# Church of Bible Understanding · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

Source: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/atlas/library/cults/110-church-of-bible-understanding/ · The Congregation of Tomorrow · the Atlas · language: en
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The Cult Dossier · No. 110 · Christian-Derived
Church of Bible Understanding
Forever Family
1971 – present · Pennsylvania, New York; Haiti
XII. THE WIDER FIELD — CONCISE ENTRIES
Fully religious
### 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
- 1971 Founded in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as the FOREVER FAMILY; renamed the Church of Bible Understanding in 1976.
- 1970s Peak of about 10,000 members in some 110 communes.
- 1970s–present Runs orphanages in Haiti, repeatedly cited for poor conditions.
- NOVEMBER 2012 onward Haitian inspectors find the church's homes fail minimum health and safety standards, citing overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and too few trained staff, and STRIP THEM OF ACCREDITATION. They fail again in 2017, and the church hires a lawyer to fight closure. THE HOMES KEEP OPERATING.
- 2018 Traill dies; the organisation continues.
- NIGHT OF 13–14 FEBRUARY 2020 FIRE AT THE KENSCOFF HOME KILLS 15 PEOPLE. First reports said 15 children; the AP's later count was 13 children aged 3 to 18 and two adults. Sixty-one children were asleep in the two-storey building. It begins around 9 p.m.; the building is being lit by CANDLES because both the generator and the inverter had failed. FIREFIGHTERS TAKE ABOUT 90 MINUTES TO ARRIVE.
- APRIL 2020 THE COMPENSATION OFFER. Parents report that the church offered them BETWEEN 50 AND 100 US DOLLARS PER DEAD CHILD, plus about 150 dollars towards funeral costs. The same organisation's Olde Good Things stores were at that time asking 8,500 dollars for a single limestone mantel salvaged from the Waldorf Astoria. HAITIAN PROSECUTORS OPEN A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION into the church's homes.
### Its people
### Stewart Traill
—
Founder, Church of Bible Understanding ·? – 2018 · active 1971–2018
Before the law. Never charged.
Where things stand. Deceased 2018. The organisation continues.
- 1971 Founds the church in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
- 1970s Peak of about 10,000 members in some 110 communes.
- 1970s–present Runs Haitian orphanages, repeatedly cited.
- 2018 Traill dies.
- Night of 13–14 February 2020 FIRE AT THE KENSCOFF HOME KILLS 15 PEOPLE, 13 of them children. The homes had lost accreditation after failed inspections from 2012 and was lit by candles because the generator and inverter had both failed.
- April 2020 Parents report being offered 50 to 100 dollars per dead child in compensation, plus about 150 dollars for funeral costs. Haitian prosecutors open a criminal investigation.
Checked 2026-09-16
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