“Children of God” Settle Near E’town
By Ron Kapfhammer, Enterprise Staff Writer
October 15, 1970, North America
The “Children of God” are digging in for the winter on a 74-acre tract on Valley Creek Road on the LaRue side of the Hardin-LaRue County border.
The Elizabethtown colony of the Children of God was started three weeks when a group headed by Daniel Anderson, an elder in the religious organization that has adopted the name Children of God, settled in the thickly wooded area.
The group adopted its name, Children of God, because “that’s what people called us.” Anderson said Wednesday afternoon.
The Children of God, a personification of the American Puritan Ethic, lead a life similar to the Pilgrims who colonized New England in the 17th Century, Anderson prefers to compare the Children of God with First Century Christians who gave up everything to practice Christianity.
The group of 16, all young persons between the ages of 20 and 28, are “winterizing” the old, deserted, weather-beaten farmhouse standing on the field. The material for the repairs are being stripped off an old barn.
The life of the members of the Children of God is disciplined, basic and fundamental.
“Although we have used drugs,” said Anderson, an ex-Marine and Vietnam veteran, “we don’t condone drugs. No one here uses drugs anymore or have they had withdrawal symptoms after totally accepting Jesus in their hearts. We don’t condone any immorality.”