40 Facts About Peoples Temple

Peoples Temple hosted a second international Pentecostal convention in 1957 which was again headlined by Branham.

Jones and Peoples Temple members drove through various cities in Indiana and Ohio on recruiting and fundraising efforts.

Peoples Temple stressed egalitarian ideals, asking members to attend in casual clothes so poor members would not feel out of place, and providing shelter for the needy.

In February 1960, the Peoples 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.

Peoples Temple engaged in public attempts to integrate businesses and was the subject of much local media coverage.

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Jones and members of the Peoples Temple visited Divine several times, while Jones studied his writings and tape recordings of his sermons.

Peoples Temple's speech captivated members with lulls and crescendos, as Jones challenged individual members in front of the group.

Peoples Temple began tightening control over its organization, asking more of its members than did other churches.

Peoples Temple had little luck converting most Midwesterners to communist ideals, even when disguised as religion.

The Peoples Temple's religious message transitioned during this period, to one treading between atheism and the subtle notion that Jones was a Christ-like figure.

Peoples Temple 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.

Financial issues and a much smaller congregation forced Jones to sell the Peoples Temple church building and relocate to a smaller building nearby.

Jones used his position to recruit for Peoples Temple, teaching his students the benefits of Marxism and lecturing on religion.

Peoples Temple's efforts were successful, and Jones recruited 50 new members to Peoples Temple in the first few months.

Peoples Temple played up famous members of the Disciples, including Lyndon Johnson and J Edgar Hoover, and misrepresented the nature of his position in the denomination.

Peoples Temple believed that if the true nature of his views became widely known, he would quickly lose the support of political leaders and even face the possibility of Peoples Temple being ejected from the Disciples of Christ.

Peoples Temple claimed that Nazi fascists and white supremacists would put people of color into concentration camps.

Peoples Temple'storians are divided over whether Jones actually believed his own teachings, or was just using them to manipulate people.

Peoples Temple frequently prophesied that fires, car accidents, and death or injuries would come upon anyone unfaithful to him and his teachings.

Peoples Temple constantly told his followers that they needed to be crusaders in promoting and fulfilling his beliefs.

Many members working outside of the Peoples Temple were required to turn over all their income to be used for the benefit of the community.

Jones directed groups of his followers to work on various projects to earn income for the People Peoples Temple and set up an agricultural operation in Redwood Valley to grow food.

In 1970, the Peoples Temple began holding services in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

In San Francisco, the Temple occupied a former Scottish Rite temple at 1859 Geary Boulevard; in Los Angeles, the Temple occupied the former building of the First Church of Christ, Scientist at 1366 S Alvarado Street.

The Peoples Temple set up permanent staff in Los Angeles and arranged bus trips there every other week.

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Later, when the Peoples Temple's headquarters shifted from Redwood Valley to San Francisco, the Peoples Temple convinced many Los Angeles members to move north to its new headquarters.

The Peoples Temple tightly defined psychological boundaries that "enemies", such as "traitors" to the Peoples Temple, crossed at their own peril.

Peoples Temple used ten to fifteen Greyhound-type bus cruisers to transport members up and down California freeways each week for recruitment and fundraising.

Peoples Temple distributed pamphlets in cities along the route of these fundraising trips bragging of Jones's prowess at "spiritual healing" without mentioning the Peoples Temple's Marxist goals.

Peoples Temple members pretended to be locals and acted as shills in the various faked healings and "revelations".

The Peoples Temple maintained a branch, college tuition program, and dormitory at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Peoples Temple made strong connections to the California state welfare system.

The Peoples Temple elite handled members' insurance claims and legal problems, effectively acting as a client-advocacy group.

Peoples Temple distinguished itself from most new religious movements with its overtly political message.

Jones and the Peoples Temple received the support of California political figures such as Moscone, Governor Jerry Brown, Congressman Mervyn Dymally, state Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Assemblyman Art Agnos, and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

The Peoples Temple further forged an alliance with San Francisco's Black community newspaper, the Sun Reporter publisher Dr Carlton Goodlett and it received frequent favorable mentions in that paper.

However, the Peoples Temple aroused police suspicion after Jones praised the Symbionese Liberation Army, a radical Bay Area group, and the SLA's leaders attended San Francisco Peoples Temple meetings.

Peoples Temple used the event to garner positive publicity, and the joint rally was attended by many of his closest political acquaintances.

Peoples Temple then excused himself, entered a restroom, and fatally shot himself in the head.

Mass suicide of the Peoples Temple has helped embed the idea that all new religious movements are destructive in the public's mind.