The Family International


The Family International is a cult which was founded in Huntington Beach, California, US in 1968. It was originally named Teens for Christ and it later gained notoriety as The Children of God. It was later renamed and reorganized as The Family of Love, which was eventually shortened to The Family. It is currently named The Family.

Overview

TFI initially spread a message of salvation, apocalypticism, spiritual "revolution and happiness" and distrust of the outside world, which the members called The System. In 1976, it began a method of evangelism called Flirty Fishing that used sex to "show God's love and mercy" and win converts, resulting in controversy. TFI's founder and prophetic leader, David Berg, gave himself the titles of "King", "The Last Endtime Prophet", "Moses", and "David".
He communicated with his followers via "Mo Letters"—letters of instruction and counsel on myriad spiritual and practical subjects—until his death in late 1994. After his death, his widow Karen Zerby became the leader of TFI, taking the titles of "Queen" and "Prophetess". She married Steve Kelly, an assistant of Berg's whom Berg had handpicked as her "consort". Kelly took the title of "King Peter" and became the face of TFI, speaking in public more often than either David Berg or Karen Zerby. There have been multiple allegations of child sexual abuse made by past members.

History

The Children of God (1968–1977)

Members of The Children of God founded communes, first called colonies, in various cities. They would proselytize in the streets and distribute pamphlets. Leaders within COG were referred to as The Chain.
The founder of the movement, David Brandt Berg, was a former Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor.
Berg communicated with his followers by writing letters. He published nearly 3,000 letters over a period of 24 years, referred to as the Mo Letters. In a letter written in January 1972, Berg stated that he was God's prophet for the contemporary world, attempting to further solidify his spiritual authority within the group. Berg's letters also contained public acknowledgement of his own failings and weaknesses.
By 1972, COG had 130 communities around the world.
The Children of God was abolished in February 1978. Berg reorganized the movement amid reports of serious misconduct and financial mismanagement, The Chain's abuse of authority, and disagreements within it about the continued use of Flirty Fishing. The group was also accused of sexually abusing and raping minors within the organization, with considerable evidence to support this claim. One-eighth of the total membership left the movement. Those who remained became part of a reorganized movement called the Family of Love, and later, The Family. The majority of the group's beliefs remained the same.

The Family of Love (1978–1981)

The Family of Love era was characterized by international expansion.
In 1976, before the dissolution of The Children of God, David Berg had introduced a new proselytizing method called Flirty Fishing, which encouraged female members to "show God's love" through sexual relationships with potential converts. Flirty Fishing was practiced by members of Berg's inner circle starting in 1973, and was introduced to the general membership in 1976 and became common practice within the group. In some areas flirty fishers used escort agencies to meet potential converts. According to TFI "over 100,000 received God's gift of salvation through Jesus, and some chose to live the life of a disciple and missionary" as a result of Flirty Fishing. Researcher Bill Bainbridge obtained data from TFI suggesting that, from 1974 until 1987, members had sexual contact with 223,989 people while practicing Flirty Fishing.

The Family (1982–1994)

In March 1989, TF issued a statement that, in "early 1985", an urgent memorandum had been sent to all members "reminding them that any such activities are strictly forbidden within our group", and such activities were grounds for immediate excommunication from the group. In January 2005, Claire Borowik, a spokesperson for TFI, stated that:
ue to the fact that our current zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual interaction between adults and underage minors was not in our literature published before 1986, we came to the realization that during a transitional stage of our movement, from 1978 until 1986, there were cases when some minors were subject to sexually inappropriate advances ... This was corrected officially in 1986, when any contact between an adult and minor was declared an excommunicable offense.

The Family (1995–2003)

After Berg's death in October 1994, Karen Zerby, assumed leadership of the group.
In February 1995, the group introduced the Love Charter, which defined the rights and responsibilities of Charter Members and Homes. The Charter also included the Fundamental Family Rules, a summary of rules and guidelines from past TF publications which were still in effect.
In the 1994–95 British court case, the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Alan Ward ruled that the group, including some of its top leaders, had in the past engaged in abusive sexual practices involving minors and had also used severe corporal punishment and sequestration of minors. He found that by 1995 TF had abandoned these practices and concluded that they were a safe environment for children. Nevertheless, he did require that the group cease all corporal punishment of children in the United Kingdom and denounce any of Berg's writings that were "responsible for children in TF having been subjected to sexually inappropriate behaviour".

The Family International (2004–present)

The Love Charter is The Family's set governing document that entails each member's rights, responsibilities and requirements, while the Missionary Member Statutes and Fellow Member Statutes were written for the governance of TFI's Missionary member and Fellow Member circles, respectively. FD Homes were reviewed every six months against a published set of criteria. The Love Charter increased the number of single family homes as well as homes that relied on jobs such as self-employment.

Recent teachings

TFI's recent teachings are based on beliefs they term the "new weapons". TFI members believe that they are soldiers in the spiritual war of good versus evil for the souls and hearts of men.

Spirit Helpers

These include angels, departed humans, other religious and mythical figures, and even celebrities; for example the goddess Aphrodite, the Snowman, Merlin, the Sphinx, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Richard Nixon, and Winston Churchill.

The Keys of the Kingdom

TFI believes that the Biblical passage "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven", refers to an increasing amount of spiritual authority that was given to Peter and the early disciples. According to TFI beliefs, this passage refers to keys that were hidden and unused in the centuries that followed, but were again revealed through Karen Zerby as more power to pray and obtain miracles. TFI members call on the various Keys of the Kingdom for extra effect during prayer. The Keys, like most TFI beliefs, were published in magazines that looked like comic-books in order to make them teachable to children. These beliefs are still generally held and practiced, even after the "reboot" documents of 2010.

Loving Jesus

This is a term TFI members use to describe their intimate, sexual relationship with Jesus. TFI describes its "Loving Jesus" teaching as a radical form of bridal theology. They believe the church of followers is Christ's bride, called to love and serve him with wifely fervor. But they take bridal theology further, encouraging members to imagine Jesus is joining them during sexual intercourse and masturbation. Male members are cautioned to visualize themselves as women, in order to avoid a homosexual relationship with Jesus. Many TFI publications, and spirit messages claimed to be from Jesus himself, elaborate this intimate, sexual relation they believe Jesus desires and needs. TFI imagines itself as his special "bride" in graphic poetry, guided visualizations, artwork, and songs. Some TFI literature is not brought into conservative countries for fear it may be classified at customs as pornography. The literature outlining this view of Jesus and his desire for a sexual relationship with believers was edited for younger teens, then further edited for children.

Issues

The second generation

Second-generation adults are adults born or reared in TFI.
Anti-TFI sentiment has been publicly expressed by some who have left the group; examples include sisters Celeste Jones, Kristina Jones, and Juliana Buhring, who wrote a book on their lives in TFI.

Relationship with the authorities

TFI members are expected to respect legal and civil authorities where they live. Members have typically cooperated with appointed authorities, even during the police and social-service raids of their communities in the early 1990s.

Reception

The group has been criticized by the press and the anti-cult movement. In 1971, an organization called FREECOG was founded by concerned parents and others, including deprogrammer Ted Patrick, to "free" members of the COG from their involvement in the group. Academics were divided, with some categorizing TFI as a "new religious movement", and others, such as Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi and John Huxley, labeling the group a "cult".

Notable members (past and present)