# Children of God · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

Source: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/atlas/library/cults/051-children-of-god/ · The Congregation of Tomorrow · the Atlas · language: en
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The Cult Dossier · No. 051 · Christian-Derived
Children of God
The Family; The Family of Love; The Family International
1968 – present · Huntington Beach, California; then over 100 countries
VI. THE 1970s — THE GREAT PROLIFERATION
Fully religious — Jesus Movement offshoot
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 1968 Berg takes over a Teen Challenge coffee house in Huntington Beach; the group forms among Jesus Freaks.
- 1969 Berg prophesies a California earthquake; the group goes nomadic.
- 1970 The Mo Letters begin.
- 1974 FLIRTY FISHING introduced formally in the letter of that name.
- 1976–1978 One Wife and other letters extend sexual sharing to all adult members; the RNR (Reorganisation Nationalisation Revolution) of February 1978 purges 300 leaders.
- 1978–1986 Peak of documented child sexual abuse. Internal publications from this period were later used as evidence in courts on several continents.
- 1987 Flirty Fishing officially discontinued, publicly attributed to AIDS.
- 1989–1993 Raids in Argentina, Australia, France, Spain and Peru; hundreds of children taken into temporary care. Most prosecutions fail on evidentiary grounds.
- 1994 Berg dies in Portugal; Karen Zerby takes over. The Love Charter of 1995 nominally reforms the group.
- 7–9 JANUARY 2005 RICKY RODRIGUEZ, aged 29, records a video explaining his intent, then on 8 January murders Angela Smith, a woman who had abused him as a child, in Tucson, Arizona, and drives to Blythe, California, where he shoots himself early on 9 January. He had been trying to locate his mother.
- 2010 The Reboot — the communal structure is dissolved; the group continues online as a diffuse network.
### Its people
### David Brandt Berg
Moses David; Mo; Father David; Grandpa; King David
Founder, the Children of God · 18 February 1919 – 1 October 1994 · active 1968–1994
Before the law. NEVER CHARGED. He remained in hiding under assumed names from the early 1970s until his death.
Where things stand. Deceased 1994. The group continues online as The Family International.
- 1968 Takes over the Huntington Beach coffee house.
- 1970 The Mo Letters begin.
- 1974 Flirty Fishing introduced.
- 1978 The RNR purge removes 300 leaders.
- 1978–86 Peak of documented child sexual abuse; the group's own publications become evidence.
- 1987 Flirty Fishing discontinued, publicly attributed to AIDS.
- 1 October 1994 Dies in Portugal, aged 75, having lived in hiding for over 20 years.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Karen Zerby
Maria; Mama Maria; Queen Maria
Leader, The Family International · born 31 July 1946 · active 1969–present
Before the law. NEVER CHARGED IN ANY JURISDICTION. Has never been located for service of process.
Where things stand. LIVING, AND NO LONGER THE LEADER — A CORRECTION. This file said she 'still nominally leads The Family International'. SHE RETIRED IN 2025. She led the movement from 1994, and after the 2010 reorganisation served as its CO-ADMINISTRATIVE AND SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR until stepping down. Her whereabouts remain unpublished. She LEGALLY CHANGED HER NAME TO KATHERINE RIANNA SMITH IN 1997 and has written throughout under the pen name MARIA FONTAINE, among others — Maria David, Maria Berg, Mama Maria, Queen Maria. She was born 31 July 1946 at Camden, New Jersey, was married to David Berg, and is married to STEVEN DOUGLAS KELLY (L132).
- 1969 Joins the Children of God as a secretary; becomes Berg's partner.
- 1975 Gives birth to Ricky Rodriguez, raised as the End-Time prophet.
- 1982 The Story of Davidito published internally.
- 1994 Takes over on Berg's death.
- 1995 The Love Charter nominally reforms the group.
- 8–9 January 2005 Ricky Rodriguez kills a former nanny in Tucson and then, early the next morning, himself, having been trying to find her.
- 2010 The Reboot dissolves the communal structure.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
### Steve Kelly
Peter Amsterdam
Co-leader, The Family International · born 1951 · active 1970s–present
Before the law. Never charged.
Where things stand. Living. This file describes him as CO-LEADING The Family International alongside his wife Karen Zerby (L131) — BUT THAT CLAIM NOW NEEDS RE-CHECKING AND IS FLAGGED RATHER THAN RESTATED: ZERBY RETIRED FROM THE LEADERSHIP IN 2025, and no source consulted establishes what became of the co-directorship or of his own role after that point.
- 1970s Joins the Children of God.
- 1994 Becomes co-leader with Zerby.
- 1995 Co-authors the Love Charter.
- 2005–10 Issues statements after Ricky Rodriguez's death and during the Reboot.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
### Deborah Davis
Linda Berg
Children of God defector; David Berg's eldest daughter · born 1946 · active 1968–1978
Before the law. Never charged.
Where things stand. THIS FILE CANNOT CONFIRM HER PRESENT STATUS; it previously asserted 'Living'. She would be about 80, and nothing consulted reports on her since 2019, nor records her death. What is documented: she was born LINDA BERG, eldest daughter of DAVID BERG and JANE MILLER; she LEFT THE CHILDREN OF GOD IN APRIL 1978; and in 1984 Zondervan published THE CHILDREN OF GOD: THE INSIDE STORY, written with Bill Davis — the first substantial account of the group from inside the founder's own family.
- 1968 Joins her father's movement at its founding.
- 1970s Holds a senior leadership position.
- 1978 Leaves the group.
- 1984 Publishes The Children of God: The Inside Story.
- 1990s Her account is substantially corroborated by internal documents produced in raids and litigation.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Celeste Jones, Kristina Jones and Juliana Buhring
—
Children of God second-generation survivors and authors · born 1970s–1981 · active birth–1990s
Before the law. None charged.
Where things stand. All living.
- 1970s–81 All three born into the Children of God.
- 1980s–90s Raised across communes in several countries under the group's sexual regime.
- 1990s All three leave.
- 2007 Publish Not Without My Sister jointly.
- 2012 Juliana Buhring becomes the first woman to cycle around the world.
Checked · living: health details are kept at home
### Ricky Rodriguez
Davidito; Pete
Children of God second-generation survivor · 25 January 1975 – 9 January 2005 · active 1975–2001
Before the law. Died before any proceedings. NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN PROSECUTED for the abuse documented in the group's own publications.
Where things stand. Deceased 2005. An unknown number of other second-generation members have died by suicide.
- 1975 Born to Karen Zerby; designated the End-Time prophet from birth.
- 1970s–80s Sexually abused as a small child; the abuse is documented in the group's own published manual.
- 2000 Leaves the group; works as an electrician in Texas.
- 2000–04 Attempts to locate his mother and to obtain some accountability.
- 7–8 JANUARY 2005 Records a video statement on the night of 7 January, then on 8 January kills Angela Smith, a former nanny who had abused him.
- 9 JANUARY 2005 Takes his own life in Blythe, California, aged 29.
Checked
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