A BRIEF HISTORY OF MT. CARMEL CENTER AND

THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS

Most people have only heard vague references to Davidians or Branch Davidians in relation to an incident that took place in 1993 when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Fire Arms (BATF) raided a small church group on the outskirts of Waco, Texas, at a location called Mt. Carmel Center. The following information is presented to better acquaint the reader with the history and teachings of this group and the present situation of the survivors and the property east of Waco.

Davidian Seventh Day Adventists

The Davidians find their origin within the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Their founder was a Bulgarian immigrant by the name of Victor Tasho Houteff (pronounced How-teff, rather than Hoo-teff as some have called him). He was a teacher of a Bible class at a Seventh-day Adventist church in Los Angeles. In 1929 he was teaching a class on the book of Isaiah and presenting concepts new to the generally accepted doctrines of the Church, which he believed God was directly revealing to him. As a result large numbers of Church members began flocking to his classes. This caught the attention of the Church leaders and ultimately resulted in his dismissal (being disfellowshipped or excommunicated) from the Church. A large number of his students were also removed from Church membership as well.

The burden of his teachings at that time concerned his trying to call for a return to the standards originally taught by the Church founder Ellen White, who was supposed to be accepted as a prophet of God with the gift of Inspiration. Victor Houteff’s messages taught that a revival of that same Spirit would bring about a reformation within the Church and would bring about God's favor they had formerly enjoyed in their beginnings. His teachings also emphasized the need for church members to seek to receive the "seal of God" as opposed to the "mark of the beast" and thus assure themselves a place amongst the special group brought to light in the book of Revelation, known as the 144,000.

In due time Victor Houteff led his followers out of the Los Angeles metropolis and moved east to Waco, Texas. They established a community on the outskirts of the city, near present-day Lake Waco, and called it Mt. Carmel Center. The name Mt. Carmel had special significance to them as they believed that their work, strictly confined within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was similar to that of  the ancient Old Testament prophet Elijah. Around 1938 Victor incorporated into his teachings the belief that God was going to establish His Kingdom on this earth, with its headquarters or capitol in Jerusalem. Over the years, through a major literature ministry, backed up by Bible workers giving one-on-one studies to "Adventists" the ranks of the Davidians grew. But on February 5, 1955, the founder, Victor Houteff died. This devastated the Davidian membership because many had not expected him to die and expected to participate in this Kingdom, within their lifetime and as a result not have to pass through the grave, but have eternal life.

The Davidians After Victor Houteff

With the death of Victor Houteff the Davidian church was left leaderless. Into this vacuum stepped Florence, Victor's widow, who assumed command, not without challenge. Victor Houteff had established a governing board known as the Executive Council and had drawn up a set of By-Laws, which stipulated that the leadership would consist of a President which could be selected or chosen only by God Himself (an inspired person or prophet) and that he or she would then have the authority to select the other individuals who would make up the Executive Council. In spite of knowing this, Florence chose to oust the current Vice-President, an old man by the name of Elder Wilson, and take his seat on the Executive Council. This she felt would circumvent the need to declare herself as a prophet. Ultimately the rest of the Council went along.

However, there were Davidian members who were stressing the need for a Divinely appointed leader to head the Church. One was a man by the name of Benjamin Roden. He began writing letters to Florence and the Council calling for reform, which they chose to reject. He and those who listened and went along with him were soon removed from church membership. Benjamin Roden began to travel around the various Davidian groups around the U.S. drawing many followers to his teachings. They soon became known as Branch Davidians. The Branch part of the name derived not from the fact that they were an extension, or offshoot, of the Davidian church but, that the name Branch, mentioned in the Scriptures, had reference to Christ Himself.

To counteract the exodus of so many Davidians to the teachings of Benjamin Roden, Florence Houteff began to interpret the prophetic Scriptures, while still not claiming to have the gift of prophecy or to be a prophet. She took a Scripture from the book of Revelation concerning a period of time called the 42 months and set a date in 1959 as the time when God would slay those in the Seventh-day Adventist Church who had not received the "seal" or "mark" of God as laid out in Ezekiel 9. She also predicted that Victor Houteff would be resurrected at that time. Most of the remaining members of the Davidian church went along with her teachings and dug in to wait for this expected judgment of God and hopefully to be taken to the Kingdom around the same time. Very few Davidians from that point would give Benjamin Roden a hearing, preferring to wait and see.

The Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists

In the meantime, Benjamin Roden had been teaching the need for his followers to prepare to go to Israel (which had become a State in 1948) to be on hand when God would begin to establish His Kingdom. In 1958 he had taken a number of families to Israel and set them up in a village called Amirim, in the northern part of the country. He and his wife Lois were in the process of negotiating with the Israeli Government for places of settlement where Christians could come and live and work towards the establishment of this Kingdom as outlined in Scriptures. In 1959 he returned to the U.S. with the invitation to the Davidians to begin moving to Israel, but they refused, hoping against hope that their faith in Florence’s prophecy would be fulfilled. At that time some 900-1000 Davidians had gathered on a 941-acre property that had been purchased on the east side of Waco, approximately 10 miles out of town.

The date set by Florence in 1959 came and went, bringing with it a great disappointment, the expected events did not transpire as they had been taught. Over the next several years many Davidians would abandon their faith, blaming Victor Houteff for their dilemna, rather than the real instigator, which was his wife Florence, and branding him as a false prophet. In 1961, the Davidian Executive Council voted to dissolve the church and to sell off both the old and new Mt. Carmel properties and assets. This illegal transaction, without the knowledge or vote of the general membership around the world, took place the following year and the money was divided up amongst about 70 of the members who had been living and working on the property. All but 77 or so acres were thus disposed of. The money used to buy this newer property in 1957 had come from what was called the second tithe fund and which was primarily set aside for the benefit of the membership in their old age. Thus thousands of members had nothing to take care of them as they reached retirement age. Even the remaining 77 acres was destined to be sold and the money divided amongst the remaining church membership who could prove that they had paid second tithe over the years. This would include the very ones that had robbed the church of its assets in the first place.

Around 1965 a Davidian member from Colorado, by the name of Atwood, made an attempt to purchase the remaining acreage to preserve it for those Davidian members still holding to the faith. He put up $25,000 as a down-payment, but was unable to get any other members to assist him, or financial backing to go through with the deal, and ended up losing his investment. In 1966 Benjamin Roden stepped in and paid $25,000 in order to buy the property. At that time he tried to take possession and was refused the keys to the buildings on the property. His reasoning was that if you pay a down-payment on a vehicle you ought to be able to drive the vehicle off the lot. As a result of this refusal to hand over the keys, by the caretaker, Roden tried to stop payment on the check he had written. The Bank informed him that the transaction had already gone through and been paid into an escrow account. Benjamin Roden managed to rent 3 houses on the property, through a third party, and moved on to the land. For the next seven years he fought in the Courts to have his claim honored. In the process he exposed the illegality of the decisions and transactions of the former Davidian Council. Over the years he was unable to convince the Courts that the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists should own the property on the grounds they were the God appointed successors of the original movement and his original down-payment was eaten up in rents and court costs. In 1973 he finally agreed to buy the property all over again. Part of the purchase price was credited by members signing a waiver form saying they did not want any money back personally, but would allow their share to go towards the purchase price. The balance was then made up in cash. Thus the Mt. Carmel property was rebought in the name of the General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists with Benjamin Roden, Lois Roden and George Roden as the Trustees.

Mt. Carmel After Benjamin Roden

On October 22, 1978 Benjamin Roden passed away, but not before installing his wife Lois as the new President (Prophet). She had begun her ministry the previous year, with emphasis on the understanding of the femininity of that part of the Godhead known as the Holy Spirit. She called her organization the Living Waters Branch. The introduction of these new concepts, in spite of the acceptance of Benjamin Roden himself, the Executive Council, and a majority of the current membership, brought a major division amongst Branch Davidians. Many chose to abandon the church and not follow Lois Roden's teachings or accept her as the new leader. One of the major opponents of her new role and teachings was her own son George.

For a year leading up to his father's death George had resisted his mother's teachings. Immediately upon the death of his father he made a push to take over, believing it his right as the oldest son. However this move on his part was resisted by all the membership, except his own family and one other individual. The leadership of the church, according to the "Leviticus and By-Laws" of both the Davidians and the Branches, was not a hierarchical progression, but was to be determined by God Himself. The President/Prophet was to have a Divinely inspired message and ministry, which George did not.

George decided to take over by force. He began stealing and selling much of the church assets, as well as destroying property at the church headquarters at Mt. Carmel. Things came to a head when his mother was finally forced to take him to Court. Upon the hearing of the evidence presented, the Court decision went against George and he was forbidden to hold himself out as President, to interfere in the work of the Association, or to possess or dispose of any of the church assets.

George moved to California and started his own organization and called it The Branch Association. In 1980 Lois made a decision to baptize all of the church members that were living at Mt. Carmel at that time. George and his family were visiting at that time and Lois asked George if he would permit her to baptize him along with the others. He vehemently refused saying he did not accept her or her message and walked out of the service.

In 1981 a young man by the name of Vernon Howell came to Mt. Carmel for a visit and over the next two years came back frequently to study Lois' teachings. In the Fall of 1983 Vernon began to share with Lois certain Bible passages that he believed God had been revealing to him. On September 8 of that year she turned the pulpit over to him saying that he should share what he had been telling her with the rest of the residents at Mt. Carmel. The Executive Council and other members during the next few days came to accept Vernon as having an inspired message from God and he became co-leader along with Lois for the next six months. Just before the spring of 1984 they both sent out a letter inviting the members from other United States and other countries to come to hear this new message. Upon hearing of this proposal George Roden began contacting Branch members relating horrifying stories about Vernon Howell and trying to prejudice them from either coming or at least from hearing what he had to present.

George moved back to Mt. Carmel and took control of the church building at the point of a gun. When it came time for the scheduled meetings to be given George would not allow Vernon or his followers to use the church building and so meetings were held in one of the houses and another rented building off the property. This situation created a schism amongst Lois Roden's followers, some siding with George, some with David and others not knowing who to support. This situation deeply saddened and grieved Lois who saw her life work being torn asunder. About that time Vernon chose to move off of the Mt. Carmel property rather than to allow bloodshed to ensue.

During the next several months most of those who sided with David either left voluntarily or were driven off by George. Lois seemed reluctant to stop the exodus, in spite of the Court order in her favor from several years earlier. She did not want George to go to jail. He was her flesh and blood. She did however continue to meet and study with Vernon and his follows over the next two years. In the meantime George steadily tightened his stranglehold on Mt. Carmel and proceeded to run off all church members whether they had recently supported him or not.

Lois endeavored to carry on her ministry but with little success and her health suffered. Her treatment at the hands of her son George, which resulted in mental and physical torture, including a reported incident of George hog-tying her and taking her to a mental institution trying to have her committed, ultimately brought about her demise in 1986.

By 1987 George had the Mt. Carmel property to himself. He began to gather around him people who were not members, some of whom were involved in criminal activities and who would eventually be incarcerated on various charges. About this time George met a woman by the name of Amo Paul Bishop who he did some work for and who he convinced to enter into a common law arrangement, even though he was still married to his first wife Carmen. It is reported that he had a daughter by Amo who was named Zella. This child would, before very long, be taken from Amo, by the Courts, who had ruled her as an unfit mother.

That same year the Independent School District put a lien on the Mt. Carmel property and filed a case against George for payment of delinquent taxes. It was their determination to sell the property in order to recover their share of the taxes that had not been paid since the 1960s. Upon hearing of the situation Vernon Howell intervened and paid the taxes in full, rather than allowing the church property to be lost.

Also in 1987 George decided to dig up one of the female church members who had been buried in the church cemetery years before. He sent a message to Vernon challenging him that if he could resurrect the woman involved, that he, George, would accept Vernon as the leader, but if George managed to resurrect her, that Vernon should accept him.

Vernon declined the challenge. Reports indicate that George made several attempts and failed to revive the corpse. It was at that time that Vernon went to the Sheriff Department in Waco to make a report and a complaint about the grave desecration. Vernon had acquired pictures of the coffin which George had placed in the church building on the property and showed them to the Sheriff deputy to whom he had made the report. He was advised that he would need further proof that there was indeed a body in the coffin and it was suggested that he acquire some means to protect himself while doing so, since George was known to be armed, crazy and violent. In the carrying out of this mission, at the suggestion of the Sheriff Department, a shooting occurred, instigated by George. Vernon, and seven men that he had taken with him, ended up being jailed, went to trial and were ultimately acquitted.

While Vernon's band was being held for trial, George had himself arrested and jailed on totally unrelated charges. He had apparently sent letters to various individuals, including a judge, putting a curse on them saying they would all get aids etc. Upon learning that Mt. Carmel was free from George's tyranny, and that the property had no Branch members living there to take care of it, Vernon gave orders that the church leadership, which had been in exile, so to speak, should return and reclaim the property. This was done by Vernon's followers who had been living in Palestine, in East Texas. When the church members returned, in the early months of 1988, Amo was amongst the few people that they found living on the property. Although invited to stay, each of these individuals chose to leave the property, beginning with Amo.

In September of 1988, a decision was rendered in a case brought by The Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist Association against George Roden, in which the judge ruled that George was in violation of the original permanent injunction granted Lois Roden and the Association, in 1979, in which George was told he could not hold himself out as President, nor interfere with the operation of the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist Association, and that he could not hold possession of any property belonging to said Association. This Order of Contempt resulted in an additional 90-day confinement being added to the sentence he was already serving on a federal contempt sentence starting in March 1988.

When the followers of Vernon returned to the Mt. Carmel property they had found it in a horrendous state of decay. The houses were in a deplorable condition, doors hanging off their hinges, windows with the screens torn, and the structures in general in much need of repair. They also found evidence that there had been a drug lab in operation and also a pornography business being conducted by individuals which George had permitted to live there. The drug paraphernalia was handed over to the Sheriff Dept. and the pornographic material burned. For awhile church members received quite a number of threats of violence, presumably from some of the criminals, that had been permitted to operate under George's tenure. Eventually news reached Mt. Carmel that individuals such as Donny Harvey and Roy Boy Wells had been re-arrested and put in prison. For a time thereafter the members lived in relative peace, spending their time between studying the Bible and engaging in efforts to repair the buildings and make them habitable again.

In the summer of 1989 a Branch member from California, who had not initially joined with Vernon, came to Mt. Carmel and had some studies. His name was Dale Adair. After several studies he was advised by Vernon to return to California and think about what he had heard before making a decision whether to join or not. Unfortunately, on his way home he decided to visit with George Roden, who, by this time, had been released from jail, and was living in Odessa, Texas. Just how long he spent there is not known exactly, but on October 16, 1989, George took it upon himself to murder him. He had killed Dale with a machete and then shot him in order to make it look like self defense. For this crime, rather than being sent to jail, George was incarcerated in an institution for the criminally insane.

Vernon Howell a.k.a. David Koresh

Aside from his first disciples, consisting of the leadership of the Branch Davidian Association, he was joined by many other Branch Davidians from around the world. After the death of Lois Roden on November 11, 1986, quite a number of Branches who had not initially chosen to accept his message eventually joined with him. Since the beginning of Vernon's ministry he had the opportunity to travel extensively and addressed hundreds of students, mostly at Seventh Day Adventist college campuses. So the next big increase in numbers came from that environment. Over his career he traveled not only extensively in the United States but also to Israel (3 times), to Australia (3 times), England, and Canada. It was due to the great influx of students coming from all over the world to Mt. Carmel that Vernon decided to dismantle most of the older buildings, from the 1950's, and build a larger building that could accommodate the increased population. This eventually became the building that most people saw on television in 1993.

At some point, around 1990, while in California, Vernon legally changed his name to David Koresh. This was partly for publicity purposes having to do with the music ministry he was trying to put together. It also had symbolic significance in as much as he believed there would be a latter-day David, as depicted in the Biblical prophecies connected with God setting up His kingdom in the Holy Land. The Koresh part of the name derives from the ancient Persian king, Cyrus, who defeated the Babylonian empire, and which is also indicated in prophetic writings as having a role in end-time events.

The events surrounding the BATF raid on Mt. Carmel on February 28, 1993, and the ensuing siege, by the FBI, lasting 51 days, ending in the fire of April 19, 1993 and which culminated in the deaths of 82 of our church members and four BATF agents will not be dealt with in this brief history. It has been written about by many authors, not always favorably, nor accurately. We will give our version of the details of that event separately.

Mt. Carmel - Post David Koresh

After the fire of April 19, 1993, most of the surviving members of the Branch Davidians found themselves either incarcerated in various County jails awaiting trial, or in half-way houses. It was during this time that Amo, now calling herself Amo Paul Bishop Roden decided to return to the property to take advantage of the situation. She proceeded to occupy the premises, using the location to sell her tracts, charge visitors to tour the property, park their cars or to fish in the lakes. She instigated a number of legal cases in the Courts, initially as a representative of George Roden still being held in the mental facility, and later on her own behalf. None of these proceedings ever made a ruling in her favor.

During the years, since the fire, George made several attempts to escape custody, but was re-arrested each time. His last effort was on December 6, 1998, which resulted in him having a fatal heart attack while climbing the chain link fence and falling to the ground breaking his neck.

After the criminal trial against Branch Davidians in San Antonio, during January and February of 1994, three of the defendants were exonerated of all charges; these three included Norman Allison of England, Woodrow Kendrick, a long-time Branch Davidian since the 60's and Clive Doyle, a member since 1964. Clive Doyle was not only a member since that time, but had been part of the Executive Council under Benjamin Roden, Lois Roden and Vernon Howell's administrations. After his release from jail, Clive Doyle sent out requests to every Branch Davidian that could be contacted asking them to acknowledge and accept a group of the survivors, including Clive Doyle, living in the Waco area at the time, as Trustees of the Mt. Carmel property. This would also be repeated in 1999. Almost 100 members and former members signed affidavits showing their support. These affidavits not only accepted Clive Doyle in that role as Trustee, but explicitly stated that they did not want Amo Roden to have any jurisdiction, use or control of said property.

In 1995 a grove of Crepe Myrtle trees was planted by the survivors in memory of all the church members who died here in 1993. In the latter part of 1997 a small building was constructed on the property, as a visitors center and museum.

In March of 1997, Charles Joseph Pace answered God's call and moved his family onto the property and has lived here ever since. Charles was a baptized member of the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist Association under Ben and Lois Roden and since that time has developed his own ministry along medical missionary lines believing that he has been chosen as the leader of the church by Lois Roden to continue the teaching of The Living Waters Branch which concentrated on the gender, personality, and intercession of the Holy Spirit, the Bride of Christ. Charles developed his understanding of this revelation of truth with Lois and continues to teach as the Spirit reveals to him Her identity and work to those who choose to follow Her all the way into the Kingdom of Righteousness and Peace.

Clive Doyle moved onto the property, with his mother, in 1999. He, as a member of the Executive Council under Benjamin and Lois Roden, and also under David Koresh, believes his calling is to carry on the teachings of these messages and as a survivor, to be a first-hand witness to the events which transpired in 1993. A chapel was built for worship in 1999 on the property by volunteers, mostly from Austin, Texas, but also others from around the country. Clive has a world-wide literature outreach.

In 1999 the members of the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist Association filed a case in District Court asking that the Court recognize the will of the church members in accepting a Board of Trustees that had been submitted to them. Amo Roden counter filed trying to get the Court to accept her as Trustee instead. In the year 2000 the jury's decision was that they could not decide who should hold that title and found neither party to be Trustees. The judge upheld their decision.

Amo Roden left the Waco area about that time. It is alleged that in the following years she received somewhere in the vicinity of $150,000 from her mother's estate. Apparently she has laundered or squandered this huge sum of money, because in a recent suite that she has filed against the residing church members, as recent as November and December of 2004, she states that she is broke, basically a pauper, and is being currently prevented from making a living, by begging and selling her wares, on church property. She also accuses both Clive Doyle and Charles Pace of defaming her name and reputation by saying she is not a church member in good standing. Amo Drake (she remarried legally after George Roden) never was, in the eyes of the original Branch Davidians, a baptized church member. Nor do they feel she has any rights to the property as she claims. It is the prayer of this Association that the coming Court case, or better still God Himself, will soon clear this clouding of title that has been perpetrated by this imposter and others for so many years.

February 2006

Clive Doyle has decided to give up his control of the property and turn it over to Charles Pace and his followers. Charles believes that he has been called to reorganize and re-establish The Branch Church and teach the Truth as it is in Christ the BRANCH and His Holy Spirit Bride. Charles desires to restore true worship once again at Mt Carmel and honor our LORD, Yehoshua The BRANCH, who was crucified afresh and His Name BRANCH brought to open shame by David Koresh and his followers. Charles has reorganized The BRANCH Church according to the By-Laws established by Victor Houteff and Benjamin Roden and has named it The BRANCH, The LORD (YHVH) Our Righteousness, according to the instructions left by them in the By-Laws.

The Sanctuary will also become an audiovisual historic museum to show the History of the Apostolic Church established on the Day of Pentecost by the Holy Spirit and covers the whole timeline from the cross to where we are presently in God's Plan for judgment and purification of His House and covers the Protestant Reformation and the all the Advent Movements. Hopefully, all our visitors to Mt Carmel will see the place their denominational roots fit into this timeline, but more importantly they will recognize that Branch Davidians hold a place in the timeline that extends far beyond David Koresh. It goes all the way back to the early 1830's and the First Day Adventists of the Millerite Movement. This project was completed by the April 19 Memorial of 2006, the thirteenth anniversary of the Waco tragedy. It is at this time that we annouced the grand opening to the public and dedicated our AudioVisual Historic Museum and our newly organized Church to the work of restoring true worship to Yehoshua the BRANCH and His Spirit, not David Koresh.

Charles Pace regularly holds services at 11 AM Saturday (Sabbath) each week and on the Feast Days: Passover, Pentecost, Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles according to the Solar Jubilee Calendar given to Noah and Moses. Should you have any questions or desire to visit our museum or join us for worship, please direct them to The BRANCH, The LORD (YHVH) Our Righteousness info@the2branches.org. 

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