Mass starvation, a doomsday colony: 'The Message' inspires dangerous ‘cults’ worldwide

Editor's note: This story contains descriptions of physical and sexual violence.

On a windy January 2024 night in South Phoenix, only a scattering of attendees occupied the pews at a church called Jericho Tabernacle. 

But as the regular Wednesday service began, the sounds of a busier church filled the sanctuary. It was the start of a recorded sermon, played over the speakers, from a church in Jeffersonville, Indiana, six decades before.

In 1963, children cried and grown-ups coughed as the sermon began. In Phoenix, the words of the 60-year-old sermon began scrolling across two mounted video monitors, one showing Spanish, the other English.

The speaker was William Branham, an American preacher considered God’s prophet in Jericho Tabernacle and by millions of people around the world. Those followers have included a series of men who used Branham’s teachings to form destructive cults.

The back wall of the tabernacle’s pulpit featured a portrait of Jesus Christ on one side and a photo of Branham on the other. They were the same size.

As Branham’s voice occasionally rose to peaks in the tinny recording, present-day attendees in Phoenix murmured “Amen” and raised their hands toward the ceiling.

The sect known as “The Message,” or "The Message of the Hour," continues to grow in countries as far apart as India, El Salvador and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thanks in part to this unique feature of Branham's ministry. Long before the advent of televangelists, Branham had all of his sermons recorded. From 1947 until his death in 1965, more than 1,200 were recorded, many of them up to two hours long.

The recordings, along with written translations of Branham’s words, allow The Message to continue spreading, even now, almost six decades after his death in December 1965.

For many followers, that simply means following a strict, rule-bound faith focused on preparing for the approaching End Times. But the unaccountable, independent structure of Message churches has often lent itself to the growth of destructive groups dominated by powerful central figures, an Arizona Daily Star and Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team investigation found.

The year-long investigation is the first news-media account of The Message and its global influence.

Leaders influenced by Branham have overseen a deadly starvation cult in Kenya in 2023, a colony in Chile that murdered and tortured prisoners and abused children in the 1970s, a trailer-park commune in Arizona that abused children in the 1960s and other high-control groups that have been accused of psychological manipulation and sexual crimes.

Message leaders say those atrocities do not represent their religious movement or their prophet.

“Brother Branham never stood for those kinds of things,” said Jeremy Evans, spokesperson for Voice of God Recordings, which distributes Branham’s sermons worldwide. “I think it’s a shame some of the things that have happened that falsely represent The Message of the Hour.”

Branham’s son and VGR president Joseph Branham said it is a “disgrace, and truly a stain on Christianity” when people misuse his father’s message or “twist” biblical teachings to form a cult. Joseph Branham declined an interview but answered questions via email.

“We do not stand for that,” Joseph Branham said. “We are firmly against using the Holy Bible to empower an individual or group … to dominate a congregation.”

But former Message believer and now researcher Rod Bergen said the lack of governing structure over Message churches allows pastors to take authoritarian control over their congregations.

“The problem is the way that William Branham said that churches should be run makes things ready-made for abuse. He basically said the pastor and the pastor only should call the shots,” Bergen said. “There’s no accountability. If you have no accountability, you’re gonna get abuse.”

‘Fringe’  Christian sect

During the height of his fame in the 1950s, Branham stood alongside Oral Roberts as one of the “two giants” of the post-World War II healing revival, according to historian David Harrell Jr. Thousands were drawn to Pentecostal tent meetings to see Branham or Roberts perform faith healings. But today, Roberts has a university named after him, and Branham is largely unknown in mainstream American culture.

From backwoods boy to 20th century 'prophet': How William Branham gained a global following

Although William Branham died in 1965, millions of people worldwide still follow his teachings. The sect has expanded, in part, through more than 1,200 recordings of his sermons.

That hasn’t kept The Message from growing — in large part due to Voice of God Recordings’ efforts to translate and distribute Branham’s sermons in written booklets, cassette tapes, CDs, mp3 players and now computer tablets worldwide.

Over the last 40 years, the sect has grown tenfold from an estimated 300,000 followers in 1986 to an estimated 3 million today, according to Voice of God Recordings distribution figures. The estimates are based on how many people get VGR’s materials, but the nonprofit doesn’t verify whether those people have accepted The Message, Evans said.

Africa has the most Message churches of any continent, Evans said. About 1,500 churches in Kenya alone claim to follow The Message, he added.

The Message also has a sizeable following in Latin America due not only to Voice of God but also other missionaries. Phoenix resident Jorge Hernandez Jr. worked for decades helping his father establish Message churches in Mexico, his native El Salvador, Peru and other countries, he said.

An incomplete list shows nearly 600 Message churches in more than 70 countries and on every continent except Antarctica, according to a Message church directory maintained by Living Word Broadcast.

Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team identified more than 50 YouTube pages in 25 countries dedicated to playing Branham sermons and disseminating The Message. Together, the YouTube channels had nearly 1 million subscribers and 200 million views as of July. One Brazilian Message YouTube channel had more than 90 million views and 400,000 subscribers.

Douglas Weaver, chair of the Department of Religion at Baylor University, noted Voice of God Recordings’ figures could be exaggerated. The Message is small compared to global religions like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is “on the fringe” of Christianity, he said.

Many former Message followers call the sect a "cult." They say they’ve experienced brainwashing and other manipulation tactics in Message churches. Some say they have experienced sexual and physical abuse.

But that experience is not universal. Many adore their prophet, whom they affectionately and reverently refer to as “Brother Branham.” Their faces light up with joy when they describe how Branham healed their family members decades ago. Some have gone to the point of deifying him; a small group shows up at his grave every Easter to see if he’ll rise from the dead. But others have a more reserved view.

“There are people who have thought of him as more than just an ordinary man. I don’t,” said Ohio Message believer Margaret Ball, 80. “But I just know he was a man who was chosen by God to deliver a message. I was fortunate to hear that message.”

Ball has attended Literal Life church in Michigan for about 20 years and has been part of The Message for 40.

Some Message congregations listen to Branham’s recorded sermons at each service, eliminating the need for a pastor. Most others — including Jericho Tabernacle, which only sometimes listens to tapes — have lead pastors who deliver sermons based on the Bible and Branham’s interpretations of Scripture. In a typical service, congregants pray for the sick, greet their neighbors, sing gospel songs and receive a message.

Joseph Branham said his father “never wanted to start a cult or a following. He condemned such things.”

“We’re not a cult. We’re not a bunch of fanatics,” William Branham said in 1965.

As a historian, Weaver said he doesn’t use the word “cult” because it’s “always a derogatory term,” but he wouldn’t question those who said they had a cultish experience in The Message.

“I simply chose not to use it because I did not feel like the people were brainwashed,” Weaver said. “And I have never met Message people that were dangerous. They were hardworking Americans who had a religion that I absolutely didn’t follow.”

John Collins, a former Message believer who now runs an anti-Branham research website, said it’s the wrong question to ask whether or not something is a cult. The more important question, he said, is whether it’s destructive. He said some Message churches are “somewhat benign,” but others “are very, very controlling and very manipulative.”

Third-largest cult killing

Although many Branham groups are led by benign pastors, a few leaders have become extreme.

That’s what happened in Malindi, Kenya last year when doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie allegedly led his followers into the Shakahola forest and told them to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus, according to the Associated Press. Experts say Mackenzie was influenced by Branham.

More than 400 of Mackenzie’s followers died, making it the third-largest cult killing in modern history.

Authorities discovered the bodies in shallow graves over months of investigation starting in April 2023, Reuters reported.

Mackenzie and 29 cult members were formally charged in February with the torture and murder of 191 children found among the dead. They denied responsibility for the deaths.

Rick Ross, executive director and founder of the Cult Education Institute, said Mackenzie was influenced by the teachings of Branham and David McKay, founder of a group called the Jesus Christians. Ross said there are certain doctrines Mackenzie taught that are “signature Branham.”

Detectives told local newspaper People Daily Kenya that “Mackenzie brainwashed his converts using William Branham’s End of Days Theology.” Investigators found Voice of God Recordings booklets containing Branham sermons inside abandoned homes near the mass graves.

Like Branham, Mackenzie was “obsessed with the end of the world,” Ross said. They both told their followers to prepare for an apocalypse that could come any day — a doctrine that makes followers easy to manipulate, Ross said.

“The reason that the people starved to death was they were fasting and praying in preparation for the end,” Ross said.

Branham preached that there’s “nothing” in the Bible that justifies fasting to the point of starvation, supporters point out. “Usually in a fast, I never feel hungry. If you feel hungry, it’s time to eat,” Branham said in 1953.

Evans said Voice of God Recordings “has never had any contact or association” with Mackenzie. The recent tragedy “is the farthest thing from The Message that you can get,” he said.

“To associate this Kenya pastor with The Message because he had a few of Rev. Branham’s sermons in his church library is absurd," Evans said. "It would be like blaming Billy Graham, Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland for his actions because he had their books in the church library.”

Ross said it’s unsurprising that Voice of God Recordings would want to distance themselves from Mackenzie.

“Of course, nobody wants to say, ‘Oh yeah, Paul Mackenzie. Yeah, I’m aware of him, and he believes some of what we teach, and he’s been influenced by some of what we put out there,’” Ross said. “Nobody wants to admit that given that he’s now considered … the third-most destructive cult leader in modern history.”

Jim Jones connection

Branham also played a role in popularizing the ministry of the most deadly cult leader in modern history, the Rev. Jim Jones, according to a book on Jones’ life written by journalist Tim Reiterman, who covered Jones’ cult for the San Francisco Examiner.

Jones led hundreds to their deaths in 1978 in what is now known as the Jonestown massacre. Backed by guards armed with guns and crossbows, Jones ordered his followers at an isolated compound in Guyana to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced punch, according to Reiterman’s book “Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People.” Those who resisted were murdered with forced injections of poison. Children and babies were force-fed the poison punch with syringes.

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More than 900 people died, including 300 children. Jones died from a gunshot wound to the head, possibly self-inflicted.

About 20 years before the massacre, Jones only had about 100 followers and was looking for ways to expand his ministry, Reiterman wrote. Jones enlisted Branham — at the height of his fame as a faith healer — to headline a Pentecostal religious convention from June 11 to June 15, 1956, in Indianapolis. The event drew more than 10,000 people, Reiterman reported.

Glossary: Common words and phrases at Message churches

The Bride. End Times. Serpent’s seed. These are some of the words and phrases you’ll hear if you attend a Message church.

Both Jones and Branham used people’s addresses, Social Security, phone and insurance policy numbers to tell people about their pasts and futures like “fortune tellers,” Reiterman wrote. The two preachers would then lay their hands on people in prayer and give them a good shove on the forehead with the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Those “healed” by Jones and Branham would fall to the floor twitching as the crowd cried out in praise, Reiterman said.

The publicity Jones received at the convention was “invaluable” to the growth of his ministry, Reiterman wrote.

Collins said he confirmed at least two more events where Jones and Branham preached alongside each other. He credits Branham with helping launch Jones’ career during the Indianapolis convention.

“Not long after that Jones began hosting and sponsoring William Branham's revival meetings in multiple states,” Collins said.

Joseph Branham said it's "ludicrous" to try to tie his father to Jim Jones. 

"There is of course nothing William Branham ever taught that would support such an evil crime as Jim Jones made," he said.

Doomsday colony

Collins wrote that Jonestown bears "striking similarities" to a Branham-influenced colony in Chile: Colonia Dignidad.

"Both communes initially started as 'agricultural communities.' Both were led by a narcissistic authoritarian figure. Both communes regulated — and deprived members of — sleep, sex and more. Both resulted in horrific deaths of members," Collins wrote in his book, "Weaponized Religion: From Latter Rain to Colonia Dignidad." 

The Chilean colony started in 1955 in post-war West Germany when a preacher named Paul Schafer showed up to see Branham preach in Karlsruhe, said Carlos Basso, a Chilean journalist and author of a book on the religious sect Schafer founded, called La Secta Perfecta. Basso said Schafer offered himself and a collection of followers to provide security for the rest of the tour. Branham accepted.

Schafer had already established an orphanage and a small religious colony of fundamentalist Christians in West Germany. After seeing Branham, he adopted more of the American preacher’s doctrine and style, Basso said.

“Before Schafer got acquainted with Branham, he never said anything about the end of the world,” Basso said. “After that, he became convinced the world was going to stop spinning one day.”

Joseph Branham said even if these alleged connections are true, they're thin at best, and Schafer's group is in no way reflective of William Branham's ministry.

In those early years of the colony, Schafer was already being accused of molesting boys, and when he was charged by German authorities, he took off, Basso said. Finally, in 1961 he ended up in southern Chile and re-established his colony there. He called it Colonia Dignidad.

Schafer retained some similarities to Branham’s sect while creating his own little German world in the south of South America. As in many Branham churches and sects, the leader, Schafer, was considered a prophet who could communicate with God, referred to by residents as their “permanent uncle.”

The community he established treated the outside world as a demonic place to be feared, Basso said.

But the control was not just psychological: Fences surrounded the property, and Schafer used sensors and cameras to monitor the boundaries, Basso said. Those who escaped were tracked down ruthlessly and even tortured.

As the years passed, Schafer continued molesting boys, but eventually there were too few German boys of the age he preferred, 8 to 12, Basso said. That’s when the colony began recruiting local families to supply their children through various ruses.

“He started to bribe the judges of the towns near Colonia to get boys from poor people adopted by him or by his friends,” Basso said. “Chilean boys — very, very poor boys — became the next victims of Schafer.”

Communism loomed as the most tangible expression of evil in Schafer’s worldview, as researcher Bruce Falconer wrote in a detailed account of Colonia Dignidad published in 2008 in The American Scholar. When military leaders overthrew socialist president Salvador Allende in 1973, Schafer offered the colony as a detention, torture and killing camp, Falconer explained.

As early as 1977, Amnesty International accused Colonia Dignidad of being a torture center for the military government. Killings probably took place there as well, maybe many of them, but Chilean investigators have scoured the property and been unable to clarify the full scope of the deaths there, Falconer and Basso reported.

That relationship with the dictatorship bought Schafer protection from his crimes for many years. It wasn’t until 1996 that a Chilean judge issued a warrant for his arrest, on charges of child molestation, and later on charges of aiding in the disappearance of a left-wing activist.

In 2006, Schafer was convicted of molesting 25 children and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died in prison in 2010.

Trailer park commune

Shortly before Branham died in 1965, he visited an Arizona trailer park nestled in the woods along a quiet stream. He compared the Message commune, called “The Park,” to the Promised Land.

“To come here this morning and look, this fine little Jerusalem setting out here, little … Goshen,” Branham preached before the community in Prescott in 1964. “I can see why you people would want to stay here.”

The commune’s leader, Leo Mercier, was one of the “tape boys” who recorded Branham’s sermons. Branham said he always knew Mercier was made for “something greater in life.”

Mercier used Branham’s blessing to paint himself as a sort of “king” or “demi-prophet” over the commune members, said Deborah Thibodeau, who grew up in the commune.

Thibodeau and about 100 other children were routinely beaten at the commune on Mercier’s orders until The Park dissolved in 1975, according to Thibodeau, another former member and court records. There’s also evidence that Mercier molested children, according to the California Supreme Court.

Leaders revered

Across the U.S., men have used Branham’s framework to seize power and create cultish communities, former members and experts say.

In Camp Verde, Arizona in 1992, Ross said he helped a young mother get her daughter out of a Branham cult called the Spoken Word Tabernacle. Authorities feared the pastor was planning a mass killing of his followers on Christmas of that year — the date he predicted the world would end, according to The Associated Press.

The pastor, also named Jim Jones, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for child molestation in a 1998 trial in Arizona, the Verde Independent reported. He was accused of sexually abusing two girls in his church.

Jones died in prison a couple of years after he was convicted.

A Lee Enterprises and Arizona Daily Star investigation also found:

• A Tucson Message church where the pastor uses threats of hell and shunning to exert control over congregants’ finances, health decisions and personal lives. Twenty former members said the church, Golden Dawn Tabernacle, has devolved into a “cult.”
• An Arkansas Message church where “everyone reveres the leader almost as if he’s God,” former member Sarah Kiser said. She now calls the group a “cult.” Members cannot have TVs, listen to secular music or have friends outside church. Women must follow a strict dress code and cannot move out of their parents' homes until they marry.
• A polygamous Message group active from the early ‘80s to 2007 in western New York, central Ohio and Arkansas. The group believed their leader was the “prophet” or “voice box of God” who was preparing the world for “Jesus’s third and final coming,” former member Naomi Wright said. She described the group as a “cult.”

No accountability

Bergen, who now runs an anti-Branham research website, said coverups are common in The Message. It’s not just that there’s no governing board to hold people accountable, Bergen said. When congregants believe they are part of the chosen “Bride of Christ” who will survive the rapture, they’re motivated to sweep misconduct under the rug, he said.

“This stuff doesn’t happen in a perfect church,” Bergen said. “So what do you have to do? You just gotta cover it up.”

Former Message member Milton Rosa said he witnessed a lack of accountability at his church in Brazil.

Four women accused Brazilian Message pastor Joaquim Gonçalves Silva of sexual abuse dating back to 2002, according to Metrópoles, a Brazilian news website.

Silva denied the allegations. He died later in 2021 before he could be tried in court.

Rosa said church leaders were aware of other sexual abuse allegations against Silva years before.

“It came to light. People did nothing about it. And he continued doing it,” Rosa said. “People turned a blind eye to it.”

The pattern, Rosa said, is that of powerful spiritual leaders like Silva using their influence and position to manipulate vulnerable people. It happened in Brazil, Kenya, Chile and Arizona and will continue across the globe, he said.

“We hear the story of the trailer park,” Rosa said. “That story is not only there. If you dig deep, you see that that story repeats, and it repeats over and over.”

About this series

Lee Enterprises investigative team and the Arizona Daily Star interviewed more than 50 former and current Message followers, experts and religious leaders for “Twisted Message.” The series examines the lack of accountability in a Christian religious sect called “The Message.” Some groups that claim to follow the faith have become controlling or destructive, including a Tucson church accused of being a “cult,” an Arizona trailer park commune that physically and sexually abused children in the 1960s and churches across the U.S. that allegedly treat women as “second-class citizens.” The year-long investigation is the first news-media account of The Message and its global influence.