https://universalworldchurch.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Admin&feedformat=atomuniversalworldchurch.org - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T18:01:46ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.34.2https://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Shaw_and_Mike_Kelley_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=711Jim Shaw and Mike Kelley on the Universal World Church2020-09-13T00:52:47Z<p>Admin: </p>
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<div>The following is an excerpt from an interview between Los Angeles based artists [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Kelley_(artist) Mike Kelley] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Shaw_(artist) Jim Shaw]. This dialog is reproduced identically in the books ''Mike Kelley: interviews, conversations, and chit-chat, 1986-2004''<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Kelley<br />
| first = Mike<br />
| year = 2005<br />
| title = Mike Kelley: interviews, conversations, and chit-chat, 1986-2004<br />
| publisher = JRP/Ringier<br />
| pages = 279<br />
| accessdate = 2012-04-02<br />
| isbn= 3905701006<br />
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=uzSgQeJVfeEC&dq<br />
}}</ref> and ''Jim Shaw: everything must go, 1974-1999''<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Shaw<br />
| first = Jim<br />
| year = 1999<br />
| title = Jim Shaw: everything must go, 1974-1999<br />
| publisher = Casino Luxembourg, Forum d'art contemporain<br />
| pages = 127<br />
| accessdate = 2012-04-02<br />
| isbn= 2919893238<br />
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=TNzpAAAAMAAJ<br />
}}</ref>. Jim Shaw was describing his senior project as a student at the California Institute of the Arts, which took inspiration from ufology, in part from Dr. O. L. and Miss Velma Jaggers. <br />
<blockquote>MK: You did a booklet in the style of ''Awake''. There was also a golden altar--didn't that reference the altar at the Universal World Church, which is a strange charismatic church where they mix Christian and UFO beliefs?<br />
<br><br />
JS: Yes, the church run by Dr. Jaggers and Miss Velma--that was a part of it. When I went to a service there they had a booklet about meetings with UFOs; the motherships were supposed to be seraphim and the smaller ones cherubim. Watching them on TV every week certainly influenced me.</blockquote><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]<br />
[[Category: Universal World Church in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Shaw_and_Mike_Kelley_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=710Jim Shaw and Mike Kelley on the Universal World Church2020-09-13T00:45:43Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following is an excerpt from an interview between Los Angeles based artists [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Kelley_(artist) Mike Kelley] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Shaw_(artist) Jim Shaw]. This dialog is reproduced identically in the books ''Mike Kelley: interviews, conversations, and chit-chat, 1986-2004''<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Kelley<br />
| first = Mike<br />
| year = 2005<br />
| title = Mike Kelley: interviews, conversations, and chit-chat, 1986-2004<br />
| publisher = JRP/Ringier<br />
| pages = 279<br />
| accessdate = 2012-04-02<br />
| isbn= 3905701006<br />
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=uzSgQeJVfeEC&dq<br />
}}</ref> and ''Jim Shaw: everything must go, 1974-1999''<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Shaw<br />
| first = Jim<br />
| year = 1999<br />
| title = Jim Shaw: everything must go, 1974-1999<br />
| publisher = Casino Luxembourg, Forum d'art contemporain<br />
| pages = 127<br />
| accessdate = 2012-04-02<br />
| isbn= 2919893238<br />
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=TNzpAAAAMAAJ<br />
}}</ref>. Jim Shaw was describing his senior project as a student at the California Institute of the Arts, which took inspiration from ufology, in part from Dr. O. L. and Miss Velma Jaggers. <br />
<br><blockquote>MK: You did a booklet in the style of ''Awake''. There was also a golden altar--didn't that reference the altar at the Universal World Church, which is a strange charismatic church where they mix Christian and UFO beliefs?<br />
<br><br />
JS: Yes, the church run by Dr. Jaggers and Miss Velma--that was a part of it. When I went to a service there they had a booklet about meetings with UFOs; the motherships were supposed to be seraphim and the smaller ones cherubim. Watching them on TV every week certainly influenced me.</blockquote><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]<br />
[[Category: Universal World Church in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lakest1950s.jpg&diff=709File:Lakest1950s.jpg2020-09-12T23:51:42Z<p>Admin: Exterior of 123 N. Lake St. church with people and cars. Circa 1950s.</p>
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<div>== Summary ==<br />
Exterior of 123 N. Lake St. church with people and cars. Circa 1950s.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=universalworldchurch.org:General_disclaimer&diff=705universalworldchurch.org:General disclaimer2020-09-12T23:07:28Z<p>Admin: </p>
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<div>The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by universalworldchurch.org and while we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.<br />
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In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.<br />
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Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of universalworldchurch.org. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.<br />
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Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, universalworldchurch.org takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.<br />
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universalworldchurch.org is neither a for profit venture or a non profit organization. It is ''not'' a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Contribution to universalworldchurch.org are ''not'' tax deductible. universalworldchurch.org is a collective effort of volunteers who desire above all to see Christ glorified in the earth, his Kingdom come in power, with signs, wonders, and divine health. It is in that spirit we endeavor to use this website as an instrument to propel people forward into a greater experience of the genuine life of Christ.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=704Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2020-09-12T20:33:34Z<p>Admin: </p>
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<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouses = Ruby Opal Coppedge (1932), Julia Allene Wright (1936), Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers) (1957-2004)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16, O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = https://sgo.forestlawn.com/?search=1&sradio=grave&fname=orval&slast=Jaggers#sgo_results<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = Sept 12, 2020<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=703Main Page2020-08-17T17:36:26Z<p>Admin: </p>
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<div>'''Welcome to the [[Universal World Church]] wiki.''' This site is intended to be the ultimate repository of information regarding or related to the [[Universal World Church]] and its founder and pastors [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers]] and [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]].<br />
<br><br><br />
There are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFFILES}}]] files--mostly images--in the media gallery and [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] pages about [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | Rev. Dr. O. L. Jaggers]], [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]], and the [[Universal World Church]]. More content is added daily. Use the [[Special:Search | search page]] or search tool above to research a specific topic. If you don't know where to start, try hitting the random button above, which will take you directly to a random page in the site.<br><br> <br />
Some other popular destinations include:<br />
* [[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Flying Saucers!''']]<br />
*[[Media:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Omnipotence Is Yours!''']]<br />
* [[Media:TheMiracleWorker.pdf | Download the first edition of O. L. Jaggers' magazine '''The Miracle Worker''']]<br />
* [[Special:NewFiles | Check out the Gallery of New Files]]<br />
* [[Special:NewPages | Check out the newest articles]]<br />
* [[:Category:O. L. Jaggers in Print | Read what others have written about Dr. O. L. Jaggers]]<br />
==Help improve the site!==<br />
If you have video, audio, pictures or books of Dr. O. L. or Miss Velma Jaggers send them to us. Also this site does cost to maintain. Your generous monetary gift will ensure that this site remains a resource for years to come.<br><br><br />
Consult the [[Getting Started]] page to learn how to participate in the wiki or the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.<br />
==At Our YouTube Channel==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | KQWUEJh-SVk | 240 | center}}<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | center}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Main Pages]]<br />
[[Category:Info Pages]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Infobox_person&diff=700Template:Infobox person2017-08-14T17:22:40Z<p>Admin: </p>
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<div>{{Infobox<br />
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<!---Please add metadata to the <includeonly> section at the bottom of the /doc subpage---><br />
{{documentation}} <br />
</noinclude></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=699Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2017-08-14T17:21:16Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouses = Ruby Opal Coppedge (1932), Julia Allene Wright (1936), Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers) (1957-2004)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16, O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.forestlawn.com/Visitors-Guide/Interment-Locator.asp<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=698Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2017-08-14T17:20:53Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouse(s) = Ruby Opal Coppedge (1932), Julia Allene Wright (1936), Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers) (1957-2004)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16, O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.forestlawn.com/Visitors-Guide/Interment-Locator.asp<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Infobox_person&diff=697Template:Infobox person2017-08-14T17:20:24Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox<br />
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<!---Please add metadata to the <includeonly> section at the bottom of the /doc subpage---><br />
{{documentation}} <br />
</noinclude></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=696Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2017-08-14T17:17:05Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouses = Ruby Opal Coppedge (1932), Julia Allene Wright (1936), Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers) (1957-2004)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16, O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.forestlawn.com/Visitors-Guide/Interment-Locator.asp<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=695Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2017-08-14T17:16:40Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouse(s) = Ruby Opal Coppedge (1932), Julia Allene Wright (1936), Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers) (1957-2004)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16, O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.forestlawn.com/Visitors-Guide/Interment-Locator.asp<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=694Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2017-08-14T17:16:01Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouse = Ruby Opal Coppedge (1932), Julia Allene Wright (1936), Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers) (1957-2004)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16, O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.forestlawn.com/Visitors-Guide/Interment-Locator.asp<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=693Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2017-08-14T17:08:59Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouse = Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16, O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.forestlawn.com/Visitors-Guide/Interment-Locator.asp<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Rev._Dr._Orval_Lee_Jaggers&diff=692Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers2017-08-14T17:08:29Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers<br />
| image = Jaggers office 1958.jpg<br />
| alt = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| caption = Jaggers seated in his office, 1958<br />
| birth_date = January 8, 1916<br />
| birth_place = Dardanelle, AR<br />
| death_date = January 10, 2004<br />
| death_place = Glendale, CA<br />
| resting_place = Sanctuary of Prayer, Freedom Mausoleum, Forestlawn, Glendale, CA <br />
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord | 34.122272 | -118.234503 |display=inline}}<br />
| nationality = American<br />
| other_names = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| known_for = <br />
| occupation = Evangelist, Pastor<br />
| spouse = Velma Jaggers (née Jaggers)<br />
| children = Joan Jaggers and Larry Abernathy<br />
| parents = David B. Jaggers (1891 - 1968) and Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick, 1891 - 1976)<br />
}}<br />
The '''Reverend Dr. Orval Lee "O. L." Jaggers''' (January 8, 1916 - January 10, 2004) was an American evangelist, pastor, author, and scholar. He founded the [[Universal World Church]] in Los Angeles and with it the [[World Church Grade School]], the [[World Church High School]], the [[World Church University | World Church Bible College]], which would later become alternately the [[World Church University | World Church University or University of the World Church]]. He established the [[World Fellowship of the World Church]], the union of all participating World Church congregations throughout the world.<br />
<br />
==Early Life==<br />
Orval Lee Jaggers was born January 8, 1916, the son of David B. Jaggers, a Pentecostal preacher, and his wife, Fludie L. Jaggers (née Detrick) in Dardanelle, Arkansas. His older sister was Omah Abernathy (née Jaggers).<br />
<br />
==Early Ministry==<br />
Orval Jaggers started out in ministry in his mid twenties, between 1940<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Exhaustive Efforts of Jaggers Touches Millions by Radio<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| newspaper = Voice of Healing<br />
| date = April - May 1951<br />
| pages = 4-5<br />
}}</ref> and 1944<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = THE OLD EVANGELISM; HARD-SELL SALVATION<br />
| first = Roberta <br />
| last = Ostroff<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Company<br />
| date = Sep 19, 1971<br />
| page = A9<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref>, by his own admission, in rural Missouri.<br />
<br />
==The Universal World Church==<br />
O. L. Jaggers came to Los Angeles in the spring of 1951. He began a revival series on April 13, 1952 at Calvary Temple, [[123 N. Lake Street]], Pastored by Rev. Leroy Kopp. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Apr 19, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> After two weeks, Jaggers moved the revival to the Olympic Arena <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = May 3, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> for a further four weeks. On the revival's ninth week, Jaggers rented the Shrine Auditorium Sunday afternoons while continuing daily meetings at Calvary Temple. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 7, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 14, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref>Jaggers concluded his first Los Angeles crusade after eleven weeks of meetings. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = June 28, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> In August, Jaggers reconvened meetings at the "Great Tent Cathedral" at Washington and Hill Streets.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = August 2, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> He then made arrangements to purchase the Calvary Temple facility which had recently become available as the congregation had constructed a new facility at 11th and Hope Streets. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Calvary Temple Sold to Missouri Evangelist<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Aug 22, 1952<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
| page = 19<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Sep 20, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref> Jaggers continued to hold meetings in his tent cathedral until renovations at 123 N. Lake Street were completed and the World Church opened at it new and what turned out to be its ultimate location Oct 4, 1952. <ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Oct 4, 1952<br />
| page = A3<br />
}}</ref><br />
From his early days in ministry Dr. Jaggers used radio and television to broadcast his ministry to a wide audience. His voice has been heard in person or on the airwaves in over 70 countries.<ref name=vintage>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://universalworldchurch.org/vintage/drjaggers.html<br />
| title = Dr. O. Lee Jaggers<br />
| archiveurl = http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060812031050/http://www.universalworldchurch.org/drjaggers.htm<br />
| archivedate = August 12, 2006<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011 <br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Education==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | right}}<br />
Dr Jaggers holds the following advanced degrees: Doctor of Science, Doctor of Biology and Divine Physics, Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Nuclear Biology, Ph.D. Professor of <br />
Human Genetics in the University Research Fellow of Biblical Manuscripts <ref name=vintage></ref> all presumably granted by the University of the World Church. Moreover, Dr. Jaggers is a member of the intelligensia of the Life Sciences and Biblical Scholarship.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGWSwjeqvY&feature=player_embedded#at=94<br />
| title = O. L. Jaggers Oratorical Masterpiece<br />
|accessdate = March 31, 2011}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Writings==<br />
Dr. Jaggers is the author of over 300 books <ref name=vintage></ref> including ''[[Flying Saucers!]]'', ''[[Omnipotence is Yours | Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself In the Lives of Men]]'', ''Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health'', ''The Exorcist Today'', ''How to Rid the World of Red Communism'', and ''The Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb in Bible Prophecy''.<br />
<br />
==Personal Life==<br />
At the age of 16 O. L. Jaggers became involved with a young woman, Ruby Opal Coppedge, aged 18. They married when she became pregnant. This marriage lasted only a short time. <br />
<ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.voiceofhealing.info/05otherministries/jaggers.html<br />
| title = Healing and Evangelism As A Means To An End<br />
| accessdate = August 13, 2017}}<br />
</ref><br />
When O. L. Jaggers moved to California, he brought with him the daughter from his first marriage, Joan. O. L. Jaggers was 17 when she was born. Joan supported her father's ministry with her musical talents.<ref name = cousin>{{cite news | title = Pastor O. L. Jaggers Marries First Cousin; Wedding Witnessed by 7500 Persons, Filling Church and Crowding Entrances<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 22, 1957<br />
| page = A3<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref> O. L. Jaggers also has a son, Larry, with his second wife, Julia Aileen Smith. Omah Abernathy, Jaggers' sister, later adopted Larry. This is why newspapers reported him as Omah's son although she was in fact his aunt by blood.<ref>{{cite news | title = Personal Email from Joshua Thornton | date = September 25, 2011 | quote = I attend the Cathedral of Love church with Dr. Larry Abernathy Jaggers. Your information on the personal life of OL Jaggers has incorrect facts. He was in fact the son of OL Jaggers and his mother Julia Aileen Smith as is on his birth certificate record. Omah Abernathy adopted Larry but was in fact his Aunt by blood. We respectfully ask that you change this on your website in the spirit of truth. Thank you for your time!}}</ref> In 1957, O. L. Jaggers married his first cousin, [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers | Velma Jaggers]] at the World Church.<ref name = cousin></ref> O. L. and Velma Jaggers did not have children of their own, though at one point they were reportedly raising Robbie, O. L. Jaggers' grandson by his daughter, Joan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Jaggers Guardian for Baby Grandson<br />
| newspaper = Oxnard Press-Courrier<br />
| date = 15 Jun 1959<br />
| page = 10<br />
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = Jaggers Church Goes Under Court Scrutiny<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jun 26, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| issn = 04583035<br />
}}</ref><ref><br />
{{cite web<br />
| url = http://newport2newport.livejournal.com/256466.html<br />
| title = Poetry Friday: The Secret Sits<br />
| author = Melodye Shore<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
==Death==<br />
Dr. O. L. Jaggers passed away at the age of 88 in Glendale, CA. He is interred in the Sanctuary of Prayer, in the Freedom Mausoleum at Forestlawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.<ref>{{cite web<br />
| url = http://www.forestlawn.com/Visitors-Guide/Interment-Locator.asp<br />
| title = Burial Site Locator<br />
| accessdate = March 31, 2011<br />
}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=691Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-14T07:18:11Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book <b>Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey</b>.<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: "Have you see today's LA Times? There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life." "Miss Velma?" I asked. "Dr. Velma Jaggers," she responded. "It does say Miss Velma in parentheses." Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother–who was particularly drawn to healing services–found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times there was the Miss Velma I remembered wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid, all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting: "MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD." But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, "ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE—THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!"<br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 1950s, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, and a bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details, but not the whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were concealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr. Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative, I was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channeled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles of letters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her–but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 1911 with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious.<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the Gifts of the Spirit–if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But it was lukewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr. O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velma Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144 - the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144,000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "special guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from El Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote><br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]<br />
[[Category: Miss Velma in Print]]<br />
[[Category: Universal World Church in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=O._L._and_Velma_Jaggers_Partial_Bibliography&diff=690O. L. and Velma Jaggers Partial Bibliography2017-08-14T06:36:13Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following is a partial bibliography of the written works, specifically books, produced by Dr. O. L. Jaggers and Miss Velma Jaggers:<br />
<br />
<b>Books by Dr. O. L. Jaggers:</b><br />
# Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself in the Lives of Men, 1949<br />
# Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health (at least 1949, referenced in Nov. TVOH)<br />
# Flying Saucers! (1952) or U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them<br />
# The Baptism Into Life and Immortality! 1959<br />
# The golden altar--the administrative altar of God, 19716<br />
# How to rid the world of Red Communism, 1953<br />
#. Why Jesus Christ Will Return To This Generation (listed in Flying Saucers, so earlier than 1952)<br />
# How God Gave This Ministry To Me (appears in March 1952 TVOH)<br />
#. The Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in Bible Prophecy (appears in March 1952 TVOH)<br />
# Life and immortality in the book of St. John, 1959<br />
<br><br><br />
<b>Books by Miss Velma Jaggers:</b><br />
# The Mighty Miracle of Mamre<br />
# The Mighty Miracle of the Restoration of God's Youth<br />
# The Tree of Life</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=O._L._and_Velma_Jaggers_Partial_Bibliography&diff=689O. L. and Velma Jaggers Partial Bibliography2017-08-14T06:33:49Z<p>Admin: Created page with "The following is a partial bibliography of the written works, specifically books, produced by Dr. O. L. Jaggers and Miss Velma Jaggers: <b>Books by Dr. O. L. Jaggers:</b> 1...."</p>
<hr />
<div>The following is a partial bibliography of the written works, specifically books, produced by Dr. O. L. Jaggers and Miss Velma Jaggers:<br />
<br />
<b>Books by Dr. O. L. Jaggers:</b><br />
1. Omnipotence is Yours! Or How Deity Places Himself in the Lives of Men, 1949<br />
2. Everlasting Spiritual and Physical Health (at least 1949, referenced in Nov. TVOH)<br />
3. Flying Saucers! (1952) or U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them<br />
4. The Baptism Into Life and Immortality! 1959<br />
5. The golden altar--the administrative altar of God1971<br />
6. How to rid the world of Red Communism 1953<br />
7. Why Jesus Christ Will Return To This Generation (listed in Flying Saucers, so earlier than 1952)<br />
8. How God Gave This Ministry To Me (appears in March 1952 TVOH)<br />
9. The Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in Bible Prophecy (appears in March 1952 TVOH)<br />
10. Life and immortality in the book of St. John, 1959<br />
<br><br><br />
<b>Books by Miss Velma Jaggers:</b><br />
1. The Mighty Miracle of Mamre<br />
2. The Mighty Miracle of the Restoration of God's Youth<br />
3. The Tree of Life</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=688Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-14T03:11:19Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book <b>Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey</b>.<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: "Have you see today's LA Times? There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life." "Miss Velma?" I asked. "Dr. Velma Jaggers," she responded. "It does say Miss Velma in parentheses." Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother–who was particularly drawn to healing services–found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times there was the Miss Velma I remembered wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid, all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting: "MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD." But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, "ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE—THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!"<br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 1950s, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, and a bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details, but not the whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were concealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr. Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative, I was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channeled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles of letters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her–but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 1911 with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious.<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the Gifts of the Spirit–if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But it was lukewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr. O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velma Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144 - the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144,000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "special guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from El Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=687Main Page2017-08-14T03:09:11Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Welcome to the [[Universal World Church]] wiki.''' This site is intended to be the ultimate repository of information regarding or related to the [[Universal World Church]] and its founder and pastors [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers]] and [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]].<br />
<br><br><br />
There are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFFILES}}]] files--mostly images--in the media gallery and [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] pages about [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | Rev. Dr. O. L. Jaggers]], [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]], and the [[Universal World Church]]. More content is added daily. Use the [[Special:Search | search page]] or search tool above to research a specific topic. If you don't know where to start, try hitting the random button above, which will take you directly to a random page in the site.<br><br> <br />
Some other popular destinations include:<br />
* [[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Flying Saucers!''']]<br />
*[[Media:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Omnipotence Is Yours!''']]<br />
* [[Media:TheMiracleWorker.pdf | Download the first edition of O. L. Jaggers' magazine '''The Miracle Worker''']]<br />
* [[Special:NewFiles | Check out the Gallery of New Files]]<br />
* [[Special:NewPages | Check out the newest articles]]<br />
* [[:Category:O. L. Jaggers in Print | Read what others have written about Dr. O. L. Jaggers]]<br />
==Help improve the site!==<br />
If you have video, audio, pictures or books of Dr. O. L. or Miss Velma Jaggers send them to us. Also this site does cost to maintain. Your generous monetary gift will ensure that this site remains a resource for years to come. Follow the links to the right to submit files or make a donation to the site.<br><br><br />
Consult the [[Getting Started]] page to learn how to participate in the wiki or the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.<br />
==At Our YouTube Channel==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | KQWUEJh-SVk | 240 | center}}<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | center}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Main Pages]]<br />
[[Category:Info Pages]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=686Main Page2017-08-14T03:06:25Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Welcome to the [[Universal World Church]] wiki.''' This site is intended to be the ultimate repository of information regarding or related to the [[Universal World Church]] and its founder and pastors [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers]] and [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]].<br />
<br><br><br />
There are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFFILES}}]] files--mostly images--in the media gallery and [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFCONTENTPAGES}}]] pages about [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | Rev. Dr. O. L. Jaggers]], [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]], and the [[Universal World Church]]. More content is added daily. Use the [[Special:Search | search page]] or search tool above to research a specific topic. If you don't know where to start, try hitting the random button above, which will take you directly to a random page in the site.<br><br> <br />
Some other popular destinations include:<br />
* [[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Flying Saucers!''']]<br />
*[[Media:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Omnipotence Is Yours!''']]<br />
* [[Media:TheMiracleWorker.pdf | Download the first edition of O. L. Jaggers' magazine '''The Miracle Worker''']]<br />
* [[Special:NewFiles | Check out the Gallery of New Files]]<br />
* [[Special:NewPages | Check out the newest articles]]<br />
* [[:Category:O. L. Jaggers in Print | Read what others have written about Dr. O. L. Jaggers]]<br />
==Help improve the site!==<br />
If you have video, audio, pictures or books of Dr. O. L. or Miss Velma Jaggers send them to us. Also this site does cost to maintain. Your generous monetary gift will ensure that this site remains a resource for years to come. Follow the links to the right to submit files or make a donation to the site.<br><br><br />
Consult the [[Getting Started]] page to learn how to participate in the wiki or the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.<br />
==At Our YouTube Channel==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | KQWUEJh-SVk | 240 | center}}<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | center}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Main Pages]]<br />
[[Category:Info Pages]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=685Main Page2017-08-14T03:06:08Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Welcome to the [[Universal World Church]] wiki.''' This site is intended to be the ultimate repository of information regarding or related to the [[Universal World Church]] and its founder and pastors [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers]] and [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]].<br />
<br><br><br />
There are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFFILES}}]] files--mostly images--in the media gallery and [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}]] pages about [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | Rev. Dr. O. L. Jaggers]], [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]], and the [[Universal World Church]]. More content is added daily. Use the [[Special:Search | search page]] or search tool above to research a specific topic. If you don't know where to start, try hitting the random button above, which will take you directly to a random page in the site.<br><br> <br />
Some other popular destinations include:<br />
* [[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Flying Saucers!''']]<br />
*[[Media:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Omnipotence Is Yours!''']]<br />
* [[Media:TheMiracleWorker.pdf | Download the first edition of O. L. Jaggers' magazine '''The Miracle Worker''']]<br />
* [[Special:NewFiles | Check out the Gallery of New Files]]<br />
* [[Special:NewPages | Check out the newest articles]]<br />
* [[:Category:O. L. Jaggers in Print | Read what others have written about Dr. O. L. Jaggers]]<br />
==Help improve the site!==<br />
If you have video, audio, pictures or books of Dr. O. L. or Miss Velma Jaggers send them to us. Also this site does cost to maintain. Your generous monetary gift will ensure that this site remains a resource for years to come. Follow the links to the right to submit files or make a donation to the site.<br><br><br />
Consult the [[Getting Started]] page to learn how to participate in the wiki or the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.<br />
==At Our YouTube Channel==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | KQWUEJh-SVk | 240 | center}}<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | center}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Main Pages]]<br />
[[Category:Info Pages]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Jaggers%27s_Dallas_Revival_as_Reported_in_the_1952_Voice_of_Healing_Magazine&diff=684Jaggers's Dallas Revival as Reported in the 1952 Voice of Healing Magazine2017-08-14T03:02:23Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following article <i>TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL</i> appeared in the March 1952 <b>Voice of Healing</b> magazine regarding a revival conducted by O. L. Jaggers. Thousands were reportedly in attendance. The report was affirmed by cooperating pastors.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br />
| page = 7<br />
| newspaper = The Voice of Healing<br />
| publisher = The Voice of Healing, Inc.<br />
| date = 1952-03<br />
}}</ref><blockquote><br />
TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br><br />
Attended by Thousands<br><br />
Report Below Signed by Cooperating Pastors <br />
<br><br><br />
Again the revival fires have been fanned to give Dallas one of the mightiest religious awakenings ever witnessed here. Rev. O. L. Jaggers, now an internationally-known evangelist by way of his wide-spread radio ministry, whose ministry just two years ago stirred Dallas in a twelve-week revival, has returned, having been directed by God to do so, with a marvelous, and revolutionary message, effecting salvation and Divine Healing for many hundreds of sin-captive, sick and suffering mankind. <br />
<br><br><br />
Many thousands, gathering in the Dallas Sportatorium, with a seating capacity of over 6,000, have witnessed the supernatural power of God in a fashion and spiritual level they have not witnessed before. Each service was signally marked as being directed under the leadership, not of man alone, but of the Holy Spirit. Truly, in many respects, the ministry of the early New Testament believers has been re-enacted time and again before our very eyes. It would be difficult to express in the vernacular, words that would properly describe the spiritual atmosphere which has been charged by the dynamo of heaven. God's Omnipotence! Night after night scores of people have moved into the altars, then streaming into the prayer room areas, until there was hardly space left to kneel. <br />
<br><br><br />
After the altar services the sick and suffering were ministered to. Shouts of great ecstasy and joy resounded as blind eyes received sight, deaf ears were unstopped, and the lame made to walk. Among the stretcher cases was a lad of about ten years of age, who had been bedfast approximately eight weeks stricken by paralysis, and who could not so much as lift a hand to his face, lying on his back. After being prayed for, he was able to raise it above his head straightforwardly. Although in a very weakened physical condition, he also cast his limbs to make steps. <br />
<br><br><br />
The cases of blind receiving sight, deaf ears being unstopped, and many other afflictions from which deliverance' was wrought, are far too numerous to mention separately here. Some outstanding characteristics of the ministry of our Brother Jaggers may be noted. The keynote of his heavily-anointed messages has not been, as some would suppose, Divine Healing, but rather the ministration of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which are productive of signs and wonders, and working of miracles, of which Divine Healing carries a major part. Brother Jaggers' messages to the Church have been pungent and dynamic, aimed towards stirring up the Gifts of God within her. His salvation and prophetic messages have contained such realism to the truth, hundreds have responded to accept Christ for the first time, and scores of backsliders reclaimed. In addition to this, the effect of these too-long-neglected messages of truth, is expected to culminate in the most profound moving of the Holy Spirit, and veering from formalism than any other re-vival has produced in many of the local churches. <br />
<br><br><br />
Another great factor contributing to the success of his effort, was the cooperation of twelve sponsoring Assembly of God and Full GosRel churches. With unity comes strength, and this strength has been evidenced by the most wonderful spirit of cooperation between these respective pastors. This union meeting also sets a precedent, as none other has been forthcoming in the past in the city of Dallas on this scale. Surely this is the work of God, and if this is a criterion of what may be expected in the future, many other great revival efforts, if Jesus tarries, may be launched on this scale, or perhaps even larger. <br />
</blockquote><br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Jaggers%27s_Dallas_Revival_as_Reported_in_the_1952_Voice_of_Healing_Magazine&diff=683Jaggers's Dallas Revival as Reported in the 1952 Voice of Healing Magazine2017-08-14T03:01:50Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following article <i>TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL</i> appeared in the March 1952 <b>Voice of Healing</b> magazine regarding a revival conducted by O. L. Jaggers. Thousands were reportedly in attendance. The report was affirmed by cooperating pastors.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br />
| page = 7<br />
| newspaper = The Voice of Healing<br />
| publisher = The Voice of Healing, Inc.<br />
| date = 1952-03<br />
}}</ref><blockquote><br />
TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br><br />
Attended by Thousands<br><br />
Report Below Signed by Cooperating Pastors <br />
<br><br><br />
Again the revival fires have been fanned to give Dallas one of the mightiest religious awakenings ever witnessed here. Rev. 0. L. Jaggers, now an internationally-known evangelist by way of his wide-spread radio ministry, whose ministry just two years ago stirred Dallas in a twelve-week revival, has returned, having been directed by God to do so, with a marvelous, and revolutionary message, effecting salvation and Divine Healing for many hundreds of sin-captive, sick and suffering mankind. <br />
<br><br><br />
Many thousands, gathering in the Dallas Sportatorium, with a seating capacity of over 6,000, have witnessed the supernatural power of God in a fashion and spiritual level they have not witnessed before. Each service was signally marked as being directed under the leadership, not of man alone, but of the Holy Spirit. Truly, in many respects, the ministry of the early New Testament believers has been re-enacted time and again before our very eyes. It would be difficult to express in the vernacular, words that would properly describe the spiritual atmosphere which has been charged by the dynamo of heaven. God's Omnipotence! Night after night scores of people have moved into the altars, then streaming into the prayer room areas, until there was hardly space left to kneel. <br />
<br><br><br />
After the altar services the sick and suffering were ministered to. Shouts of great ecstasy and joy resounded as blind eyes received sight, deaf ears were unstopped, and the lame made to walk. Among the stretcher cases was a lad of about ten years of age, who had been bedfast approximately eight weeks stricken by paralysis, and who could not so much as lift a hand to his face, lying on his back. After being prayed for, he was able to raise it above his head straightforwardly. Although in a very weakened physical condition, he also cast his limbs to make steps. <br />
<br><br><br />
The cases of blind receiving sight, deaf ears being unstopped, and many other afflictions from which deliverance' was wrought, are far too numerous to mention separately here. Some outstanding characteristics of the ministry of our Brother Jaggers may be noted. The keynote of his heavily-anointed messages has not been, as some would suppose, Divine Healing, but rather the ministration of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which are productive of signs and wonders, and working of miracles, of which Divine Healing carries a major part. Brother Jaggers' messages to the Church have been pungent and dynamic, aimed towards stirring up the Gifts of God within her. His salvation and prophetic messages have contained such realism to the truth, hundreds have responded to accept Christ for the first time, and scores of backsliders reclaimed. In addition to this, the effect of these too-long-neglected messages of truth, is expected to culminate in the most profound moving of the Holy Spirit, and veering from formalism than any other re-vival has produced in many of the local churches. <br />
<br><br><br />
Another great factor contributing to the success of his effort, was the cooperation of twelve sponsoring Assembly of God and Full GosRel churches. With unity comes strength, and this strength has been evidenced by the most wonderful spirit of cooperation between these respective pastors. This union meeting also sets a precedent, as none other has been forthcoming in the past in the city of Dallas on this scale. Surely this is the work of God, and if this is a criterion of what may be expected in the future, many other great revival efforts, if Jesus tarries, may be launched on this scale, or perhaps even larger. <br />
</blockquote><br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Jaggers%27s_Dallas_Revival_as_Reported_in_the_1952_Voice_of_Healing_Magazine&diff=682Jaggers's Dallas Revival as Reported in the 1952 Voice of Healing Magazine2017-08-14T03:01:03Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following article <i>TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL</i> appeared in the March 1952 <b>Voice of Healing</b> magazine regarding a revival conducted by O. L. Jaggers. Thousands were reportedly in attendance. The report was affirmed by cooperating pastors.<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br />
| page = 7<br />
| newspaper = The Voice of Healing<br />
| publisher = The Voice of Healing, Inc.<br />
| date = 1952-03<br />
}}</ref><blockquote><br />
TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br><br />
Attended by Thousands<br><br />
Report Below Signed by Cooperating Pastors <br />
<br><br><br />
Again the revival fires have been fanned to give Dallas one of the mightiest religious awakenings ever witnessed here. Rev. 0. L. Jaggers, now an internationally-known evangelist by way of his wide-spread radio ministry, whose ministry just two years ago stirred Dallas in a twelve-week revival, has returned, having been directed by God to do so, with a marvelous, and revolutionary message, effecting salvation and Divine Healing for many hundreds of sin-captive, sick and suffering mankind. <br />
<br><br><br />
Many thousands, gathering in the Dallas Sportatorium, with a seating capacity of over 6,000, have witnessed the supernatural power of God in a fashion and spiritual level they have not witnessed before. Each service was signally marked as being directed under the leadership, not of man alone, but of the Holy Spirit. Truly, in many respects, the ministry of the early New Testament believers has been re-enacted time and again before our very eyes. It would be difficult to express in the vernacular, words that would properly describe the spiritual atmosphere which has been charged by the dynamo of heaven. God's Omnipotence! Night after night scores of people have moved into the altars, then streaming into the prayer room areas, until there was hardly space left to kneel. <br />
<br><br><br />
After the altar services the sick and suffering were ministered to. Shouts of great ecstasy and joy resounded as blind eyes received sight, deaf ears were unstopped, and the lame made to walk. Among the stretcher cases was a lad of about ten years of age, who had been bedfast approximately eight weeks stricken by paralysis, and who could not so much as lift a hand to his face, lying on his back. After being prayed for, he was able to raise it above his head straightforwardly. Although in a very weakened physical condition, he also cast his limbs to make steps. <br />
<br><br><br />
The cases of blind receiving sight, deaf ears being unstopped, and many other afflictions from which deliverance' was wrought, are far too numerous to mention separately here. Some outstanding characteristics of the ministry of our Brother Jaggers may be noted. The keynote of his heavily-anointed messages has not been, as some would suppose, Divine Healing, but rather the ministration of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which are productive of signs and wonders, and working of miracles, of which Divine Healing carries a major part. Brother Jaggers' messages to the Church have been pungent and dynamic, aimed towards stirring up the Gifts of God within her. His salvation and prophetic messages have contained such realism to the truth, hundreds have responded to accept Christ for the first time, and scores of backsliders reclaimed. In addition to this, the effect of these too-long-neglected messages of truth, is expected to culminate in the most profound moving of the Holy Spirit, and veering from formalism than any other re-vival has produced in many of the local churches. <br />
<br><br><br />
Another great factor contributing to the success of his effort, was the cooperation of twelve sponsoring Assembly of God and Full GosRel churches. With unity comes strength, and this strength has been evidenced by the most wonderful spirit of cooperation between these respective pastors. This union meeting also sets a precedent, as none other has been forthcoming in the past in the city of Dallas on this scale. Surely this is the work of God, and if this is a criterion of what may be expected in the future, many other great revival efforts, if Jesus tarries, may be launched on this scale, or perhaps even larger. <br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Jaggers%27s_Dallas_Revival_as_Reported_in_the_1952_Voice_of_Healing_Magazine&diff=681Jaggers's Dallas Revival as Reported in the 1952 Voice of Healing Magazine2017-08-14T03:00:34Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following article <i>TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL</i> appeared in the March 1952 <b>Voice of Healing</b> magazine regarding a revival conducted by O. L. Jaggers. Thousands were reportedly in attendance. The report was affirmed by cooperating pastors.<br />
<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br />
| page = 7<br />
| newspaper = The Voice of Healing<br />
| publisher = The Voice of Healing, Inc.<br />
| date = 1952-03<br />
}}</ref><blockquote><br />
TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br><br />
Attended by Thousands<br><br />
Report Below Signed by Cooperating Pastors <br />
<br><br><br />
Again the revival fires have been fanned to give Dallas one of the mightiest religious awakenings ever witnessed here. Rev. 0. L. Jaggers, now an internationally-known evangelist by way of his wide-spread radio ministry, whose ministry just two years ago stirred Dallas in a twelve-week revival, has returned, having been directed by God to do so, with a marvelous, and revolutionary message, effecting salvation and Divine Healing for many hundreds of sin-captive, sick and suffering mankind. <br />
<br><br><br />
Many thousands, gathering in the Dallas Sportatorium, with a seating capacity of over 6,000, have witnessed the supernatural power of God in a fashion and spiritual level they have not witnessed before. Each service was signally marked as being directed under the leadership, not of man alone, but of the Holy Spirit. Truly, in many respects, the ministry of the early New Testament believers has been re-enacted time and again before our very eyes. It would be difficult to express in the vernacular, words that would properly describe the spiritual atmosphere which has been charged by the dynamo of heaven. God's Omnipotence! Night after night scores of people have moved into the altars, then streaming into the prayer room areas, until there was hardly space left to kneel. <br />
<br><br><br />
After the altar services the sick and suffering were ministered to. Shouts of great ecstasy and joy resounded as blind eyes received sight, deaf ears were unstopped, and the lame made to walk. Among the stretcher cases was a lad of about ten years of age, who had been bedfast approximately eight weeks stricken by paralysis, and who could not so much as lift a hand to his face, lying on his back. After being prayed for, he was able to raise it above his head straightforwardly. Although in a very weakened physical condition, he also cast his limbs to make steps. <br />
<br><br><br />
The cases of blind receiving sight, deaf ears being unstopped, and many other afflictions from which deliverance' was wrought, are far too numerous to mention separately here. Some outstanding characteristics of the ministry of our Brother Jaggers may be noted. The keynote of his heavily-anointed messages has not been, as some would suppose, Divine Healing, but rather the ministration of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which are productive of signs and wonders, and working of miracles, of which Divine Healing carries a major part. Brother Jaggers' messages to the Church have been pungent and dynamic, aimed towards stirring up the Gifts of God within her. His salvation and prophetic messages have contained such realism to the truth, hundreds have responded to accept Christ for the first time, and scores of backsliders reclaimed. In addition to this, the effect of these too-long-neglected messages of truth, is expected to culminate in the most profound moving of the Holy Spirit, and veering from formalism than any other re-vival has produced in many of the local churches. <br />
<br><br><br />
Another great factor contributing to the success of his effort, was the cooperation of twelve sponsoring Assembly of God and Full GosRel churches. With unity comes strength, and this strength has been evidenced by the most wonderful spirit of cooperation between these respective pastors. This union meeting also sets a precedent, as none other has been forthcoming in the past in the city of Dallas on this scale. Surely this is the work of God, and if this is a criterion of what may be expected in the future, many other great revival efforts, if Jesus tarries, may be launched on this scale, or perhaps even larger. <br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Jaggers%27s_Dallas_Revival_as_Reported_in_the_1952_Voice_of_Healing_Magazine&diff=680Jaggers's Dallas Revival as Reported in the 1952 Voice of Healing Magazine2017-08-14T03:00:13Z<p>Admin: Created page with "The following article <i>TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL</i> appeared in the March 1952 <b>Voice of Healing</b> magazine regarding a revival conducted by O. L. J..."</p>
<hr />
<div>The following article <i>TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL</i> appeared in the March 1952 <b>Voice of Healing</b> magazine regarding a revival conducted by O. L. Jaggers. Thousands were reportedly in attendance. The report was affirmed by cooperating pastors.<br />
<ref>{{cite news<br />
| title = TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br />
| page = 7<br />
| newspaper = The Voice of Healing<br />
| publisher = The Voice of Healing, Inc.<br />
| date = 1952-03<br />
}}</ref><blockquote><br />
TWELVE DALLAS PASTORS SPONSOR JAGGERS REVIVAL<br />
Attended by Thousands<br />
Report Below Signed by Cooperating Pastors <br />
<br><br><br />
Again the revival fires have been fanned to give Dallas one of the mightiest religious awakenings ever witnessed here. Rev. 0. L. Jaggers, now an internationally-known evangelist by way of his wide-spread radio ministry, whose ministry just two years ago stirred Dallas in a twelve-week revival, has returned, having been directed by God to do so, with a marvelous, and revolutionary message, effecting salvation and Divine Healing for many hundreds of sin-captive, sick and suffering mankind. <br />
<br><br><br />
Many thousands, gathering in the Dallas Sportatorium, with a seating capacity of over 6,000, have witnessed the supernatural power of God in a fashion and spiritual level they have not witnessed before. Each service was signally marked as being directed under the leadership, not of man alone, but of the Holy Spirit. Truly, in many respects, the ministry of the early New Testament believers has been re-enacted time and again before our very eyes. It would be difficult to express in the vernacular, words that would properly describe the spiritual atmosphere which has been charged by the dynamo of heaven. God's Omnipotence! Night after night scores of people have moved into the altars, then streaming into the prayer room areas, until there was hardly space left to kneel. <br />
<br><br><br />
After the altar services the sick and suffering were ministered to. Shouts of great ecstasy and joy resounded as blind eyes received sight, deaf ears were unstopped, and the lame made to walk. Among the stretcher cases was a lad of about ten years of age, who had been bedfast approximately eight weeks stricken by paralysis, and who could not so much as lift a hand to his face, lying on his back. After being prayed for, he was able to raise it above his head straightforwardly. Although in a very weakened physical condition, he also cast his limbs to make steps. <br />
<br><br><br />
The cases of blind receiving sight, deaf ears being unstopped, and many other afflictions from which deliverance' was wrought, are far too numerous to mention separately here. Some outstanding characteristics of the ministry of our Brother Jaggers may be noted. The keynote of his heavily-anointed messages has not been, as some would suppose, Divine Healing, but rather the ministration of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which are productive of signs and wonders, and working of miracles, of which Divine Healing carries a major part. Brother Jaggers' messages to the Church have been pungent and dynamic, aimed towards stirring up the Gifts of God within her. His salvation and prophetic messages have contained such realism to the truth, hundreds have responded to accept Christ for the first time, and scores of backsliders reclaimed. In addition to this, the effect of these too-long-neglected messages of truth, is expected to culminate in the most profound moving of the Holy Spirit, and veering from formalism than any other re-vival has produced in many of the local churches. <br />
<br><br><br />
Another great factor contributing to the success of his effort, was the cooperation of twelve sponsoring Assembly of God and Full GosRel churches. With unity comes strength, and this strength has been evidenced by the most wonderful spirit of cooperation between these respective pastors. This union meeting also sets a precedent, as none other has been forthcoming in the past in the city of Dallas on this scale. Surely this is the work of God, and if this is a criterion of what may be expected in the future, many other great revival efforts, if Jesus tarries, may be launched on this scale, or perhaps even larger. <br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=679Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T03:31:31Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book <i>Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey</i>.<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: "Have you see today's LA Times? There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life." "Miss Velma?" I asked. "Dr. Velma Jaggers," she responded. "It does say Miss Velma in parentheses." Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother–who was particularly drawn to healing services–found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times there was the Miss Velma I remembered wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid, all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting: "MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD." But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, "ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE—THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!"<br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 1950s, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, and a bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details, but not the whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were concealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr. Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative, I was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channeled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles of letters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her–but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 1911 with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious.<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the Gifts of the Spirit–if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But it was lukewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr. O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velma Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144 - the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144,000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "special guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from El Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=678Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T02:59:11Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book <i>Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey</i>.<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: 'Have you see today's LA Times?' There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life'. Miss Velma? I asked. 'Dr. Velma Jaggers: she responded. 'It does say Miss Velma in parentheses'. Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother -- who was particularly drawn to healing services -- found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times: there was the Miss Velma I remembered. wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid ,all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting. 'MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD ... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD'. But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, 'ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE - THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!' <br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 195os, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, anda bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details,but notthe whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were toncealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative; i was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channelled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles ofletters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her - but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 19II with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious .<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the .Gifts of the Spirit - if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But jJ wa:slilkewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velm~ Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144-.. the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144;000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "speCial guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from EL Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=677Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T02:58:21Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book ''Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey''.<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: 'Have you see today's LA Times?' There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life'. Miss Velma? I asked. 'Dr. Velma Jaggers: she responded. 'It does say Miss Velma in parentheses'. Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother -- who was particularly drawn to healing services -- found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times: there was the Miss Velma I remembered. wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid ,all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting. 'MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD ... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD'. But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, 'ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE - THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!' <br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 195os, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, anda bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details,but notthe whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were toncealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative; i was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channelled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles ofletters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her - but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 19II with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious .<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the .Gifts of the Spirit - if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But jJ wa:slilkewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velm~ Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144-.. the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144;000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "speCial guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from EL Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=676Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T02:57:56Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book ''Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey'':<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: 'Have you see today's LA Times?' There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life'. Miss Velma? I asked. 'Dr. Velma Jaggers: she responded. 'It does say Miss Velma in parentheses'. Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother -- who was particularly drawn to healing services -- found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times: there was the Miss Velma I remembered. wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid ,all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting. 'MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD ... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD'. But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, 'ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE - THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!' <br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 195os, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, anda bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details,but notthe whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were toncealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative; i was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channelled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles ofletters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her - but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 19II with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious .<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the .Gifts of the Spirit - if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But jJ wa:slilkewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velm~ Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144-.. the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144;000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "speCial guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from EL Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=675Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T02:57:27Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book ''Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey''<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: 'Have you see today's LA Times?' There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life'. Miss Velma? I asked. 'Dr. Velma Jaggers: she responded. 'It does say Miss Velma in parentheses'. Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother -- who was particularly drawn to healing services -- found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times: there was the Miss Velma I remembered. wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid ,all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting. 'MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD ... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD'. But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, 'ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE - THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!' <br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 195os, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, anda bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details,but notthe whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were toncealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative; i was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channelled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles ofletters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her - but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 19II with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious .<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the .Gifts of the Spirit - if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But jJ wa:slilkewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velm~ Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144-.. the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144;000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "speCial guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from EL Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=674Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T02:57:03Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book '''Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey''<ref>{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: 'Have you see today's LA Times?' There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life'. Miss Velma? I asked. 'Dr. Velma Jaggers: she responded. 'It does say Miss Velma in parentheses'. Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother -- who was particularly drawn to healing services -- found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times: there was the Miss Velma I remembered. wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid ,all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting. 'MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD ... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD'. But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, 'ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE - THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!' <br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 195os, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, anda bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details,but notthe whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were toncealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative; i was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channelled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles ofletters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her - but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 19II with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious .<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the .Gifts of the Spirit - if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But jJ wa:slilkewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velm~ Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144-.. the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144;000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "speCial guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from EL Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=673Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T02:55:43Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist. The following account is excerpted from the book '''Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey''{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}':<br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: 'Have you see today's LA Times?' There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life'. Miss Velma? I asked. 'Dr. Velma Jaggers: she responded. 'It does say Miss Velma in parentheses'. Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother -- who was particularly drawn to healing services -- found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times: there was the Miss Velma I remembered. wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid ,all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting. 'MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD ... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD'. But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, 'ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE - THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!' <br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 195os, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, anda bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details,but notthe whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were toncealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative; i was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channelled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles ofletters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her - but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 19II with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious .<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the .Gifts of the Spirit - if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But jJ wa:slilkewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velm~ Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144-.. the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144;000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "speCial guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from EL Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Athey_on_the_Universal_World_Church&diff=672Ron Athey on the Universal World Church2017-08-13T02:55:27Z<p>Admin: Created page with "Ron Athey is an American performance artist known. The following account is excerpted from the book '''Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey''{{cite bo..."</p>
<hr />
<div>Ron Athey is an American performance artist known. The following account is excerpted from the book '''Pleading in the blood : the art and performances of Ron Athey''{{cite book<br />
| last = Johnson<br />
| first = Dominic<br />
| year = 2013<br />
| title = Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (Intellect Live)<br />
| publisher = Intellect Ltd<br />
| pages = 248<br />
| accessdate = 2014-03-04<br />
| isbn= 1783200359<br />
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m6Lh0hu-2xUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ron+athey+pleading+in+the+blood&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiukK7JmtPVAhXJ1IMKHUDsCzYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=ron%20athey%20pleading%20in%20the%20blood&f=false<br />
}}':<br />
<blockquote><br />
I received a call: 'Have you see today's LA Times?' There's a full-page ad with a photo of a female evangelist in a huge yellow dress like a birthday cake. She claims to be unveiling the actual Tree of Life'. Miss Velma? I asked. 'Dr. Velma Jaggers: she responded. 'It does say Miss Velma in parentheses'. Miss Velma figured prominently but irregularly in my childhood, and I wondered if I could have imagined the fantastical details. My grandmother searched continually for the newest charismatic disciples, and her pilgrimages to find them took us from our home in Pomona, California, to far flung corners of the Inland Empire: to Chino, Ontario, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Indio, Lancaster. The palace of the Lord that Miss Velma and her husband, Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers, had erected, the Universal World Church was in Los Angeles proper, off Alvarado and Beverly Boulevards, which made it slightly suspicious to my grandmother. It was unlike the other services we attended in storefronts, or old-fashioned tent meetings. In addition to practicing the traditional Gifts of the Spirit, Miss Velma and O. Lee performed their own unique miracle, 'cellular divine healing', a concept my grandmother -- who was particularly drawn to healing services -- found appealing enough that we journeyed to their church at least once a year from as early as I can remember. <br />
<br><br><br />
Our wandering visits ended when I was 14 years old, with the death of my grandfather, who was the only family member with a driver's license. A few years later, I left home. Wanting to confirm a few fantastical things I remembered about these services, I tried unsuccessfully to find the Jaggers' church, but all I remembered was the name of Miss Velma. <br />
<br><br><br />
In the full page advertisement in the LA Times: there was the Miss Velma I remembered. wearing a yellow hoop·skirted dress, her hands raised and gaze fixed towards something in heaven. Her hair, which she claimed had been pure white from the time she was born, was meticulously coiffed. The photo created the illusion she was levitating, and a red rose and sash referenced the wound in the side of Christ. Stacked, solid ,all-capital headlines crowded the sides of the advert, shouting. 'MISS VELMA IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED WOMAN (sic) IN THE WORLD ... KNOWN AND HONORED BY KINGS, QUEENS, PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD'. But the message to citizens of Los Angeles, the ad announced, was the ultimate Christmas present to the world. Miss Velma was going to unveil The Golden Revelation Tree of Life and hold three anointing services. On Christmas morning, the ad promised, 'ALL THE CONGREGATION WILL TAKE HOLD OF THE GOLDEN TREE OF LIFE - THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY EVER AFFORDED THE HUMAN RACE ON EARTH!' <br />
<br><br><br />
I was way out of the church loop, but without question I would attend. I needed to confirm the accuracy of my memories, and hopefully understand clearer why these experiences colour my life so intensely. I had been trying to make sense of the schisms of my religious upbringing by writing about them. In my first year exiled from home, I wrote an analytical memoir called 'Reinterpretation of False Prophecies', and a piece with more literary ambitions, 'Gifts of the Spirit'. As soon as I started devising performance pieces, these writings and memories were layered there, either in theme or structure. I had begun developing a persona I call The Holy Woman, performed either by me or by stand-ins, through whom I speak as a female 'illustrated sermonizer'. While the character was inspired by a variety of religious women, including saints and televangelists, it was most explicitly based on two people: Aimee Semple McPherson and Miss Velma.<br />
<br><br><br />
Aimee Semple McPherson was the obvious model for Miss Velma's studies of the illustrated sermon! In the 1920s, McPherson constructed the silver-domed Angeles Temple, and attracted a huge following for her illustrated sermons, which included inquisitive Hollywood actors like Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. Miss Velma arrived in the early 195os, with a much stranger ministry that integrated the usual apocalyptic Armageddon with a contrasting miracle. After a vision, she had travelled to the Holy Land, and claimed that a Mamre oak tree opened up and offered her a vial containing waters from the Fountain of Youth. After the miracle, she set out to reconstruct the entire Book of Revelation in golden and jewelled form. By the 1970s she had embraced every new technology to create special effects for her sermons and altar: an echo box, strobe lights, suspension cables and holograms.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and my grandmother shared similar convictions, but little else. Miss Velma was a precious white-haired queen who delivered her calm and dignified message as a goddess from on high. My fiery, red-haired grandma screamed and pulled hair; she starved herself and fell face down in the Spirit. She ruled three generations from a sickbed, using emotional blackmail to get the Lord's work done. Miss Velma was able to command her congregation through quiet charisma, basking in the adoration of the crowd. But at the centre of both women's belief systems was the notion of Judgment Day, the impending arrival of the Lord who would destroy all non-believers while saving his Chosen People. In my performances, I alternate between their two extremes, at times speaking with measured humility, and at others raging throughout self-righteous fits in the name of the Lord.<br />
<br><br><br />
Yes, I would attend, like a pilgrimage, but I was nervous about attending the service. I know when Christians say 'all are welcome', especially in these smaller Protestant cults, what they really mean is 'all Christians and wannabe Christians', not an extreme-looking gay man with facial tattoos trying to understand the demented grandiosity plaguing his life. But I'm good at constructing personae, and I also found the perfect escort: Patty Powers. This would be the only time in my life I'd use a lady friend as a 'beard'.<br />
<br><br><br />
In my childhood visits to the Universal World Church , I had no context for Miss Velma's spectacle. I was a young child the first time my grandmother and Aunt Vena took me. I know I was younger than 9 years old, because I received the Gift of Tongues at 10, in the back of a small wooden building, with Sister Crow's greasy vibrating hands laid upon me. My grandmother came from a sort of <i>Grapes of Wrath</i> tradition, having come to California during the Depression after nearly starving in the Dust Bowl. In my childhood, she would talk about having been lucky to eat the meat from the squirrels her brothers shot, as if it had happened yesterday. We were still very poor, but always ate. My grandfather was a labour union man -- the sole worker in the household of eight -- and his wage was supplemented by child support benefits. It wasn't until high school that I walked into theatres like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and saw oversized chandeliers for the first time. In suburbia, there were no buildings of public grandeur. It was not only lacking design, it was grim on all fronts. So when we walked in Miss Velma's Universal World Church that first time, it was fantasia. I had seen Catholic altars in movies, but that didn't prepare me for the glittering, glaring manifestation of Miss Velma's visions. It was holy, and it was beautiful.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma's sparkling altarpiece was as wide as an aircraft hangar. A three-foot-tall statue of Christ, with hair made of diamonds, was displayed in a glass case near the centre. Christ appears in the Book of Revelation as a deformed white lamb, and Miss Velma was born with white hair, hence the symbolism ofJesus' diamond hair. Hanging above the statue, spanning the width of the altar, seven life-sized golden bejewelled angels carried the Seven Plagues to destroy mankind. Beneath them stood the seven small 'tabernacles', seven mounted gold, right fists of God, from which seven healing waterfalls of oil glowed, merging together in an anointing trough with seven automated spinning crowns, anda bridge. And above all these precious treasures there shone a giant sequined rainbow, adorned with seven spinning Ezekiel wheels. There is documentation of some details,but notthe whole, so I am piecing together my memories of the Holiest of Holies.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma and Dr Jaggers called the ministry a 'Revelation Revival' and their golden altar was a physical representation of the Book of Revelation, built according to Miss Velma's prophecies. Revelation reads as a hallucination full of monsters, and was interpreted thusly, in conjunction with Miss Velma's personal iconography. Some sections of the altar were toncealed with silver Mylar fringe curtains, and it was only unveiled for services as important as the Transubstantiation of the Holy Spirit, which had its own pagan flair. Communion was prepared at the front of the room by Dr Jaggers and 24 elders dressed as cardinals, who broke loaves of bread and compressed them into individual dough balls, and poured full glasses of dark red wine. Although her husband usually gave the main sermon, Miss Velma was the star. She appeared in different biblical settings, wearing costumes, for example dressed as the Queen of Sheba in a seashell throne. In another, perhaps trying to raise Babylon, I remember her perched on a crescent moon. But more well known were her Christmas extravaganzas, broadcast on cable access TV, which interpreted stories from the Bible in less camp historical fashions. In the church, however, she was the living centrepiece to the altar. The energy was grounded in her.<br />
<br><br><br />
As prophets, my grandmother and aunt discerned I had been born with 'the Calling' on my life. According to their narrative; i was born in a force field of blue electricity crackling around me so strong that the doctors had to remark there had been phenomena. So I was to have a unique, powerful ministry, foretelling the Second Coming of Christ, who was going to be birthed immaculately by my aunt. Having this Calling, I was treated differently to my brother and sisters. My religious training included daily practices like Bible reading, dream interpretation, space-out time for mini-visions, and late night prayer meetings with my aunt and grandmother. They were building up my stamina. I was led to receive each Gift of the Spirit. My grandmother arranged for me to spend quiet time in order to seek divine inspiration. Late at night, I was taken to healing services, where I eventually received the Gift of Tongues. I was often the only child at these services, and I was so sensitive and open to gifts that I often cried with rapture. My disappointment was that I never received the Gift of Automatic Writing. I attempted over and over, but it just wouldn't come.<br />
<br><br><br />
It was no secret that my grandmother's and aunt's religious practices were often more spiritualist than Pentecostal, but no explanation was ever given. One scried in a crystal ball, the other studied astrology and interpreted dreams. They both paid visits to psychics. Through automatic writing, my aunt channelled messages from my dead great-grandmother, Audrey, from whom piles ofletters were collected and stored in a wooden box. These letters established an esoteric relationship to the Virgin Mary, and laid out the plans for my Aunt Vena's prophesied marriage to Elvis Presley after she bore the Second Coming of the Christ Child. Unfortunately, being talented and inevitable wasn't enough, and the prophecy was void.<br />
<br><br><br />
My grandmother very much believed that our family was being persecuted like Job, and that we should expect to face tribulations, such as painful diseases, or gaining huge amounts of weight without eating, or suddenly receiving uneven legs - and, of course, psychic warfare with demons. My mother's schizophrenia, for which she was institutionalized most of her life, was another sign of our persecution, though somehow the fault of my mother. My sister's overbite and crooked teeth were another sign, one that caused my grandmother on occasion to lament how beautiful my sister could have been, and then slap her for becoming ugly. But she also believed that one day we would have suffered long enough, and when Deliverance was at hand, my own ministry would take form. Most of the world would be listening. Christ would be born and Elvis would enter, and we would finally come into our power and God's graces.<br />
<br><br><br />
I'm not sure what my grandmother thought of Miss Velma's church. She did believe in the hierarchy of beauty - both her daughters had a glamorous sense of style, overseen by her - but otherwise she made no concessions to the pursuit of opulence. I have always assumed that she was one of the few that came to Miss Velma for cellular healing, and the guaranteed anointments in holy oil, but she eventually condemned every minister as misguided, if not worse. Maybe she just fancied an annual show. Regardless, she voiced neither too much enthusiasm nor criticism.<br />
<br><br><br />
The phrase 'never a dull moment' was coined for the spirit-filled churches we visited, and for the kind of Christianity my grandmother practiced. Miss Velma's was the only church we attended that broke the pattern of following an evangelist. By its nature ephemeral, evangelism and vaudeville have plenty in common. The Apocalypse would be here either today or by next week. The Antichrist is not just some clovenhoofed devil: he is often named as a popular televangelist, like Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. Cancers would be vomited up into special bowls, and demons rebuked, with sound effects like the lowing of an injured animal. In one of my favourite duties to witness, a sister would hold squares of fabric that functioned as modesty cloaks, so that when a woman in a dress danced in the Spirit and flopped out on the floor, she could be confident she wasn't flashing a beaver shot while convulsing, because the sister was ready with the fabric to cover up her indecency. The Pleading in the Blood, the chaotic Tongues, the dramatically delivered Prophecy, all this was heaven for showboaters. But it could also get personal and ugly. Like the original Pentecostal church origin from 19II with a 'one-eyed black minister and multiracial congregation', these groups we attended were usually mixed, but not always harmonious .<br />
<br><br><br />
The congregation at the World Church practiced the .Gifts of the Spirit - if they didn't we wouldn't have attended. But jJ wa:slilkewarm compared to the charismatic movement we followed around the region. The speaking in tongues was only done as a solo by one of the 24 elders, then immediately discerned by another. Neither Dr O. Lee nor Miss Velma was great at delivery, so the performance of their sermons lacked fire. But I was excited by the special communion ritual, and the altar, which always had a new element like a flaming angel with a neon sword.<br />
<br><br><br />
Fashion is unique and of utmost importance in the old timey Pentecostal church. Think of Grand Ole Opry stars bumped up a few notches: big hair, wigs, angel sleeves, layers and layers of vestments. But Miss Velma's approach to fashion was beyond precedent. Her elders wore floor-length blue and gold vestments, hemmed with chunky bells. She was clearly the queen: according to the poster, Miss Velma 'honors the Lord Jesus Christ with the most beautiful robes and gowns made by leading fashion designers, which she wears in the pulpit to honor the beauty ofthe Lord Jesus Christ'. And she is confident in her fashion sense: 'She is called by a leading fashion designer one of the 12 best-dressed women in the world'.<br />
<br><br><br />
Isolation played a big part in enabling the lie I lived as a child; the lie that allowed me to believe fervently in the teachings of Miss Velma and the others. We lived in a neighbourhood that was half African American, and half Chicano, and my family were passive racists. They proclaimed all as God's children, but couldn't quite allow us to bring 'coloured' friends home. Also, because of their fanaticism, extended family steered clear of us, so it was a rare occasion to meet a relative. But, inevitably, I became socialized.<br />
<br><br><br />
When I was 15, my commitment to the prophecies started to unravel. It all came to a head one night in a bowling alley, when I described my spiritual life to a new friend. She was dumbfounded by my story, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and concern for my sanity. The telling aloud of my history made clear what I had probably known for years: my life had been based on pure delusion, on fear of the devil and the promise of grandeur. I put my head on hold until I got home, and I locked myself in the bathroom (my only private space). I cried convulsively and let the delusional reality and all its comforts crash, until I had nothing left but a painful emptiness. I started to pray for His comfort and rejected the idea, and got caught in that loop. I couldn't stand the feeling of not being in my body, and slammed my head against the floor. I was, at the least, still a piece of animated meat. It was a pathetic excuse for an awakening.<br />
<br><br><br />
I became more sophisticated during the next round of feeling hollow, by performing Christ aversion therapy on myself. Each time His name entered my pleas, I stuck a pair of tweezers into the electrical outlet until I emptied myself of my God yearnings. No Jesus, no sweet fairy tales to make life less harsh. I opened myself to the reality that my mother was in the nuthouse, and I was unwanted yet messianic, and nothing but another headache and expense. No God. No family.<br />
<br><br><br />
That near breakdown was not the first sign of my emotional problems. At 10, a neurologist prescribed me Valium for nervousness. After my awakening, my abuse of the pills accelerated. My family was aware of my Valium use. What is ironic is that if I had been caught drinking a light beer, I would have been kicked out of the house.<br />
<br><br><br />
Somehow, through all this, I was an exceptional student. I excelled in science and particularly focused in lab experiments and dissection. I was encouraged by my physiology and chemistry teachers to pursue a career in laboratory work, and was offered a spot in a gifted minors program for two summers during high school, to intern at the Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla. I avoided telling my grandmother until a month before leaving. But nothing escaped her. I was no longer 'spiritfilled', and she finally confronted me. I told her I wanted to work in research science and find cures for diseases. (At the time, the irony escaped me that we were both so interested in healing.) She could not accept my scientific ambitions. She screamed and badgered me at the dinner table, to the point of throwing plates of food at me in fits of rage. She bemoaned my refusal of the Calling. She accused me of being bisexual and using heroin, which at the time was correct. She had psychic hooks in me that took years to shake. After the science program, I had lost my faith entirely and understood I couldn't allow my fundamentalist family to judge me. I never felt wrong about my sexuality, and they were the ones who had started me on drugs. I made a commitment to myself that I would die before I returned home, and I stuck to that.<br />
<br><br><br />
18 December 1994. I wake up bug-eyed and trembling. Can't back out. I put on a turtleneck, roll it up all the way to my chin, and remove the jewellery from my visible piercings. I don an old brown suit with pinstripes, a cap and fake prescription glasses. I look ridiculous. I wonder if I'll have to take the cap off out of some formality. Just go.<br />
<br><br><br />
Eastbound on Beverly Boulevard, I made a left turn just before Alvarado, and there it was, white with painted globes on top. Inside, I was surprised at the accuracy of my memory. I could not see more than 20 per cent of the altar, as most of it was draped in gold lame and silver Mylar curtains. The one small section that was exposed was beautiful. I could see a jewel-encrusted angel, an ark, and a valve from which anointing oil was dispensed. The stage was adorned for Christmas with seven white Christmas trees, and a seven-point star mounted on the wall that rotated when the Miss Velm~ Singers sang. The female choir members wore cheap nylon muumuus with a few sparse sequins. A huge lumpy curtain hid the Tree of Life from view.<br />
<br><br><br />
The service started with hymns, most of which I believe were World Church originals (one contained the line 'Miss Velma holds the key to your eternity'), after which an elder gave a tedious account of the mathematics of the Tree of Life. According to the church flier, the Tree has '60 main branches built according to biblical measurements - twice 24 plus 12 - there are 432 smaller branches - 3 times 144 - there are 1,296 yet smaller branches - 9 times 144-.. the 144 fruits of the Tree of Life, in 12 manners or varieties, are made of 144;000 jewels set one at a time ... imported from Europe'. After a song by "speCial guests' from the church's fellowship in Hawaii, the congregation was asked to walk around the room and greet each other.<br />
<br><br><br />
Miss Velma appeared for the first time during this distraction. She was wearing a trademark couture gown with full skirt. Though quite a bit older-looking than her picture in the advertisement, she was the manifestation of radiance. Her pure-white hair was pulled back from her strong face in girlish ringlet curls. Though she was well into her 70S, her complexion was rosy, her waist tight. .<br />
<br><br><br />
I looked around the room and noted the undercover hipster faction. Most were trying to be invisible like myself, but others were snickering. This made me oddly angry and embarrassed. Despite my lack of faith, I felt protective of the church. I was still respectful and even had a certain amazement at what had once been my life. But of course people came who were curious. She had bought a full-page advertisement in the LA Times after all, so I'm surprised the congregation wasn't even more mixed.<br />
<br><br><br />
Sitting in the solid wood pew, I was overwhelmed and disoriented. Then came deep sorrow, the part of me that never knows how to identify being lonely, so achingly empty. Absence again. Dissociation. Suffering a 'chosen one' complex, I find it difficult even to just sit still and feel like part of the crowd. I began fantasizing about having an aura oflight that radiated around my body, and then levitating, nude, above the lighting grid.<br />
<br><br><br />
For the sake of being present and functioning, I tried without cynicism to surrender to the realm of Miss Velma. But it was a blur until we lined up to partake of the Golden Revelation Tree of Life. It was like a fairground ride, with 12 mini-trees each corresponding to astrological star signs. I was the Flaming Sword Tree. I walked over the hologram bridge, and an elder in an Elvis wig instructed me to hold the 'horn' of my tree. I watched my little tree turn within the Tree of Life, which was expelling scented oils.<br />
<br><br><br />
The next week was Christmas, and I returned to visit a morning service with my friend Scott. I knew what to expect this time, but I was more paranoid. It is as if there is a groove in my brain reserved for spiritual feelings, and I was touched deeply in that place on Christmas morning. I was losing myself to the Holy Spirit. Inside I felt a deep yearning. 'Oh Miss Velma,' I pleaded silently, 'can you feel me here? Can you remember a spirit-filled boy, who felt the vibration of your altar?'<br />
<br><br><br />
The first Sunday I had not held on to the horn of the Tree long enough for Miss Velma to get all the way around to anointing me (the tree holds 12 people at a time). At the Christmas service, I stood still while Miss Velma anointed my head with oil. I thought maybe she would be frightened by my facial tattoos, or become angry that a sinner dared to take hold of a horn of the Tree of Life. This was not the case. She gave brief but equal attention to everyone she touched.<br />
<br><br><br />
Earlier in the Christmas service, tithing envelopes had been passed around, and we were led down the aisles to a gold treasure chest that sat below Miss Velma. She said that at the Universal World Church, gifts to God were offered, not collected. I put my money in an envelope that said 'My Offering Made By Fire To The Lord Jesus Christ', took off my shoes, as one must do to walk near the altar, and threw my $20 into the pirate chest. Miss Velma beamed at everyone. As I walked away, the elders directed us the long way back to our seats - all the way across the front row around the side to the back of the church. I suddenly became panic-stricken that my grandmother and aunt might be in the audience. What if they had come to see the Tree? The thought had me close to hyperventilating. Of course there was a possibility that they would be there; why had I not thought of that? My grandmother was old and sick. She would hope to experience a healing when she touched the horn of the Tree of Life. I now know she was not there that day.<br />
<br><br><br />
Several months after my visits to Miss Velma's church, my sister called to tell me my grandmother had died. I cannot say I felt heartwrenching grief. But neither did I feel the relief I imagined would come from her death. I have thought a lot since then about my history with her, and my rebellion against her, through much of which I came to be what I am. My grandmother and I shared more than just our religious bond. We gardened and baked together, and I know she loved me when we did those things. When I wrote 'Holy Letters', she nearly worshipped me. My family was so poor that my getting a Boy Scout uniform was almost out of the question; yet we lived a life of mystical power and grandiosity. The connections have been hard to break. <br />
<br><br><br />
As a child, I was anointed and prayed over by screaming women until I received the spirit, whereupon thunderous voices and wild dancing poured out of me. I witnessed healings in the name of God. Some were hokey sideshow tricks, but during others it seemed real shifts took place. Since becoming HIV-positive, I have drunk water at Lourdes, I have eaten the holy dirt from EL Santuario de Chimayo in New Mexico. Under the right circumstance, I can still feel the tamping of the tongues on the roof of my mouth.<br />
</blockquote></div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=671Main Page2017-08-12T22:13:07Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Welcome to the [[Universal World Church]] wiki.''' This site is intended to be the ultimate repository of information regarding or related to the [[Universal World Church]] and its founder and pastors [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers]] and [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]].<br />
<br><br><br />
There are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFFILES}}]] files--mostly images--in the media gallery and [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] pages about [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | Rev. Dr. O. L. Jaggers]], [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]], and the [[Universal World Church]]. More content is added daily. Use the [[Special:Search | search page]] or search tool above to research a specific topic. If you don't know where to start, try hitting the random button above, which will take you directly to a random page in the site.<br><br> <br />
Some other popular destinations include:<br />
* [[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Flying Saucers!''']]<br />
*[[Media:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Omnipotence Is Yours!''']]<br />
* [[Media:TheMiracleWorker.pdf | Download the first edition of O. L. Jaggers' magazine '''The Miracle Worker''']]<br />
* [[Special:NewFiles | Check out the Gallery of New Files]]<br />
* [[Special:NewPages | Check out the newest articles]]<br />
* [[:Category:O. L. Jaggers in Print | Read what others have written about Dr. O. L. Jaggers]]<br />
==Help improve the site!==<br />
If you have video, audio, pictures or books of Dr. O. L. or Miss Velma Jaggers send them to us. Also this site does cost to maintain. Your generous monetary gift will ensure that this site remains a resource for years to come. Follow the links to the right to submit files or make a donation to the site.<br><br><br />
Consult the [[Getting Started]] page to learn how to participate in the wiki or the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.<br />
==At Our YouTube Channel==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | KQWUEJh-SVk | 240 | center}}<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | center}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Main Pages]]<br />
[[Category:Info Pages]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=670Main Page2017-08-12T22:12:49Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Welcome to the [[Universal World Church]] wiki.''' This site is intended to be the ultimate repository of information regarding or related to the [[Universal World Church]] and its founder and pastors [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers]] and [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]].<br />
<br><br><br />
There are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFFILES}}]] files--mostly images--in the media gallery and [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] pages about [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | Rev. Dr. O. L. Jaggers]], [[Dr. Miss Velma Jaggers]], and the [[Universal World Church]]. More content is added daily. Use the [[Special:Search | search page]] or search tool above to research a specific topic. If you don't know where to start, try hitting the random button above, which will take you directly to a random page in the site.<br><br> <br />
Some other popular destinations include:<br />
* [[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book '''Flying Saucers!''']]<br />
*[[Media:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf | Download and read O. L. Jaggers' book ''Omnipotence Is Yours!'']]<br />
* [[Media:TheMiracleWorker.pdf | Download the first edition of O. L. Jaggers' magazine '''The Miracle Worker''']]<br />
* [[Special:NewFiles | Check out the Gallery of New Files]]<br />
* [[Special:NewPages | Check out the newest articles]]<br />
* [[:Category:O. L. Jaggers in Print | Read what others have written about Dr. O. L. Jaggers]]<br />
==Help improve the site!==<br />
If you have video, audio, pictures or books of Dr. O. L. or Miss Velma Jaggers send them to us. Also this site does cost to maintain. Your generous monetary gift will ensure that this site remains a resource for years to come. Follow the links to the right to submit files or make a donation to the site.<br><br><br />
Consult the [[Getting Started]] page to learn how to participate in the wiki or the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.<br />
==At Our YouTube Channel==<br />
{{#ev:youtube | KQWUEJh-SVk | 240 | center}}<br />
{{#ev:youtube | SHGWSwjeqvY | 240 | center}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Main Pages]]<br />
[[Category:Info Pages]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=File:Omnipotence_Is_Yours.pdf&diff=669File:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf2017-08-12T22:09:46Z<p>Admin: Admin uploaded a new version of File:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf</p>
<hr />
<div>The classic book by O. L. Jaggers, <i>Omnipotence Is Yours! Or How Deity Places<br />
Himself In The Lives Of Men</i>. As oft advertised in <i>The Voice of Healing</i> magazine from 1949 to 1952. This edition has been digitized and formatted as an electronic book. Glaring typographical errors have been corrected. It is otherwise presented precisely as O. L. Jaggers intended.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flying_saucers.pdf&diff=668File:Flying saucers.pdf2017-08-12T19:20:55Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The classic book by O. L. Jaggers, <i>Flying Saucers!</i> Also cited as <i>UFOs and the Creatures that Fly Them</i>. This edition has been digitized and formatted as an electronic book. Only glaring typographical errors have been corrected. It is otherwise presented precisely as O. L. Jaggers intended.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=File:Omnipotence_Is_Yours.pdf&diff=667File:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf2017-08-12T19:20:18Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The classic book by O. L. Jaggers, <i>Omnipotence Is Yours! Or How Deity Places<br />
Himself In The Lives Of Men</i>. As oft advertised in <i>The Voice of Healing</i> magazine from 1949 to 1952. This edition has been digitized and formatted as an electronic book. Glaring typographical errors have been corrected. It is otherwise presented precisely as O. L. Jaggers intended.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=File:Omnipotence_Is_Yours.pdf&diff=666File:Omnipotence Is Yours.pdf2017-08-12T18:42:25Z<p>Admin: The classic book by O. L. Jaggers, '''Omnipotence Is Yours! Or How Deity Places
Himself In The Lives Of Men". As oft advertised in '''The Voice of Healing''' magazine from 1949 to 1952. This edition has been digitized and formatted as an electronic b...</p>
<hr />
<div>The classic book by O. L. Jaggers, '''Omnipotence Is Yours! Or How Deity Places<br />
Himself In The Lives Of Men". As oft advertised in '''The Voice of Healing''' magazine from 1949 to 1952. This edition has been digitized and formatted as an electronic book. Glaring typographical errors have been corrected. It is otherwise presented precisely as O. L. Jaggers intended.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=File:Church_Exterior_1950s.jpg&diff=665File:Church Exterior 1950s.jpg2017-08-11T16:12:50Z<p>Admin: Admin moved page File:Church Exterior.jpg to File:Church Exterior 1950s.jpg without leaving a redirect</p>
<hr />
<div>A picture of the [[Universal World Church]] from the early 1950's.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Process_Server_Jaggers_Clash_Over_Subpoena&diff=663Process Server Jaggers Clash Over Subpoena2017-08-11T16:09:55Z<p>Admin: Admin moved page Process server jaggers clash over subpoena to Process Server Jaggers Clash Over Subpoena</p>
<hr />
<div>It was reported in the Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1958 that O. L. Jaggers met Louis Sayles, the defendant, in court over a disturbance caused by Mr. Sayles in a Sunday morning service at the Universal World Church:<br />
<blockquote><h2>Process Server, Jaggers Clash Over Subpoena</h2><br />
Difficulty--or ease--in serving subpoenas on Evangelist O. L. Jaggers featured testimony yesterday in the peace disturbance trial of Louis Sayles, 28, professional process server.<br><br><br />
Sayles, represented by Atty. Marvin M. Mitchelson, is on trial without a jury before Municipal Judge John G. Barnes on a misdemeanor<br />
complaint of disturbing the peace and disturbing a religious service.<br><br><br />
'''Sermon Interrupted'''<br><br><br />
Mr. Jaggers, pastor-founder and president of the World Church, Inc., testified<br />
he was preaching before the television cameras last May 4 when he noticed a commotion.<br><br><br />
"l was beginning to answer a Bible question my wife had just asked," he said, "when I saw this man some distance from me waving his arms. I heard him say 'Rev. Jaggers, you are served.<br><br><br />
"I was startled and shocked. I had no idea what it was all about. I was disturbed in speaking from the Bible."<br><br><br />
The witness said, "I have never refused service from anyone who has tried to<br />
serve me."<br><br><br />
'''Server Flees'''<br><br><br />
Sayles, on the stand later in the day, said he had tried to subpoena Jaggers in a civil suit "four or five times in a, conventional manner but without success. I was rebuffed."<br><br>Sayles said he fled from the television studio after completing, his errand because "I had heard Mr. Jaggers was not averse to using violence."<br><br>The trial will end today.<br />
<ref>{{cite news<br />
| newspaper = Los Angeles Times<br />
| title = Process server, jaggers clash over subpoena.<br />
| publisher = Times Mirror Corporation<br />
| date = Jul 15, 1958<br />
| page = B1<br />
| archiveurl =http://search.proquest.com/docview/167337432<br />
|accessdate = Dec 4, 2012<br />
}}</ref><br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
[[Category: Legal Trouble]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=William_Branham_on_O.L._Jaggers&diff=662William Branham on O.L. Jaggers2017-08-11T06:32:13Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following is excerpted from the sermon, <i>Faith</i>, by William Marion Branham, delivered Friday, April 27, 1956 at the Abundant Life Center in Charlotte, North Carolina:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1956<br />
| title = Faith<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-28<br />
| url = http://churchages.com/en/sermon/branham/56-0427-faith<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I remember O. L. Jaggers. The hardest person I ever had to shake away from me was O. L. Jaggers. I didn<nowiki>'</nowiki>t want to shake him away from me, but he was so skeptic. Oh, my. He was beating it down, and all the time I knew he believed it in his heart, but he just wanted to see what I was going... So he, Brother O. L. Jaggers, he<nowiki>'</nowiki>s a bosom friend, a very fine man, and Tommy Osborn, he was there.<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
The following is excerpted from the Branham sermon, <i>The Godhead Explained</i>, delivered the morning of April 25, 1961 at the Holiday Inn in Chicago, IL:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1961<br />
| title = The Godhead Explained<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-21<br />
| url = http://www.en.branham.ru/pdf/61-0425B.pdf<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote>I was sitting in O.L. Jaggers<nowiki>’</nowiki> meeting. Now, we all know O.L. Jaggers. His father helped found the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Now, O.L. is a great man. He<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a great preacher. I told him not long ago, I said, “Brother Jaggers, if I could preach like you did, I<nowiki>’</nowiki>d never even have a healing service.” But he<nowiki>’</nowiki>d got all that blood and wine and stuff when it first started over there. (Excuse me if I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m hurting your feelings, brethren, on that.) That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s all right. God can make blood come, wine come, or oil come... whatever He wants to... but that don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t remit sins! No, sir. No, sir. No indeedy! “The blood of Jesus Christ shall never lose its power, until all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more!”<br><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers....” I took him.... I called him up (and I was with the Christian Businessmen), and I said, “Brother O.L....”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Where in the world are you at?” I was in a little old cheap motel out there, and he said, “You mean to tell me they put you out here?”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s my desire. When I come to you,” I said, “what did you do? You put me over in the Statler Hotel, and I just had to stand in the corner. You set me down at the table, and I didn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know which knife to use or nothing else; and I went down through there without a coat on, they wanted to run me out.” And I said, “I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know how to handle myself.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll take you over there if they<nowiki>’</nowiki>re too poor to do it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “No, sir.” I said, “What I want to do is have a steak with you if you will pay for it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “All right.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
So then we went out to a place, and we sat down, and I said, “Brother Jaggers, I certainly admire your....” And he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a very dear friend of mine, a precious brother. And I had his little pamphlet, where he had that woman that just come over here from overseas that had that blood in her hands and things. So I had it in here. I just wanted him to deny it once, then I had it right on his paper, you know.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I have noticed where you are going right along, going to have a big revival.” Started up because the Businessmen had me over there, ‘course.... Looked like people would know if the Holy Spirit can reveal on the platform, can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t He tell me what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going on in places, brethren? I can tell you word by word, and prove it by Brother Carlson and this brother here, I sat at the meeting yesterday and told these brethren what would be here this morning. That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s right. Exactly. See, because the Holy Spirit woke me up and said, “Stand by the window.” I looked ... the window, and He showed me just exactly this. I said, “Now, brethren....” See. Why, they ought to know it.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Here not long ago a man got up here at the Chautauqua and said, “Brother Branham is a prophet.” I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t claim to be no prophet. But He said, “Brother Branham is a prophet when he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s under the spirit of discernment, but,” said, “oh, his doctrine is poison. Be careful with it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I thought of ... an educated man would say a thing like that. What does a prophet mean? “A divine interpreter of the Word.” The Word of the Lord came to the prophet. But that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s neither here nor ... see. But anyhow, Brother Jaggers.... <br />
<br /><br /><br />
And I said, “I seen about that woman that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got that blood in her hands.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the most phenomenal you ever seen.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, I love you. First, I want you to put my hand in yours. Let<nowiki>’</nowiki>s say we are brothers.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Sure. What<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter?”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “You are one of the most powerful preachers that I know of. What an instrument for God that you are!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Thank you, Brother Branham. You<nowiki>’</nowiki>re really humble.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m not saying that to be humble. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m saying that because I believe it. You are God<nowiki>’</nowiki>s servant. But,” I said, “Brother Jaggers, unless you.... You are running too much out. You haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for what you are talking about. You are basing....”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
And here<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter with a lot of you Assemblies of God and other men, on these healing services. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you. There<nowiki>’</nowiki>s so much called .... And Tommy, here, is a good brother, and we know how solid he stands. But there is so much in the land today under the name of divine healing, no wonder you don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t want to sponsor a meeting in the city. They come and bleed the people and go out, and what have they got? Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t give the people a bit more than you do from the platform, in your own pulpit. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right, brethren. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m telling you, you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
But it<nowiki>’</nowiki>s just like I was reading the history of Martin Luther. It said, “It wasn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t a mystery that Martin Luther could protest the Catholic church and get by with it [you have read his history], but that Martin Luther could hold his head above all the fanaticism that followed his revival.” There was the mystery. And when the phenomenal is done, the uncircumcised follows, just like it was in Egypt. And it always has caused trouble out in the land. We know that when we get out there... which raised up Korah, and God had to destroy it. But brethren, I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Brother Jaggers sat there and tried to tell me that that was the Holy Ghost doing that and said.... And then I had in his own paper. <br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, now,” I said, “I am a seventh grade pupil, and you are a doctor of divinity and studied to be an attorney. You was raised up in a clean, decent church... the Assemblies of God. Your father helped to found that faith. And you pulling away, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to you. But,” I said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to any man that wants to do that. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t draw any lines there, but when it comes to a place that an instrument like you... could win thousands of souls to Christ... would build your ministry upon a sensation!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, you build a column like that, if you haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for that, it<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll fall after while. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>ve got to have Scripture for what you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re talking about.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “There is Scripture.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Produce it!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Well, Brother Branham,” said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the Holy Ghost doing that.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Show me the scripture where it said the Holy Ghost ever made blood come out on somebody, and so forth like that. Just show it to me... oil pour out of them. You said that oil was for divine healing, and you said that woman<nowiki>’</nowiki>s blood would be the salvation of nations.” I said, “If that is so, then what happened to the blood of Jesus Christ? It takes away, and anything that is against it is ‘anti.<nowiki>’</nowiki> It<nowiki>’</nowiki>s against it.” I said, “It becomes an antichrist doctrine.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, you will learn someday.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I hope I never learn like that. Now, brother,” I said, “I love you, and you are my brother.” And I said, “Brother Jaggers, you are going to get on a limb after a while that you can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t get back off of! Come back to your church, and come back and stay with the gospel!” And I said, “Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t build it upon sensations.” I said....<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Now he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got ... he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s baptizing into eternal life. You know, every time you baptize, you go back to a young woman or man. Now that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going to.... He ain<nowiki>’</nowiki>t going to never die, so he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s on the end of the limb right now. And them vitamin pills out of the Dead Sea... !<br />
<br /><br /><br />
You see, but that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what it is, brother. You start on those little sensations, and you men here that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got these churches, you let something like that come into the city.... And you know, the devil is shrewd, and he jumps in on those things like that. He fusses at it. He gets people wound up, and he causes confusions in the church and things. But that isn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t so.</blockquote><br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=William_Branham_on_O.L._Jaggers&diff=661William Branham on O.L. Jaggers2017-08-11T06:31:53Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following is excerpted from the sermon, <i>Faith</i>, by William Marion Branham, delivered Friday, April 27, 1956 at the Abundant Life Center in Charlotte, North Carolina:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1956<br />
| title = Faith<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-28<br />
| url = http://churchages.com/en/sermon/branham/56-0427-faith<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I remember O. L. Jaggers. The hardest person I ever had to shake away from me was O. L. Jaggers. I didn<nowiki>'</nowiki>t want to shake him away from me, but he was so skeptic. Oh, my. He was beating it down, and all the time I knew he believed it in his heart, but he just wanted to see what I was going... So he, Brother O. L. Jaggers, he<nowiki>'</nowiki>s a bosom friend, a very fine man, and Tommy Osborn, he was there.<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
The following is excerpted from the Branham sermon, <i>The Godhead Explained</i>, delivered the morning of April 25, 1961 at the Holiday Inn in Chicago, IL:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1961<br />
| title = The Godhead Explained<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-21<br />
| url = http://www.en.branham.ru/pdf/61-0425B.pdf<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote>I was sitting in O.L. Jaggers<nowiki>’</nowiki> meeting. Now, we all know O.L. Jaggers. His father helped found the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Now, O.L. is a great man. He<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a great preacher. I told him not long ago, I said, “Brother Jaggers, if I could preach like you did, I<nowiki>’</nowiki>d never even have a healing service.” But he<nowiki>’</nowiki>d got all that blood and wine and stuff when it first started over there. (Excuse me if I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m hurting your feelings, brethren, on that.) That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s all right. God can make blood come, wine come, or oil come... whatever He wants to... but that don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t remit sins! No, sir. No, sir. No indeedy! “The blood of Jesus Christ shall never lose its power, until all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more!”<br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers....” I took him.... I called him up (and I was with the Christian Businessmen), and I said, “Brother O.L....”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Where in the world are you at?” I was in a little old cheap motel out there, and he said, “You mean to tell me they put you out here?”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s my desire. When I come to you,” I said, “what did you do? You put me over in the Statler Hotel, and I just had to stand in the corner. You set me down at the table, and I didn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know which knife to use or nothing else; and I went down through there without a coat on, they wanted to run me out.” And I said, “I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know how to handle myself.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll take you over there if they<nowiki>’</nowiki>re too poor to do it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “No, sir.” I said, “What I want to do is have a steak with you if you will pay for it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “All right.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
So then we went out to a place, and we sat down, and I said, “Brother Jaggers, I certainly admire your....” And he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a very dear friend of mine, a precious brother. And I had his little pamphlet, where he had that woman that just come over here from overseas that had that blood in her hands and things. So I had it in here. I just wanted him to deny it once, then I had it right on his paper, you know.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I have noticed where you are going right along, going to have a big revival.” Started up because the Businessmen had me over there, ‘course.... Looked like people would know if the Holy Spirit can reveal on the platform, can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t He tell me what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going on in places, brethren? I can tell you word by word, and prove it by Brother Carlson and this brother here, I sat at the meeting yesterday and told these brethren what would be here this morning. That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s right. Exactly. See, because the Holy Spirit woke me up and said, “Stand by the window.” I looked ... the window, and He showed me just exactly this. I said, “Now, brethren....” See. Why, they ought to know it.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Here not long ago a man got up here at the Chautauqua and said, “Brother Branham is a prophet.” I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t claim to be no prophet. But He said, “Brother Branham is a prophet when he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s under the spirit of discernment, but,” said, “oh, his doctrine is poison. Be careful with it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I thought of ... an educated man would say a thing like that. What does a prophet mean? “A divine interpreter of the Word.” The Word of the Lord came to the prophet. But that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s neither here nor ... see. But anyhow, Brother Jaggers.... <br />
<br /><br /><br />
And I said, “I seen about that woman that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got that blood in her hands.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the most phenomenal you ever seen.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, I love you. First, I want you to put my hand in yours. Let<nowiki>’</nowiki>s say we are brothers.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Sure. What<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter?”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “You are one of the most powerful preachers that I know of. What an instrument for God that you are!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Thank you, Brother Branham. You<nowiki>’</nowiki>re really humble.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m not saying that to be humble. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m saying that because I believe it. You are God<nowiki>’</nowiki>s servant. But,” I said, “Brother Jaggers, unless you.... You are running too much out. You haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for what you are talking about. You are basing....”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
And here<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter with a lot of you Assemblies of God and other men, on these healing services. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you. There<nowiki>’</nowiki>s so much called .... And Tommy, here, is a good brother, and we know how solid he stands. But there is so much in the land today under the name of divine healing, no wonder you don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t want to sponsor a meeting in the city. They come and bleed the people and go out, and what have they got? Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t give the people a bit more than you do from the platform, in your own pulpit. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right, brethren. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m telling you, you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
But it<nowiki>’</nowiki>s just like I was reading the history of Martin Luther. It said, “It wasn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t a mystery that Martin Luther could protest the Catholic church and get by with it [you have read his history], but that Martin Luther could hold his head above all the fanaticism that followed his revival.” There was the mystery. And when the phenomenal is done, the uncircumcised follows, just like it was in Egypt. And it always has caused trouble out in the land. We know that when we get out there... which raised up Korah, and God had to destroy it. But brethren, I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Brother Jaggers sat there and tried to tell me that that was the Holy Ghost doing that and said.... And then I had in his own paper. <br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, now,” I said, “I am a seventh grade pupil, and you are a doctor of divinity and studied to be an attorney. You was raised up in a clean, decent church... the Assemblies of God. Your father helped to found that faith. And you pulling away, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to you. But,” I said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to any man that wants to do that. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t draw any lines there, but when it comes to a place that an instrument like you... could win thousands of souls to Christ... would build your ministry upon a sensation!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, you build a column like that, if you haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for that, it<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll fall after while. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>ve got to have Scripture for what you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re talking about.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “There is Scripture.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Produce it!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Well, Brother Branham,” said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the Holy Ghost doing that.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Show me the scripture where it said the Holy Ghost ever made blood come out on somebody, and so forth like that. Just show it to me... oil pour out of them. You said that oil was for divine healing, and you said that woman<nowiki>’</nowiki>s blood would be the salvation of nations.” I said, “If that is so, then what happened to the blood of Jesus Christ? It takes away, and anything that is against it is ‘anti.<nowiki>’</nowiki> It<nowiki>’</nowiki>s against it.” I said, “It becomes an antichrist doctrine.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, you will learn someday.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I hope I never learn like that. Now, brother,” I said, “I love you, and you are my brother.” And I said, “Brother Jaggers, you are going to get on a limb after a while that you can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t get back off of! Come back to your church, and come back and stay with the gospel!” And I said, “Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t build it upon sensations.” I said....<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Now he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got ... he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s baptizing into eternal life. You know, every time you baptize, you go back to a young woman or man. Now that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going to.... He ain<nowiki>’</nowiki>t going to never die, so he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s on the end of the limb right now. And them vitamin pills out of the Dead Sea... !<br />
<br /><br /><br />
You see, but that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what it is, brother. You start on those little sensations, and you men here that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got these churches, you let something like that come into the city.... And you know, the devil is shrewd, and he jumps in on those things like that. He fusses at it. He gets people wound up, and he causes confusions in the church and things. But that isn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t so.</blockquote><br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=William_Branham_on_O.L._Jaggers&diff=660William Branham on O.L. Jaggers2017-08-11T06:30:46Z<p>Admin: Undo revision 659 by Admin (talk)</p>
<hr />
<div>The following is excerpted from the sermon, <i>Faith</i>, by William Marion Branham, delivered Friday, April 27, 1956 at the Abundant Life Center in Charlotte, North Carolina:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1956<br />
| title = Faith<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-28<br />
| url = http://churchages.com/en/sermon/branham/56-0427-faith<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I remember O. L. Jaggers. The hardest person I ever had to shake away from me was O. L. Jaggers. I didn<nowiki>'</nowiki>t want to shake him away from me, but he was so skeptic. Oh, my. He was beating it down, and all the time I knew he believed it in his heart, but he just wanted to see what I was going... So he, Brother O. L. Jaggers, he<nowiki>'</nowiki>s a bosom friend, a very fine man, and Tommy Osborn, he was there.<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
The following is excerpted from the Branham sermon, <i>The Godhead Explained</i>, delivered the morning of April 25, 1961 at the Holiday Inn in Chicago, IL:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1961<br />
| title = The Godhead Explained<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-21<br />
| url = http://www.en.branham.ru/pdf/61-0425B.pdf<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote>I was sitting in O.L. Jaggers<nowiki>’</nowiki> meeting. Now, we all know O.L. Jaggers. His father helped found the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Now, O.L. is a great man. He<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a great preacher. I told him not long ago, I said, “Brother Jaggers, if I could preach like you did, I<nowiki>’</nowiki>d never even have a healing service.” But he<nowiki>’</nowiki>d got all that blood and wine and stuff when it first started over there. (Excuse me if I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m hurting your feelings, brethren, on that.) That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s all right. God can make blood come, wine come, or oil come... whatever He wants to... but that don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t remit sins! No, sir. No, sir. No indeedy! “The blood of Jesus Christ shall never lose its power, until all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers....” I took him.... I called him up (and I was with the Christian Businessmen), and I said, “Brother O.L....”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Where in the world are you at?” I was in a little old cheap motel out there, and he said, “You mean to tell me they put you out here?”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s my desire. When I come to you,” I said, “what did you do? You put me over in the Statler Hotel, and I just had to stand in the corner. You set me down at the table, and I didn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know which knife to use or nothing else; and I went down through there without a coat on, they wanted to run me out.” And I said, “I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know how to handle myself.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll take you over there if they<nowiki>’</nowiki>re too poor to do it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “No, sir.” I said, “What I want to do is have a steak with you if you will pay for it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “All right.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
So then we went out to a place, and we sat down, and I said, “Brother Jaggers, I certainly admire your....” And he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a very dear friend of mine, a precious brother. And I had his little pamphlet, where he had that woman that just come over here from overseas that had that blood in her hands and things. So I had it in here. I just wanted him to deny it once, then I had it right on his paper, you know.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I have noticed where you are going right along, going to have a big revival.” Started up because the Businessmen had me over there, ‘course.... Looked like people would know if the Holy Spirit can reveal on the platform, can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t He tell me what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going on in places, brethren? I can tell you word by word, and prove it by Brother Carlson and this brother here, I sat at the meeting yesterday and told these brethren what would be here this morning. That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s right. Exactly. See, because the Holy Spirit woke me up and said, “Stand by the window.” I looked ... the window, and He showed me just exactly this. I said, “Now, brethren....” See. Why, they ought to know it.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Here not long ago a man got up here at the Chautauqua and said, “Brother Branham is a prophet.” I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t claim to be no prophet. But He said, “Brother Branham is a prophet when he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s under the spirit of discernment, but,” said, “oh, his doctrine is poison. Be careful with it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I thought of ... an educated man would say a thing like that. What does a prophet mean? “A divine interpreter of the Word.” The Word of the Lord came to the prophet. But that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s neither here nor ... see. But anyhow, Brother Jaggers.... <br />
<br /><br /><br />
And I said, “I seen about that woman that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got that blood in her hands.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the most phenomenal you ever seen.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, I love you. First, I want you to put my hand in yours. Let<nowiki>’</nowiki>s say we are brothers.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Sure. What<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter?”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “You are one of the most powerful preachers that I know of. What an instrument for God that you are!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Thank you, Brother Branham. You<nowiki>’</nowiki>re really humble.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m not saying that to be humble. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m saying that because I believe it. You are God<nowiki>’</nowiki>s servant. But,” I said, “Brother Jaggers, unless you.... You are running too much out. You haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for what you are talking about. You are basing....”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
And here<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter with a lot of you Assemblies of God and other men, on these healing services. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you. There<nowiki>’</nowiki>s so much called .... And Tommy, here, is a good brother, and we know how solid he stands. But there is so much in the land today under the name of divine healing, no wonder you don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t want to sponsor a meeting in the city. They come and bleed the people and go out, and what have they got? Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t give the people a bit more than you do from the platform, in your own pulpit. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right, brethren. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m telling you, you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
But it<nowiki>’</nowiki>s just like I was reading the history of Martin Luther. It said, “It wasn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t a mystery that Martin Luther could protest the Catholic church and get by with it [you have read his history], but that Martin Luther could hold his head above all the fanaticism that followed his revival.” There was the mystery. And when the phenomenal is done, the uncircumcised follows, just like it was in Egypt. And it always has caused trouble out in the land. We know that when we get out there... which raised up Korah, and God had to destroy it. But brethren, I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Brother Jaggers sat there and tried to tell me that that was the Holy Ghost doing that and said.... And then I had in his own paper. <br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, now,” I said, “I am a seventh grade pupil, and you are a doctor of divinity and studied to be an attorney. You was raised up in a clean, decent church... the Assemblies of God. Your father helped to found that faith. And you pulling away, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to you. But,” I said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to any man that wants to do that. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t draw any lines there, but when it comes to a place that an instrument like you... could win thousands of souls to Christ... would build your ministry upon a sensation!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, you build a column like that, if you haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for that, it<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll fall after while. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>ve got to have Scripture for what you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re talking about.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “There is Scripture.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Produce it!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Well, Brother Branham,” said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the Holy Ghost doing that.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Show me the scripture where it said the Holy Ghost ever made blood come out on somebody, and so forth like that. Just show it to me... oil pour out of them. You said that oil was for divine healing, and you said that woman<nowiki>’</nowiki>s blood would be the salvation of nations.” I said, “If that is so, then what happened to the blood of Jesus Christ? It takes away, and anything that is against it is ‘anti.<nowiki>’</nowiki> It<nowiki>’</nowiki>s against it.” I said, “It becomes an antichrist doctrine.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, you will learn someday.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I hope I never learn like that. Now, brother,” I said, “I love you, and you are my brother.” And I said, “Brother Jaggers, you are going to get on a limb after a while that you can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t get back off of! Come back to your church, and come back and stay with the gospel!” And I said, “Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t build it upon sensations.” I said....<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Now he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got ... he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s baptizing into eternal life. You know, every time you baptize, you go back to a young woman or man. Now that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going to.... He ain<nowiki>’</nowiki>t going to never die, so he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s on the end of the limb right now. And them vitamin pills out of the Dead Sea... !<br />
<br /><br /><br />
You see, but that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what it is, brother. You start on those little sensations, and you men here that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got these churches, you let something like that come into the city.... And you know, the devil is shrewd, and he jumps in on those things like that. He fusses at it. He gets people wound up, and he causes confusions in the church and things. But that isn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t so.</blockquote><br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=William_Branham_on_O.L._Jaggers&diff=659William Branham on O.L. Jaggers2017-08-11T06:30:20Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>The following is excerpted from the sermon, <i>Faith</i>, by William Marion Branham, delivered Friday, April 27, 1956 at the Abundant Life Center in Charlotte, North Carolina:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1956<br />
| title = Faith<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-28<br />
| url = http://churchages.com/en/sermon/branham/56-0427-faith<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote><br />
I remember O. L. Jaggers. The hardest person I ever had to shake away from me was O. L. Jaggers. I didn<nowiki>'</nowiki>t want to shake him away from me, but he was so skeptic. Oh, my. He was beating it down, and all the time I knew he believed it in his heart, but he just wanted to see what I was going... So he, Brother O. L. Jaggers, he<nowiki>'</nowiki>s a bosom friend, a very fine man, and Tommy Osborn, he was there.<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
The following is excerpted from the Branham sermon, <i>The Godhead Explained</i>, delivered the morning of April 25, 1961 at the Holiday Inn in Chicago, IL:<ref><br />
{{cite book<br />
| last = Branham<br />
| first = William<br />
| year = 1961<br />
| title = The Godhead Explained<br />
| accessdate = 2014-02-21<br />
| url = http://www.en.branham.ru/pdf/61-0425B.pdf<br />
}}</ref><br />
<blockquote>I was sitting in O.L. Jaggers<nowiki>’</nowiki> meeting. Now, we all know O.L. Jaggers. His father helped found the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Now, O.L. is a great man. He<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a great preacher. I told him not long ago, I said, “Brother Jaggers, if I could preach like you did, I<nowiki>’</nowiki>d never even have a healing service.” But he<nowiki>’</nowiki>d got all that blood and wine and stuff when it first started over there. (Excuse me if I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m hurting your feelings, brethren, on that.) That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s all right. God can make blood come, wine come, or oil come... whatever He wants to... but that don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t remit sins! No, sir. No, sir. No indeedy! “The blood of Jesus Christ shall never lose its power, until all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more!”<br />
<br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers....” I took him.... I called him up (and I was with the Christian Businessmen), and I said, “Brother O.L....”<br />
<br /><br />
He said, “Where in the world are you at?” I was in a little old cheap motel out there, and he said, “You mean to tell me they put you out here?”<br />
<br /><br />
I said, “That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s my desire. When I come to you,” I said, “what did you do? You put me over in the Statler Hotel, and I just had to stand in the corner. You set me down at the table, and I didn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know which knife to use or nothing else; and I went down through there without a coat on, they wanted to run me out.” And I said, “I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t know how to handle myself.”<br />
<br /><br />
He said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll take you over there if they<nowiki>’</nowiki>re too poor to do it.”<br />
<br /><br />
I said, “No, sir.” I said, “What I want to do is have a steak with you if you will pay for it.”<br />
<br /><br />
He said, “All right.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
So then we went out to a place, and we sat down, and I said, “Brother Jaggers, I certainly admire your....” And he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s a very dear friend of mine, a precious brother. And I had his little pamphlet, where he had that woman that just come over here from overseas that had that blood in her hands and things. So I had it in here. I just wanted him to deny it once, then I had it right on his paper, you know.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I have noticed where you are going right along, going to have a big revival.” Started up because the Businessmen had me over there, ‘course.... Looked like people would know if the Holy Spirit can reveal on the platform, can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t He tell me what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going on in places, brethren? I can tell you word by word, and prove it by Brother Carlson and this brother here, I sat at the meeting yesterday and told these brethren what would be here this morning. That<nowiki>’</nowiki>s right. Exactly. See, because the Holy Spirit woke me up and said, “Stand by the window.” I looked ... the window, and He showed me just exactly this. I said, “Now, brethren....” See. Why, they ought to know it.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Here not long ago a man got up here at the Chautauqua and said, “Brother Branham is a prophet.” I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t claim to be no prophet. But He said, “Brother Branham is a prophet when he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s under the spirit of discernment, but,” said, “oh, his doctrine is poison. Be careful with it.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I thought of ... an educated man would say a thing like that. What does a prophet mean? “A divine interpreter of the Word.” The Word of the Lord came to the prophet. But that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s neither here nor ... see. But anyhow, Brother Jaggers.... <br />
<br /><br /><br />
And I said, “I seen about that woman that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got that blood in her hands.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the most phenomenal you ever seen.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, I love you. First, I want you to put my hand in yours. Let<nowiki>’</nowiki>s say we are brothers.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Sure. What<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter?”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “You are one of the most powerful preachers that I know of. What an instrument for God that you are!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Thank you, Brother Branham. You<nowiki>’</nowiki>re really humble.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m not saying that to be humble. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m saying that because I believe it. You are God<nowiki>’</nowiki>s servant. But,” I said, “Brother Jaggers, unless you.... You are running too much out. You haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for what you are talking about. You are basing....”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
And here<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the matter with a lot of you Assemblies of God and other men, on these healing services. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you. There<nowiki>’</nowiki>s so much called .... And Tommy, here, is a good brother, and we know how solid he stands. But there is so much in the land today under the name of divine healing, no wonder you don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t want to sponsor a meeting in the city. They come and bleed the people and go out, and what have they got? Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t give the people a bit more than you do from the platform, in your own pulpit. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right, brethren. I<nowiki>’</nowiki>m telling you, you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re right.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
But it<nowiki>’</nowiki>s just like I was reading the history of Martin Luther. It said, “It wasn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t a mystery that Martin Luther could protest the Catholic church and get by with it [you have read his history], but that Martin Luther could hold his head above all the fanaticism that followed his revival.” There was the mystery. And when the phenomenal is done, the uncircumcised follows, just like it was in Egypt. And it always has caused trouble out in the land. We know that when we get out there... which raised up Korah, and God had to destroy it. But brethren, I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t blame you.<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Brother Jaggers sat there and tried to tell me that that was the Holy Ghost doing that and said.... And then I had in his own paper. <br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, now,” I said, “I am a seventh grade pupil, and you are a doctor of divinity and studied to be an attorney. You was raised up in a clean, decent church... the Assemblies of God. Your father helped to found that faith. And you pulling away, that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to you. But,” I said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s up to any man that wants to do that. I don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t draw any lines there, but when it comes to a place that an instrument like you... could win thousands of souls to Christ... would build your ministry upon a sensation!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Brother Jaggers, you build a column like that, if you haven<nowiki>’</nowiki>t got a counterbalance for that, it<nowiki>’</nowiki>ll fall after while. And you<nowiki>’</nowiki>ve got to have Scripture for what you<nowiki>’</nowiki>re talking about.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “There is Scripture.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Produce it!”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
He said, “Well, Brother Branham,” said, “that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s the Holy Ghost doing that.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “Show me the scripture where it said the Holy Ghost ever made blood come out on somebody, and so forth like that. Just show it to me... oil pour out of them. You said that oil was for divine healing, and you said that woman<nowiki>’</nowiki>s blood would be the salvation of nations.” I said, “If that is so, then what happened to the blood of Jesus Christ? It takes away, and anything that is against it is ‘anti.<nowiki>’</nowiki> It<nowiki>’</nowiki>s against it.” I said, “It becomes an antichrist doctrine.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, you will learn someday.”<br />
<br /><br /><br />
I said, “I hope I never learn like that. Now, brother,” I said, “I love you, and you are my brother.” And I said, “Brother Jaggers, you are going to get on a limb after a while that you can<nowiki>’</nowiki>t get back off of! Come back to your church, and come back and stay with the gospel!” And I said, “Don<nowiki>’</nowiki>t build it upon sensations.” I said....<br />
<br /><br /><br />
Now he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got ... he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s baptizing into eternal life. You know, every time you baptize, you go back to a young woman or man. Now that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s going to.... He ain<nowiki>’</nowiki>t going to never die, so he<nowiki>’</nowiki>s on the end of the limb right now. And them vitamin pills out of the Dead Sea... !<br />
<br /><br /><br />
You see, but that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s what it is, brother. You start on those little sensations, and you men here that<nowiki>’</nowiki>s got these churches, you let something like that come into the city.... And you know, the devil is shrewd, and he jumps in on those things like that. He fusses at it. He gets people wound up, and he causes confusions in the church and things. But that isn<nowiki>’</nowiki>t so.</blockquote><br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
[[Category: O. L. Jaggers in Print]]</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_Saucers!&diff=658Flying Saucers!2017-08-11T05:23:06Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox book<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| title = Flying Saucers!<br />
|date = 1952<br />
| image = [[File:Flying saucers cover.jpg | 240px]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Flying Saucers!''' is a book published in 1952 by [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | O. L. Jaggers]]. In it, he relates his understanding of the UFO phenomenon establishing the fact of UFOs existence. He then states that UFOs are the "wheel within a wheel" spoken of by the Prophet Ezekiel. He equates UFOs with Cherubim and Seraphim and expounds upon the purpose of their manifestation.<br><br><br />
As evidence of UFOs existence, he relates several UFO sightings, several of which were reported in mainstream media of the time including the ''Reader's Digest''. At the time, the US military had established "flying saucer teams" to investigate UFO sightings. The existence of these "flying saucer teams was well known at the time. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book They were, however, discontinued in 1970.] Jaggers also relates the well-known and tragic story of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mantell Captain Thomas Mantell], a Kentucky Air National Guardsman who perished when his P-51 Mustang came apart while presumably pursuing a UFO in January 1948. He further relates an incident that was reported in the Washington Post of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Washington_D.C._UFO_incident several unidentified flying objects appearing in the sky over the US capital].<br />
<br><br><br />
O. L. Jaggers then builds his case that contemporary reports of flying saucers match identically with the description of cherubim and seraphim found in scripture. He then explains that in the Bible the cherubim and seraphim were agents of God's wrath and judgment upon sinful and unclean Israel.<br />
<br><br>He continues with a warning for America. The cherubim and seraphim have appeared over the US signaling impending judgment for America because of her sinfulness and the uncleanness of the American church.<br />
<br><br>The book concludes with a call to action for the church. The church is the only hope for America and the only means of averting God's wrath as manifested by these angelic agents.<br />
<br><br><br />
{{Infobox book<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| title = U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them!<br />
| image = [[File:ufos.jpg | 240px]]<br />
}}<br />
It is important to note that UFOs were a popular subject at the time and even Gordon Lindsay, editor of ''[[The Voice of Healing]]'' magazine [[Gordon Lindsay on UFOs | wrote many times about UFOs]]. A modern Christian voice on the subject of UFOs is [http://www.michaelsheiser.com Michael Heiser].<br><br><br />
Another book, titled <i>U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them!</i>, has been referred to on the web and in [http://universalworldchurch.org/wiki/John_Crowder_on_O._L._Jaggers print]. This appears to be an alternate (perhaps later) edition or simply an alternate cover for this book, <i>Flying Saucers!</i><br />
<br><br><br />
The entire book can be downloaded in electronic format '''[[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | here]]'''.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_Saucers!&diff=657Flying Saucers!2017-08-11T05:22:34Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox book<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| title = Flying Saucers!<br />
|date = 1952<br />
| image = [[File:Flying saucers cover.jpg | 240px]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Flying Saucers!''' is a book published in 1952 by [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | O. L. Jaggers]]. In it, he relates his understanding of the UFO phenomenon establishing the fact of UFOs existence. He then states that UFOs are the "wheel within a wheel" spoken of by the Prophet Ezekiel. He equates UFOs with Cherubim and Seraphim and expounds upon the purpose of their manifestation.<br><br><br />
As evidence of UFOs existence, he relates several UFO sightings, several of which were reported in mainstream media of the time including the ''Reader's Digest''. At the time, the US military had established "flying saucer teams" to investigate UFO sightings. The existence of these "flying saucer teams was well known at the time. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book They were, however, discontinued in 1970.] Jaggers also relates the well-known and tragic story of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mantell Captain Thomas Mantell], a Kentucky Air National Guardsman who perished when his P-51 Mustang came apart while presumably pursuing a UFO in January 1948. He further relates an incident that was reported in the Washington Post of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Washington_D.C._UFO_incident several unidentified flying objects appearing in the sky over the US capital].<br />
<br><br><br />
O. L. Jaggers then builds his case that contemporary reports of flying saucers match identically with the description of cherubim and seraphim found in scripture. He then explains that in the Bible the cherubim and seraphim were agents of God's wrath and judgment upon sinful and unclean Israel.<br />
<br><br>He continues with a warning for America. The cherubim and seraphim have appeared over the US signaling impending judgment for America because of her sinfulness and the uncleanness of the American church.<br />
<br><br>The book concludes with a call to action for the church. The church is the only hope for America and the only means of averting God's wrath as manifested by these angelic agents.<br />
<br><br><br />
{{Infobox book<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| title = U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them!<br />
| image = [[File:ufos.jpg | 240px]]<br />
}}<br />
It is important to note that UFOs were a popular subject at the time and even Gordon Lindsay, editor of ''[[The Voice of Healing]]'' magazine [[Gordon Lindsay on UFOs | wrote many times about UFOs]]. A modern Christian voice on the subject of UFOs is [http://www.michaelsheiser.com Michael Heiser].<br><br><br />
Another book, titled <i>U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them!</i>, has been referred to on the web and in [[http://universalworldchurch.org/wiki/John_Crowder_on_O._L._Jaggers print]]. This appears to be an alternate (perhaps later) edition or simply an alternate cover for this book, <i>Flying Saucers!</i><br />
<br><br><br />
The entire book can be downloaded in electronic format '''[[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | here]]'''.</div>Adminhttps://universalworldchurch.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_Saucers!&diff=656Flying Saucers!2017-08-11T05:21:42Z<p>Admin: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox book<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| title = Flying Saucers!<br />
|date = 1952<br />
| image = [[File:Flying saucers cover.jpg | 240px]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Flying Saucers!''' is a book published in 1952 by [[Rev. Dr. Orval Lee Jaggers | O. L. Jaggers]]. In it, he relates his understanding of the UFO phenomenon establishing the fact of UFOs existence. He then states that UFOs are the "wheel within a wheel" spoken of by the Prophet Ezekiel. He equates UFOs with Cherubim and Seraphim and expounds upon the purpose of their manifestation.<br><br><br />
As evidence of UFOs existence, he relates several UFO sightings, several of which were reported in mainstream media of the time including the ''Reader's Digest''. At the time, the US military had established "flying saucer teams" to investigate UFO sightings. The existence of these "flying saucer teams was well known at the time. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_Book They were, however, discontinued in 1970.] Jaggers also relates the well-known and tragic story of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Mantell Captain Thomas Mantell], a Kentucky Air National Guardsman who perished when his P-51 Mustang came apart while presumably pursuing a UFO in January 1948. He further relates an incident that was reported in the Washington Post of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Washington_D.C._UFO_incident several unidentified flying objects appearing in the sky over the US capital].<br />
<br><br><br />
O. L. Jaggers then builds his case that contemporary reports of flying saucers match identically with the description of cherubim and seraphim found in scripture. He then explains that in the Bible the cherubim and seraphim were agents of God's wrath and judgment upon sinful and unclean Israel.<br />
<br><br>He continues with a warning for America. The cherubim and seraphim have appeared over the US signaling impending judgment for America because of her sinfulness and the uncleanness of the American church.<br />
<br><br>The book concludes with a call to action for the church. The church is the only hope for America and the only means of averting God's wrath as manifested by these angelic agents.<br />
<br><br><br />
{{Infobox book<br />
| author = O. L. Jaggers<br />
| title = U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them!<br />
| image = [[File:ufos.jpg | 240px]]<br />
}}<br />
It is important to note that UFOs were a popular subject at the time and even Gordon Lindsay, editor of ''[[The Voice of Healing]]'' magazine [[Gordon Lindsay on UFOs | wrote many times about UFOs]]. A modern Christian voice on the subject of UFOs is [http://www.michaelsheiser.com Michael Heiser].<br><br><br />
Another book, titled <i>U.F.O.s and the Creatures that Fly Them!</i>, has been referred to on the web and in print[[http://universalworldchurch.org/wiki/John_Crowder_on_O._L._Jaggers]]. This appears to be an alternate (perhaps later) edition or simply an alternate cover for this book, <i>Flying Saucers!</i><br />
<br><br><br />
The entire book can be downloaded in electronic format '''[[Media:Flying saucers.pdf | here]]'''.</div>Admin