Faith for Money and Flesh

Polygamy is rampant in Utah. This latest article from the Salt Lake Weekly further explores what few other Mormon oriented Salt Lake papers want to touch.....

Highlights:

"By the time they leave, all their money is used up, all their faith and service are used up. The juice is gone and the search is on for fresh fruit." (Speaking of young girls being taken into polygamy and money being drained from the members)

"Both Ervil LeBaron and Jim Harmston manufactured inspiration to marry 15-year-old-girls"

True admitted feelings of polygamist, Jim Harmston -- Secretly made tape recording

From the Salt Lake Weekly, October 8, 1998 by Carolyn Campbell

While the Kingston polygamist clan has grabbed nationwide headlines, two other local polygamist factions also are experiencing dissension among their ranks. The True Living Church of Saints of The Last Days and the Apostolic United Brethren are both facing members' questions regarding the marriage of young girls and financial indiscretions.

Kaziah May Hancock clearly remembers the day she glanced tearfully at other white-robed worshipers in the prayer circle at the True Living Church Endowment House in Fairview, Utah. Each wore the sacred white apron featuring an embroidered all-seeing eye, indicating membership in the Church of The First Born and entitlement to a face-to-face look at Jesus Christ.

Minutes ticked by as the worshipers waited for Christ to pick up The Lamb's Book of Life a book listing "sealed" members that church leader Jim Harmston placed on the Endowment House altar. Finally, one of Harmston's daughters called out, "I saw him! He was there."

But Hancock knew the girl had seen no one; she felt doubly devastated when she realized the $250,000 she'd "consecrated" to the True and Living Church (TLC) was gone. Days after she signed the final installment check, she and her husband, Doug Jordan, were excommunicated from the TLC. "Jim made dynamic claims to sell Jesus Christ for large amounts of money through the pretense of consecration," says Hancock. "In one breath, he'd claim, 'I don't want your damn money,' then out of the other side of his mouth, he'd say, 'only those who are willing to give up their money, their land, their homes and all their earthly possessions will receive exaltation building up the Kingdom of God.'"

On April 7, Hancock, her husband and another TLC member, Cindy Stewart who had "consecrated" more than $12,000 from her 401(k) account and then given Harmston another $3,600 filed suit in Sanpete County's 6th District Court. All three alleged they were induced by Harmston to give almost $265,000 in exchange for "stewardships" temporary entitlement to land and property and the Christ introduction.

In a similar case against the Apostolic United Brethren (also known as the Allred group) Virginia Hill filed suit in Juab County's 4th District Court alleging that the leader of the roughly 5,000-member group, Owen Allred, profited by taking $1.54 million from her. She'd trusted her money "in cash in a cardboard box" to Dennis Matthews and John Putvin, loyal members of the Allred group, who allegedly took it to Owen Allred without her knowledge. Suddenly, it was gone.

In an interview with City Weekly, Owen Allred said he feels Hill is "definitely valid in asking that the money be returned to her." However, he explained, the missing money is not directly his fault. "As far as I know, I put it into the hands of another person, who put it into the hands of a third person. I definitely knew about it and tried not to become involved. I never knowingly touched nor handled the money in any way, but now they are trying to blame me anyway."

Beyond the Hill lawsuit, the Allred group Utah's largest polygamist faction has been accused of moving in the direction of "consecration," or encouraging members to turn property deeds over to church leaders so that all real estate belongs to the group. In The Allred group's Communities of Apostolic United Brethren bishop's manual (CAUB), the "Guidelines For A United Order" state: "Each person in the Order shall consecrate all that he has to the Order and shall, after consulting with the bishop, receive back as a stewardship that portion necessary for the efficient operation of his family and business by mutual consent of steward and bishopric."

Another provision states: "Order properties shall not be bought, sold, or encumbered without the approval of the board."

"Before CAUB came along, we could sell our homes to another group member. But CAUB ended that," an Allred group member who wished to remain anonymous told City Weekly. He explained that signing a document called an "occupancy agreement" transfered titles from individual owners to Allred and the priesthood of his church.

"There was a lot of pressure to sign. We talked among ourselves and concluded we shouldn't have signed, because in the fine print it states that the priesthood could kick us out of our homes if they decided we were not in harmony with the bishop or prophet."

In an incident in Cedar Valley, Utah, Allred group members rebelled and demanded they be let out of the CAUB agreement, the anonymous source said. Harvest Haven, a priesthood-owned subdivision, was owned by CAUB until belligerent group members "started calling the bylaws a medieval, communistic conspiracy to enslave (group) members. That's when they gave title back to the Harvest Haven people. Owen blamed CAUB on other men, but those men are his brother, nephew and son."

Recently, Allred circulated a questionnaire asking group members in his Pinesdale, Mont., enclave if they felt they had "lost their free agency." Owen Allred explained to City Weekly that the CAUB was "an unsuccessful attempt to allow people to build homes on property and not own the property." He conceded the Allred group owns property that belongs to the community rather than any individual. "When people want to leave, they can sell their homes, but not the property. Someone in the community usually wants to buy the home when someone wants to leave."

Allred says there was "too much opposition" to the CAUB, and "people accused us of stealing their property." So, while the CAUB is still on the books, it doesn't cover the general Allred community. "We've taken a vote about how many people want title to the property they are sitting on. Eighty percent said they didn't want the property put in their individual names, which would increase property taxes by about three times," Allred said.

Making Money

What is the connection between polygamist groups and allegations of financial misdeeds? And what value do teenage girls hold in the fabric of these faiths? Two polygamists, one formerly involve with the Allred group and the other from the Peterson group near Manti, were interviewed by City Weekly to get a better understanding. Because of the doctrine of blood atonement, which could cost them their lives, the paper agreed not to use their names but will refer to them as the Allred source and the Manti source.

The two male polygamists agreed that all polygamist prophets have things in common. Most notably, they all teach they are the exclusive mouthpiece of God, and only through them can believers receive the indispensable rituals that will catapult them to the highest degree of heavenly glory.

For example, to pursue such glorious objectives, Jim Harmston of the True Living Church claims the Lord told him to stop working in 1989, and has provided money for him ever since. He points to the time two $20 bills appeared on the front seat of his car when he and his first wife, Elaine, needed $40. Our polygamist sources explained that in many cases, members of a polygamist hierarchy are told not to work conventional jobs "because their time is too valuable."

That was the case when Harmston announced to the TLC congregation in the spring of 1997 that both he and his apostles were not to work in Babylon the world outside the polygamist clan. "Jim preached that such select men were not to grovel in turkey manure or any other form of labor in Babylon," recalls Hancock, the woman who says she lost $250,000 to the self-proclaimed prophet.

The fact that members of polygamist church hierarchies often don't hold jobs is the reason they encourage proselytizing. "They are like companies that need cash flow, and their missionaries are their sales force," said the former Allred clan member. "And if you proselyte a woman, you might get first shot at her for a wife."

He noted these faiths often don't discourage dissenters. "By the time they leave, all their money is used up, all their faith and service are used up. The juice is gone and the search is on for fresh fruit," the Allred source said.

Harmston's initial response to Hancock's lawsuit was that people who lost money donated it of their own free will. But that free will becomes tied up with the great cause that Harmston preaches, the Allred source noted. "Once they are members of the TLC, Harmstonites receive a "patriarchal blessing" that indicates which prominent religious or historical figure they were in a previous life.

Hancock was told she was Mary, the bride of Jesus, and her then-husband, Doug, was informed he was once Mormon of the Book of Mormon. "Somewhere, at least unconsciously, they've got to have some kind of tally sheet where they weigh the relative value of the donation with the prominence of the pre-Earth identity. Somehow someone decides this guy gave $5,000, let's say he was Isaac in a past life," the Allred source said.

The role of Jesus was reserved for Harmston, along with previous incarnations as Isaiah, Shem, Joseph of Egypt, Napoleon and King Arthur. Hancock says that after watching the movie Braveheart, Harmston recalled he had also been William Wallace.

Hancock's first impression of Harmston was that he was very charismatic. For anyone who has studied Mormon fundamentalist sects, aspects of Harmston's story sound familiar. Both the TLC and Allred group (and some other fundamentalist groups) believe the modern Mormon Church has changed numerous early doctrines, such as consecration, law of adoption, and plural marriage to make the church more palatable. They claim obedience to these early LDS doctrines helps bring about direct earth-heaven communication and assure celestial glory.

Harmston is described by sources as "the most flamboyant" of polygamist prophets. In order to entice future converts, he introduced his own form of reincarnation called "multiple mortal probations." Harmston added his own form of necromancy or "talking to the dead," said the Manti source.

Young Women

The concept of younger women becoming polygamist wives of older men dates back to pioneer times, according to Irwin ltman and Joseph Ginat, co-authors of the book, Polygamist Families in Contemporary Society, Cambridge University Press. Altman and Ginat found first wives in pioneer times were often between 19 and 21 years old. Subsequent wives were the age of first wives although the husband married them 10 to 20 years later.

Today, in addition to dollars and land deeds, teenage girls are considered valuable as both ego-builders and baby-producers for aging polygamist prophets. "Both Ervil LeBaron and Jim Harmston manufactured inspiration to marry 15-year-old girls," says the Manti source. They "feel competent around an inexperienced young girl who can't detect his feelings of inadequacy, therefore allowing him to perform in an adult way."

For the girls who are raised within the polygamous group setting, it is an expression of prestige, self-esteem and flattery when an older man in the priesthood hierarchy chooses her as a wife. Young women who grew up in polygamist groups but left for outside life, sometimes are lured back into the group after a bad experience and are skillfully re-introduced to polygamous families, the Manti source said.

When Cindy Stewart, now in her early 40s, first came into the group, Harmston considered taking her for his wife, she said. Regarding her age he told her, "I might have sex with you once in a while. Maybe I'll throw you down on a flat rock." While viewed as lesser prizes, older wives are considered valuable for the sheer number they add to a man's polygamous family. If they have money to bring to the equation this sweetens the pot.

Within the last two years, Harmston created the "doctrine of rescue" a principle allowing a man holding a higher priesthood office to take another man's wife because the first is considered more "worthy." In one case, Harmston took his TLC bishop's wife to be his own just before the husband was made bishop. "When a new converted couple comes into the Harmston group, the leaders decide if the wife needs to be rescued. Jim can 'rescue' a womn who has come in and has a lot of money," the Manti source said.

Of course, the TLC is not alone in "placing" or arranging marriages. The current media surge regarding polygamy resulted from a 16-year-old girl in the Kingston group refusing to marry her half-brother. In Colorado City's Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, girls report to the prophet when they feel they are of age to marry. He assigns them to a specific husband. "Sometimes it is just the next man who comes in with his tithing," says June Johnson, a former Colorado City resident.

In the '60s, the Allred group made a decision to permit outside converts, hoping to avoid the consequences of intermarriage. The Kingstons and the Colorado City group are still closed societies, which necessitates placing young women with men who may be distantly, or not so distantly, related. Young wives are considered "prized" in all three groups "and only recently has the giving young wives as favors" been exposed and severely criticized.

A Higher Calling

Why do these groups perpetuate behavior that appears not only contrary to traditional society but patently against the law? "They like to use the example of Daniel in the lion's den and say they are making the choice between God's law and man's law. In so doing, they deny the fact they are living under governmental jurisdiction and abandon the sense that any law applies to them," says the Manti source. "Their only honorable relationship is with their own kind, and there's an attitude of, if you can skim the Gentile, skim him."

Will this pseudo-invincibility change considering the current furor and call to justice regarding polygamists? Sources say polygamists thrive on a "fortress mentality," or an us-vs.-them outlook. "They are saying, 'See, the world is persecuting us. Satan has brought a lawsuit against our prophet.' But they need the persecution to keep the flames going. And secretly, the leaders love it. There has to be a cause or someone to battle against. With the olygamists, it's the LDS Church and the government," the Allred source said.

There may always be polygamist groups, because many people who believe in these doctrines prefer the idea of having a leader. "Many people who are attracted to these beliefs feel comfortable being subservient to a prophet who gives them a cheery smile and says they are somebody important doing God's work," the Allred source said.

On the other hand, the current media furor could "expose enough of the mirage to save a lot of people a lot of trouble, and cause the perpetrators to be a little more hesitant about reaping their converts," the Manti source said. "The prophets are really merchants merchandising religions, and exchanging faith, hope and plural marriage for consecrations."