The Family International -- The Children of God

The Family International traces its origins to 1968 and Huntington Beach, California. It was there that our founder, David Berg, also known as Father David or Moses David, together with his wife and teenage children, began a ministry to the counterculture youth who flocked to that seaside town. Many of these experienced dramatic changes in their lives as they came to understand that there is a God and that they could have a personal relationship with him through Jesus Christ, God's gift of Love. 

Some of them chose to work with Father David, dedicating their lives to the service of God and others. Thus, The Family was born, although it was not to become known by that name for many years. At the end of 1969, when the group had grown to about 100 members, it was dubbed The Children of God by the news media. By 1972, there were 130 Children of God communities scattered throughout the world.

In early 1978, The Children of God was formally dissolved and a new group, The Family of Love, with a new organizational structure, was formed. In recent years, we have become known simply as The Family.

Who is David Brandt Berg? 

David Berg's parents were both active Christian pastors and evangelists, and his early years were spent traveling with them in evangelistic work. In 1941 he nearly died of pneumonia, shortly after being drafted into the U.S. Army. After determining to rededicate his life to Christian service, he experienced a miraculous healing.

For most of the next 27 years he worked as a pastor and in various evangelistic endeavors until, in 1968, he received God's call to take the Gospel to the hippies of southern California. There he and his then teen-aged children began a ministry to the youth that grew and was known as The Children of God, and eventually became known as The Family. Today, members of The Family engage in missionary and humanitarian work in about 90 countries worldwide.

David Berg called on his followers to devote their full time to spreading the message of Christ's love and salvation as far and wide as possible, unfettered by convention or tradition, and to teach others to do the same.

Berg also decried the de-Christianization and decay in moral values of Western society. He viewed the trend towards a New World Order as setting the stage for the rise of the Antichrist, a godless world dictator whom the Bible predicts will rule the world in the last days before Christ’s return.

David Berg's lively, down-to-earth, and sometimes unconventional approach to heavenly matters makes his writings a unique contribution to Christian literature. (They are usually referred to as the MO Letters, as he often used the pseudonym Moses David when writing.) He once said of his writings that his aim was to leave his readers feeling either "mad, sad or glad." Without a doubt, he succeeded in doing just that.

Though the world may know him as David Berg, to The Family he was known as Father David, Moses David, "MO", or as most Family members came to call him affectionately--Dad. He truly was a Father in the Lord to those who knew him, either personally or through his writings.

In November 1994, The Family commemorated his passing from this life into the next. Surely he has now heard his Savior's "Well done!" for his life of Christian service. In The Family's first 25 years, his leadership inspired The Family to personally share the Gospel with over 260 million people in over 100 countries, nearly 18 million of whom received Jesus and God's free gift of eternal life.

The Origins of a Movement:

History of the Family International

From "The Children of God" to "The Family International"

From its inception in 1968, the Family International [the Family]—formerly known as the Children of God—has had a colorful history. As our members circled the globe with the Gospel message in literature, song, and educational multimedia productions, the Family has faced the challenges of building a self-supporting autonomous Christian fellowship, while homeschooling our children, reaching out to the needy in active humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and preaching the Gospel in over 100 nations.

The Family has met with much controversy from its very beginnings, when its zealous "hippie" members picketed with large signs, decried the evils of war and injustice, and called for a return to the faith and lifestyle of the early Christians. The uncompromising tone of the missives written by our founder David Brandt Berg and the unconventional methods of preaching and demonstrating the Gospel have drawn much attention from the media and the academic community around the world.

Following is a brief history of the movement and the early events surrounding its people who have devoted their lives as missionaries to carry the Good News to their fellow man.

Our Founder, David Brandt Berg (1919-1994)

David Brandt Berg was the founder and leader of the Family. Working outside of mainstream denominations, he recruited, trained, and inspired thousands of predominantly young adults, many of whom had no former interest in denominational Christianity or in becoming full-time "missionaries." Publicly known as "Moses David" and later as "Father David," and endearingly called "Uncle Dave," "Mo," or "Dad" by Family members, he was born in 1919 in Oakland, California, to Hjalmer and Virginia Berg.

David had a rich Christian heritage. Many of his forefathers as well as both of his parents were deeply committed Christians who challenged the status quo of their day. His maternal forefathers were German Jews who converted to Christianity in the mid-18th century, and subsequently joined the Dunkards. State persecution of this offshoot of the Lutheran Church led the Brandt family to migrate to America in 1745.

David's grandfather, author and lecturer Dr. John Lincoln Brandt (1860-1946), also underwent a dramatic conversion in his mid-20s and became a Methodist circuit rider, and later a leader of the Campbellite movement (now known as the Churches of Christ and the Disciples of Christ), building and pastoring 50 churches throughout America (and one in Australia). David's mother and father were also pastors and evangelists, but were expelled from the Disciples of Christ for testifying of Virginia's divine healing, which was contrary to that denomination's dogma. (See Virginia's book, The Hem of His Garment, about her healing.) They later served with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, though often operating as independent pastors and evangelists. His mother, Virginia Brandt Berg (1886-1968), was one of the outstanding female evangelists of her time. David spent much of his childhood and teen years in evangelistic service with his parents.

David later became an ordained Christian and Missionary Alliance minister. During his years as a pastor and evangelist, he became increasingly convinced of the ineffectiveness of much of the organized traditional churches of his day, which he termed "churchianity." He finally reached the conclusion that "the true Church are the genuine Christian believers in God who follow Jesus—the born-again, saved Body of Christ—not a building or a denomination or a religion" ("Church," par. 3).

Birth of Our Movement: The Children of God

During the mid-1960s, David began traveling with his wife and four teenaged children in evangelistic work. They started a small witnessing outreach that went by the name "Teens for Christ."

In early 1968 at the invitation of his elderly mother, David and his family journeyed to Huntington Beach, California, a seaside town that had become a gathering place for thousands of dropped out hippies and surfers. It was here, amongst the counterculture youth of the '60s, that he found his calling, and the famed "Jesus Revolution" came into being that was to sweep through Southern California and the rest of the United States.

David, his wife and children, and others they had won to the Lord reached out to the radical youth at Huntington Beach and were soon receiving large numbers of them at a Christian coffee shop they were given use of, called the Light Club. The message of Jesus without organized religion appealed to the radical hippies who were rebelling against the Establishment. Scores of the hippies experienced dramatic changes as they came to believe in Jesus and receive Him, and many forsook lives centered on drugs and alcohol to join David and his family in their evangelistic efforts.

David began teaching Bible classes at the Light Club in a revolutionary language and fashion that these nonconformist youth could relate to. This was to become his trademark. He particularly sparked their interest as he taught them the biblical prophecies describing the events directly preceding Jesus' Second Coming. The message that we are now living in the Time of the End according to God's Word was to become a central theme of the movement's witness to the world.

In 1969, as the original group expanded and began traveling in a large convoy of vehicles and campers across the U.S., witnessing to young people throughout the country, a Camden, New Jersey newspaper reporter in a local article dubbed them "Moses and the Children of God." The terms were popularized by the press and soon adopted by the group. Another reporter from NBC's program First Tuesday, after attending a rally, described the Children of God (COG) movement as "wandering, passionate, bearers of the Word." A Newsweek reporter wrote, "I realized that the COG were doing something for these kids that money just couldn't buy."

The Children of God continued as an active missionary movement, and during our first decade many of our members migrated out of the U.S. to establish mission posts throughout the world. By 1977 there were 741 Children of God communities in 73 countries. During this period, members distributed 306 million pieces of Gospel literature and led 1.5 million people to Christ.

In Europe and South America the Children of God became famous as our music gained popularity and bands landed recording contracts and big-stage performances, particularly in France and Brazil. From radical rock-style songs denouncing the hypocrisy of the Establishment to heart-touching folk ballads about God's love, original music became an important part of our movement's outreach and culture.

In the mid and late '80s, as the overall membership of the Family matured and became more child and family centered, much of the focus of the movement shifted to childcare and education. This is very evident today in the content of the current public distribution tapes, CDs, videos, and books. Much effort was made to ensure that each community was truly a home and to educate members regarding the proper care, training, and education of their children. A vast array of educational materials for adults, teens, and children was produced, including books, magazines, booklets, newsletters, book summaries, and reprints, as well as a series of educational videos for use in each community. New education programs for all ages of children were introduced to expand homeschooling programs. Parents were encouraged to spend quality time daily with their children and to set aside one day each week from missionary activities for parents and children to have fellowship and recreation together. Overall, higher childcare and home standards were established for all Family communities.

Throughout the Family's history, the majority of Family members have opted to homeschool their children, and much effort has been made to help provide the necessary materials to do so. In 1988, to further address the needs of Family children and teenagers, David presented what he called "The School Vision," in which he encouraged Family members to place a greater emphasis on the schooling of the children. Members were encouraged to establish small local boarding schools or day schools as centers to more effectively educate their children and provide them the opportunity to have more interaction with others their own age.

This trend continued until 1995 with the advent of The Love Charter (explained in the following section), as the Family moved away from larger, institutional-style communities toward smaller co-op Homes, due to management difficulties and the need to provide the more personal environment that smaller Homes afford. Over the past decade the Family has devoted much time and resources to ensuring that children residing within its communities receive a high standard of care, protection, education, and recreation. The objective is to foster a profound respect for the children and to be sure the children are properly educated, cared for, socialized, and prepared for life. Attention to their proper care and upbringing is not only an integral part of the Family's religious belief and practice, but is central to its communal existence.

The Family's Love Charter

In 1995 the Family adopted a governing charter, which codified the beliefs, rights, and responsibilities of full-time Family members. The primary purpose of the Charter is to provide a well-defined and easy-to-understand broad governing structure. Within this structure, ample opportunity is provided for Family members to follow what they believe is God's will for them personally and to freely operate according to their own initiative.

Shortly before his death in late 1994, David studied and approved a draft of the document. Each aspect of the Charter is based on his writings and teachings, and references to his nearly 3,000 published Letters written over the previous three decades accompany most sections of the document. Although the Charter itself was new, the doctrines and principles upon which it was based were not. Existing beliefs and practices regarded as essential were drawn from the tens of thousands of pages of Family literature and formalized into one document. The Love Charter provides easy reference to the most important principles and rules of the Family that were previously scattered throughout the movement's literature.2

A Work in Progress

During the first 30 years of the Family's history, through various ways and means of witnessing—including TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines—Family members reached a combined audience of over 67 billion people. Thus many have heard about and from the Family and have heard their message of God's love and salvation many times over. This figure includes those reached by the distribution of over 800 million pieces of Gospel literature in 163 nations, and also the nearly 26 million people who have received Jesus as their Savior.

In 1999 Family members designed an extensive correspondence program to provide a Bible-based study course for the many people the Family reaches daily with the Gospel message. Known as "the Activated program," it centers on a monthly magazine subscription program and includes a course of Bible studies, other books and materials, locally held social and inspirational events, and personal counseling and teaching. The goal is to bring new converts along in their faith in Jesus and His Word, so that they experience a connection with the Lord that will guide, sustain, and empower them.

The Familyhas undergone many changes and improvements throughout its history, all while establishing an international cooperative missionary work from scratch, and will doubtless continue to undergo many more changes. Although the methods of witnessing and the leadership structure have undergone many modifications, the basic message remains unchanged: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16 KJV).

Unchanged and fundamental to the movement is the Family's personal zeal for witnessing the Gospel of salvation through Jesus to all the world, even at the price at times of persecution and personal sacrifice if necessary, following Jesus' injunction to "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15 KJV).

The Family International (formerly known as the Children of God) is a fellowship of Christian communities with members in over 100 countries. Our current membership numbers about 8,500 full-time members and 7,000 associates.

The Family has four main objectives:

1. To share with others the life-giving message of love, hope, and salvation found in God's Word, conveying the joys of knowing Jesus as a personal Savior.

2. To ensure that each of our children receives a godly upbringing in the best possible environment we can provide.

3. To produce and distribute a wide selection of devotional, inspirational, and educational materials.

4. To actively assist the needy through producing and performing inspirational, dramatic, and musical benefits; serving as volunteers in disaster relief; and seeking ways to provide comfort and material assistance for the disadvantaged.

If you have any questions or comments, we invite you to contact us at:

Web site: www.thefamily.org

Email: winepress@thewinepress.org 

Call in the USA at:

1 (800) 4–A–FAMILY [1 (800) 423-2645]

("Our Family's Origins" was first published April 1992 and updated January 2004.)

Copyright © 2004 by The Family International