Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 97
subject to repeat ideas placed in their heads by others and who have limited capacity for
accurate memory."
The court made its ruling in the case of Gerald Delbridge, now 42, who was convicted in
Luzerne County of molesting two children, ages 6 and 4, between 1997 and 1998. (David B.
Caruso, AP in Philadelphia Inquirer, Internet, 9/30/03)
First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty
Husband Wants to be Tried for Wife’s Wrongdoing
Brad Barnhill, of suburban Pittsburgh, PA, wants to be put on trial in place of his wife who
is accused of misdemeanor child endangering — she breast-fed her child while driving 65 on
the Ohio Turnpike — because ―I‘m responsible for what she does, and no one can punish her
but me.‖ This, he says, is according to his religious beliefs. He is the minister of the 650-
member First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty, founded in the late 1990s.
(Channel Cincinnati, Internet, 6/27/03)
Forest Hills Baptist Church
Suit for Church’s Cult-like Event
An unidentified Blount County, KY, couple is suing Forest Hills Baptist Church for harming
their daughter in a ―cult-like‖ event called the ―underground church.‖ The girl and other
participants were allegedly blindfolded, handcuffed with velcro, and put in the back of a
truck for a role-playing game about ―denying Christ.‖ The suit claims that the girls suffered
permanent mental and emotional harm.
Pastor Harry Sherrer acknowledged that the event was ―very powerful‖ and that the
participants were ―really impressed,‖ but added he did not think the event went too far.
(Steve Gehlbach, WATE News, Internet, 6/13/03)
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)
Eviction for Opposing Underage Marriage
Milton and Lenore Holm, of Colorado City, AZ, are protesting their eviction from a home
they rented as ―tenants at will‖ from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, a Mormon Church offshoot that still practices polygamy.
Lenore Holm says that the couple was banished from the church when she refused to
consent to the planned marriage of her then 16-year-old daughter, Nicole, to Wynn Jessop,
39, because she opposed church-arranged unions of underage girls to older men. The
church says that the Holms were evicted from the house, which they built and improved
over many years, because they did not live up to the church‘s ideals.
Mrs. Holm says that she wants ―to see these rapes of underage girls stopped. In the name
of God they‘re doing it, and it‘s awful and they think it‘s religion.‖ Both Milton and Lenore
Home come from polygamous families. (Dave Hawkins, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Internet,
5/27/03)
Underground Railway for Child Brides
People once associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
have founded ―Help the Child Brides,‖ an organization devoted to assisting young girls to
escape arranged marriages to older men in the polygamous sect. Bob Curran, of St. George,
UT, describes the church as ―a country within a country. Where there was once religion,
sadly it has degenerated to sex, power and money.‖ He added that authorities have been
lax in prosecuting underage marriage, incest, and white slavery. (Kingman Daily Miner,
Internet, 5/15/03)
subject to repeat ideas placed in their heads by others and who have limited capacity for
accurate memory."
The court made its ruling in the case of Gerald Delbridge, now 42, who was convicted in
Luzerne County of molesting two children, ages 6 and 4, between 1997 and 1998. (David B.
Caruso, AP in Philadelphia Inquirer, Internet, 9/30/03)
First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty
Husband Wants to be Tried for Wife’s Wrongdoing
Brad Barnhill, of suburban Pittsburgh, PA, wants to be put on trial in place of his wife who
is accused of misdemeanor child endangering — she breast-fed her child while driving 65 on
the Ohio Turnpike — because ―I‘m responsible for what she does, and no one can punish her
but me.‖ This, he says, is according to his religious beliefs. He is the minister of the 650-
member First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty, founded in the late 1990s.
(Channel Cincinnati, Internet, 6/27/03)
Forest Hills Baptist Church
Suit for Church’s Cult-like Event
An unidentified Blount County, KY, couple is suing Forest Hills Baptist Church for harming
their daughter in a ―cult-like‖ event called the ―underground church.‖ The girl and other
participants were allegedly blindfolded, handcuffed with velcro, and put in the back of a
truck for a role-playing game about ―denying Christ.‖ The suit claims that the girls suffered
permanent mental and emotional harm.
Pastor Harry Sherrer acknowledged that the event was ―very powerful‖ and that the
participants were ―really impressed,‖ but added he did not think the event went too far.
(Steve Gehlbach, WATE News, Internet, 6/13/03)
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS)
Eviction for Opposing Underage Marriage
Milton and Lenore Holm, of Colorado City, AZ, are protesting their eviction from a home
they rented as ―tenants at will‖ from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, a Mormon Church offshoot that still practices polygamy.
Lenore Holm says that the couple was banished from the church when she refused to
consent to the planned marriage of her then 16-year-old daughter, Nicole, to Wynn Jessop,
39, because she opposed church-arranged unions of underage girls to older men. The
church says that the Holms were evicted from the house, which they built and improved
over many years, because they did not live up to the church‘s ideals.
Mrs. Holm says that she wants ―to see these rapes of underage girls stopped. In the name
of God they‘re doing it, and it‘s awful and they think it‘s religion.‖ Both Milton and Lenore
Home come from polygamous families. (Dave Hawkins, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Internet,
5/27/03)
Underground Railway for Child Brides
People once associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
have founded ―Help the Child Brides,‖ an organization devoted to assisting young girls to
escape arranged marriages to older men in the polygamous sect. Bob Curran, of St. George,
UT, describes the church as ―a country within a country. Where there was once religion,
sadly it has degenerated to sex, power and money.‖ He added that authorities have been
lax in prosecuting underage marriage, incest, and white slavery. (Kingman Daily Miner,
Internet, 5/15/03)
