David Berg

From XFamily - Children of God

David Brandt Berg (February 18, 1919 – October 1994) was the founder and leader of the Children of God, now called The Family International. The group believes he continues to lead them today from beyond the grave (see: prophecy). Pseudonyms Berg is commonly known by (in or outside the group) include Moses David, Mo, King David, Father David, Chairman Mo, David Fontaine, Dad, and Grandpa.

David Berg

History

Early years (1919 – 1968)

David Berg was born in Oakland, California, USA to Hjalmer Emmanuel Berg and Rev. Virginia Lee Brandt, a Christian evangelist. David was the youngest of three children, with a brother, Hjalmer, born in 1911, and a sister, Virginia, born in September, 1915. Virginia Brandt was the daughter of Dr. Rev. John Lincoln Brandt (1860 – 1946), a preacher, author, and lecturer from Muskogee, Oklahoma. Berg graduated from Monterey High School in California in 1935 and later attended Elliott School of Business Administration.

Between 1948 and 1954, Berg, like his father, became a minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance and was placed at Valley Farms, Arizona. He was eventually expelled from the organization for differences in teachings and alleged sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old female church employee.

Later, Fred Jordan, Berg's friend and boss, allowed Berg and his personal family to open a branch of his Soul Clinic in Miami, Florida as a missionary training school. After running into trouble with local authorities for his aggressive proselytization methods, Berg moved his family to Fred Jordan's Texas Soul Clinic.

Typical illustration of David Berg. From Love is News-1
Berg with lion drawing over his face


Berg with "Lily Filipina" in the Philippines, mid-1980s

The Children of God/The Family (1968 – 1994)

David Berg founded the new religious movement/cult/missionary organization known as the Children of God in 1968. The group was later known as The Family of Love, The Family, and now The Family International. This group is the primary focus of this website.

As founder and prophetic leader, Berg communicated with his followers via Mo Letters—letters of instruction and counsel on a myriad of subjects. Apart from writings, however, Berg mostly lived in total seclusion and secrecy from his followers. Along with Karen Zerby (whom he took as a common-law second wife in August 1969), Berg is thought to have used a fake Australian passport when traveling. In Family publications, printed photographs of World Services members were typically censored by means of a rudimentary drawing pasted over the persons face, and in Berg's case it was common for his head to be replaced with that of a lion.

Countries where Berg and his entourage have lived over the years include the following:

From Until Location Events
1919-02-18 USA Berg is born
1970-09 1971-06 Europe Visiting Europe, Israel, and Cyprus
1971-06 1972-04 USA Return to the USA; Dallas and Texoma Lake Park
1972-04 1974-05 London, United Kingdom
1974-05 1977-03 Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain FFing, Davidito born, KQC Meetings, Church of Love
1977-03 1978-04 Cascais / Madeira, Portugal and Madrid, Spain The RNR
1978-04 1978-12 Switzerland With Timothy Concerned
1978-12 1981-07 Puyricard (village in Aix-en-Provence), France Techi is born; Berg, et al. live on a farm just outside of Puyricard
1981-07 1981-12 Cape Town, South Africa
1981-12 1982-05 Estoril, Portugal; Sri Lanka; and Singapore
1982-05 1987-11 Antipolo (North of Manila), the Philippines
1987-11 1988-02 Tokyo, Japan area
1988-02 1988-10 Tateyama, Japan
1988-11 1993 (mid-year) Canada (near Vancouver, B.C.) Berg, et al. remain there until mid 1993, when they are forced to flee due to a revived police investigation about their illegal attempts to obtain Canadian passports. During this time Ricky Rodriguez visits Family communities in the U.S. and Australia with Steven Kelly.
1994 1994-10 Costa de Caparica, Portugal Berg dies


Berg died of undisclosed causes in 1994 and was buried in Costa de Caparica, Portugal (his remains have since been cremated). His organization is currently led by Karen Zerby (known in the group as Mama Maria or Queen Maria) and Steven Douglas Kelly (an American commonly known as Peter Amsterdam or King Peter).

Alleged sexual abuse

At least seven women, including both his daughters, his daughter-in-law and two of his granddaughters, have publicly alleged that Berg sexually abused them when they were children.

  • In 1974, Berg's daughter-in-law Sarah Berg (who married Berg's son Paul when she was 15) alleged, in testimony to the New York Attorney General's Charity Frauds Bureau, statements on national television and in a deposition taken by New York attorney Aaron F. Klein, that Berg made sexual advances towards her, exposed himself to her and attempted to have intercourse with her "three or four years before my teens."
  • Berg's eldest daughter Deborah Davis has written a book in which she accuses her father of sexually molesting both her and her sister when they were children, and attempting to have sex with her as an adult.
  • Her sister Faith Berg corroborated these claims, but described them in a positive way. Sarah Berg also partially corroborated these claims, noting that: "David, at times, would try to get away with things with his own daughters and he tried it with me when I was a little girl, but I was too young to really know what was going on."
  • In a child-custody case in the United Kingdom, Berg's granddaughter Merry Berg testified that Berg sexually molested her when she was a young teenager.
  • Another of Berg's granddaughters, Joyanne Treadwell Berg, spoke on American television about being sexually abused by her grandfather.
  • Davida Kelley, the daughter of Sara Kelley (nanny for Berg's informally adopted son Ricky Rodriguez), accused Berg of molesting her in a June 2005 Rolling Stone article.
  • In the same article, a woman identified as Armendria alleged that Berg sexually abused her when she was 13 years old.

Ricky Rodriguez wrote an article on the website MovingOn.org in which he describes Berg's deviant sexual activity involving a number of women and children.

Personal family

The Berg Family (1961)

David Berg married his first wife, Jane Miller (known as "Mother Eve" in the Children of God), on 22 July 1944 in Glendale, California. They had four children together:

Multimedia

Family publications for children

See also

Berg on...

External links

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