Peoples Temple

===Size and scope===
[[File:Members of Peoples Temple attend an anti-eviction rally at the International Hotel, San Francisco - January 1977.jpg|thumb|Peoples Temple members attend an anti-eviction rally at the [[International Hotel (San Francisco)|International Hotel, San Francisco]], January 1977.]]
Despite exaggerated claims by the Temple of 20,000 or more members, one source claims its greatest actual registered membership was around 3,000.<ref>Hall, John R. "The Impact of Apostates on the Trajectory of Religious Movement: The Case of the Peoples Temple", in [[David G. Bromley]] (ed.) ''Falling from the Faith: Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy''. Sage Publications, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0803931886}}. p. 234.</ref> However, 5,000 individual membership card photos were located in Temple records after its dissolution.<ref>[http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=35899 'The Opposition, The Returned, Crisis & White Nights'], Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University, May 2008. {{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition.htm |title=The Opposition |access-date=2008-06-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501041949/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JTResearch/opposition.htm |archive-date=May 1, 2011 }}</ref> Regardless of its official membership, the Temple also regularly drew 3,000 people to its San Francisco services alone.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hall, John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=978-0887381249|page =166}}</ref> Of particular interest to politicians was the Temple's ability to produce 2,000 people for campaign work or attendance in San Francisco on only six hours' notice.<ref name="NYT1126" />

By the mid-1970s, in addition to its locations in Redwood Valley, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Temple had established [[Multi-site church|satellite congregations]] in almost a dozen other California cities.<ref name="raven280" /> Jones mentioned locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Ukiah, [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]], [[Fresno, California|Fresno]], and [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]].<ref>Jones, Jim, [http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27537 ''FBI Tape Q 683''], Jonestown Institute, San Diego State University {{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q683.html |title=Transcript Q683 |access-date=2008-06-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501041952/http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/TapeTranscripts/Q683.html |archive-date=May 1, 2011 }}</ref> The Temple also maintained a branch, college tuition program, and dormitory at [[Santa Rosa Junior College]].<ref>Layton 1999, p. 53.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Hall, John R. |title=Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History |publisher=Transaction Publishers |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |year=1987 |isbn=978-0887381249|pages= 90–91}}</ref>

At the same time, Jones and his church earned a reputation for aiding the cities' poorest citizens, especially racial minorities, drug addicts, and the homeless. The Temple made strong connections to the California state welfare system.<ref>Hall 1987, pp. 81–82</ref> During the 1970s, the church owned and ran at least nine [[residential care home]]s for the elderly, six homes for [[foster children]], and a state-licensed {{convert|40|acre|m2|adj=on}} ranch for [[developmentally disabled]] persons.<ref>Hall 1987, p. 82</ref> The Temple elite handled members' insurance claims and legal problems, effectively acting as a client-advocacy group. For these reasons, sociologist John Hall described the Temple as a "charismatic bureaucracy",<ref>Hall 1987, p. 95</ref> oriented toward Jones as a charismatic leader, but functioning as a bureaucratic social service organization.