Family Care Foundation and The Family / Children of God Exploring the Connections Executive Summary Exploring the Connections also provides information about other Family front organizations, explaining how they are interlinked. Suggestions for further research are offered, including several websites, as well as contact information of the various organizations mentioned in the report. Introduction This document explores the relationship between the high-demand apocalyptic religious group known as The Family (formerly the Children of God) and Family Care Foundation (FCF), a public benefit corporation based in Dulzura, California (EIN 33-0734917). It is assumed that the reader already has a knowledge of The Family – their history, beliefs, and practices. Origins of Family Care Foundation The top leaders of The Family formed FCF in early 1997 in order to advance their goals and interests. In 1996, Family leadership was exploring ways in which The Family could become a tax-exempt legal entity in the U.S. This was desirable for a number of reasons.
(From the late 1970's until the late 1980's, Family members sexually abused thousands of children in Family communities. While adult-child sexual contact is no longer officially tolerated, Zerby and Smith deliberately conceal the extent to which it occurred and their part in promoting it. They also refuse to pay the victims any compensation. (Religious prostitution, or “flirty fishing,” was a fundamental doctrine and practice of The Family from 1976 until the mid 80's, when it was banned due to AIDS. The practice raised millions of dollars for the group. Zerby contends that flirty fishing was never intrinsically wrong.) Zerby and Smith considered having the Family become a registered tax-exempt church. They rejected this option for several reasons.
In early 1997, FCF incorporated in California. During the application process, no mention was made of The Family and its support of FCF, nor that the President of FCF, Grant Montgomery, was the Prime Minister of The Family. To acknowledge any connection with The Family would have doomed the application. A few months later, the IRS granted FCF 501(c) 3 status. Board of Directors The Directors of FCF, with one exception, have always been trusted Family members. Some chosen for their ability, all for their tried and proven loyalty to Zerby and Smith. The President of FCF is Grant Montgomery (aka Gary or Paul Papers in The Family). Prior to starting FCF, Montgomery had been Prime Minister of The Family for seven years, during which time he lived with Berg, Zerby, and Smith, helping create and enforce Family policies and practices. Internal Family publications of the time make frequent reference to him. Montgomery remained Prime Minister after FCF incorporated and conferred regularly with Zerby and Smith on a wide range of issues. Again, this is documented in internal Family publications. In August 1997, Zerby and Smith published Family Specials Magazine (FSM) # 320, in which they and some FCF/Family members officially introduced FCF to Family members worldwide. Describing the process, an FCF staffer wrote We're happy to announce that our dear Prime Minister and longtime WS bachelor of 15 years, Gary, is heading down the marriage aisle! He met his lovely bride-to-be, Sharon (24, of Arthur and Becky), then a single mother with three children, in California about nine months ago. Montgomery and FCF executive director Lawrence Corley are the "engines" driving FCF. Corley has been a Family member for over 20 years. Some of the current Directors are "rubber stamps," showing up for meetings and approving Montgomery's proposals. FCF's first registered principal place of business was the residence of another Family member and FCF Director, Dr. Chris Mlot. Her large villa (10612 S. Morada Drive, Orange, California 92869-1505) was also the western headquarters of The Family, known as the LAMB (Los Angeles Missionary Base). At any given time, 30-50 Family members lived there, including Tom Hack (aka Abner), an FCF Director and top Family leader for the U.S. The Family operated its official toll-free 800 telephone line at this address. Firewalls Montgomery and Corley knew that FCF had to build and maintain legal firewalls for two reasons.
Montgomery and Corley built firewalls into the FCF financial accounts. They had to conceal the considerable extent to which The Family financed FCF, especially in 1997. Housing the 15 adult Family members, the fulltime “volunteer” staff of FCF, cost $3,000 a month just for rent. Family officers creatively laundered these funds. For a while, mysterious Japanese donors (Family officers) sent untraceable International Money Orders to FCF. The FCF accounts will not reveal the Family's financial support, but it existed. Family Tithes and FCF For a period of time, FCF was an off-the-record collector of tithes for The Family. (All Family members must tithe 11% of their cash income to WS.) This situation arose due to complaints by Family members about double taxation. Typically, a few Family members would apply to become an FCF "charitable project," submitting an operating plan. FCF would approve the application and authorize the new "project managers" to fundraise in the name of FCF. Donations for that project would go to FCF, who deducted an 11% handling fee and passed the remainder to the project managers. Soon there were hundreds of projects, and some complained that they had to pay both WS and FCF a “tax” on every donation. To remedy this, Zerby, Smith, and Montgomery struck an off-the-record deal that any donation to FCF was exempt from the WS tithe. The 11% handling fee was another way that The Family financially supported FCF. This method required that The Family and FCF bookkeepers exchange information regularly. FCF's Exclusive Help to Family Members FCF almost exclusively promotes Family products and assists Family members. This obvious sponsorship of The Family is one of their Achilles' heels, as it reveals FCF's role as a front organization for The Family. To provide an illusion of transparency, in 1999 the Directors passed a resolution stating that FCF favors and gives special consideration to projects sponsored by Family members. This resolution, documented in the meeting minutes, provides more evidence of the working relationship between FCF and The Family. FCF Funds WS Projects FCF actively solicits large donations from the public. Such donations are often "undesignated," in that FCF can use them however it sees fit. After some large undesignated donations to FCF materialized in 1998, Zerby and Smith suggested that Montgomery and Corley use the funds to finance some WS ventures. (Zerby and Smith use the tithe money to finance projects they view as vital to the Family. This includes but is not limited to: 100% funding of their residence and large staff; 100% support of the staff and dependents of WS offices that produce essential Family publications; several Family field officers; and some "missionary" endeavors.) Zerby and Smith asked Montgomery to use FCF funds to finance two WS projects. The first was the East Europe Mail Ministry office in Hungary. For years this operation, staffed by Family members and funded by WS, had translated, printed, and mailed Family publications to hundreds of thousands of people in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The second was a similar operation in Thailand. Montgomery and Corley agreed to Zerby and Smith's request. To facilitate the process, both groups applied for and were immediately granted FCF project status. The East Europe Mail Ministry office became the "East European Christian Correspondence Center (EECCC)," project No. 98-E03. The Thai operation became Asia Vision, project No. 98- A03, still on the FCF website. In 1998 and 1999, FCF gave the EECCC $63,000 from their general fund. In the period 1998 – 2002, FCF gave $43,000 to Asia Vision. These figures can be found in the FCF 990 forms for the respective years and in the FCF Annual Report for 2000.The Annual Report can be viewed at the FCF website. The 990 forms can be viewed online at: 1999: Page 29. http://documents.guidestar.org/1999/330/734/1999-330734917-1-9.pdf 2000: Page 36. http://documents.guidestar.org/2000/330/734/2000-330734917-1-9.pdf 2001: Page 27. http://documents.guidestar.org/2001/330/734/2001-330734917-1-9.pdf 2002: Page 23. http://documents.guidestar.org/2002/330/734/2002-330734917-1-9.pdf This freed over $100,000 of WS funds for other vital Family projects. (Page 38.). http://documents.guidestar.org/2000/330/734/2000-330734917-1-9.pdf The Family funded and edited Melton's 1994 book about The Family, Sex, Slander, and Salvation, and advertise it on their website. His latest work is The Children of God (Signature Books. 2004) The Family website also lists Melton as an “expert.” http://www.signaturebooks.com/children.htm http://www.thefamily.org/dossier/referrals/index.html) The FCF - Aurora Productions - Activated - Family Connection Further evidence of the strong FCF – Family connection can be found by examining some other Family front organizations. For several years FCF marketed the video Countdown to Armageddon as well as the video series Treasure Attic. The Family produced these videos in Tateyama, Japan. Robert Fernandez, a Director of FCF and Family member, is the star character of Treasure Attic. Several other Family-controlled organizations also promote these videos. Aurora Production AG. (www.auroraproductions.com) Zerby and Smith started this secretive company, based in Zug, Switzerland, in 1998. It owns the copyrights of all revenue-producing Family music, publications, and videos (including Countdown to Armageddon and Treasure Attic), and licenses them to Family projects, such as Activated. Activated Ministries. (www.activated.org www.activatedministries.org) A Family–operated charitable foundation in Escondido, California (EIN 33-0857142). All the Directors are Family members. Tom Hack, a high-ranking Family officer and former director of FCF, is the President. Activated is a licensed distributor of Aurora products worldwide, including the magazines Activated and The Wine Press, both of which promote Family beliefs and practices. It is The Family's largest outreach operation. Activated openly acknowledges its support of The Family and links to The Family website. Activated has also made at least one cash donation to FCF. (P.13) http://documents.guidestar.org/2002/330/857/2002-330857142-1-9.pdf The Family (www.thefamily.org) promotes Aurora and Activated, according each organization a web page and providing links. It also markets Treasure Attic. http://www.thefamily.org/products/activated.php3 http://www.thefamily.org/products/
TEAM Foundation The Family also runs a lesser-known foundation in Texas, Teaching, Education and More (TEAM) Foundation (EIN 75-2790783). Its Directors are all Family members. Gayle Kelly (aka Abi, Abigail, Damaris) is the wife of King Peter and a top US leader of The Family. David Forsberg (aka Simon) is also a leader.
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