Twelve Tribes communities

The Twelve Tribes, formerly known as the Vine Christian Community Church, the Northeast Kingdom Community Church, the Messianic Communities, and the Community Apostolic Order, is a movement that is defined as either a cult or a new religious movement. It was founded by Gene Spriggs and sprang out of the Jesus movement in 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The group calls itself an attempt to recreate the 1st-century church as it is described in the Book of Acts.
The group's origins in Chattanooga led to planted churches in surrounding areas. In the late seventies, the group began a community in Island Pond, Vermont. As their relationship with the Chattanooga community deteriorated, the group eventually left Tennessee and moved primarily to Vermont. The Twelve Tribes's beliefs resemble those of Christian fundamentalism, the Hebrew Roots movement, Messianic Judaism, and the Sacred Name Movement; however, the group believes that all other denominations are fallen, and it therefore refuses to align itself with any denomination or movement.
The group's strict courtship rules and their views on child rearing have been a source of controversy. The use of community labor, in which all funds are managed by the group as opposed by individuals, has been criticized for being exploitative and allowing child labor.
They have been criticized for their beliefs and practices, including for their supremacist views against black and Jewish people outside of their membership. The group's teachings have been characterized as "racist, misogynistic and homophobic", and ex-members report excessive corporal punishment, failure to stop child sexual abuse, and exploitation of followers for labor.
The origins of the Twelve Tribes movement can reportedly be tracked back to the "Light Brigade," a 1972 teenagers' ministry. The ministry operated out of "The Lighthouse," a small coffee shop in the home of Gene Spriggs and wife Marsha. The Light Brigade began living communally and opened a restaurant, "The Yellow Deli", while its members were attending several churches, before they decided to join the First Presbyterian Church. Members of the Light Brigade, while affiliated with First Presbyterian, caused friction within its establishment by bringing in anyone who was willing to come with them, including members of different social classes and racial groups, a practice which was not engaged in at that time. On January 12, 1975, the group arrived at First Presbyterian only to find out that the service had been cancelled for the Super Bowl, this led the group to form The Vine Christian Community Church. During this time, the group "planted" churches, each with its own Yellow Deli, in Dalton and Trenton, Georgia; Mentone, Alabama; and Dayton, Tennessee.
Their withdrawal from the religious mainstream turned what had been a friction-filled relationship into an outcry against them. They began holding their own services, which they called "Critical Mass" in Warner Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee, appointing elders and baptizing people outside any denominational authority. The deteriorating relationship between the group and the religious and secular Chattanooga community attracted the attention of The Parents' Committee to Free Our Children from the Children of God and the Citizen's Freedom Foundation who characterized the group as a cult and described Spriggs as a cult leader. Starting the summer of 1976, anti-cultist Ted Patrick began a series of deprogrammings that sought to convince Twelve Tribes members to leave the Twelve Tribes community. The group nevertheless largely ignored the negative press and the wider world in general, and continued to operate its businesses opening the Areopagus café and a second local Yellow Deli in downtown Chattanooga. In 1978, an invitation was received from a small church in Island Pond, Vermont, for Spriggs to minister there; the offer was declined but the group began moving in stages to the rural town, naming the church there The Northeast Kingdom Community Church. One of Patrick's last deprogramming cases in Chattanooga occurred in 1980; it involved a police detective who, according to Swantko, had his 27-year-old daughter arrested on a falsified warrant in order to facilitate her deprogramming, with the support of local judges. The group continued moving, closing down all of its Yellow Delis and associated churches except for the one in Dalton. At one point, a leader conceded that the group was deeply in debt before closing the Dalton church down and moving the last members to Vermont.
The move to Vermont, combined with an initial period of economic hardship, caused some members to leave. The Citizen's Freedom Foundation conducted several meetings in Barton to draw attention to the group. The Citizen's Freedom Foundation had made allegations of mind control in Chattanooga, but now it made accusations of child abuse. In 1983, charges were brought against Charles "Eddie" Wiseman (an elder in the group) for misdemeanor simple assault; this, combined with multiple child custody cases, formed the basis for a search warrant. On June 22, 1984, Vermont State Police and Vermont Social Rehabilitation Services seized 112 children. Forty cases were dismissed as the parents refused to give the names of their children. Due to what the group perceived were a massive misunderstanding of the events and concerns leading up to and surrounding the raid, its members began formal relationships with their neighbors. Two months after the raid, the case against Wiseman fell apart after the main witness recanted, saying he was under duress from the anticult movement. The case was later dropped in 1985 after a judge ruled that Wiseman had been denied his right to a speedy trial. Eddie Wiseman's public defender, Jean Swantko, who had been present during the raid, later joined the Twelve Tribes and married Wiseman.
During the 1980s, Twelve Tribes members followed Grateful Dead tours by bus, recruiting members from their concerts.
By 1989, the church had become widely accepted in Island Pond and grew substantially during the 1980s and 1990s, opening branches in several different countries, including the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and the United Kingdom. During this expansion phase, the group used the name Messianic Communities, before deciding to rename itself The Twelve Tribes.
Through the mid-2000s, the group remained controversial, with allegations of child labor, custodial interference, and illegal homeschooling. In 2006, the group held a reunion for members and friends of the Vine Christian Community Church and the former Yellow Deli in Warner Park, announcing a new community in Chattanooga. The movement proceeded to open a new Yellow Deli in 2008, nearly 30 years after leaving Chattanooga.
The founder of the movement, Elbert Eugene Spriggs Jr. (May 18, 1937 — January 11, 2021), died in 2021 while visiting his Hiddenite, North Carolina, property. Within the movement Spriggs was also known as "the anointed one" and by the Hebrew name "Yoneq".
The Twelve Tribes's beliefs resemble those of Christian fundamentalism, the Hebrew Roots movement, Messianic Judaism and the Sacred Name Movement; however, the group believes that all other denominations are fallen, and it therefore refuses to align itself with any denomination or movement. Based on the group's practices, scholars describe the group as a cult. It believes that for the messiah to return, the Church needs to be restored to its original form as described in Acts 2:38–42 and Acts 4:32–37. This restoration is not merely the restoration of the 1st-century church, but the creation of a new Israel which should consist of Twelve Tribes which are located in twelve geographic regions. Part of this restoration is the return to observing the sabbath, maintaining some of the Mosaic law including dietary laws, and the festivals. This interpretation of the prophesied restoration of Israel leads the group to believe that the end times has arrived, though no date has been set.
One noted aspect of the group is its insistence on using the name "Yahshua", as opposed to Jesus. Because the name "Yahshua" represents the nature of Jesus, the group similarly bestows upon each member a Hebrew name that is meant to reflect the personality of the individual.
The group believes there are Three Eternal Destinies. It believes that after the Fall of Man every person is given a conscience; and that after dying every person goes to a state of being called death regardless of faith. Upon the second coming, believers will be brought back for the thousand years to reign with "Yahshua" before the last judgment. At the end of this millennium, all of the nonbelievers will be judged according to their deeds and put into one of two groups: the righteous and the filthy/unjust. The filthy and the unjust will be sent to the Lake of Fire while the righteous will go on into eternity and fill the universe.
The leadership within is structured as a series of Councils which consists of local councils, regional councils, and a global Apostolic Council; the group is also overseen within these councils by a fluid number of teachers, deacons, deaconesses, elders and apostles. Gene Spriggs is highly regarded as the first person to open up his home to brothers and sisters, but members state that he is not regarded as a spiritual figurehead.
The group operates as a 501(d) – "for-profit organization with a religious purpose and a common treasury." The community pays property taxes, but the 501(d) structure tends to result in no income tax liability.
Courtship within the Community involves a "waiting period" in which the man or woman expresses their desire to get to know the other person. The couple then receives input from the community while spending time together. The couple is betrothed (engaged) if their parents (or the entire community, if they are adults) confirm their love and compatibility; the couple is then permitted to hold hands.
Weddings are dramatized pre-enactments of what the group believes will happen at the end of time when "Yahshua" returns to earth for his bride.
Children have been noted to play a central role in the group's eschatological beliefs, especially the sons. The Twelve Tribes believe that it is the parents' responsibility to properly enforce a consequence for sin (wrongful action, words, behavior) so as to allow the child to maintain the state of a clean conscience. Over time, the children's children will be better equipped to deal with or "overcome" the faults of their predecessors. This will enable future generations of the group to hopefully be the "144,000" of Revelation 7. Children are homeschooled. Within the group, children are apprenticed to elders by the age of 13 to be trained in "crafts and specialized labor". The group acknowledges using corporal punishment with a "reed-like rod" like a balloon stick (a minimum) across the child's bottom, though many former members, including children raised in the group, say punishments can include severe beatings to the point of bleeding or collapse, and are often repeated daily.
The Twelve Tribes supports itself through means that allow its members to work together, without the need to seek outside employment. Businesses the group owns and operates include:
The group also runs restaurant chains:
Bob Pardon, the executive director of Christian countercult movement New England Institute of Religious Research has done extensive research on Twelve Tribes. According to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Pardon first became aware of Twelve Tribes when a former member reported potential evidence of child abuse. Because he was initially skeptical, he was given access to the group in order to research it. He also received information on the group's teachings from high level former members. Pardon released his research and findings in a report that stated "Messianic Communities, under the leadership of Spriggs, has tended towards an extreme authoritarianism" and a "Galatian heresy."
In France, the group was listed on the 1995 Governmental Report by the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France under the name "Ordre apostolique – Therapeutic healing environment."
Twelve Tribes members Jean Swantko and husband Ed Wiseman have made efforts to combat social stigma and the anti-cult movement by engaging in dialogue with the media and government authorities. Swantko, who also represents the group in legal matters, has presented at conferences including the Communal Studies Association and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion as well as a chapter in James T. Richardson's Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe.
The Twelve Tribes has been cited by Stuart A. Wright as a group suffering from "front-end/back-end disproportionality" in media coverage. According to Wright, the media often focuses on unsubstantiated charges against the group, but as charges are investigated and as cases fall apart, the media covers them significantly less at the end than it does at the beginning. Wright then asserts that this leaves the public with the impression that the group was guilty of the disproven charges.
On June 22, 1984, Vermont State Police arrived at the Twelve Tribes's Island Pond residences and took custody of hundreds of group members with their children, based on an investigation of accusations of child abuse. All cases were dismissed when a judge found that the search warrant was unconstitutional. Frank Mahady, the judge in the case, called the action a "grossly unlawful scheme", while Judge Wolchik, who had signed the initial search warrant, said that he was given "false or unreliable information".
The Vermont Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also criticized the raid, calling it "frightening" and "the greatest deprivation of civil liberties to have occurred in recent Vermont history." Richard Snelling, the then-Governor of Vermont who had authorized the raid, reportedly drew the "hottest political fire of his career" in the weeks after; while Vermont Attorney General John J. Easton Jr. attributed the raid to assisting his campaign for governorship.
In 1992, John Burchard, who had been the State Commissioner of Social and Rehabilitation Services, and Vanessa L. Malcarne, published an article in Behavioral Sciences and the Law, encouraging changes in the law that would have allowed the raid to succeed. The group held anniversary events in both 1994 and 2000; and produced a 75-minute documentary.
The group teaches that the Jews are collectively responsible for the death of Christ, quoting Matthew 27:25. They are often labelled antisemitic, although the group repeatedly denies this accusation. Its members keep the Sabbath and the Jewish festivals of Pesach, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Youth hold Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, and they regularly perform Israeli folk dances.
In 2001, The New York Post ran an article accusing the group of child labor violations; and later attributed itself as having prompted the investigation. The Twelve Tribes responded with a press conference at the Common Sense Farm where the alleged child labor had taken place. The Twelve Tribes reported that during a random inspection by Estée Lauder Companies, the company discovered that several 14-year-olds had been found assisting their fathers in the factory. This report was later confirmed by Estée Lauder who terminated their contract with Common Sense products. The group's official statement at the press conference stated that they believed that it was a family-owned business, and children ought to be able to help their parents in the business while making "no apology" for it. The New York State Department of Labor stated that they intended to visit all five of the Twelve Tribes's businesses. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer asserted that apprenticeships amounted to indentured servitude and were illegal. Robert Redford's Sundance Catalog, who had contracted with Common Wealth Woodworks (another of the group's industries that made furniture), also terminated their contract as a response to the allegations. The Labor Department found no violations at Common Sense Farm or Commonwealth Woodworks. They did propose a fine on two other industries: $2,000 for allegations of child labor law violations that the group's spokesperson, Jean Swantco Wiseman, was quoted in a news article as saying were for a 15-year-old pushing a wheelbarrow and another 15-year-old changing a lightbulb.
In June 2018, another New York State investigation into the Common Sense Farm was launched, yielding allegations of child labor, after an Inside Edition hidden camera investigation revealed children working in the group's soap factory. The Twelve Tribes-owned business Greener Formulas had been contracted with brands including Acure and Savannah Bee to manufacture its private label body care products and was using the facilities of Common Sense Farm (also owned by the group) for production. Both Acure and Savannah Bee terminated their contracts with Greener Formulas following the airing of the Inside Edition story.
In Germany and France, the controversies centered on the issues of homeschooling, health, child abuse, and religious freedom. The group has several times been in conflict with authorities in Germany and France over homeschooling their children, with a particularly long and protracted dispute between the community in Klosterzimmern, in the municipality of Deiningen, Bavaria, and Bavarian education authorities. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany, with rare exceptions. When fines and arrests failed to have an effect on the community, authorities granted the group the right to operate a private school on the commune's premises in 2011, under state supervision. The agreement entailed that the school would not teach sex education and evolution. Authorities revoked the school's right to operate in 2013, after it refused to answer to allegations of physical abuse and a lack of certified teaching staff.
According to a 2018 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Twelve Tribes teaches its followers the curse of Ham as a racial curse that made Ham a servant of his brother, Shem. This teaching is used to justify slavery. Their teaching states that slavery was "a marvelous opportunity that blacks could be brought over here to be slaves so that they could be found worthy of the nations". Nevertheless, there are Black members of the Twelve Tribes, which teaches that "slavery is over for those who believe". The SPLC concludes that since Twelve Tribes views only themselves as true believers, this does not apply to any black person outside the group.
On September 5, 2013, German police raided two communities belonging to the Twelve Tribes and removed 40 children to protect them from continued abuse. The raid was prompted by undercover reporting by Wolfram Kuhnigk, who secretly recorded how the sect beat their children. The group admits that they use a "reed-like rod" for discipline, but denies abusing their children. In 2018, the European Court of Human Rights upheld the German move to take away the children from the sect.
On June 26, 2018, the group was showcased on the Vice HD channel in the United States on an episode of their Cults and Extreme Belief series, as former member Samie Brosseau accused the group of abusive practices.
In July 2019, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a 40-page summary of the results of a closed preliminary investigation stemming from allegations of child abuse at the group's Hiddenite, North Carolina, property. The documents revealed the existence of other investigations over the years to include suspicions of child abuse in other compounds. There were also deaths alleged to be suspicious.
On February 19, 2020, police in New South Wales, Australia, executed a search warrant as part of Strike Force Nanegai, on the group's Peppercorn Creek Farm property, seizing documents and other evidence in what has been a prolonged investigation into allegations of child abuse in the group. On March 3, 2020, police returned for a more extensive search operation for stillborn babies buried on the property at Peppercorn Creek Farm and another of the group's properties. On March 7, an updated report said the body of at least one infant was found at the farm. In September 2020, NSW police announced in a statement they anticipated a close of the investigation late 2020 or early 2021. No official closure or criminal charges has been announced as of October 2021.
In December 2021, a fire broke out in Boulder County, Colorado. In June 2023, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office issued its investigative summary of the fire in which it concluded that the Marshall Fire originated from two sources, one of them being a slash burn intentionally started on the Twelve Tribes residential property six days prior on December 24, 2021. The slash burn was visited by local firefighters after a community member noted the size of the fire, however, the responders were reportedly unconcerned with the fire. A resident at the property told detectives that he allowed the fire to burn to coals at which point he covered the fire with dirt, but did not extinguish the coals with water. Criminal charges were not brought against those at the property as slash burning is not illegal in Boulder County.
The Twelve Tribes utilizes mobile operations and vehicles to evangelize at various events.