| Red |
Indication of possible actions
with legal issues,
or indications of possible endangerment of children's mental or
physical health |
| Cyan |
Cult name changes (real or
planned) or additions |
| Purple |
Indication regarding faked or
false prophecies, or false condemnation of members |
| Yellow |
Information suggests Warren had
misrepresented his intentions or lied to members |
| 1977 |
Christopher Warren becomes a
Mormon (19) |
| June 27, 1984 |
Warren has a revelation that he
should begin the cult(1). |
| Mid-1984 - 1985 |
? |
| 1986 - 1988 |
A name of the cult may have been
“Restoration Christian Fellowship“. |
| 1986
(or 1988) -
1992 |
Official name of the cult is
indicated to have been Independent Church of Jesus Christ (of
Latter-Day Saints) / ICJC. During this time, the cult apparently
subscribed to a mix of Mormon, Christian, and Warren-envisioned
beliefs. The “Latter-Day Saints” tag phrase ceases to be used in later
group names, and the Mormon-aligned beliefs are reportedly dropped from
the group’s belief system as well. Warren is seen in a letter dated
1996 to strongly disavow that the group is a “break-off” of any kind
from the Mormons. |
| 1986-1988 |
Cult headquarters is in
Summertown, North Oxford, England. Most of the first 17 sections of the
“Olive Branch” are written in that building and during this time. |
| 1986-1988 |
Anne-Lis Warren, originally from
Stavanger, Norway, functions as "Presiding Matriarch". They have two
children, Rebekkah and David. |
| around 1988 |
Anna-Lis leaves the cult. Irén Nitter Pallesen, also originally from Stavanger, Norway, replaces Anne-Lis Warren as Presiding Matriarch. Irén Nitter Pallesen ordained an Eldress, also Pastress of the Oslo, and (later) Moss Local Colonies (congregations) before assuming the position of First Eldress of the (then) "Independent Church". Was also Financial Secretary during unspecified period. |
| April
6, 1988 |
The Chavurah Bekorot (or Chewrah
Bqor (22)), the "Holy Order", is organised in Oxford, England. In a
nutshell, this is the system of beliefs that defines the organization
of the group. |
| ? |
Cult begins publishing a journal
named “Evening & Morning Star” in Oxford, England, and it continues
to be printed after the group headquarters’ move to Norway. |
| April 1988 |
Cult headquarters relocates from
England to the top floor of Bergsliensgate 14, in Oslo, Norway. They
use this facility for about 1 year. Erik Holsjø joins the group
in Bergen, Norway. Was active in the group during the “Independent”
period. He is made “pro-tem Pastor of the Oslo Local Colony” at an
unspecified time.Tommy Vågen of Bergen joins the group. Warren
describes him as: “was a keen evangelist and spent much time in his
home city on the streets and witnessing from door to door.” |
| 1988 |
Warren accuses a cult member of being a pedofile, and excludes him from the cult. Former members who were active in the cult at the time feel certain that this accusation was false, and say that when he was excluded, he became extremely depressed and needed psyciatric care (22). Warren pretends in his writings that this man remained on "friendly terms" with the cult, however. The person's duties in the cult are taken up by Gunnar Mjølsvik (2) and Herman Rustad (3) . Warren claims in his writing that the person was replaced "due to illness" |
| August 1988 |
Warren appears to officially
relocate to Norway, after being delayed in coming due to “membership in
another denomination and his call to witness there a little longer
before resigning”(1a). One reference has Warren in Oppsal, Oslo with
Erik Danielsen within the first few days of arriving, and another has
him as arriving in Bergen. |
| Early 1989 |
Cult headquarters (Warren's
home) relocates to Oppsal, Oslo, Norway. Bulk of “Olive Branch”
(sections 23 - 319) are written here. |
| 1989 |
Most of the Larsen family joins the cult. This includes the father and mother, all of their children except for one male, and the fiancee of one of their daughters. |
| soon after above |
Group rents a meeting room in
Rosenborg, Norway for regular use, this rental is maintained for a
number of years until a relocation to Ammerud, Norway, in 1992 - 1996. |
| March
1989 |
Warren reportedly receives a
revelation that East and West Germany are going to be reuinited (4). He
handed out pamphlets with this "revelation" at this time (22) |
| Possibly
second half of 1989 |
Warren was supposed to have
temporary, summertime custody of Anna-Lis's two children, but instead
of returning the children to their mother at the end of the summer, he
kept them. When Anna-Lis went to court to get the children back, he
threatened to lie about her in court, and she was too afraid to go
forward with the kidnapping charges. She dropped the case, and Warren
was awarded custody of their two children David and Rebekkah. (22) |
| 1989 |
Cult meetings were being held in
the Oslo apartment of a woman named M.R. Cortes (22). |
| 1989 |
Mil Jan Wind and wife Ingefred,
from Aarhus, Denmark, join the group, and are active in organizing the
group’s “first computer technology”. |
| 1989 |
The cult visits the Wind family
in Denmark, has meetings there, and hands out pamphlets in the town of
Aarhus. They rented a cabin with a swimming pool and did re-baptisms
there (22). |
| ? |
"Mission trips" to England and
the USA. This may have been when Warren went to collect the Rebekkah
and David children from their mother in the United States after the
brief custody battle. He is also reported to have gone to his father's
funeral and called it a "mission-trip", using "church" funds for these
private trips (22) |
| Nov.
9, 1989 |
Berlin wall in East Germany
opened to unrestricted transit between East and West Germany. Warren
claims that this was a fulfilled prophecy on his behalf, and writes
“This is an example of one of many of the New Covenant Church of God’s
revelations being fulfilled. Others await fulfilment according to their
time.” (5) |
| Around
1990 |
M.R. Cortes leaves the cult and
moves to the United States to live with her husband. Chris condemed her
for doing so, and said her marriage was not blessed by God. (22) |
| 1990 |
Warren's writings state that
“New Covenant Christians” receive a “revelation” predicting the
yet-to-occur breakup of Yugoslavia. More precise information about the
date of this revelation’s reception is not specified. (12). The
political process for this happening is already underway at the time,
as in March and April of this year, Slovania and Croatia hold first
multi-party elections in almost 50 years. Parties in favor of national
sovereignties within Yugoslavia win that election. In mid to late 1990,
Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina elections are won by parties in favor
of national sovereignties within Yugoslavia. The break-up of Yugoslavia
is a long process that occurs from 1990 to 1997. |
| ? |
Around this time a number of
nation-related propecies are made (20): |
| * “The nation of Czecho-Slovakia shall eventually prosper and remain as one state” appears to have been the original text of one prophecy. Czechoslavakia did break up into different countries, however. This text appears in the cult's Olive Branch book, though its appearance in the printed version has an insertion and a lengthy footnote that attempts to explain away a reader's potential observation that this was a false prophecy. | |
| * Germany is prophesied to eventually buy back the area of North East Prussia | |
| * Canada is prophesied to eventually become one country with the United States | |
| * Unrest prophesied for Poland, and Poland will lose what they gained in conquest plus more if the people do not embrace a higher light and repent | |
| 1990 |
“Mission” trip to (East?)
Germany which reportedly included some drama. Warren was eager to have
a particular woman as one of his wives, and appeared to some of the
members to have planned the "mission" trip to Berlin so that the two of
them could spend the week together. At the last minute, the woman gave
her travel tickets to a male member named Terje Bonkerud and stated
that he should go instead. Warren did not appreciate this, but because
it was supposed to be a "mission" trip, he could not object. While the
pair was in Berlin, Warren treated Terje very poorly, and Terje was
under the impression that Warren was angry with him for the whole week.
Terje felt that it was strange that Warren used a lot of time and money
to buy what appeared to him to be "Nazi" uniforms and effects, which
was in contrast with the reason they were supposed to be there (which
was to spread the gospel). |
| On the way out of the country,
Terje is stopped at the border and asked why he was visiting. His
luggage and personal effects were not searched (22). Warren later makes
exaggurated claims about the trip through the border in his writings.
He claims that before going through customs in Friedrichstraße,
Warren puts all of the literature into his own backpack (claims he
“received word from the Holy Spirit” to do this), and Bonkerud is
“arrested”, searched by agents but then released. Warren indicates that
distributing the literature was illegal there at the time. |
|
| 1991 |
Mission” trips made to
Stavanger, Norway. According to Warren, two “missions” reportedly were
set up but quickly subsided. A former member of the cult reports that
there was never actually any real member base in Stavanger as a part of
any such "missions". (22) |
| These trips were visits to Iren
Pallesen's family in Stavanger. One particular trip of interest was
arranged but then cancelled. The mother of a 12 year old girl suspected
that Warren only wanted to make the trip
because he wanted to take her child with him and spend time with her.
When the mother asked Warren about this, Warren denied it, but the trip
was cancelled. Warren subsequently had a revelation about the mother's
lack of trust. (22). A few years later, at the age of 15, this same
child does become "engaged" to Warren as one of his wives. |
|
| “Mission” trip is then made to
Newcastle, England |
|
| A trip to Helsinki, Finland is
mentioned |
|
| July 3, 1991 |
Last sermon given to the
supposed (22), to-be-abandoned mission in Stavanger, Norway (6) |
| August, 1991 |
Cult headquarters moved to
Våler, near Moss, in Østfold, Norway. Headquarters is used
for a little over a year, and is named in Norwegian “Lille Kadesj”,
English “Little Kadesh”. |
| 1991 |
The Wind family (Denmark) leaves
the cult due to contradictory prophecies by Warren. (22). Warren has
apparently lied about the event in writing. He calls it “The First
Rebellion” and pretends that Mil Jan Wind sets up his own group,
independent from Warren’s. Warren describes this effort to make an
independent group as a failure. He claims that the Wind family was
briefly “reconciled” with the group afterwards, but then left in 1992. |
| 1991-1992 |
A woman that Warren had wanted
to become one of his wives fell in love with another man, a cult member
named Erik Danielsen. They began dating and were a couple for a short
period. The woman had not been a member of the cult prior to this, but
now she began attending cult meetings and became a member. Warren
wanted the woman for himself, however, and kicked Danielsen out of the
cult, accusing him of being a homosexual. Then Warren had a revelation
about the woman, and told her that she would never be happy if she
didn`t marry him. The revelations about Erik and the woman were
included in the original version of The New Olive Branch, but they may
have been removed. (22) This referenced woman did later become one of
Warren's wives. |
| Warren, however, claims in his
writings that Erik Danielsen, who briefly served as “Second Elder”, was
excommunicated from the cult for “immoral conduct”, and that it was
relative to a “Second Rebellion”. Erik Danielsen is supposed to have
formed a group independent from Warren’s group with former members from
Bergen, Norway. Warren describes him as “…known in NCCG history as the
leader of the “Second Rebellion” and for his success in virtually
wiping out the Local Colony in Bergen”. Warren also describes
Danielsen’s group as a failed effort. |
|
| A former member of the time states that this "Second Rebellion" and the group that Erik was supposed to have set up did not actually happen, it was, in reality, just one guy getting kicked out. (22) | |
| Prior to 1992 |
“Mission” trips taken to Hamburg
(Germany), Rostock (Germany) and Pozen (Poland). |
| April
12, 1992 |
The “Independent Church of Jesus
Christ (of Latter-Day Saints) (ICJC)” is dissolved by Warren and
replaced by “New Covenant Christ Fellowship (NCCF)”. Warren claims that
as a result of this, “Mass defection” from the “Local Bergen Colony”
occurs, but that that all members of the “Moss” mission, located in the
vicinity of the headquarters in Våler, remain with Warren’s new
group. Warren describes: “This conference effectively marked the end of
the Bergen Local Colony, all but two of the members refusing to move
over into the NCCF. Nearly all of the members from Oslo and the eastern
congregations continued.”(7) The two remaining members from Bergen were
Gunnar and Aslaug Mjølsvik. (22) |
| April 13, 2992 |
Warren writes: “the Presiding
Patriarch (8) outlined the new organisation and its purpose. Not only
were all the previous scriptures borrowed from the Restoration rejected
but the Church’s own revelations were also laid aside so that everyone
could make a fresh start and come in through the door of the Bible
alone” |
| April, 1992 |
Production of the “Evening &
Morning Star” journal ceases, replaced by production of the “New
Covenant Christian Witness, also briefly known as Zion’s New Covenant
Christian Witness”. Journal name is later shortened to New Covenant
Witness (NCW). Journals printed monthly or sometimes bi-monthly. |
| Soon after above |
Warren does “preaching tour of
the western Ukraine”, claims that events on this tour had been forseen
in visions and was a confirming sign (9). In the town of L’viv,
preaching was done at a city hall, and it was reportedly broadcast on
L’viv’s local television station. Warren retains a video of the
televised event. Several people in this town are reportedly converted
to the group, and the “L’viv-Ukraine” local mission is established.
Emma Chaikovska, presumably one of the locals, is named as the “pro tem
pastress” of the mission. Warren then proceeded to preach in the town
of Novovolynsk. He first preached in a prison and then at a Baptist
church. At the prison, Warren got to know a Russian prisoner named
Vasily Ermarkov. Later, Ermarkov was transferred to Chisinau, in
Moldova, and according to Warren, started his own ministry. This
ministry reportedly becomes a member of “B’rit Chadashah Evangelical
Association”, which Warren says was “established by NCCF as a meeting
ground for independent churches with similar programs.”While at a
“Soviet industrial memorial in Galicia”, all of the NCCG printed tracts
brought for the trip are given out in the first night.Warren claims
that the interior of the Baptist Church at Novovolynsk, and one of the
people he met there, were identical in appearance to the way they had
been revealed in a prior vision (9).Novovolynsk Baptist Church
establishes a “formal link” to NCCG, reportedly the first mainstream
church to do so.While on the trip, Warren becomes ill due to drinking
the tap water. |
| The visit to the town of L'viv
specified above may be when he met a young woman named Marina. She was
15 years old, and Warren wanted to have her as one of his wives. She
and her mother came to visit the cult in Våler, a trip which
Warren described later as the people from the “L’viv-Ukraine Mission”
visiting the headquarters. Warren told Marina's mother that Marina
could come and live with them, and go to school in Norway. They made
plans for Marina to move to Våler. After the mother and daughter
had left, one of the cult members sent mail to Marina's mother and
warned her that Warren wanted to have the teenager become one of his
wives. Marina's mother believed the letter, and Marina did not move in
with Warren. (22). |
|
| soon after above |
Missionary trips to Paris,
Belgrade, Eastern Germany (Rostock), and western Poland (Poznan/Posen)
(13) |
| 1992 |
Trip to Leningrad
(St.Petersburg) and the Baltic states cancelled due to lack of
financial resources and “upheavals”. |
| 1992-1996 |
Official name of the cult for
the specified years is stated to have been New Covenant Christian
Fellowship / NCCF |
| 1993 |
3 former cult members/associates
have reported information to me which gives the appearance of being
realistic, consistent, and believeable, indicating that Warren
committed an unprosecuted, non-violent rape of a 15 year old
girl. During the rape, the girl is reported to have felt very confused
and didn't understand what was going on. The parents of the girl are
indicated to not have been aware of the rape at the time it occurred.
The age of consent in Norway is 16. |
| 1993 |
A cult member went to the doctor and was told that she had a tumor on one of her ovaries. In response, Warren issued some sort of patriarchal blessing to the woman and said that she should praise the Lord because the tumor had already been healed and was gone. (Three years later, after leaving the cult, the woman got checked by a doctor again and the tumor was still there and in fact had grown in size, and it was removed surgically). (22) |
| 1994 |
At some point, Warren had a
"revelation" specifying that a particular wife of his was going to get
pregnant with a baby girl who should be named Maria. The wife became
pregnant, and thoughout the pregnancy Warren indicated that he had seen
this baby "Maria" in several visions, and that "Maria" was the baby
being carried by this wife at the time. Unbeknownst to him, the baby
was actually a boy. During the pregnancy, the wife was made to take
very visible walks with the cult member Herman Rustad through the
Norwegian town of Våler. This was to deliberately create the
incorrect impression among neighbors that Herman was the father of the
child, not Warren.. When the child was born and it was a boy, Warren
became depressed and was seen burning his books and pamphlets in his
back yard. He persisted in not visiting the wife and child in the
hospital. He said that he had prophecied false and could not be a
leader any more. He passed leadership to member Gunnar at the time, but
their relationship was such that during this stint of leadership,
Warren was directing Gunnar in what to do. A short time later, Warren
said he had been tricked by false angels. He had a revelation that said
he had to be more careful about checking the source of his revelations
– so he repented, and evrything was fine again. He continued to use his
old revelations again, but he now considered the Book of Mormon to be
removed from the proper scriptures. The members of the time started
having serious doubts about Warren after this incident. (22) Years
later, this wife's second child with him was a girl which he named
Maria. |
| When the wife went to the hospital to deliver the child, Warren told her to lie to the hospital officials and tell them that she did not know who the father of the baby was (22). | |
| February 1994 |
Mission trip to Bulgaria, Warren
preaches at two pentacostal churches and one baptist church. Dr.
Theodor Angelov, President of the Baptist Union of Bulgaria, is in
attendance. Two people are converted to the group, and the
“Sofia-Bulgaria” mission is formed. Some time after this, decision is
made to restrict mission trips to inside Scandinavia and the UK, to
make better use of limited resources. |
| April 1994 |
“Holy Week” celebrations are
held in Oslo, Norway. Meetings are held in the “former Independent
Church chapel Oslo”, where Warren reports “many dramatic spiritual
manifestations occurred.” The drama was that Herman Rustad claimed to
have seen Jesus standing in the room. (22) |
| Summer, 1994 |
Warren sent two cult members on
a "mission trip" to Turku, Finland. The trip had been intended by
Warren to last a certain amount of time, but the members had not been
given enough money to stay that long. Warren was angry with them for
returning early. (22) Warren also mentions a trip to Helsinki, Finland
which might have had occurred around this time. |
| ? |
According to Warren, cult
membership existed in three areas of Norway: Oslo, Hurdal and
Bjørkelangen. Meetings were held at a member's home in
Rømskog. |
| ? |
Warren announces the future
organization of a Sunday School for children, the School of Taphim. |
| Winter, 1994 |
Group aquires use of a “Lutheran
Chapel in Ammerud”, Norway, for meetings, by Warren's description. This
location was the chapel in the basement of a retirement home in Oslo
(22). |
| Around December,
1994 |
Irén Nitter Pallesen
leaves the cult, taking her and Warren's child Joshua with her. Warren
continues to use her name in association with the cult and in cult
records for years after she has been gone, pretending that she is still
a member. (22) |
| May 15, 1995 |
Warren receives a revelation for
the group to form a new Patriarchate (14) |
| July 9, 1995 |
A meeting which Warren describes
as “spectacular and symbolically potent” occurs where the new
Patriarchate is appointed held in a member's home in Rømskog,
Norway (described by Warren as "the home of the Bjørkelangen
NCCF)”. 12 men and women are “called” to form the new leadership. |
| A former member who was active
at the time reports that nothing spectacular actually happened at the
meeting. There were 12 members in the cult at the time, and they were
all named as leaders in the organization. (22) |
|
| July 10, 1995 |
Warren has a revelation to hold
a “Solemn Assembly” meeting in the future. (15) |
| Summer, 1995 |
Throughout this summer, cult
members were actively looking for places that could become "Kadesh",
the cult's future home/compound. A couple of times the whole cult went
together to look at places. (22) |
| October 15, 1995 |
Warren wrote that the cult holds
a meeting called “The Solemn Assembly”, in Bergen. Warren states that
the meeting contained “…a holy proclamation (v.3), a last opportunity
for a reconciliation with those who had left the Church (vv.4-7), the
reconsecration of all the Church’s banners (v.1), and the chance to
receive the Word of the Lord directly (v.2) Group is called “New
Covenant Church of God” for the first time.Source material states:
“This was the very last time that the whole Church gathered together.
The events which were to follow two months later were to leave
destruction in its wake, eventually causing the Church to move out of
Norway and to a new beginning in Sweden.” |
| During one of the meetings like
this (held in Bergen), Warren spoke so much about angry, threatening
angels with swords that the children within the cult became
frightened.(22) |
|
| A former member states that
Warren had an interest in moving to Sweden because Norway's child
welfare system were concerned about his children David and Rebekkah,
and that if they had stayed in Norway, the children would probably have
been taken away from Warren. (22) |
|
| Late December, 1995 |
The cult effectively breaks up. |
| The
majority of the cult members
determine that Warren had been faking his revelations about them. They
compared notes among one another, and discovered that in each case
where God had seemed to reveal things to Warren about them, Warren had
actually gotten the information from a different person among them. |
|
| The cult members were at first
afraid that Warren might still be a true prophet, so they began
privately studying the Bible in an effort to understand what being a
true vs. false prophet entails. As a result, they became reasonably
certain that Warren
was indeed a false prophet. At a cult meeting, Øyvind M. Larsen
openly discussed the conclusions, and the cult was effectively
dissolved by its members. |
|
| Warren at that point began
having lots of revelations about how dangerous most of the cult members
were supposed to be, and through fear tactics, caused a few members to
stay with him (whereas most of the cult members left Warren at that
time). (22). |
|
| Warren refers to this event as
“The Third Rebellion” or “The Larson Revolt”, also called simply a
“disasterous schism”. Warren claims that this “rebellion” was caused by
“existentialist heresy which maintained that all truth is relative to
the individual and that no organised Church was required”. Warren’s
source material for this event has an obviously spiteful tone, calling
them “rebels” and the like. |
|
| January,
1996 |
Member Trond Standnes' wife dies
of cancer, and Warren claims that the death was God's punishment for
her not being obedient enough to her husband. Trond does not appreciate
this conclusion and left the cult as a result (22). Warren refers to
this incident as Trond turning down an offer to be appointed as the
group’s “Third Patriarch” and leaving, and is described by Warren as “A
former Jehovah’s Witness stantched out of the arms of the Mormon Church
by early New Covenant Christian missionaries”. |
| Only 5 adult members and one
17-year old remain with the cult after this split, and situation is
stressful. |
|
| The former cult member who in
1993 had been told that the tumor on her ovary had been miraculously
healed goes to the doctor to have the ovary checked, and the tumor is
still there and has grown, and the tumor is removed surgically (22). |
|
| 1993-1996 |
During these years, the cult
members had been directed to pay as much money as possible to sustain a
childrens home in Madras, India. (on top of the money they gave
directly to the cult.) When they left the cult in 1996, they tried to
find out the real situation with the children's home. Soon after
inquiries about the children's home began, Chris allegedly got a letter
from India stating that there had been some form of natural disaster
and the childrens home had burned to the ground. The whole project was
at that point considered dissolved within the cult and the remaining
congregation stopped sending money for it. |
| The former members noted that
Warren began having financial problems as soon as they left. He was
observed to be having trouble paying utility bills and the mortgage for
his house. They came to the conclusion that money they had been giving
for the supposed children's home in India had actually been kept by
Warren. |
|
| April
1, 1996 |
General Conference held in
Bergen to discuss future of group. A “Consitition for B’rit Chadashah
Assembly of Yahweh (BCEA)” is created. |
| April
2, 1996 |
Warren has a revelation, and it
is decided not to officially reorganize and rename the group as “New
Covenant Church of God (NCCG)” yet. Warren reports having had many more
visions after this event. |
| 1992 - 1996 |
Warren indicates that the cult
has supposedly not had success in its evangelism efforts in Bergen,
Norway during this timeframe. |
| June 8, 1996 |
Warren receives revelation for
the cult to shift its evangelism efforts away from foreign “Mission”
trips to “Cyber-Evangelism”. (10) |
| October 15, 1996 |
Warren sells “Little Kadesh”
headquarters in Østfold, Norway, in preparation to “gather to
Zion”. Used temporary headquarters named “Kadesjbrua or Bridge to
Kadesh” where internet work and publishing continued. This sale is
later referenced in the source material as having been done to finance
the first printed edition of the Olive Branch. A former member reports
that it's likely that he he had to sell the house because it was too
expensive to keep after most of the cult members had left and stopped
giving him money (22). |
| Late 1996 |
The cult becomes active on the
internet. First website published at URL http://home.sol.no/~cwarren .
In total, about 23 websites are made, which are eventually combined
into the large “www.nccg.org” website. |
| 1996 - ? |
Official name of the group for
the specified years is stated to have been/be: The New Covenant Church
of God / NCCG B’rit Chadashah Assembly of Yahweh / BCAY |
| 1997 |
In Warren's writing at this
time, he is still pretending that Irén Nitter Pallesen is
functioning as a Deaconess for the cult. She had left years before,
however. (22) |
| Mission trip to Zürich,
Switzerland. Source material mentions that a short-lived mission in
Turgi, Switzerland, had been set up before. |
|
| April, 1997 |
In search of a new
headquarters/”gathering” place, Warren visits a location on a small
island named “Lepsøy”, near Bergen, Norway, but does not choose
it. |
| June 26, 1997 |
Future compound in Sweden seen
for sale in a brochure, and is visited by Warren for the first time. |
| June 27, 1997 |
Offer made for the future
compound |
| June 29, 1997 |
Warren leaves temporary
headquarters (Little Kadesh) |
| July 1997 |
Compound purchased in the
Värmland area of Sweden. The size of the compound is not specified
in the source material, but the owned woodland surrounding it is
measured in acres. The compound is described by Warren as:
“Kadesh-biyqah, which in the Hebrew means, “Holy City in the Valley”,
is the first of the New Covenant Church of God’s (B’rit Chadashah
Assembly of Yahweh’s) proto-Firstborn Colonies. It was purchased, by
the grace of Yahweh, in July 1997 and is administered by the Holy Order
or Chavurat Bekorot, which in the Hebrew means “Community of the
Firstborn”. Kadesh-biyqah, located in the diaspora of the tribe of
Ephraim (10 Tribes of Israel) in Northern Europe, and specifically in
Sweden, is the beginning of the work of gathering the Ten Tribes of
Israel and the establishment of miniature Patriarchal Christian
communities whose purpose is to act as place of refuge from the
surrounding culture and a spiritual community whose aim is to prepare
disciples of the Lord Yah’shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) both for the
coming tribulation and for the Millennial Order. Our goal is to be
partially self-sustaining through market gardening, web design and
other projects. Children are homeschooled in three languages (Swedish,
Norwegian and English) to a high standard and enjoy good ITC resources
together with a library of over 7,000 multilingual books. Kadesh-biyqah
is a caring community and welcomes young and old, our most senior
resident being 90. Permanent membership is conditional upon being
debt-free, adherence to high moral, ethical and spiritual standards and
is reviewed annually. The land and buildings are owned by the community
and are leased to members as a stewardship. Visitors must be
recommended by an NCCG Pastor and receive an invitation from the
Kadesh-biyqah leadership.” |
| Fall, 1997 |
The first printing of the Olive
Branch, 1000 copies, is completed by a Norwegian publisher and
delivered to Warren. |
| November,
1998 |
Norway was supposed to have been
destroyed by a financial catastrophe according to an earlier prophecy
made by Warren (16). An even earlier version of this prophecy was that
there was supposed to be an earthquake, originating in Hurdal, which is
where most of the Larsen family lived. It would come as God's
punishment to the Larsen couple. The revelation had been changed to be
relative to Norway in general when the earthquake didn't happen. (22) |
| 1999 |
Gunnar Mjølsvik(2) and
Aslaug Hagen(11) move to the group’s headquarters in Sweden. With this
move, all members of the group, except for one, had relocated from
Norway to the compound in Sweden. A former member reports that the one
member who remained behind is one who had never been allowed to live
with the cult, apparently because he has no money. |
| Group adopts “Sabbatarian”
beliefs, joins the “Messianic Israel Alliance (MIA)”. |
|
| August, 1999 |
Timeframe in which Warren
states: “Yahweh commanded that this end-time work of gathering the
firstborn should begin”. This is related to the intent to establish
compounds. (18) |
| Early 2000 |
Warren states: “…we were visited
by a prophet from the United States who had been given the authority by
Yahweh some 30 years before to bless and administer a special Lord’s
Supper which would be the instrument by which the end-time harvest
would take place.” End-time harvest in this context is related to the
gathering of people into 12 compounds. (17) |
| February
1, 2001 |
Group reorganized somewhat to
include “New Covenant Ministries” concept. This is currently visible
online at http://www.nccg.org/NCM/NCM-01.html . Some of the key points
of the reorganization is to allow for: "* i. Preparatory Firstborn
Colonies where total consecration and communal living may be taught,
learned and lived, preparatory to a final gathering on the eve of the
Great Tribulation to: * ii. Twelve hidden divinely protected international Cities of Rrefuge which shall pass safely through the Great Tribulation, which shall emerge at the beginning of the Millennium to bring order to, and rule with Christ, the survivors of the holocaust that shall have decimated the world and destroyed the world system." Also, it states "“The end-time Church of God will consist of an invisible network of (eventually) underground house churches under apostolic authority and leadership.” |
| December 2002 |
Deliverance from Demons MSN
group (DFD) is established |
| September 2003 |
A weekly chat session on Sundays
begins to be held using DFD’s MSN chat platform |
| December 2004 |
DFD changed from public to
private, with satisfactory completion of a questionnaire being required
for admittance. Security is cited as the concern that caused the board
to be changed. A new MSN group, Deliverance From Demons Reception
(DFDR), created as a new, public group which does not require
completion of the questionnaire. |
| March
12 - March
16, 2006 |
First “Satanist Attack” hoax
observed by this author in which Warren pretends over the internet to
cult members and internet-based followers that “satanists” make a
physical assault against the NCCG compound. Portrayed attack is
dramatic, with many “satanists” reported as being killed by God all
around the area of the cult's compound as well as around the world. |
| Warren wrote on the internet
that during this "satanist attack", one of his children had "visions"
of demons in the forest surrounding the compound. |
|
| April 4, 2006 |
Gunnar Mjølsvik dies in a
local hospital |
| May
5 - May 7, 2006 |
Second “Satanist Attack” hoax
observed by this author in which Warren pretends to cult members and
internet involved people that “satanists” make a physical assault
against the cult's compound. This time, it is a much less dramatic
portrayal in terms of physical presence of satanists, although
satanists are indicated to have surrounded the property and been killed
by God on that Sunday night (May 7), |
| June 10, 2006 |
Local newspaper “Nya
Wermlands-Tidningen” (NWT) publishes a lengthy article about the cult
in which it is referenced as “Destructive, Dangerous, and Isolated”.
Language of article is Swedish. |
| Summer, 2006 |
Permission to homeschool
school-age children at the cult's compound (”Hillringberg Skolen”) is
at least initially denied by Arvika Kommun (government for Arvika,
Sweden area). Homeschooling for school-age children at the compound is
disallowed for the school year of 2006-2007. Arvika Kommun mandates
that the school-age children are required to attend the nearby public
school in Glava, Sweden. They were still prevented from going to school
by Warren, however, who continued to claim that he was "homeschooling"
them. |
| June 26, 2006 |
Warren makes complaint to the
“Pressombudsman” regarding the newspaper article about the cult |
| July 4, 2006 |
Warren’s complaint to
Pressombudsman is rejected |
| July 9, 2006 |
“Deliverance From Demons
Reception” (DFDR) disbanded, and functions of pre-screening applicants
to “DFD” are transferred to “nccgcybercommunity” message board. |
| July 26, 2006 |
Warren makes second complaint to
the “Pressombudsman” |
| July 27, 2006 |
“www.nccg.org” web site moved to
another web provider. At that time, much of the formerly-available web
content was not available on the new site. The old site was spidered
and archived by this site’s author, but due to its size (52MB without
images). |
| Week of August 13,
2006 |
Significant amount of material
removed from “nccg critics” message board in the “nccgcybercommunity”
group site, including all references to “nccg_concern”, a failed, false
prophecy, and Warren's “Methodologies and Tactics of Satanists to
Destroy Reputations” article. Written attacks on exit counselors still
remain. This old message board content has been archived elsewhere on
this site. |
| September
21, 2006 |
“MLT” MSN group announced by
Warren as for: “…baptised members of Mishpachah Lev-Tsiyon and for
those seeking baptism/membership (serious catechumens) whom we have
come to know well from this main NCCG Cyber Community Group”.People who
are not “serious” or well-known enough are advised not to apply for
membership. |
| October 15, 2006 |
The last cult groups.msn.com
chat occurs (due to MSN shutting down its entire chat room service) |
| October 29, 2006 |
Cult member Derek R. officially
leaves the cult, changes the message board main pages, and makes posts
on message boards announcing his leaving. Posts are deleted within
hours by Warren. Discussion of Derek within the main
“nccgcybercommunity” message board is disallowed by Warren after this,
through the non-approval of messages as a moderator. Members were
instead redirected to the less-public “MLT” MSN group for such
discussions. |
| Warren later makes many ficticious, accusatory claims about Derek. | |
| November 4, 2006 |
Chatroom restarted using
“Paltalk.com” service. Includes stipulation “This will initially be a
private group for known members of the Cyber Community and Deliverance
Groups”. This is probably due to the questioning at the time regarding
Derek’s leaving and a desire to hide the information and discussions
from him. |
| November 6, 2006 |
Warren announces eventual
migration of “nccgcybercommunity” members to the new MSN group “MLT”
(http://groups.msn.com/MishpachahLev-Tsiyon). Message board users who
do not succesfully migrate are indicated to be dropped from the
membership of the boards. |
| Late
2006 |
Cult name change/addition to "Mishpachah
Lev-Tsiyon". This name had seen informal use earlier. |
| Fall, 2006 |
A middle-aged woman from the
United States known within the cult as "Sharon Harvey", "Rayna", and
"smilebehoppi" (among other aliases) moves to the compound in Sweden. |
| Summer, 2007 |
A woman in her early 20's comes
to the compound in Sweden from her home in southern Europe. Warren had
at some earler time indicated that he might legally marry her so that
she can legally stay in Sweden, but this marriage does not happen.
After at least a few weeks of living at the compound, she returns to
her home country. |
| Summer, 2007 |
A woman around 30 years old who
had effectively been one of Warren's wives since 1989 moves out of the
compound and back to her home country (Norway), taking her child with
her. |