Peoples Temple

==Before California==
{{further|Jim Jones}}

===Indiana formation===
[[File:Jimjonesfirstchurch.jpg|thumb|Jim Jones's first church in Indianapolis, Indiana|upright=1]]
Before he founded his church, [[Jim Jones]] had become enamored with [[communism]] and he was also frustrated by the harassment which communists were being subjected to in the U.S. during the [[Red Scare]].<ref name="q134">Jones, Jim. [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27339 "Transcript of Recovered FBI tape Q 134."] ''Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple''. Jonestown Project: San Diego State University.</ref> This, among other things, provided a clerical inspiration for Jones; as he himself described it in a biographical recording:<ref name="q134" /><ref name="violent" />
{{blockquote|I decided, how can I demonstrate my [[Marxism]]? The thought was, infiltrate the church. So I consciously made a decision to look into that prospect.}}

Although Jones feared that he would end up being the victim of a backlash for being a communist, he was surprised when a [[Methodist]] superintendent (whom he had not met through the [[American Communist Party]]) helped him enter the church, despite his knowledge that Jones was a communist.<ref name="horrock">Horrock, Nicholas M., "Communist in 1950s", ''The New York Times'', December 17, 1978</ref> In 1952, Jones became a student pastor in Sommerset Southside Methodist Church in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], but left that church because it barred him from [[Racial integration|integrating]] [[African-Americans]] into his congregation.<ref name="violent" /> In 1954, Jones founded his own church in a rented space in Indianapolis, at first, he named it the Community Unity Church.<ref name="violent" />

Jones had previously observed a [[faith healing]] service at the [[Seventh Day Baptist]] Church, which led him to conclude that such healings could attract people, and generate income, which he could use to accomplish his social goals.<ref name="violent">Wessinger, Catherine. ''How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate''. Seven Bridges Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1889119243}}.</ref> Jones and the Temple's members knowingly faked healings because they found that the healings increased people's faith and generated financial resources which they could use to help the poor and finance the church.<ref name="violent" /> These "healings" involved the use of chicken livers and other animal tissue, which Jones (and confederate Temple members) claimed were [[cancer]]ous tissues which had been removed from the bodies of the people who had been healed.<ref>Layton 1999, pp. 65–66.</ref>

In 1955, Jones bought his first church building, located in a racially mixed Indianapolis neighborhood. He first named his church Wings of Deliverance,<ref name="raven49">Reiterman 1982. pp. 49–52.</ref> and later that year, he renamed it the '''Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church''', the first time he used the phrase "Peoples Temple".<ref name="violent" /> Jones's healings and purported [[clairvoyant]] revelations attracted [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]]s.<ref name="raven49" />

===Latter Rain Movement===
Jones began closely associating with the [[Independent Assemblies of God, International|Independent Assemblies of God]] (IAoG), an international group of churches who embraced the Latter Rain movement. The IAoG had few requirements for ordaining ministers and were accepting of divine healing practices. In June 1955, Jones held his first joint meetings with [[William Branham]], a healing [[Evangelism|evangelist]] and [[Pentecostal]] leader in the global [[Healing Revival]].{{sfn|Guinn|2017|p=82}}

In 1956, Jones was [[Ordination|ordained]] as an IAoG minister by [[Joseph Mattsson-Boze]], a leader in the Latter Rain movement and the IAoG. Jones quickly rose to prominence in the group. Working with the IAoG, Jones organized and hosted a healing convention to take place from June 11 to June 15, 1956, in Indianapolis's [[Cadle Tabernacle]]. Needing a well-known figure to draw crowds, he arranged to share the pulpit again with Reverend Branham.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=50–52}}

Branham was known to tell supplicants their name, address, and why they came for prayer, before pronouncing them healed.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=9–10}} Jones was intrigued by Branham's methods and began performing the same feats. Jones and Branham's meetings were very successful and attracted an audience of 11,000 at their first joint campaign. At the convention, Branham issued a prophetic endorsement of Jones and his ministry, saying that God used the convention to send forth a new great ministry.{{sfn|Collins|2017|pp=177-179|loc="Sharing the pulpit with Rev. Jim Jones of Peoples Temple, where [Branham] "prophesied" God's "blessing" on Jones' ministry..."}}

Many attendees in the campaign believed Jones's performance indicated that he possessed a [[Spiritual gift|supernatural gift]], and coupled with Branham's endorsement, it led to rapid growth of Peoples Temple. Jones was particularly effective at recruitment among the African American attendees at the conventions.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Collins, John|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=61481|title=The Intersection of William Branham and Jim Jones|date=October 4, 2014|publisher=San Diego State University |journal=Alternative Consideration of Jonestown & Peoples Temple}}</ref><ref name = "osojj">{{cite web|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=13778|title=Ordination Service of Jim Jones into Disciples of Christ|date=February 17, 2013|access-date=2021-11-02|publisher=San Diego State University}}</ref> According to a newspaper report, regular attendance at Peoples Temple swelled to 1,000 thanks to the publicity Branham provided to Jones and Peoples Temple.<ref>{{cite news|title=Peoples Temple Full Gospel|date=January 21, 1956|publisher=Indianapolis Star|author=Staff writers|page=7}}</ref>

Following the convention, Jones renamed his church the "Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel" to associate it with [[Full Gospel]] Pentecostalism; the name was later shortened to the Peoples Temple.<ref name = "fgo">{{cite web|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=92702|publisher=San Diego State University|author=Collins, John|date=September 19, 2019|title=The "Full Gospel" Origins of Peoples Temple}}</ref> Jones participated in a series of multi-state revival campaigns with Branham and Mattsson-Boze in the second half of the 1950s, making multiple joint appearances with them. Jones claimed to be a follower and promoter of Branham's "Message" during the period.{{sfn|Collins|2017|pp=179-181}}<ref name = "tmcojjwb">{{cite journal|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=65112|title=The Message Connection of Jim Jones and William Branham|author=Collins, John & Duyzer, Peter|date=October 31, 2015|publisher=San Diego State University |journal=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple |access-date=September 24, 2021}}</ref> Peoples Temple hosted a second international Pentecostal convention in 1957 which was again headlined by Branham. Through the conventions and with the support of Branham and Mattsson-Boze, Jones secured connections throughout the Latter Rain movement.<ref name="Johnstown.sdsu.edu">{{cite web |publisher=San Diego State University|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=81621|access-date=February 23, 2016|title=Jim Jones and the Postwar Healing Revival|author=Collins, John}}</ref><ref name = "fgo"/>

===Indianapolis expansion===
Jones used the convention meetings with other Pentecostal speakers to gain wide publicity, and Jones continued to disguise the fact that he was using religion to further his political ideology.<ref name="raven49" /> Those conventions drew as many as 11,000 attendees,<ref name="raven49" /> as Jones and the other preachers conducted "healings" and impressed attendees by revealing private information—usually addresses, phone numbers, or [[Social Security number]]s, which [[private detective]]s could easily discover beforehand.<ref name="raven49" /> Jones and Temple members also drove through various cities in Indiana and [[Ohio]] on recruiting and fundraising efforts.<ref name="raven57">Reiterman 1982. p. 57.</ref>

The Temple stressed [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]] ideals, asking members to attend in casual clothes so poor members would not feel out of place, and providing shelter for the needy.<ref name="raven54">Reiterman 1982. pp. 54–55.</ref> While the Temple had increased its African-American membership from 15% to nearly 50%, in order to attempt further gains the Temple hired African-American preacher Archie Ijames (who had earlier given up organized religion).<ref name="raven49" /> Pastor Ijames was one of the first to commit to Jones's [[socialism|socialist]] [[collective]] program.<ref name="raven54" /> In 1959, the church joined the [[Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)]], and was renamed the '''Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel'''.<ref name="violent" /> This affiliation was a successful attempt to both raise the dwindling membership and restore the reputation of the organization.

In February 1960, the Temple opened a [[soup kitchen]] for the poor and expanded their social services to include rent assistance, job placement services, free canned goods, clothing, and coal for winter heating.<ref name="raven54" /> Jones and his wife Marceline helped to increase the Temple's soup kitchen service to an average of about 2,800 meals per month.<ref name="raven54" /> The Temple's public profile was further elevated when Jones was appointed to the Indianapolis [[Human Rights Commission]]. He engaged in public attempts to integrate businesses and was the subject of much local media coverage.<ref>Reiterman 1982. pp. 68–72.</ref>

===Changes and "religious communalism"===
Jones had read extensively about [[Father Divine]], the founder of the [[International Peace Mission movement]].<ref name="raven58">Reiterman 1982. p. 59.</ref> Jones and members of the Temple visited Divine several times, while Jones studied his writings and tape recordings of his sermons.<ref name="raven59">Reiterman 1982. pp. 59, 65.</ref> The Temple printed Divine's texts for its members and began to preach that members should [[abstinence|abstain from sex]] and only adopt children.<ref name="raven59" />

In 1959, Jones tested the new fiery rhetorical style that Divine had used in a sermon.<ref name="raven60">Reiterman 1982. p. 60.</ref> His speech captivated members with lulls and crescendos, as Jones challenged individual members in front of the group.<ref name="raven60" /> The speech also marked the beginning of the Temple's underlying "us versus them" message.<ref name="raven60" /> Jones carefully wove in that the Temple's home for senior citizens was established on the basis "[[From each according to his ability, to each according to his need]]", quoting [[Karl Marx]]'s ''[[Critique of the Gotha Program]]''.<ref name="raven61">Reiterman 1982. p. 61.</ref> He did so knowing that his Christian audience would recognize the similarities with text from the [[Acts of the Apostles]] (4:34–35) which stated: "distribution was made to each as any had need."<ref name="raven61" /> Jones would repeatedly cite that passage to paint [[Jesus of Nazareth|Jesus]] as a communist, while at the same time attacking much of the text of the [[Bible]].<ref name="raven61" />

The Temple began tightening control over its organization,<ref name="raven54" /> asking more of its members than did other churches.<ref name="raven54" /> It required that members spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with its Temple "family" rather than with blood relatives,<ref name="raven54" /> the beginning of a process to wean members from outside contact and redirect their lives toward a total commitment to the Temple and its goals.<ref name="raven54" /> Jones began to offer a deal towards a socialist collective, which he called "[[religious communism|religious communalism]]", in which members would donate their material possessions to the Temple in exchange for the Temple meeting all those members' needs.<ref name="raven54" /> Pastor James was one of the first to commit.<ref name="raven54" />

The Temple had little luck converting most [[Midwest]]erners to communist ideals, even when disguised as religion.<ref name="raven62">Reiterman 1982. p. 62.</ref> Admiring the 1959 [[Cuban Revolution]], Jones traveled to the island nation in 1960 in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade poor black Cubans to move to his congregation in Indiana.<ref name="raven62" /> The Temple's religious message transitioned during this period, to one treading between [[atheism]] and the subtle notion that Jones was a Christ-like figure.<ref name="raven74">Reiterman 1982. p. 74.</ref> While Temple aides complained privately, Jones said that the new message was needed to foster members' dedication to the Temple's larger goals.<ref name="raven74" /> He maintained such implications until the mid-to-late 1970s.<ref name="raven74" />

In 1961, Jones claimed he had had a [[religious vision|vision]] in which Indianapolis and [[Chicago]] were destroyed in a [[nuclear war|nuclear attack]],<ref name="raven76">Reiterman 1982. p. 76.</ref> convincing aides that the Temple needed to look for a new location. A 1962 ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine article listed the nine safest places to be in a nuclear war, with [[Belo Horizonte, Brazil|Belo Horizonte]], [[Brazilian military dictatorship|Brazil]], topping the list because of its location and atmospheric conditions.<ref name="raven77">Reiterman 1982. p. 77.</ref> Jones traveled through Brazil from 1962 through early 1963.<ref name="raven83">Reiterman 1982. p. 83.</ref> He requested money from the Temple while in [[Rio de Janeiro]], but the Temple lacked adequate funds for such a request because of shrinking finances in Jones's absence.<ref name="raven83" /> Jones sent a preacher that had become a follower in Brazil back to Indiana to help stabilize the Temple.<ref name="raven85">Reiterman 1982. p. 85.</ref> Jones returned to Indiana in 1963.<ref name="violent" />