Karen Zerby
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| Karen Elva Zerby | |
|---|---|
| Aliases | Maria David, Maria Berg, Maria Fontaine, Mama Maria, Queen Maria |
| Born | 1946-07-31, Camden, New Jersey, USA |
| Rank | First-in-command |
| Present location | unknown |
| Spouse(s) | David Berg, Steven Kelly |
| Children | Ricky Rodriguez, Christina Zerby |
Karen Elva Zerby (born in Camden, New Jersey on July 31, 1946) is the current leader of The Family International, a new religious movement. Zerby, a U.S. citizen, legally changed her name to Katherine Rianna Smith in 1997 and uses the pseudonyms Maria David, Maria Berg, Maria Fontaine, Mama Maria, and Queen Maria. Zerby is the mother of Ricky "Davidito" Rodriguez and Christina "Techi" Zerby.
Zerby joined the group, then called Teens for Christ, in 1969. After becoming a private secretary to David Berg (the group's founder), a sexual relationship between the two developed. In a prophecy titled "A Prophecy of God on the Old Church and the New Church", Berg explained that he had been told by God to leave his first wife, Jane Miller, who represented the "old church", for Zerby who became his common-law second wife and who represented the "new church".
With David Berg's health declining in later years, Zerby began to take a leadership role within the group. Upon his death in October 1994, she assumed full leadership of the cult and married her long-time partner Steven Douglas Kelly (who legally changed his name to Christopher Smith, and is known to members as Peter Amsterdam or King Peter).
Contents
Pre-incarnation and the fulfillment of destiny
Zerby has claimed that she preexisted and was among Jesus' favorite lovers in heaven before she came to earth. In prophecies published for her followers, Jesus tells her, "You are Maria of the End, the prophetess, the unlocker of the mysteries of heaven." (Heavenly Birthdays!, ML 3193, Para.87) She is told that her birth was a turning point in the history of life on earth, and that she was sent to Earth so Family members may partake of her beauty and purity. It is also claimed that she has the power to heal by supernatural means. (Para.72)
David Berg's spiritual mantle
In the later years of his life Berg made it clear that Zerby would lead the group when he died. Following are excerpts of an internal publication compiled from Berg's writings on Zerby, which she had published immediately following his death.
50. My mantle & His Spirit will fall on Maria then. She's a Prophetess of God, she has been since the beginning. It was her messages in tongues that I first interpreted that got us started.
58. (Prophecy:) "The anointing of the Lord will fall upon you, & the mantle of David shall drape about thy shoulders, & thou shalt speak the Words of the Lord to My people, & they shall listen unto thee & heed thee & know that thou art the Word of the Lord. "
72. Maria is already my manager & tells me what to do. Of course, I get the inspiration & the anointing & I get the Words because I happen to be the channel right now. But when I'm gone, she will inherit that power & that mantle & she will be the channel.
83. (Prophecy:) "When thy David is taken from thee, thou shalt be known as a Prophetess, & thou shalt be heeded as the oracles of God, for thou shalt speak that which I shall speak unto thee in that day when he shall be gone from thee, & they shall listen to thy Words. They shall heed My Spirit, & thou shalt become as another one--as the Prophetess of God! "
- Source: Dad's Glorious Graduation–And How We'll Carry On! (ML 2946, October 1994)
Multimedia
Photos
Senior Family leadership including Zerby have long attempted to keep their photographs and legal names from common circulation (see Category:Secrecy). Although by now most of the group's members have seen photographs or video footage of Karen Zerby and Steven Kelly, their identities and location are still heavily guarded by members working closest to them. Prior to being released here on xFamily.org, recent photographs of Karen Zerby, Steven Kelly and most World Services (WS) members were not readily available even to fulltime members of The Family. This long-standing policy was changed to a limited extent in March 2005, a few days after The Family's discovery of photos of Zerby and other top leaders on this website. This marked the first time that recent photographs of Zerby were made available to the public in nearly 30 years.
Family publications for children
Our Queen Maria (MLK 124, March 2001) — Illustrated publication authored by Karen Zerby, explaining to young children why she is "Queen of The Family"- More about Mama (HTK 95, July 2000) — Zerby speaks about herself to Family children (art by Jeremy Spencer)
- More about Mama – Part 2 (HTK 95b, July 2001)
- Many are the Helpers of Maria! (MLK 82, July 1999) — Zerby speaks about her numerous spirit helpers
Miscellaneous
Karen Zerby replaces Jane Miller Berg as David Berg's wife (1.9MB) — From "The Love Prophet" documentary
Karen Zerby addresses The Family: Clip 1, Clip 2, Clip 3, Clip 4, Clip 5
Lady Maria — Live cover of song about Zerby, by Family band Rebellion of David
The Maria Monologues
On a typical workday, Karen Zerby (known as Maria to group members) spends hours attending to Family-related affairs. Because of her position of spiritual authority within the group, her staff records her comments on a variety of issues. The Maria Monologues contain excerpts from the transcripts of these tapes, and provide insight into the inner workings of The Family as well as Zerby's character and leadership.
- The Maria Monologues #1
“… having sex. It's pure to us, there's nothing wrong with it, so we let our kids be in on it, we let them get in on it if they want, we even play it with them because it's nice, it makes them feel good & they enjoy it.” —Maria. 1990-12-12 - The Maria Monologues #2
“I have a feeling that a lot of our Family are getting the idea, maybe only subtly or covertly, that what we have printed & what we have preached is wrong.” —Maria. 1990-12-10 - The Maria Monologues #3
“Mene is trying to make Dad's sexiness look like the most evil thing in the world, when it's very normal & natural and common amongst many others in similar situations…” —Maria. 1994-01-11 - The Maria Monologues #4
“I guess it pretty much shocks us to see that we talked so openly about a child of under 11 having had regular dates with the men in the Home where she had been.” —Maria talking about Merry Berg (Mene). 1992-08-01 - The Maria Monologues #5
“If the Law of Love is right, then it applies clear across the board no matter what age it is.” —Maria. 1992-08-15
Public appearances
News from Mama and Peter
[…] 10. Last year was an especially eventful year for Mama and me. The Lord led us to do some new things that we've never done before—in particular, that Mama has never done before! In July 2002‚ the Lord told us to make a set of videos for the CM Family, explaining about our apostates' increased activity and plans‚ the warning of coming persecution‚ the need to prepare and fortify the borders of our tents, etc. While I've made some videos which Family members have seen before, the new twist this time was that our very own dear Mama appeared on the videos! Aside from one other time when Mama talked on video for a short time to the COs (September 2000), this was truly a first! And she did wonderfully, didn't she?
11. […] This was a milestone event, and the reactions from you to these videos‚ and specifically to meeting Mama on video, are still coming in! God bless all the VSs‚ COs, and others who traveled long and far to bring the videos to you, those who set up meeting spots, and everyone who played a part in making it happen.
12. Another first was that the Lord led Mama and me to make a trip to the States in late October to meet several academics who have studied the Family extensively. While I had met a number of these academics before, they'd certainly never dreamed that they'd be meeting Mama one day! It came as a surprise to all—including us! What would we do without prophecy and the Lord's surprises?
13. We spent three hours with each academic in personal meetings, allowing them to ask whatever questions they had, and of course‚ also getting in a hefty witness in most cases. Mama really shone! She was bold and full of faith as she answered their questions and filled the academics in on the new moves of the Spirit, the Lord's latest instruction to the Family, and personal tidbits about her spirit helpers, relationship with the Lord, etc.
- Source: 2003, Here We Come! — by Steven Kelly; ML#3438 CM; 2002-12
Legal documents
- King County Name Change Order — Name change from Karen Elva Zerby to Katherine Rianna Smith (1997-11-04)
References
- House, H. Wayne (2000). Charts of Cults, Sects, and Religious Movements. Zondervan Publishing Company. ISBN 0310385512.
- Lewis, James R. (2004). Controversial New Religions Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195156838.
