New Age Religious Movement

By Mia.Shum

  • The Children of God is Established

    David Brandt Berg establishes the Children of God (COG) after realizing that California was going to be hit by a major earthquake. COG members would go on the street to convert people to their way of life.

  • COG Reaches 100 Members

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    Mo-Letters are Used as Communcation

    Berg communicated with his members through letters known as Mo-Letters. Around 3,000 letters were sent, some detailing his weaknesses, some establishing religious claims, and others pushing the idea of an inevitable doomsday.

  • COG Homes are Established Worldwide

  • "Flirty Fishing" Begins to be Practiced

    Berg encourged female members of COG to use sexual relationships (Flirty Fishing) to convert new members. This practice would become much more regular in later years.

  • The Family of Love is Established

    COG was abolished and reorganized into The Family of Love by Berg. The Family of Love (later simply referred to as The Family) was known for pushing for international expansion.
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    The Family is Accused of Sexual Abuse

    There was a large amount of evidence pointing to the fact that The Family was sexually abusing minors within the organization. This likely led to about 1/8 of the membership leaving. These claims would later be supported through past member testimonies.

  • The Family Strengthens Organization Rules

    Likely in response to allegations, The Family officially states that it condemns any sexual contact between an adult and child. It uses the lack of this clarifcation as the reason why there might have been misconduct within the organzation.

  • The Family reaches 9,000 members

  • The Family Allows News Coverage

    The Family begun to allow media coverage and religious scholars to visit one of its homes in La Habra, California. From one of these invites, the Washington Post describes the organization as being a "clean-cut bunch, friendly and courteous".

  • Karen Zerby Takes Ownership of The Family

    After Berg passed away, Zerby assumed leadership.
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    A British Court Rules The Family Guilty of Sexual Misconduct

    Lord Justice Alan Ward ruled that The Family had abused minors physical and sexually in the past. However, he found that the organization has been safe since then. The Lord Justice forced them to reject any of Berg's writings that may have justified the abuse of children.

  • The Love Charter is Put into Effect

    The Love Charter defined all of the rules, responsibilities and rights of members and members of homes.