult nephew with me. He is a strict Baptist and I felt he could handle the situation. I told Griggs I did not want to upset everyone, but I did not like the cloak-and-dagger atmosphere of the whole business. Griggs then said: “Just a moment. Your son is here. He is going home with you.
“So finally, he came home. I guess I had put on too much pressure. Or maybe it was just that the law authorities in Seattle were beginning to look a little more closely. A lot of parents, an awful lot of parents right across the United States are beginning to raise one heck of a storm about the forced separation from their own children.”
And where is the boy now?
“He went back. He is living at their home at 745 West Seventh Avenue. He's with the Children of God. They seem to control Griggs' outfit now. You know, they teach that the established churches are an abomination. They have very queer ideas. I'm afraid they will end by blowing something up.”
********
Lisa Hobbs, “B.C. Pays Jesus Army Grant: courses never got started”, The Vancouver Sun, January 8, 1972
Russell Griggs of the Jesus People's Army sat in the basement of his bakery at 2977 Granville and described how he met the Children of God sect.
“Back in August, my wife and I went down to Los Angeles because we were concerned with the quality of our work The kids were leaving us and going back to the drug scene, and we wanted better results.
“We were impressed with the organizational ability of the Children of God. We were autonomous here and we thought we would remain autonomous even if we linked with the Children of God. The print shop, the bakery, the coffee shop It's ours. We were responsible to nobody.”
How was the property amassed?
Barry's Bakery, for instance, not only carries bakery goods, but a delicatessen and gourmet products.
“My wife and I, we were left and inheritance,” said Griggs. Actually, we got the business for $1000. As for the printing equipment that we use, it's still owned by Steve Bushel. We have a foundation going now called you called Youth in Action Foundation.
A foundation?
“Well, actually, our primary concern has always been a spiritual one. Ninety percent of the kids have been involved in drugs. Our biggest problem was housing, keeping the rules and regulations of the city. So I learned there were certain programs such as the job opportunities program -- the whole summer thing that Mr. Trudeau was sponsoring.
“So we put in an application for assistance from the federal government training young people, you know, in the bakery, the print shop on the farm (the farm is outside Chilliwack) as well as that, we started a correspondence course, worked out through the department of education grades 9-12.”
Asked where this correspondent school was, Griggs turned to the four others present, including his wife, then said: “I think Twelfth and Burrard, somewhere there.”
Who in the department of education in Victoria made arrangements with the Jesus People for the courses?
“Mr Sadler. Mr Robb, they fixed it,” said, Mrs Rosemary Griggs.
“Well, actually,” said Griggs, “the correspondence courses never got started. In a lengthy explanation, he then discussed his “arrangement” with the provincial government.
“Because of their youth, a large number of under-18s weren't being helped. We have an open coffee shop and kids come in with their problems. We did not have the facilities to help them. The government gives us $3.50 a day for young people so they have a place to stay, food and lodging. The department of rehabilitation sends us a cheque for $1200 a month. It has really. endeavored to help us.
“For those over 18 we have an arrangement. It's very fully qualified. I've always been against the principle of welfare myself. Twenty-five at the most receive social assistance. Miss Winters handles each situation on its own merits. She had about 100 applications, but only 25 qualified. They get $80 a month.”
Griggs said he had been receiving cheques for five to six months and added, “If we received $3000 a month I'd be surprised.”
The cheques from the grant and welfare go into a pot controlled by Griggs and the Jesus Army elders exclusively, until recently.
Pressed as to where the funds go now, and as to his relationship with the Children of God, Griggs was evasive and contradictory. He said, for instance, that only a week earlier, he had his lawyer, Roger McAfee, write and disassociate the Vancouver Jesus Army from the Children of God.
“We have always encouraged the young people to reestablish ties with their own families,” he said. “And we have always had an open door policy towards the Vancouver church community, although we don't believe and have spoken out against certain church practices.”
What church practices had been spoken out against?
“Well, the formalism of Christianity has taken away and depersonalized Christianity. And there's this whole concept of real estate, the tremendous investment in properties rather than in people.”
Briggs said he attended the now defunct B.C. Bible Institute in North Vancouver in 1963 when he was eighteen, then later received a Bachelor of Arts degree in comprehensive religions from the University of B.C. Shortly after, he was ordained a minister with the Independent Assemblies of God International in San Diego, California.
Asked about his rumored pending bid on an old wireless station at Ladner, a property valued in six figures, Grigg said he always liked the idea of a centre, a physical form of rehabilitation, as well as a spiritual form.
Has the break with the children of God being total.
“No, we are still in touch with them,” said Griggs. “As far as I am concerned, I differ very strongly with certain of their practices.”
At this point one of three men interrupted. It was Dennis (Tiny) Carper, a red bearded giant of a man from Bellingham.
“Ten per cent of the kids in there are scared, it took them two weeks to find out what they were into. The Children of God movement is anti-Christian.”
Briggs remained silent. And as his wife, Rosemary, led me to the door upstairs, she said, “I hope you don't use any of those remarks, we like to keep the peace. We think the Children of God are doing many wonderful things. We don't want trouble.
The concrete fact that had emerged from the interview was that Russell Griggs was receiving a substantial monthly check from the B.C. Department of rehabilitation on the basis of teenagers receiving an education through correspondence courses. When Griggs was asked who approved this grant, he replied: “I'm not too sure.”
In fact, the program is reviewed monthly by a special committee headed by Joanne Brown, consultant to the special placement division of Mental Health, and by James Sadler, assistant deputy minister, department of rehabilitation, and social improvement; Frank McDaniel, Catholic Family Children's Services; and Bill McFarland of Children's Aid Society.
Said Miss Brown: “There is a payment of $3.50 a day for each young person involved in their education and rehabilitation program. Fifty percent of the money is federal and 50 percent provincial funds.”
Asked if the payment depended on the existence of a training program Miss Brown said: “This is the whole basis on which we fund them. It assumes there is a training program. Actually, we review each case once a month and are free to make decisions at any time.”
Then there is an actual inspection of the Jesus houses and the correspondence courses?
Miss Brown said no, but added anyone on the committee was free to visit any of the houses and see the correspondents work at any time.
“But Russell Griggs keeps us in touch. He. meets with us monthly and discusses the progress of each case. We. are just an advisory committee rather than working directly with the children.”
Said Bill McFarland, assistant director of Children's Aid: “The under 18s are all doing correspondence courses in French, motor mechanics and so on. They are school dropouts. There is an adviser from the education department who will oversee their tests. There is certainly no question about Mr Griggs sincerity. Apparently, some sort of special arrangement has been made.”
Said assistant deputy minister Sadler: “Well, I did not know they were taking correspondence courses, but I am the person who assisted in the financing of their hostel. This has been going on for some time and has been very profitable
“The subsidy is being paid for a foundation called Youth For Action. And it is not very much, depending on the number of young people.”
“Certainly it's not more than $2000 a month. But I have heard about their correspondence courses. The person who knows all about it is Betty McLeod of the Provincial Alliance of Businessmen.”
Miss McLeod is secretary to minister of rehabilitation Phil Gaglardi in his capacity as head of the alliance. She said she would have to confer with the minister before making any statements.”
Others, however, were willing to speak about Griggs' correspondence program.
One such person is the Mr. Robb mentioned by Mrs Griggs as having helped set it up.
D.W. Robb is the supervisor of instruction of the correspondent school at the department of education in Victoria.
“Russell Griggs came to see us once some months ago. We discussed the possibility of a program for those who might have fallen by the academic wayside. That was some months ago. Nothing concrete has happened about it since then. There certainly are no correspondence courses: I'd be the one to know about it.'
********
Lisa Hobbs, “Radical U.S. Children of God sect think it's just great: B.C. gov't fund for Jesus People's Army”, The Vancouver Sun, January 10, 1972
The precise relationship between the radical American sect, the Children of God and the local Jesus People's Army is impossible to determine.
What is known is that the local Jesus People's Army is being funded by the provincial government and the Children of God think that is just great.
Members of the Children of God sect say they are guided solely by the Bible. But there is another written word that almost commands the same attention and respect. That word comes in the form of “Moses Letters.”
Moses is the name for David Berg, a veteran American evangelist. His mother, the late Virginia Brandt Berg, wrote a book entitled The Hem Of His Garment. Berg is the acknowledged leader of the Children of God.
For some years the sect has been established in Texas and Southern California. About a year ago it moved to the U.S. Northwest and last summer came to Vancouver, making a working alliance with Russell Griggs, the leader of the local Jesus People's Army.
The “Moses Letters” to his “sheep” come in different styles depending on whom they are meant for. Here is an excerpt from one printed at the sect's headquarters in Seattle at Fourteenth and East Fir.
This letter referred to problems that the sect had experienced by moving in and taking over new territory, specifically Seattle and Vancouver.
“It looks like you've only salvaged one leader out of the (Seattle) bunch so far, and she's not too certain. For God's sake, let her keep her speaking engagements to try to explain us to the people, and give her something to do, even though she blasts herself away. And she has a good newspaper there, for goodness sake, use it, and so also with Russ Griggs' paper.
“We are so damn independent and used to doing things our own way and running our own show, we don't seem to know how to handle somebody else's, or be a guest in their situation on their territory at their invitation.
“When are you kids ever going to learn you've got to consult with the Lord and his anointed before you make a move on anything especially anything so major as a merger....
“And what's the matter with running a bakery to feed ourselves? We run a print shop to feed others, and we're running several farms for the same purpose! We make our own sandals and dresses, fix our own cars and radios and cook our own food.
“Why can't we bake our own bread? Sounds like a great idea, unless the bakeries not paid for it and it would cost more than it's worth and we can procure our bread for less.
“It could be that Russ (Griggs) is a better businessman than you are. Why don't you try to find out and use him!
“All you guys, anywhere or everywhere, who are occupying buildings illegally and overcrowding houses are bound to have trouble sooner or later.
“Why not try to avoid it if you can whenever possible, especially where the government's willing to pay you to do so, like allotments for those kids in Canada.”
On finances Berg has this to say: “I have often advised you again and again never to discuss your finances with outsiders ... nothing can kill people helping you like their thinking you already have plenty.
“As a general policy, we are absolutely not in favor of purchasing property. We are too mobile, times are changing too fast, our task is too hazardous and we're too apt to be asked to move, even if we own it ,,, and then you're left holding the bag with a lot of money tied up in dead real estate that you can't move with you, maybe even burdened with a payment, contract, etc., that you might not be able to sell.
“We prefer to borrow property, rent or lease it, or even just get the temporary use of it.
“Buying has all the disadvantages, responsibilities and blame. All they can do to renters is just kick 'em out, and moving is one of our professions.
“So let the other guy do the buying and the owning and have all the expense and the worry while we just Use It -- and have all the fun -- so that when things go wrong all we have to do is move.
“So for God's sake, don't get stuck with a piece of property on your hands for you may have to fly by night! Yes, that's exactly right. We are one of those fly-by-night outfits, just like the early church, like the poor Gypsies.
“We are strictly low church -- you English will know what I mean -- but you've no idea how low. We are usually on the bottom, a peculiar people despised, rejected and hated of all men! So try not to buy property if you can help it, unless there's no down payment, the payments are like rent, and the owner keeps the title till it's paid for. Ha!”
Despite Berg's assertion that the Children of God are hated of all men, the sect has gained up to 3000 followers worldwide.
Two months ago. a German television crew spent several days in the Burlington and Seattle colonies filming the sect's activities.
In a “Mo Letter” dated November 1, Berg advises one of his leaders, Josh (actually Arnold Dietrich, husband of one of Berg's daughters, Faith), to flee from Los Angeles “and make London or Amsterdam your temporary world headquarters and take care of any home problems by telephone.”
Such an action would be wise in view of the attitudes of “King Saul”, says Berg.
“King Saul”, who crops up time and again in Moses letters as an enemy of the Children, is Fred Jordan, an evangelist. He grew up with Berg in Texas and has a Sunday television show in Los Angeles called The Church And The Home. Jordan and the Children recently split up. Before the split, however, Jordan provided the Children with money, food and lodging in exchange for using some of the Children of God converts on his television show.
According to Ted Patrick, an aide to California Governor Ronald Reagan, who has inside information on the Jordan-Children Affair, people sent in “millions of dollars” as a result of Jordan's TV show.
The Children apparently did not receive any of the money, so they split with Jordan, whose income then dropped off considerably.
“If the irate King Saul goes gunning for anybody in his wrath seeking vengeance for what he himself has done to himself, it will probably be you, and even me if he could!” Berg advised Josh, “So you better join me in 'I Gotta Split' and get a little further out of range.”
A national parents group, which calls itself Free the Children of God, or FREECOG, is composed of parents of children in the sect. FREECOG has publicly accused Berg of employing brainwashing techniques to make his followers hopeless puppets.
In recent weeks, FREECOG has gained national publicity in the United States by calling attention to the forced and prolonged separation of its members from their children “in the name of God.”
Under mounting pressure, the Children of God announced that all followers could go home for Christmas.
“We've sent all the kids home,” Russell Griggs said in Vancouver.
Several times he referred to “the kids” and the fact they had been “sent” home. Asked if this was a loving way to speak of sincere young adults, Griggs was silent.
He said that the Jesus People own two houses one at 855 West Eighth and one at 758 West Seventh, nd both were now empty.
But one mother said “her son was home for only three days, and that was two weeks ago. Now he is back at 745 West Seventh. He is a member of the children of God.”
Mrs. Howard Sturgeon of Richmond said her 17 year old daughter, Pat, was home for ten days, but had since left again to rejoin the sect.
“Her physical health is good, but she seems brainwashed and I think if she tried to leave, there would be trouble,” she said. “She would also feel terribly guilty. She feels she is serving the Lord 100 percent.”
Where is Pat now?
“With the other kids in their new lodge at the north end of the canyon that runs between Hope and Cache Creek near Kamloops. The only thing I'm pleased about is that she tells us she is doing correspondence courses.”
Mrs Sturgeon was asked if she had ever seen evidence of these correspondence courses.
“I did not see any of the French that she was taking with the department of education in Victoria, but she showed me some of the typing she had done one day when I visited her,” she replied. “It's a special arrangement with the department.
“We are not pleased about it. We'd rather have her home. But we gave our permission, she seemed so happy.”
It is unlikely any parents would be happy if they had read the “Moses Letters” to his leaders. The following one is dated February 2, 1971:
“We have the only happy sheep and happy shepherds in the whole world! We have happy folds! We laugh and sing and dance and play and bear lots of little lambs.
“And the shepherds like it! And we eat good green grass and drink fresh pure crystal water – still water -- and we follow nice young handsome good tender loving gentle shepherds who love the sheep, and they even like to play with them!
“We have beautiful shepherdesses too --nobody ever had so much fun as we have -- loving and living and dancing and playing and singing. and bearing little lambs, and gathering in more sheep.”
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Lisa Hobbs, “Scripture Cards Back Breaking With Family: Children of God provided with instant answers”, The Vancouver Sun, January 11, 1972.
Lee Henderson is a tall, very thin bearded 24 year old. His speech and manners are gentle. His faith in the Jesus People's Army is monumental.
He stopped his mopping and cleaning up duties at Barry's Bakery at 2977 Granville to drink a cup of coffee and talk about the recent split between the Children of God and the Jesus Army.
“The Children of God came up last August and just took over. The leaders were very mysterious. I only stayed with them for two weeks. One night I walked out. Now I am living in the House of Prayer at 824 East Eleventh.
“Al Adams and his wife, Edna, are looking after a group of us. Adams used to be a bricklayer. Right now we are living pretty good. Everything seems to be much better organized now. I need a pair of shoes, for instance, and it will be taken care of. But if we have to eat oatmeal for a couple of months, we do.”
Lee is totally devoted to living a life of poverty and service “like Christ.” He receives no wages for his part time help in the bakery. The bakery property is in the name of Russell Griggs.
“I'm used to living poor,” Lee said.
Does he like working in the bakery?
Lee said frankly he did not like it, “but you've got to be ready to serve.” He had left the Children of God because he felt something strange was happening to him.
“When I wanted to leave this fellow tried to stop me, snapping his fingers at me close with one scripture quote after another.”
Lee, like all others who have left the Children of God, sincerely believes the Jesus People's Army and its leader, Griggs, have entirely disassociated themselves from the Children.
In Griggs' own words, however, he is “still in touch” with the sect and there appears to be a definite overlapping of leaders of both sects in the use and running of the Shepherd's Call coffee house and headquarters at 1655 West Broadway.
Lee re-entered “the world” broke and without any personal possessions. He had owned a lute but had handed it in to the group where it was sold for $250.
His experience appears typical of those who were in the Jesus Army before and then following its involvement with the Children of God.
John is a 16-year-old Richmond boy who was very close to his family until he met the Jesus People last spring.
“We noticed John was changing,” his parents said. “We were surprised, even awed, when he could suddenly quote whole segments of scripture at us. He would not go anywhere without his Bible and gradually all his time was being spent on the streets witnessing. He was taught that Jesus was his Saviour. All he had to do was let Jesus come into his head and he would be saved.
“Not to be saved was not to be a Christian at all. This left the rest of us out. We tried to argue with him to show him he was taking scripture out of context but it was useless.”
The Children of God have a set of small white cards which contain a code of answers for every position the sect leaders take.
“It is all there,” John's parents said, “chapter and verse of scripture that justified abandoning education and family, even hating your own family.”
Set One of the cards lists scripture that supports any argument on basic salvation; Set Two, duties as a Christian; Set Three, how to forsake all, including parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends and home.
The quotes also provide ready made answers as to why all clothing all, all possessions and all money should be turned over to the common “Forsake All” box at the Shepherds Call headquarters.
John said he did not have any idea what happened to all the possessions that went into the “Forsake All” box. Members kept only the clothes they needed, and the rest were taken. His own camera and sleeping bag were given up and disappeared.
“John told us that everyone at the centre received some form of welfare or government assistance. So we told the leaders under no circumstances was John to go on welfare, that we could afford to keep him. So they told us to send the money directly to them instead.
“After John moved in with them, we often could not get letters through to him. Our phone calls were monitored. If we went to the coffee house we often had to argue to get to see our son. And then members of the Children of God would sit at the table with us.
“We were terribly upset. John had been an outstanding student, an honor student throughout his first three years of high school. It was terrible that he was missing his last year of school. John asked us to meet with the elders of the group and so one night we did, talking with a Bruce and Terry Scott, a man and wife.”
Both parents said they received frightening warnings of what would happen to John if they took him out of the group.
“We were told he would need psychiatric help, might commit suicide and would suffer great emotional upheaval. We made it clear that we considered this type of hold was a pretty unsatisfactory religion.
“They quoted scripture back at us to show that “Love of God' comes before all else, even if it means hating your father and your mother, your sister and your brother.”
And they added: “Education only means sorrow.
“John was not himself,” his parents recalled. “He was staring glassily into space. His voice did not sound like his own, his facial expression was a mask. If we had not seen the face we would not have recognized the voice as that of our son.”
After weeks of anxiety John finally came home.
“He was pale and nervous. He said that some other parents have arrived at the Shepherd's Call and caused a hassle and that the rumor was that the kids there were going to be quietly shipped out of the country to avoid any further confrontation with their parents. John was too frightened to go back and tell them he had left.”
So his father went to Griggs, who was then in charge, and told him John would not be back and to leave him alone.
There is no doubting the sincerity that John brought to the Children of God. No doubting the sincerity of Lee Henderson who had two years of University and now mops the floors of Barry's Bakery for nothing but “Love of God.”
Bill McFarland, assistant director of the Children's Aid Society, says of Griggs: “I have met the Reverend Russell Griggs and there is no question about his sincerity. His is the only group that is getting the kids back to work, to school. They are capitalizing on the fact that they are getting these kids working and nobody else is. There can be no doubt about Griggs' purpose.”
In the minds of many people, however, their doubts are far from settled. They are confused over the relationship between the Children of God and the Jesus Army. They fear the radical sect may still have some control of the Army.
Griggs himself is equivocal. He has said that he has disassociated entirely from the Children of God but later said he was “still in touch.”
He further says he has no idea how many followers remain in his army. “I'm not at all sure, maybe just a small nucleus.”
It appears that the Children of God have reduced the ranks of the Jesus army to few. Yet, when speaking of “the Gaglardi grant” and welfare cheques, Griggs offhandedly remarked that “they will not resume until the end of January when all the members had returned from their homes.”
*****
[The following short article appeared on the same page 11 as the article above]
“Jesus Freaks Authentic”
Brampton, Ontario (CP)
The moderator of the United Church of Canada says churches should open their doors to the “Jesus revolution” now popular with many North American young people.
Reverend A.B. Moore, speaking at the 150th birthday celebrations of Grace United Church here Sunday, advised against criticizing “Jesus freaks.”
“You ought to realize that here is a fresh, articulate, authentic approach to Jesus Christ of the 20th century,” said the moderator.
********
“Sect Denies Forcible Detention: Children of God members speak”, The Vancouver Sun, January 14, 1972
The Children of God religious sect has denied charges that they forcibly detain members who wish to leave.
“We would have no reason to do this,” said sect elder J.D. Cady. “We do not wish people who do not want to be with us.”
A series by Sun reporter Lisa Hobbs reported the group's activities in Vancouver.
Since the series started January 7, several letters supporting the stories have arrived at The Sun from people claiming experience with the sect.
The Children of God claim such criticism is typical from “man-oriented” people.
Cady said that people who leave the sect were critical because they could not “goof off in the Children of God.
Cady said that God demands constant devotion and will not accept anything less.
The group, claiming an international membership of 2000, has 25 members in Vancouver he said.
Cady denied that the sect was milking members of all their belongings.
Cady said that all members arriving at the colony at 745 West Seventh are required to give up their possessions in a common pot.
But he emphasized that most of the people coming to the Children of God had very little to start with.
He said that many had severe emotional problems which were “alleviated by God.”
“We are conservative Christians,” said elder Dick Palumbo. “We believe in the literacy of the Bible.”
David Zee, another elder, explained the sect believes that the world “is in its last seven years”, as we now know it.
According to Biblical prophecy, said Zee, seven years after God restores Israel, Jesus Christ will rule the world on Earth.
He said that a thousand years from that point, the armies of evil would confront the armies of God in a massive battle.
********
Shibley Culpin, “Sect Members Tell Their Side: Under some Criticism”, Alberni Valley Times, May 24, 1972
[This photograph and the first part of this article appeared on the front page. That's my profile in the foreground on the far right seated in a circle with other members of the commune. The commune leader Japheth (incorrectly referred to as Luke in the article) is on the far left with the open Bible. His wife Hannah is in the middle on the couch holding their infant. Their first daughter, Becky, is on the lap of the adult next to Japheth. The article starts by quoting verbatim what I wrote in my mum's Mother's Day card, and it refers to me by my cult name, Obil]
One day I took, I took an honest look,
I tried everything, I played every game in the book,
And I saw there was nothing in this world to live for any more.
Then one day, one day I heard about,
A certain man, a man who could work things out,
So I came to Jesus, you know
He came in and showed me the way.
Now all I want to do is serve Him,
Now all I want to do is serve Him,
That others may know Him
And the power of His love.
This is one of the songs we sing in the Children of God. There is more to it, but this sums up my life. I really took an honest look. I certainly didn't try everything, but I did and knew enough things to realize that my life didn't and wasn't going to mean anything. But then I found Jesus, and He changed me. He showed me the way. Now I know what's really happening in the world. He showed me. I'm so grateful to Him. Out of thousands of kids he chose me to be His servant. I'm so honoured. And you as my mother should be honoured too. Other mothers can say: my son is a doctor or lawyer, or my son lives in a mansion with two swimming pools. But you can say, my son lives and works for Jesus. It is something to be proud of. I love you.
A letter from a religious fanatic? No. A home-made Mother's Day card from a local 16-year-old boy who recently joined the local colony of the Children of God, a religious sect that has nurtured fear and doubts among some residents of Port Alberni.
“That's the first time my son has ever even acknowledged Mother's Day,” says the mother of the boy. “And it's one of the few times he has ever said anything about loving me.”
The lad, who has been with the sect just over three weeks, has adopted a name from the Bible, as all sect members do when they join the group. He is now known as Obil.
Obil was an average kid with average school grades and an average upbringing. He tended to be a bit of a loner, according to his mother, but had never got into serious trouble. What Obil's parents didn't know was that he was experimenting with LSD and methedrine for the past year.
“Obil was going over to this house run by the Children of God quite often, saying he was going to visit friends,” says his mother.
“At first we didn't pay too much attention – you know how it is with 16-year-olds – you can't always be asking them where they're going and what they're doing. But then he started going to the house more frequently, and we got a little worried, kept asking ourselves “Why?” Then one night he came into the kitchen and told me he'd been on drugs, had tried to quit them for three months, but had gone back. Then at least we had an answer as to why he was spending so much time with the Children of God. They've apparently helped a lot of kids on drugs.”
“Obil finally decided to move in with the Children of God and become a member of the sect,” his mother continues. “Everything just happened within three or four days, and my husband and I jumped to conclusions, I'm afraid. We condemned these people before we even knew them. We were afraid of what we didn't know anything about. But we just couldn't figure it all out – we didn't have any answers. We finally came around, figured if he's going to go, well, let him go. And we decided that we were going to try to understand his decision more. Then we went back and apologized to the Children of God for condemning them without knowing them. We go there to visit quite frequently now, and anytime we show up, we're welcome. Our son comes home when he feels like it, or phones us, and any member of the group is welcome in our home. As a matter of fact, we're letting them use our freezer to store some of their food.
“I can't see the sect being as bad as so many people say it is when anyone like Obil can be so happy.”
Despite the testimony of this happy mother, the Children of God continue to be criticized by many local residents. Most of the unfavourable opinions appear to be based on second-hand knowledge, or on a series of articles that appeared on the front page of the Vancouver Sun in January.
During a visit to the tumbledown house on River Road, occupied by the 12 members of the local colony, the Children of God gave their side of it.
“We're not here to steal people's kids or cause trouble,” says Hannah, a soft-spoken mother of two whose husband, Luke, heads up the local group. “We're people that have met Christ and have been born again. We're here to talk to people and tell them about Christ. So many people preach against things. Instead of preaching against everything, we've got a solution – Jesus. Instead of making a way for ourselves, we're trying to help other people.”
Although most of the people in the colony have been involved with drugs at one time or another, they no longer use them. Neither do they condone drinking, smoking, or pre-marital sex.
During its three year history, the Children of God organization has gained a reputation for helping young people on drugs.
“We're not so much interested in being a drug rehabilitation group,” says Luke, “as we are in preaching the message of Jesus. But if someone comes to us with a drug problem, we'll try to help him.”
Luke was strung out on Speed and had ulcers when he joined the group. Now, he says, the ulcers and the drug problem are both gone.
“We've had kids come off heroin without any withdrawal symptoms, too,” he said.
Despite its tumbledown tendencies, the house rented by the Children of God is spotless. Everyone in the colony does his or her share of housework during a one hour session each morning. Days are generally spent on devotional services, Bible readings and classes on various aspects of the Bible, the members say.
“We also spend a few hours each day out on the streets talking to the kids,” says Hannah. “And on Friday and Saturday nights we make a special point of going to where the kids are and talking to them. But we're certainly not trying to steal young people from their families or anything like that.”
Members of the local colony range in age from 16 to 26 years, but anyone under 17 years must have written permission from his parents before he can join the group.
“The consensus around here seems to be that we're sitting around waiting for kids to get out of school so we can convert them,” says Luke. “That's simply not true. Sure, we have a lot of young people come over to visit, and we welcome them. But we're not trying to snatch them away from their families.”
“These stories about kids being kept incommunicado for weeks on end, unable to see or talk to their families, aren't true,” continues Luke. “And the ones about bodyguards and the like – that's just plain ridiculous. We're free to come and go as we please. This isn't a jail.”
“As for the stories about kids phoning their parents at two or three in the morning and telling them that they're never coming home again, that they're going to stay with the group – well, that's just the way some kids react,” says Hannah. “They just decide all of a sudden to serve Jesus, and sometimes they make the decision at weird hours.”
The Children of God have only the bare necessities essential to sustain them. Communal life is maintained through the contributions of new members, who are expected to surrender all of their possessions and money to the sect when they join.
“Clothes, for instance,” says Hannah. “Most people have more clothes than they know what to do with. When someone joins the group, he throws every piece of clothing he owns into the communal pot, and it is distributed from there to other members in outlying areas.”
Food for the group is donated by various local merchants – Luke estimates that approximately a dozen of them are contributing now.
“Sometimes we're given crates and crates of the stuff – food that has nothing wrong with it, except that it's maybe a little too ripe or a bit stale for retail sales. It's amazing, the amount of food we've had donated.”
Money, contrary to what many people think, doesn't come from the welfare offices.
“Any money we may need comes to us through the organization, which in turn gets it from new members or in the form of donations from parents. There are also occasional contributions from people interested in the evangelistic method of preaching,” says Luke. “But really with the way we live, we don't need all that much in the way of money or material things.”
Referring back to the adverse publicity about the group that has cropped up during the last few months, Hannah says, “Lisa Hobbs (who wrote the Sun series) talked to a couple of pretty strung-out people who weren't representative of the average person in the group at all. As a result, a lot of people have become wary of us. It's something we'll just have to keep working at to overcome, I guess.”
Doubts about the group's sincerity and its objectives have been voiced by several local community leaders. And parents have begun to worry about whether their children will be the next to join the group, and possibly get tied up in some of the abominable activities they have read so much about.
The subject of the Children of God was brought up at a recent meeting of the local ministerial association.
“Our concern has come mainly as a result of efforts of the Children of God elsewhere,” says Lester Goertz, president of the association. “Our main concern is that their objectives and the aftermath of what they are pursuing is not desirable. They have completely disassociated themselves from responsibility – none of them hold outside jobs. Sure, one person like the local lad can join and be happy. There's at least one happy person in any religion. But what we're thinking of is the group's overall objectives, and what they've reportedly been doing in other cities. The association hasn't, however, decided to make any moves concerning the group.”
Rev. Goertz said he has not been out to the house on River Road and that he was basing his opinions on the series that ran in The Sun a few months ago, and information that he's heard from other people.
Father Mark Lemay and Rev. Len Jenner agree that most of the bad things circulating about the Children of God have been based on rumour and the Sun series.
“I haven't had much contact with them,” says Father Mark, “but from what I've seen and heard, they seem like a sincere bunch of young people trying to get a message across. I can't see anything wrong with that.”
Bob Baird, Reverend at the West Coast Mission on River Road, has been out to visit with the group on occasion.
“They're pretty defiant of some of the articles that have appeared recently in newspapers in Vancouver and the U.S., all right. But there doesn't seem to be any trouble caused by them yet – let's just wait and see what happens.”
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