The Children of God

Naturally, these and other revelations and prophecies the Lord was giving Dad were “hard sayings” for many religious people, like Fred Jordan. Fred was already bitterly jealous over the COG’s loyalty and allegiance to David more than to him, and these revelations only helped to fan the fire.

Using Children of God converts and their testimonies on his television show every Sunday and promoting his work through them, Fred had raised enough money on their behalf to buy the two Coachella ranches. But when Dad found out that all the Children were allowed to use of these properties was an oven-hot Quonset hut, a garage, and a tiny cottage, and that the big, beautiful ranch house with the swimming pool was only for the Jordan family’s weekend use, he exploded! In an open letter, he gave Fred an ultimatum that either the Children got use of the Coachella ranch and the finances to cover basic needs, or they would pull out. He encouraged the disciples to demand their rights.

So some of the leaders began to question Fred about where the money was going and why they couldn’t use the property bought for their benefit with the gifts of donors. TSC asked about the $53,000 of labor and materials that had gone into the ranch—improvements that Fred had asked for and had promised to repay.

Seeing the danger of being accused of misappropriating funds and not using the properties for the purposes for which he had been granted tax exemption, Fred quickly and wisely incorporated himself, his family, and some of his employees in the name “The Children of God Incorporated,” with a grand total of only 5 trustees, not one of them actual members of the original Children of God who were doing the work. He later told the press that he had receipts to prove that he had given $98,000 to the Children of God—a remarkably generous gesture to himself.

Well, these demands certainly showed Fred’s true colors, because not only did he not meet any of them, but he ordered all the leaders of the Children of God off his properties—but only the leaders, as he was evidently hoping to keep some of the followers. They all departed, and not one Child of God was left on any Jordan property.