Founding
of CoG
Founding
of CoG
Name: "The Family" (also "The Family of Love"); founded as "The Children of God."
Founder: David Brandt Berg (1919-1994) born in Oakland, California. Berg adopted various names including "Moses David," "Mo," "Father David," and "Dad."
When/Where/How: In 1967, David Berg moved to Huntington Beach, where he assumed the responsibility of a youth ministry. Shortly after he abandoned the ministry and began his own youth movement called the Light Club. He then took the children to a Southern California desert where they became the first members of the Children of God in 1968.
The putpose of the Children of God is to bring the message
of God to all. The favored reason for joining the Children of God was for
sex, and the only real motive not to join was family value.
During the 1970's COG expanded to over 100 countries in Europe, the Far
East, Australia, and South America boasting of over 25,000 members. Berg
explains that in "late summer 1970, we decided it was time to obey Jesus'
command to 'go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature!'"
Letters were written by Berg, which came to be known as "Mo Letters," in
which he explains, "I never really found my life's calling until we were
far away from our precious children in the Lord and we started writing
letters! That was what was really my calling and what the Lord had designed
me for and ordained me for from the very beginning! --To write letters
to feed and lead His Children! --The perfect situation to hear from Heaven,
put it on paper and pass it on to our flocks everywhere."
Berg
taught that Jesus was "created" by God (not begotten), and that the Holy
Spirit is a semi-naked woman who has intercourse with the Father. According
to Mr. Priebe, who left the movement in 1989 after 18 years, Berg once
claimed that he visited the throne room of God and had sex with the Holy
Spirit. Berg claims, "I certainly never expected to be a prophet. I never
planned to be a prophet! I never wanted such a responsibility, but God
finally had to do it supernaturally by almost forcing prophecy through
me to give me the true living water for today! He almost forced me to write
what needed to be written and to show me that the Bible alone was not enough!"
Members
were disassociated from their extended family, and the adherence to the
writings of Berg was mandatory. Children were home-schooled because the
Family disagreed with the "policy of dumping children indiscriminately
in [public schools] for a socialization experience in disrespect, lack
of religious conviction, lack of discipline, drugs, alcohol, sexual problems
and perversions, gangs and crime." Berg also spoke out against institutional
religious practices: "I am convinced, therefore, that the Church Buikling
system is of the Devil. I believe with all my heart that the Churches have
sent more people to hell than anything else in this world, because of the
God-damned counterfeit religion and their God-damned hypocrisy! Therefore,
we in our worldwide revolution for Jesus have declared war of the Spirit
against the System's Godless schools, Christ-less churches, and heartless
Mammon (materialistic God).