Jim Jones

===Latter Rain movement===

Jones began to closely associate with the [[Independent Assemblies of God, International|Independent Assemblies of God]] (IAoG), an international group of churches which embraced the [[Latter Rain (post–World War II movement)|Latter Rain movement]]. The IAoG had few requirements for ordaining ministers and they were also accepting of divine healing practices. In June 1955, Jones held his first joint meetings with [[William Branham]], a healing [[Evangelicalism|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 and organized and hosted a healing convention to take place June 11–15, 1956, in Indianapolis's [[Cadle Tabernacle]]. Needing a well-known figure to draw crowds, he arranged to share the pulpit again with Branham.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|pp=50–52}}

[[File:Rev._William_M._Branham_in_Kansas_City,_1947.jpg|thumb|right|[[William Branham]] (pictured in 1947) helped launch and popularize Jim Jones's ministry in 1956.|alt=William Branham, a middle aged man holding a bible]]

Branham was known to tell attendees 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 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 web|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 |website=Alternative Consideration of Jonestown and 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=November 2, 2021|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"/> Jones participated in a series of multi-state revival campaigns with Branham in the second half of the 1950s. Jones claimed to be a follower and promoter of Branham's "Message" during the period.{{sfn|Collins|2017|pp=179–181}}<ref name = "tmcojjwb"/> 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|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple}}</ref><ref name = "fgo"/>

Jones adopted one of the Latter Rain's key doctrines which he continued to promote for the rest of his life: the [[Manifested Sons of God]].{{sfn|Collins|2017|p=182}} William Branham and the Latter Rain movement promoted the belief that individuals could become manifestations of God with supernatural gifts and superhuman abilities. They believed that such a manifestation signaled the [[second coming of Christ]], and that the people endowed with these special gifts would usher in a [[Millennialism|millennial age]] of heaven on earth.{{sfn|Collins|2017|p=182}} Jones was fascinated with the idea, and adapted it to promote his own utopian ideas and eventually the idea that he was himself a manifestation of God.{{sfn|Collins|2017|pp=182–191}} By the late 1960s, Jones came to teach he was a manifestation of "Christ the Revolution".{{sfn|Wessinger|2000|p=33}}

Branham was a major influence on Jones who subsequently adopted elements of Branham's methods, doctrines, and style. Like Branham, Jones would later claim to be a return of [[Elijah the Prophet]], the voice of God, a manifestation of Christ, and promote the belief that the end of the world was imminent.{{sfn|Collins|2017|p=182}}<ref name = "fgo">{{cite web|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=92702|publisher=San Diego State University|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple|author=Collins, John|date=September 19, 2019|title=The "Full Gospel" Origins of Peoples Temple}}</ref><ref name = "tmcojjwb">{{cite web|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=65112|title=The Message Connection of Jim Jones and William Branham|author1=Collins, John |author2=Duyzer, Peter|date=October 31, 2015|publisher=San Diego State University |website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple |access-date=September 24, 2021}}</ref> Jones learned some of his most successful recruitment tactics from Branham.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=132}} Jones eventually separated from the Latter Rain movement following a bitter disagreement with Branham in which Jones prophesied Branham's death. Their disagreement was possibly related to Branham's [[serpent seed|racial teachings]] or Branham's increasingly vocal opposition to communism.{{sfn|Collins|2017|pp=186}}