This is the story of Father Divine and the Peace Mission Movement

Lenny Feinberg

Father&apos;s Kingdom

The Last Angels of Father Divine

After reading the book &apos;American Messiahs&apos; by Adam Morris which devoted several chapters to Father Divine, I was pleased to discover this recently made documentary which tells the story of this self-proclaimed God and his movement. Father Divine&apos;s followers are called Angels and there are less than 20 or so left, all elderly. They currently are living together in an enormous estate. During its heyday in the 1930s, Divine&apos;s movement had tens of thousands of obedient followers and many fans.

During the great depression he would hold weekly &apos;communions&apos; where everyone who came was fed at no cost. He was a proponent of positive thinking and didn&apos;t believe in race. This resulted in 15% of his congregation being white during a time when few, if any, churches and groups were integrated. This was a communal religious group where members lived together and shared what they earned. They were commissioned by Father Divine to work hard, not complain, and be positive.

&apos;Father&apos;s Kingdom&apos; is a comprehensive, fascinating, and fair documentary that is well worth watching. It&apos;s always a pleasure to learn about an important historical character and movement that you&apos;ve never heard of before. It&apos;s also a breath of fresh air when you compare him to other cult and even mainstream religious groups lead by Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc., with their suicides, murders, tragedies, and child abuse.

There are many interviews with the few remaining devotees, as well as, historical films and interviews with current historians and civil rights leaders. A museum is also being created. Father&apos;s Kingdom does not neglect negative aspects of the movement, like celibacy and the breaking up of the nuclear families that joined. However, the remaining followers seem genuinely happy. When you find yourself asking &quot;How can they believe that he is God or that they will physically never die?&quot; even though Divine died in 1965? Answer: just look at the news and you&apos;ll find people believing without evidence all sorts of things with unwavering devotion and illogical rationalizations. Cult-like thinking is all around us. Is it in you?

After reading the book 'American Messiahs' by Adam Morris which devoted several chapters to Father Divine, I was pleased to discover this recently made documentary which tells the story of this self-proclaimed God and his movement. Father Divine's followers are called Angels and there are less than 20 or so left, all elderly. They currently are living together in an enormous estate. During its heyday in the 1930s, Divine's movement had tens of thousands of obedient followers and many fans.

During the great depression he would hold weekly 'communions' where everyone who came was fed at no cost. He was a proponent of positive thinking and didn't believe in race. This resulted in 15% of his congregation being white during a time when few, if any, churches and groups were integrated. This was a communal religious group where members lived together and shared what they earned. They were commissioned by Father Divine to work hard, not complain, and be positive.

'Father's Kingdom' is a comprehensive, fascinating, and fair documentary that is well worth watching. It's always a pleasure to learn about an important historical character and movement that you've never heard of before. It's also a breath of fresh air when you compare him to other cult and even mainstream religious groups lead by Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc., with their suicides, murders, tragedies, and child abuse.

There are many interviews with the few remaining devotees, as well as, historical films and interviews with current historians and civil rights leaders. A museum is also being created. Father's Kingdom does not neglect negative aspects of the movement, like celibacy and the breaking up of the nuclear families that joined. However, the remaining followers seem genuinely happy. When you find yourself asking "How can they believe that he is God or that they will physically never die?" even though Divine died in 1965? Answer: just look at the news and you'll find people believing without evidence all sorts of things with unwavering devotion and illogical rationalizations. Cult-like thinking is all around us. Is it in you?

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Father's Kingdom

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