The Brotherhood of Christ Church: A History

Most of the original people of the Community have a Restoration

background. In the late 1970s some of us who lived in Lamoni, Iowa began to feel in
common a sense of deep anxiety because church was so empty of the kinds of things
we needed and were accustomed to feeling in our worship. The church felt like a big,
uncaring business. The leadership from headquarters down to the congregational
level were primarily power and money oriented. So at the urging of some of the
ladies in our congregation around a dozen of us met in a home. We invited the Stake
President and met in the home of a member of the Stake High Council. The reason I
mention this is to demonstrate that we were not rebellious or intending to split off
from our Restoration background. We met simply to study and pray and feel the
Spirit of God together.

The people of the church were so hungry for ministry at this time that our
study group swelled to around 100 people; some meetings had as many as 150 in
attendance. Needless to say, those kinds of numbers quickly became threatening to a
politically minded leadership. We attempted to eliminate the feeling of competition
by suggesting that we become another organized group in the stake called a pastoral
group. We became pastoral group #11 under the local pastors leadership. We
continued to meet and grow and the intensity of the threat grew as well.

From the earliest beginnings the Lord led us by giving us principles to live
by. The first principle was that we were not to direct any of our energy towards that
which we were against. The Lord wanted us to only and always express that which
we were for; and we were for Him. In the RLDS circles at that time there were many
divisive issues buffeting the people: open communion, women in the priesthood, the
validity of the Book of Mormon, and a host of central control issues were distressing
and dividing the people. We chose not to deal with any of those issues. We did not
preach or teach or discuss any of those issues. The Lord has so many needs in this
world that we simply did not have time to be against anything.

So what were we for? We all had rich testimonies of the validity of the
Restoration. The Lord had clearly indicated many pivotal truths that Joseph Smith
had brought to the Restoration; however we found that not everything attributed to
Joseph was of divine origin. For instance, a man named Jack Revell did a study and
produced a book entitled The 1835 Revisions of the Doctrine and Covenants. We
poured over his book. We discovered that the entire church structure as we knew it
came from revelation revisions and not any original revelations. Basically, the
original revelations agreed on every point with the Book of Mormon as to the
definition of the church and its structure. The original revelations coincided exactly
with the Book of Mormon with regards to priesthood, church structure, the financial
law, and the nature of God. The validity of Jack Revells work was not called into
question by the church leadership because it was very accurately done; however they
did question what they termed his interpretation of the meaning of the revisions and
therefore quietly suppressed his work.

About this time the stake leadership became desperate to disband our study
group. It was problematic for them to discover how to silence the priesthood and not
alienate the membership in all their enthusiasm. It was hard for them because we had
never taken any position against any teachings, policies, or programs and we did not
speak out against any part of their leadership. They were totally unaccustomed as to
what to do under these circumstances. They tried to silence me on numerous
occasions and various people came to visit with me with silencing papers in their
hands. Each time the issue they would attempt to use as the rational to silence me
turned out to be untrue or unjust. They had to have a reasonable issue to use in order
to be justified in silencing me.

One of the things the Lord told us early on was to tape record all my sermons
and classes. During this time I was preaching widely throughout the United States
and accumulated over 700 hours of recordings. One time I went into the Stake Office
on business and on the presidents desk was a huge box of cassette tapes. I noticed
that they were all from our meetings and my preaching. I asked the stake president
what he was doing with all of those tapes and he said he had just finished listening to
them all! I replied wow, you must have learned a lot about the Restoration
Christ. He replied that that was not why he had listened to them and told me I was a
very cunning man, for nowhere in all of the recordings could he find one single
instance where I had spoken out against the church. So the stake tried something
new. They asked me to teach a Book of Mormon class for adults at the main church
branch in Lamoni. They knew that I was passionate about the Book of Mormon and I
suppose they thought I could not refrain from castigating something or someone when
teaching it. Most of the members of the stake high council attended all nine weeks of
the class. The theme of my class was: the church was originally established on the
Book of Mormon, what kind of a church would we have if we still only used the Book
of Mormon?

They had no idea of the impact that class would have because nothing the
church had become reflected the Book of Mormon anymore. Here are some key
components of the Book of Mormon theology that were lost to the Restoration. First,
and very importantly, the Book of Mormon contains the definition of the
church. Read Mosiah 11:128-129 & 136 (RLDS). And he that will hear my voice,
shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive in to the church; and him will I also
receive. For behold, this is my church: whosoever is baptized, shall be baptized unto
repentance. Therefore I say unto you, that he that will not hear my voice, the same
shall ye not receive into my church, for him I will not receive at the last day To us,
this is saying whoever hears the Spirit of God in their daily walk and obeys what they
are hearing is a member of the church. This startling definition is further supported by
a section of original revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants (RLDS 3:16) which
reads, Behold, this is my doctrine: Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the
same is my church; whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me,
but is against me; therefore, he is not of my church. The phrase above cometh unto
me means hearing the spirit. Read RLDS D&C 83:7d, and everyone that
hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit, cometh unto God, even the Father.

There are people all throughout the world who hear the Spirit of God. They are
in every culture and people of the earth. There are other indications from Joseph
Smiths writings that indicate that this definition of the church is correct. RLDS D&C
3:12-13, and now, behold, according to their faith in their prayer, will I bring this
part of my gospel to the knowledge of my people. Behold, I do not bring it to destroy
that which they have received, but to build it up. And for this cause have I said, If this
generation harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them. Now I do
not say this to destroy my church, but I say this to build up my church; therefore,
whosoever belongeth to my church need not fear, for such shall inherit the kingdom of
heaven; but it is they who do not fear me, neither keep my commandments, but build
up churches unto themselves, to get gain; yea, and all those that do wickedly, and
build up the kingdom of the Devil. This revelation came in May 1829, before the
church was officially organized, and it clearly indicates Josephs idea of how he
conceived of the Restorations relationship with the rest of Christianity. As far as he
was concerned the Restoration of the gospel would make a Baptist a better Baptist, or
a Catholic a better Catholic, but it would not eliminate the other church or churches.

Another point in this class was studying how the church was to conduct
worship. The Book of Mormon reads, And their meetings were conducted by the
church, after the manner of the workings of the spirit, and by the power of the Holy
Ghost; for as the power of the Holy Ghost led them whether to preach or exhort, or to
pray, or to supplicate, or to sing, even so it was done. Our experience with
Restoration worship had been that it was centrally controlled with programmed
themes and bulletins that were routinely the same. We had experienced no meetings
simply and always open to the leadings of the Spirit.

Another study point was methods for ordaining priesthood and what priesthood
duties were outlined in the Book of Mormon. In Moroni 3:2 (RLDS) it gives the
manner in which priests and teachers are to be ordained and even the words to
use. None of us had ever known this manner or words to be used before. The words
to be used to baptize someone in their personal covenant are given in III Nephi
5:25. Whenever I would use those words in baptizing someone, some officer in the
church would challenge me as they had never heard this used before. I would show
them in the Book of Mormon and they would say nothing. Also, there are no bishops,
seventies, deacons, or evangelists in the Book of Mormon. Teachers were always the
pastors (RLDS Mos. 11:98, Alma 21:26) And there was no First Presidency or
councils or quorums. And the church was regulated simply by repentance. (RLDS
Mos. 11:144-146) Besides all of the references that say, preach nothing but
repentance (RLDS Mos. 9:37, 9:53, Alma 10:12, 17:66, Moroni 3:2) we experienced
repentance to be forbidden to be preached from the pulpit.

But with all of this still the very heart of the Book of Mormon and Joseph
Smiths real ministry about Christ was lost to the Restoration. The Book of Mormon
ways, (RLDS Jacob 3:7)wherefore, we search the prophets; and we have many
revelations, and the spirit of prophecy, and having all these witnesses, we obtain a
hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the
name of Jesus, and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the
sea. When something obeys it is a considered action. Obey means to comprehend
meaning. The single most important and compelling aspect of restoration is Joseph
Smiths Restoration Christ. No other Christian religion has Him. The Restoration
Christ is so unrecognizable to them that Christians routinely wonder if the Restoration
is a part of Christianity. Joseph Smith didnt have to restore the church. That would
be saying no person on the earth could hear and obey the spirit. He didnt have to
restore the gospel either, otherwise the Restoration would not have been able to make
a Baptist a better Baptist. Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the gospel. The
Gospel = Christ. The fullness of the Gospel = the Restoration Christ. Our one
identifying characteristic as a group is we worship the Restoration Christ and make
Him a way of life.

So what is the Restoration Christ? Do Christians have the very trees obey them
or the mountains or the waves of the sea? No they dont because that would mean all
the elements of the earth are alive and living souls. That is thought of negatively as
animism and pantheism: words relegated to describe pagans and
heathens. Joseph Smith received from God (according to RLDS tradition with the
Urim) these words, And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And
out of the ground, I the Lord God, formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the
air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call
them. And they were also living souls.

Restoration theology in many places of original revelations underscores all of

the elements of creation being alive. Read RLDS Doctrine & Covenants 85:2-3:
 2 (a)This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even
the glory of the celestial kingdom; which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn,
even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ, his Son; (b) he that ascended up
on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things,
that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth, which truth
shineth. This is the light of Christ. (c) As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun,
and the power therefof by which it was made. (d) As also he is in the moon, and is the
light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made. (e) As also the light of
the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made. (f) And the earth also, and
the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.

3 (a) And the light which now shineth, which giveth you light, is through him
who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your
understanding; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the
immensity of space. (b) The light which is in all things; which giveth life to all things;
which governed even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the
bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

And RLDS Doctrine & Covenants 85:10 b-c:

(b) mercy hath compassion on mercy, and claimeth her own; justice
continueth its course, and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him
who sitteth upon the throne, and governeth and executeth all things:

(c)he comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things
are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all
things, and is round about all things: and all things are by him, and of him; even God,
for ever and ever.

And RLDS Doctrine & Covenants 90:1 d-g:

(d) And he bore record saying, I saw his glory that he was in the
beginning before the world was; therefore, in the beginning the Word was; for he was
the Word, even the messenger of salvation, the light and Redeemer of the world;

(e)the Spirit of truth, who came into the world because the world was made by
him; and in him was the life of men and the light of men.

(f) The worlds were made by him. Men were made by him. All things were
made by him, and through him, and of him.
 (g) And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only
Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; even the Spirit of truth which came
and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.

The world view that springs out of such revelations as these are, in fact, the
very world view of all the earths native peoples. It is the only view of God that can
be made a way of life.

So after this class, the Leadership was once again disappointed that they could
find nothing to silence me for that the people would accept. Eventually they silenced
me for over emphasizing Christ. They said that if I continued to emphasize Christ
as I did the people would come to think He was more important than the
church. And they gave several reasons why I was to be accordingly silenced. They
said: (1) I baptized people unto repentance instead of into the church. They said: (2) I
confirmed the Holy Ghost upon them after baptism instead of confirming them
members of the church. They said:(3) that the church gave priesthood authority that it
did not come from God. (see RLDS Mos 11:18) where it says none received
authority except it were from God. They said: (4) that I said Christ should regulate all
the affairs of the church and of course everyone knew it was the First Presidency who
should. They said: (5) I taught that in ministry the Spirit should direct it but they said
rather, it should be the priesthood handbook. They said: (6) that my teaching that the
church should have all things common would destroy the economic structure of the
church (the only mention of tithes in the Book of Mormon are quotes from the
Bible.) They said: (7) supporting the First Presidency was more important than using
the scriptures as a guide. And, that only the First Presidency had the right to
interpret scripture. And my view that the Spirit could help a person interpret scripture
was wrong. And last of all, they said : (8) it was very destructive for me to teach that
a persons relationship with God was more important than their relationship with
church programs, policies and leadership direction.

Through it all I was very pleased to know they understood clearly what I was
teaching and that there had been no breakdown in our communication. Our two
positions were very clear to each other.

So after several of us were silenced we were free and we could set about more
seriously to make the Restoration Christ a way of life. We continued to grow and two
members of the stake high council became members of our study/church group.

At this point I did my 40 days of fasting and prayer as described in the Sealed
Portion, vol. 1. Afterward, we pooled our money and bought 200 acres of land. At
this writing we farm about 1200 acres and lease 320 more for cutting fire wood.
 Our original stated objective as a community was to be an experimental
community. Our goal was to see if we could keep the first commandment. We
found out soon that when the world could not lay claim to the feelings of our hearts
with artificial stimulae in the television and media and related emotional pressures,
and when the world could not ask any task of us for us to use our strength in any labor
and when we were free to think our own thoughts all day and night we could indeed
keep the first commandment; which is to love the Lord with all your heart, might,
mind and strength. The world had no claim to any of our thoughts, feelings or labors.

After about three years in community we had grown to 520 acres and we no
longer conceived of ourselves as an experimental community; we were then a First
Commandment Community.

About this time two things converged for us. First, we found the Dead Sea
Scrolls and second, we found that because of the intensity of the persecution from the
world, (mostly from RLDS) we had to become incorporated to safeguard our land. In
order to incorporate and get insurance, we had to have a name. At this time came
along the name of The Brotherhood of Christ Church. We did not start a new
church. We did not become a denomination. We simply had to safeguard our
property. The name is a technicality. Our policy is to accept all priesthood
corresponding to the Book of Mormon from other religions and to accept all personal
covenants in baptism that were unto repentance. At one time we had five different
denominational backgrounds represented in a single worship ceremony in the
functioning priesthood. We do not hold that Joseph Smith restored priesthood
authority for two reasons. The Book of Mormon says authority comes from God, not
man. And God does give it to whoever He wants to. And, Joseph Smith
said; who received the priesthood by the commandments of God, by the hand of
his father Adam who was the first man; which priesthood continueth in the church of
Godin all generations, and is without beginning of day or end of years. (D&C 83:26
RLDS) So if it is in every generation and has no end, how could it be restored? I can
understand the idea of priesthood having no beginning or end being applied to
priesthood residing with God and needing to be restored but in all generations can
only mean what it says, and is in relation to mankind.

At this same time during a Christmas program in our school as I sat in the
audience, I felt a piece of paper under my feet and I picked it up. It was a page out of
a tattered paperback book that was about the Dead Sea Scrolls. I found most of the
rest of the book and taped it all back together. Man, what a revelation we found! It
was so exciting I had people come to my home in the night; I could not wait until the
next day. We had been led to formulate the church and community and worship just
like it was in Christs day. We counted up forty-four major components about our
community that were exactly like the church in the scrolls. I will tell you some of
them:

-we had a three phase method for people to become members of the community
that is found in the community rule.

- we prayed at the rising and setting sun.

-we wore worship garments

-we had all things in common and the storehouse

-we had the same priesthood functions, designations and philosophy

-we had women on our council and they were viewed to be equal in every
religious way (no women in priesthood outside of their supporting their husbands
priesthood)

-we had the three womens clans and the two mens clans

-we even butchered chickens on the north side of our camps/villages

-we had the same definition of repentance and righteousness

-we used common consent meaning unanimity

-we found our beloved Restoration Christ in the scrolls too!

-we had the same view of scripture they did and the list goes on

So now we knew we were Essenes. What a great joy to know through all
our rejection and persecution we had ties to the Lords very own church in which he
worshiped and lived while he was on the earth. Now understand, we had followed the
Lord and the leadings where ever he lead taking no thought for our lives nor
considering the traditions of our fathers. And it was a huge step of faith to do so. We
were left with no roots in our Restoration traditions that were expressed by the
modern church. But we had strong ties to the Book of Mormon and the Restoration
Christ which nobody seemed to believe in except us. And this discovery that we were
Essenes was indescribably comforting. Now we had real Restoration roots that both
predated Joseph Smith and validated the real meaning of the core of that which he
restored. The scrolls were literally filled with evidence that Joseph was a prophet,
especially the Book of Enoch. And it was a certainty that he could not have known
anything that was in them.
 Aside from all of the theological benefits we found in the scrolls and being
Essenes, the most practical benefit we discovered was the Community Rule that is
central to the scrolls. That rule actually allowed us to succeed as a community
because it was written by the people of the Lords church who had vast experience in
living in holy and righteous communities. Of course, it had to be adapted because it
was a rule governing the behavior of a people under serious and cruel foreign
occupation. Also the Rule reflected the strayings of Israel with regard to the Law of
Aaron in some important ways, but the thrust and function and tenants of the
Community Rule brought us the ability to be virtuous in our daily lives. And it has
proven to be of critical importance to us as we have learned to be a Zionic
Community. The Dead Sea Scrolls, by the way, have the only extant definition of
Zion in existence. It say Zion is the community of the righteous, the establishers of
the covenant, those who do not walk in the way of the people. There is another very
touching aspect of the scrolls worthy of mention. The Lord had always told us that
not only did we need him for salvation and everything imaginable in our daily lives
but he needed us for very real deeds in his personal daily life too. Generally,
Christians limit what they think the Lord needs from them to prostilizing or that is to
say, winning souls or increasing their numbers. We always thought he needed our
help with his own personal struggles. The scrolls indicate that the church people of
his day called Essenes prayed him to birth, prayed him through every day of his
life. There is what is known in the Temple Scroll as the Kings Law. That Law
totally governed their behavior all during Christs life on earth. He was loved,
protected, provided for and supported in his every move. I cant tell you how
comforting it was to learn that. The Community Rule even has explicit instructions
for the church people as to how to conduct themselves when He came to eat with
them. And we found at least two hymns in the Hymn Scroll that the Lord personally
wrote. Indications are that one was written at the age of twelve after His experience
in the temple with the elders.

There is another very important influence the scrolls had on us which turned
out to be validated in the Sealed Portion. Restoration theology has never been
pauline. The persecution the Restoration received in the early days is rich
testimony to that. The Book of Mormon is very anti-pauline. That is the principal
problem Christianity has with it. The Book of Mormon repeatedly claims salvation
comes from the resurrection and not the death of Christ. It also puts works as having
a role in our salvation. And most importantly repentance in the Book of Mormon is
portrayed as a way of life. (preach nothing but repentance) Christians view repentance
as problematic, preaching repentance as insulting and degrading. I know the RLDS
Church has never allowed it during my lifetime. And LDS people tell me they do not
hear it from the pulpit either. Most Restorationists think repentance is castigating
somebody or raking them over the coals. They have never understood what preaching
repentance really was. The scrolls have a highly developed expression of repentance
and repentance to their authors was considered their highest spiritual condition. They
referred to themselves as the repenters of the desert.

After this we considered the scrolls to be scripture. And we put them in the
same place as any other scripture: that as the Lord had to witness to us what part of
them were valuable to us and from him. The idea that writing could be thought of as
being word for word Gods word came into being with the Catholic Church many
centuries after the scrolls. For example there are several copies of major biblical
works on the scrolls and all of them a little different. There are seven copies of the
Book of Jeremiah and none of them worded exactly the same.

We were now a First Commandment community of Restorationists who called

themselves Essenes; but it gets better. After some years of this we had the Lord bring
us the Urim and Thummim and we were able to bring forth the Sealed Portion of the
Brother of Jared. These profound records took us back to even more ancient times,
before the Essenes. It was able to show us the divergence Israel went through in
relation to the Law of Moses much the same way the scrolls showed us the strayings
of the Apostle Paul. We found out that the ancient practice and belief called Shabuot
was the exact expression of the Restoration Christ. Shabuot expresses exactly what
Doctrine & Covenants section 85 and 90 (RLDS) say as quoted earlier. And Shabuot
gave us the means of really understanding the Restoration Christ. And it enabled us
more than any other concept to make that Christ literally a way of life. The Essenes in
Christs day did Shabuot but because of the Jewish traditions the true meaning did not
come down to their present day among them. The Sealed Portion gave us the ability
to understand that aspect of the scrolls much better.

At this point we were becoming a very mature and stable community. We were
thoroughly grounded in the kind of truth and understanding that made it possible to
make the restoration Christ a way of life. And that way of life abundantly expressed
what one would expect to find in Zion. Besides healings and miracles and rich
testimonies in our daily walk we developed into a people with a vast ability to love
people. Our children were pure, innocent and holy. Our youth, born and raised in
Community, approach marriage in absolute holiness and purity being unspotted from
the world. If we were wrong about everything that we have done it would still be
worth all we put into it just for the sake of the kind of children/people that have been
produced here. If we have not done anything else with our lives besides produce
fourteen of those kind of grand children, my wife and I have lived absolutely
successful lives.

Now, back to Shabuot. The word Shabuot or Shabouaw means to seven ones
self. Or that is to say to declare or express or commit or covenant before God the
same thing seven times. Doing that seven times is known to fix such declarations or
covenants permanently. The Sealed Portion says Shem or Melchisedec caused all
creation (the 2/3 who remained faithful to God) to covenant that they would hold the
Spirit and presence of Christ, and be alive in Him and speak for Him and be fruitful to
Him etc. Exactly the Restoration Christ. So the Restoration mystery of why the
emphasis on this man Melchisedec was explained. No other Christian claim to have
Melchisedec priesthood. But to us any Restoration priesthood is Melchisidec
priesthood. So now we had taken our Restoration heritage back to just after the
flood. And the basic Book of Mormon theology was affirmed and supported. And
the core of the revelatory validity of Joseph Smith was sustained. So now we were a
First Commandment Community of Restoration Essenes who had the Religion of
Shabuot. But we had yet another purification to go through. Through all of this for
eighteen years in Community we still did not grasp the true nature of God. We still
had baggage from the strayings of Joseph Smith, the Apostle Paul and from Aaron the
brother of Moses. And the Lord in his great kindness came again to ask that we use
the Urim and Thummim. And we received The Book of Remembrance of Enoch. In
this work we gained an understanding of the real nature of God and who he is in his
own right. And we were taken back in our spiritual heritage to the days of the times
of Enoch and his holy city. We then knew how he established Zion and how the pure
religion of his day was expressed. We arrived at the beginning and were joined to our
first parents in our understanding, and in our hearts and in our way of life. Now we
are simply Zion. Finally by the grace of God and his tender guidance we come to
live in and worship Anokeesed I AM Loving Kindness we are His
community. We view this community as belonging to His people. We have
consistently over the years over prepared and supplied in anticipation of the Lord
needing a place for His loved one. With just our current resources our community can
provide for many times more people than those who live here in our present villages.

So now let me acquaint you with a little of the basic structure of Zion. The
sanctity of marriage, a man and his rib, is our highest value. We have each family
with a private dwelling or home. We live off the land as farmers providing all of our
needs. Here are some things we do for work and making a living. We farm with
horses. We plow, disk, plant, cultivate and harvest with horses. We have huge
gardens and crops. We have grain storage and a flour mill which can produce stone
ground four, bean meal, corn flour or meal, oat meal and feed for our animals. It
takes eight horses to power our flour mill. It takes from twelve to fourteen horses to
power the threshing machines. We disperse our food stores equally to each family
and they are responsible to manage the use of it. Sometimes we supplement diets for
pregnant women or the elderly with a few items bought in town. We do not eat any
genetically modified organisms. That in itself eliminates almost all food from the
store. We have a machine shop and blacksmith shop so we can maintain our farm
equipment. We use horses for all local transportation. We have a buggy shop, a horse
/harness shop to support our transportation needs.

The women spin wool from our sheep herd and make most of our winter
clothes. They make all of our summer clothes from purchased cotton cloth. At this
point we are building a building for weaving our own fabric. We have a tannery and
can make our own shoes and leather coats, horse harnesses etc. As this skill of
weaving develops we will be making all of our own fabric and clothing.

We dry food, can thousands of jars of food and smoke fish and meat. We have
a small cheese factory that can produce twenty-five pounds of cheese a day if that
many cows are fresh. We have a greenhouse and a pottery shop is made and ready to
begin producing our dishes next summer. Horses power the laundry areas in each
village with up to six washing machines for each laundry house. Horses power
cement mixers, augers, feed mills, sorghum presses, drag saws, a log lift, a saw mill, a
shingle mill, hay lifts, a winch and a stationary bailer besides all of the buildings and
shops.

We have two motor vehicles with three or four drivers in Community. Also
they are basically the only ones to handle or spend money. We have registered nurses
and certified teachers and our own school. We have mid-wives. We use doctors
regularly when our nurses cant deal with something. Our children are registered in
public school and schooled in our own school with our own curriculum. We have lots
of musical instruments and love music, mostly classical and religious. We have sports
at certain times of the year.

We keep the ancient Enochian calendar and use the old Essene time of day
system that is recorded in the Bible.

We love repentance and view it as the most holy condition anyone can be in. It
is a time to be personal and walk with Christ who we call by the ancient name of
Motsah the Lamb. We see the principle benefit of community being exposing one
another to each others sins and short comings so the incentive to change in relation to
the guiding of the spirit will be increased. We do not view sin and weakness as a
calamity but rather as a normal part of life for which we have the Lord to walk with
each of us personally as we become better people, husband and wives, neighbors and
fellow laborers etc. We confess openly with a kind of honesty that can take some
getting used to. Personal dignity and self-worth are prominent in Community. And
loving kindness is the watch word.

We use the element of righteousness in all of our daily lives and in worship
collectively. Because of the ancient nature of Zion our expression of religion and
worship is very compatible with the ways of the native peoples. Even still we do not
copy any of their ways but have our own from our scriptures and records connecting
us with ancient times. Most use of element is foreign to modern Christians and is
routinely rejected by them. As a people we are tolerant and love people very
easily. We are not perfect and have people in every stage of their life process. We
have a bottom line for living here though. We do not have any swearing, fighting,
drugs, alcohol, firearms, or gossiping. We try not to ever interrupt one another and
we never argue about religion. We put a huge emphasis on good parenting and
respecting family privacy. We have used professional counselors in the recent past to
help those of us who in times past- before community were abused and injured by
the world. We do not allow sexual, physical or emotional abuse in Community. Such
actions bring expulsion. A willingness to live by the virtues expressed in the
Community Rule as it applies to our day is required to live in Community.

Common Consent is an acquired skill and it must be learned. It is radically

different than that which is commonly encountered in the society at large. Concepts
such as majority rule, self-interest and persuasion are absent and are actually viewed
with alarm in Community.