Book Review: Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd: Talking with the Children of God

Abstract

In Talking with the Children of God, sociologists Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd present a case study about The Family International, a secretive and often misunderstood religious movement that has overcome decades of hostile attacks and scandals to spread internationally. The purpose of the book is to understand the ways in which the developing leadership of a heretical religion can produce a successful religious movement, reaching a certain level of stability and continuity for new generations of believers. Emerging out of Southern California and originally known as Children of God, The Family International arose from the Jesus People movement of the late 1960’s. Family members share a religious calling to witness and save souls with a belief in an imminent apocalyptic end to humanity. Now a worldwide movement, the Family’s total current membership is about 10,500. A foundational belief of the Family is that their staff members are gifted with channels in which they receive prophecies to guide and justify Family practices such as proselytizing, communal living, and sexual sharing among consensual adults. They view Jesus Christ as the Family’s husband and lover, believing that when they are having sex with a fellow member, they are actually having sex with Jesus Christ himself. While the book is a product of sixteen years of survey and field observations, the focus is on data emerging from informal, open-ended ‘‘conversations’’ (p. xiii) with 35 staff members of World Services, the headquarters organization of Family International. Informal conversations, rather than structured interviews, were used because the researchers did not feel they had enough knowledge about their subjects to prepare a sequence of focused questions. Furthermore, they felt like the newest and richest insights would emerge through a process of discovery accomplished by informal conversations.