Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1 1988 Page 48
Brethren. The apostles of the new sect were raised within the Brethren environment and were
greatly influenced by many of its more exclusivistic teachings.
Most of the fifty pioneers were disenchanted with their own churches. They believed that the
commitment and dedication required to obey what they considered to be the ―heavenly vision‖
could only be accomplished by breaking away from the organized church and returning to the
goals, purposes, and lifestyles of the ―first century Christians.‖
Spearheaded by two highly-charismatic and intense individuals, with far-reaching and ambitious
plans for world conquest, the movement was born. Contacts made in the army, friends from high
school, and other disgruntled religious seekers gathered around these men, captured their
dreams, and helped set in motion what they believed was ―God's great and only holy work in this
generation.‖
The population selected for recruitment by this dedicated band of believers was college student at
secular universities. Starting in the Midwest and traveling from campus to campus in a
rejuvenated school bus, the group proselytized on campus, ―hawking‖ freshmen in registration
lines, going door to door in the dorms (―cold turkey evangelism‖), and singing contemporary
gospel songs in and around well-traveled areas. Their efforts met with enough success to confirm
their belief that ―God was with them.‖ Intricately tied to this band‘s dedication was an unflinching
belief that the world was coming to an end within their lifetimes, and that the millennium would
be ushered in by Jesus Christ in the middle of World War III (Armageddon). This fanatical
urgency is reflected in the non-denominational name they ascribed to themselves, ―The Blitz,‖ or
―Blitzers,‖ named after Hitler's swift and surgically precise attacks against the enemies of Nazism.
Military terms soon became a part of the sect‘s vocabulary, and comparisons to Nazi war tactics
gave way to strategies derived from Communist revolutionary tracts as the movement gained
strength.
Within a few short years, over two dozen ―works‖ were raised up across the west and midwest.
National conferences were held all summer long, and even more ambitious plans were laid for
further ―invasions.‖
By the summer of 1973, nearly 1,000 attended the movement's national conference held on an
eastern campus. Fifteen new campuses were ―hit‖ that summer by hundreds of excited recruits
fresh from the conference, and the movement continued to gain strength. One ―work,‖ started on
a Midwestern university campus, grew from 20 to 300 within approximately a year. The largest
and most mature group, and the home of the two founders, was located on a Big Eight campus
and numbered around 500.
Shunning a denominational nametag, or any ―real‖ name for that matter, these campus works
met on university property under a plethora of different campus organizations they created -
BASIC (Brothers and Sisters In Christ), Solid Rock Fellowship, Campus Biblical Studies,
Cornerstone, and numerous others. Although the group often openly criticized all other Christian
organizations, including fundamentalist ones, they were also shrewd in granting themselves
favorable association with well-known or respected religious organizations on campus, especially
if the university administration or the religious community desired more information about ―the
church with no name.‖ Yet within the organization, clear distinctions between the sect and the
rest of mainline Christianity had been taught.
By the mid-1970's, the movement grew to 5,000 committed and dedicated ―workers‖ who were
willing to quit school and move thousands of miles at a moment‘s notice. Many lived in abject
poverty ―for the sake of the gospel,‖ forgoing potential careers and degrees to conquer the world.
Brethren. The apostles of the new sect were raised within the Brethren environment and were
greatly influenced by many of its more exclusivistic teachings.
Most of the fifty pioneers were disenchanted with their own churches. They believed that the
commitment and dedication required to obey what they considered to be the ―heavenly vision‖
could only be accomplished by breaking away from the organized church and returning to the
goals, purposes, and lifestyles of the ―first century Christians.‖
Spearheaded by two highly-charismatic and intense individuals, with far-reaching and ambitious
plans for world conquest, the movement was born. Contacts made in the army, friends from high
school, and other disgruntled religious seekers gathered around these men, captured their
dreams, and helped set in motion what they believed was ―God's great and only holy work in this
generation.‖
The population selected for recruitment by this dedicated band of believers was college student at
secular universities. Starting in the Midwest and traveling from campus to campus in a
rejuvenated school bus, the group proselytized on campus, ―hawking‖ freshmen in registration
lines, going door to door in the dorms (―cold turkey evangelism‖), and singing contemporary
gospel songs in and around well-traveled areas. Their efforts met with enough success to confirm
their belief that ―God was with them.‖ Intricately tied to this band‘s dedication was an unflinching
belief that the world was coming to an end within their lifetimes, and that the millennium would
be ushered in by Jesus Christ in the middle of World War III (Armageddon). This fanatical
urgency is reflected in the non-denominational name they ascribed to themselves, ―The Blitz,‖ or
―Blitzers,‖ named after Hitler's swift and surgically precise attacks against the enemies of Nazism.
Military terms soon became a part of the sect‘s vocabulary, and comparisons to Nazi war tactics
gave way to strategies derived from Communist revolutionary tracts as the movement gained
strength.
Within a few short years, over two dozen ―works‖ were raised up across the west and midwest.
National conferences were held all summer long, and even more ambitious plans were laid for
further ―invasions.‖
By the summer of 1973, nearly 1,000 attended the movement's national conference held on an
eastern campus. Fifteen new campuses were ―hit‖ that summer by hundreds of excited recruits
fresh from the conference, and the movement continued to gain strength. One ―work,‖ started on
a Midwestern university campus, grew from 20 to 300 within approximately a year. The largest
and most mature group, and the home of the two founders, was located on a Big Eight campus
and numbered around 500.
Shunning a denominational nametag, or any ―real‖ name for that matter, these campus works
met on university property under a plethora of different campus organizations they created -
BASIC (Brothers and Sisters In Christ), Solid Rock Fellowship, Campus Biblical Studies,
Cornerstone, and numerous others. Although the group often openly criticized all other Christian
organizations, including fundamentalist ones, they were also shrewd in granting themselves
favorable association with well-known or respected religious organizations on campus, especially
if the university administration or the religious community desired more information about ―the
church with no name.‖ Yet within the organization, clear distinctions between the sect and the
rest of mainline Christianity had been taught.
By the mid-1970's, the movement grew to 5,000 committed and dedicated ―workers‖ who were
willing to quit school and move thousands of miles at a moment‘s notice. Many lived in abject
poverty ―for the sake of the gospel,‖ forgoing potential careers and degrees to conquer the world.
