Former Hippies, Addicts, Study Bible at Thurber
Advance, Palo Pinto County, Printed in the interest of Mineral Wells and Palo Pinto County, Mineral Wells, Texas 76067
May 28, 1970, North America
Reports over the past few weeks that a hippy colony was being established near Thurber, prompted an ADVANCE reporter to go to the area this week to investigate.
The colony was supposed to be located about three miles south of Thurber just across the south line of Palo Pinto County, in Erath County.
As the ADVANCE reporter came to the location so described, he came to a huge padlocked iron gate with a sign next to it that stated, “Friendly visitors welcome from noon till dark. Honk and walk to the gate and someone will come to assist you.”
The reporter honked and one young man came running from a car parked atop a small hill a short distance away and another came up riding a bicycle.
They greeted the reporter cordially and one set out in search of the director and the other one unlocked the gate and invited the reporter to come to the visitors room.
In a short while, the director appeared and introduced himself as John. The reporter stated he had several inquiries as to what was happening there and would like to do a story on the place.
John said he would welcome a story and would give all the information needed. When asked if it were true there was a colony of hippies located there, John answered, “Nothing could be farther from the truth. Former hippies, yes. We have former hippies, drug addicts, militants and other radicals in our midst but each of them has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and are here training to lead others from their wandering ways.”
John said the organization was called the Soul Clinic and was founded by his family about two years ago. The property the Clinic was on was owned by Fred Jordan who was born and reared there, and consist of 400 acres. He said the deeds stated that it could only be used for organizations involved in Bible study.
The youthful director stated the primary purpose of the Soul Clinic was to carry the message of the Bible to radical elements on the colleges, parks and other gathering places for young people. He said no church or other religious organization had any programs to reach these young people. The Soul Clinic has buses that carry teams to areas of disturbance where they can talk to the militants, the revolutionists, and radicals to try to get them to accept Christ and put this zeal and enthusiasm to work for the Lord.
As the reporter was escorted over the grounds of the Soul Clinic, the director explained the program involved at the Thurber location. He said there were approximately 150 young people in the Clinic at this time between the ages of 18 and 25. Thirty of these are staff members that conduct the Clinic. He said about one-third of the enrollment there was female. Some married couples live there with their children.
The director explained their philosophy in the commune was that every one shared each other’s property and the work involved in taking care of so many people. The students are divided into tribes of eight, with each tribe responsible for some phase of the operation.
The students work three hours in the morning, study three hours in the afternoon, then have five hours of classes in the evening.
Part of their training while at the Soul Clinic includes vocational training to enable them to earn a living after they leave. Vocations include cooking, farming, photography and printing.
A student will have three months of basic instructions when he first arrives, that includes memorizing 200 scriptures of the Bible. After this, they will have three months of advanced training, then sent into the field for three months, after which they are ordained and given charge of a crew.
At the present time the Soul Clinic has centers in Dallas.