Charles J. Pace (born c. 1950[1]) is the current leader of The Branch, The Lord Our Righteousness, the supposed successor group of the Branch Davidians after 1993. According to the Toronto Star, he is from Collingwood, Canada.[1] He joined the Branch Davidians in the 1980s, but he left just before the Waco siege that destroyed the Mt. Carmel center.[2][3] He claims to be the successor to David Koresh as the prophet of the Branch Davidians (though he does not use the word "prophet").[1] He returned to Waco, Texas, in 1994 after having left the Mount Carmel Center in the mid-1980s in order to start his own religious movement.[4] He is trained as a reflexologist, nutritionist and colon therapist, according to the Toronto Star.[1] A tractor reportedly amputated his foot sometime before April 2013.[5] National Public Radio and other news sources note that he is an herbalist and gardener.[6][7] He is married to Alex Pace and has two children, Michael and Angela Pace.[1]

Life before and during the Waco siege

Pace grew up in Collingwood, Ontario.[1] At the age of eighteen, he left Collingwood to go out West on a "spiritual quest", according to the Toronto Star.[1] In Hope, British Columbia, he met with a Seventh Day Adventist who later connected him to the Branch Davidians. He first arrived in Waco, Texas, in 1973 to meet the Branch Davidians.[1]

Around 1984, Pace left the compound.[4][8] Former Branch Davidians told The New York Times that Pace hated David Koresh.[4] Pace claimed that Koresh "twisted" the Bible's teachings in such a way that he could not tolerate.[4] Pace believed that David Koresh "was the means by which Satan came to impersonate the descendant of Christ".[9] Pace reportedly also had a "falling-out" with George Roden, son of Lois Roden and contender for leader of the Branch Davidians after her death.[10]

At the time of the siege, he led a small church in Gadsden, Alabama.[8]

Theology and religious leadership

Pace claims to be returning to the "true theology" of the Branch Davidians before David Koresh's rise to power.[1] He insists that the original theology is similar to Messianic Judaism.[1] He believes he is more of a successor to Lois Roden, the leader of the Branch Davidians before Koresh.[11] Pace believes that the world will end in his lifetime, and that most of the world's population will perish unless they practice Branch Davidianism.[1]

In 1998, The Economist reported that Pace's sect had about 10 followers other than himself.[12] Pace sought to grow his church and install educational exhibitions about the Waco siege.[13][14]

Some former Branch Davidians who were part of the group with David Koresh before the Waco siege do not recognize Charles Pace as the legitimate successor to Koresh. Sheila J. Martin, for example, similarly believes in his apocalyptic beliefs, but they do not share the same doctrine.[1] Clive Doyle and others launched a lawsuit against Pace in order to obtain the property on which the Waco siege occurred, which they allege he is squatting, but the lack of sense of urgency and funds made it slow.[1] On National Public Radio, Catherine Matteson, a Branch Davidian from before David Koresh, called Pace "fake".[6] Additionally, some former Davidians fear that the "museum" Pace wishes to erect on the property will not accurately portray them and David Koresh.[14] On the property, Pace and Amo Bishop Roden, another claimant to the successorship to the Branch Davidians, laid a marble stone "in memory of the government officers who died", according to The Times (London).[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Kenna, Kathleen (3 April 1997). "How a Canadian vows to revive the Davidian dream". Toronto Star.
  2. ↑ Saavedra, Marie (April 30, 2018). "The Branch Davidians, 25 years later: A congregation living online". wfaa.com. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  3. ↑ Pelisek, Christine (18 April 2018). "Return of a Cult? 25 Years After the Waco Tragedy, Why Another Ministry Is Rising in the Same Spot". People. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Near Waco, a New Fight Over an Old Compound". The New York Times. 15 April 2007. p. 26.
  5. ↑ Burnett, John (20 April 2013). "Two Decades Later, Some Branch Davidians Still Believe". NPR.
  6. 1 2 Temple-Raston, Dina (18 May 2007). "Branch Davidians See Conspiracy In Highway Project". NPR.
  7. ↑ Hannaford, Alex (17 February 2013). "A New Prophet Rises From the Ashes of Waco". The Sunday Times.
  8. 1 2 McNeill, Colin (18 April 2018). "The Waco cult siege still stirs up huge interest even after 25 years". The Herald.
  9. ↑ Witt, Howard (26 June 2004). "Branch Davidians worry group may disappear". Charleston Gazette.
  10. ↑ "DAVIDIAN RETURNS TO WACO; PREACHER SAYS KORESH MISLED HIS FOLLOWERS". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 4 November 1994.
  11. ↑ Pruitt, Sarah. "What Happened to the Branch Davidians After Waco?". HISTORY. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  12. ↑ "An empty field, under God's eye". The Economist. 347 (8066): 25. 2 May 1998.
  13. ↑ Young, John (12 April 2007). "A church at Mount Carmel". Cox News Service.
  14. 1 2 Brown, Angela K. (19 April 2007). "Church leader plans new religious community at site of 1993 Branch Davidian standoff". Associated Press.
  15. ↑ Maddox, Bronwen (29 March 1997). "Waco in fear of renewed attention". The Times.
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