Shiloh
A commune that relied on faith to meet all of its needs, resulting in the preventable deaths of several members
1896 - 1920
"I have endured the tortures of hell since I joined. . . They have taken all my money, deprived me of my family, ruined my health and were starving me to death."
-Testimony of an unnamed member
Shiloh was a commune started by Frank Sandford, who only had three cents to his name, but strongly believed in the power of faith. Many flocked to this community and joined Sandford in rejecting food, medicine, and even working for money because they trusted God would provide for them. Initially, this plan was successful; overcoming all odds, the members prospered and witnessed several miraculous events, which were published in newspapers throughout the nation. However, their fortune soon ran out as members died from malnourishment and treatable diseases. This desperation only helped unite the community, though, as they interpreted their misfortune as punishments from God for their lack of obedience to the leader.
Eventually, Stanford overcrowded a ship with several of his community members and traveled throughout the Atlantic, trusting God to supply their needs. Subject to whatever Sandford happened to believe was the will of God at any given moment, the cult starved as Stanford kept refusing stops for supplies. For months, the crew struggled to survive on crackers and rainwater as they slowly watched their friends and family members die. Eventually, the crew was about to be saved from their torture as the ship was about to arrive back home in Maine. However, they had to watch in horror as God commanded Stanford to keep sailing until they reached Greenland. As the crew faced severe desperation, there were reports of a planned mutiny. However, the cult members were too weak to even move throughout the ship, making any hope of survival increasingly futile.
When Sandford finally agreed allow his passengers off the ship, he was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. Yet, even after their abuse, his followers remained loyal to him, and the community stayed strong. When he was released, he helped revitalize the spiritual strength of the community, allowing God to favor them again. Finally, the cult members had sufficient food and experienced miraculous healings, just like in the early years of the sect.
However, Sandford's troubles were not over yet. One former member fought and won a custody battle for the children after the court learned that the members refused to work for food, even when they were starving. Afterward, authorities recommended that all children be removed from the community, and Shiloh soon became defunct.
Overall, Shiloh significantly influenced the developing Pentecostal movement, and Sandford continues to have devoted followers today.
Religion: Christianity
Denomination: Pentecostalism
Founder: Frank Sandford ("Elijah II"; "Elijah the Uncrowned King")
Founded: 1896
Ended: 1920; although followers of Sandford still exist today
Size: about 400 on average
Location: Durham, Maine, United States
Also called: The Holy Ghost and Us; Sandfordites; Holy Ghost and Us Society; Holy Ghost and Us Bible School; World's Evangelization Crusade; Church of the Living God; The Kingdom; Holy Ghost Station; The Legion of God; Shilohites; Kingdom Christian Ministries
Sandford intentionally packed no supplies on an Atlantic voyage and refused to stop. As a result, six of his followers starved to death, and he was convicted of manslaughter (source, source)
A former member testified that they were only allowed one meal a day, usually milk and mush (source)
Even when members were starving, the cult still refused to help them, believing that the starvation was the will of God and that helping them was an act of disobedience to God (source)
Stanford's family was living a luxurious life with their own cook as members were starving (source)
When the members, who mainly lived on cornmeal, prayed for meat, Sandford silenced them by buying 1,425 pounds of meat and ordering them to eat nothing else until it was gone. This drastic change in diet resulted in all members getting sick (source)
A state investigation concluded that Sandford was "ruling his people with fear, they following his merest suggestions implicitly" (source)
Sandford was arrested for illegally detaining one of his followers on one of his voyages (source)
Members were forbidden from having close friends (source)
Frank Sandford (Leader)
Rejected medicine and relied on faith healing instead (source)
Calamities that endangered member's health, such as sickness and accidents, were blamed on a lack of faith (source)
Members died due to lack of medical care (see "Murder" section below)
Although the rejection of medicine resulted in several deaths, many of the faith healings in the earlier years were widely recognized, even outside the community, including healing broken bones, typhoid, and cancer (source, source p. 113)
Sandford believed that he was not responsible for his actions but only needed to answer to the Holy Spirit (source p. 3)
Sandford trained his 6-year-old son to desire physical abuse. To accomplish this goal, he locked the boy in his room without food and water and beat him until he broke the boy's will. It took three days of the boy begging to get beaten before Stanford determined the boy genuinely wanted it and set the boy free (source)
Children were severely malnourished and therefore were forced to hide in the woods when Child Welfare inspectors came (source)
Children were often severely beaten (source)
Children died of neglect in the colony (source) (see "Murder" section below)
A girl was punished with a three-day fast for vanity because she confessed to looking in a mirror (source)
In 1920, after investigating the death of a child, the Children's Protection Society of Maine urged that all minors be removed from the community (source)
Believed the world was about to end, that community members had a special role in the apocalypse, and that God sent Sandford to announce the second coming of Christ (source)
Sandford announced that the world would end at precisely 10:20:30 AM, Wednesday, September 15th, 1909. Although members gathered in anticipation of this event, they remained faithful when the events did not happen as predicted and blamed it on their lack of faith (source)
Sandford declared that his cult would "stand by and if need be die" with the two prophets in the Book of Revelation (source)
Believed in the British Israelism conspiracy, which asserted that white people were the true descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel and were, therefore, a superior race (source)
Sandford declared himself to be the reincarnation of the Prophet Elijah and King David from the Hebrew Bible (source)
Members believed that Sandford had a "supernatural connection to God" and would one day rise from the dead (source, source)
Sandford declared that his son, like John the Baptist, was also "filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb" (source p. 85)
n 1903, after 14-year old Leander Bartlett expressed a desire to leave, the cult denied him food and water for three days and refused to give him either medical attention or faith healing. As a result, he got sick and died, which was interpreted as a punishment from God for wanting to leave (source)
Believing that God told him to travel to Greenland without stopping, Sandford refused to get food and water for the passengers of his ship. While the passengers were saved from starvation by a ship that found them and gave them emergency supplies, six passengers still died of scurvy due to the lack of a proper diet, and Sandford was convicted of manslaughter (source, source)
After member Joseph Sutherland died, the other members were forbidden from grieving for his death since it was seen as a punishment from God (source)
Members gave up all private property and did not take any salary, believing that God would provide for their needs (source)
When member Florence Whittaker expressed a desire to leave while traveling in a ship with the sect, they refused to let her land, which resulted in a legal battle (source)
Over half of the members on the ship allegedly did not agree with the teachings of the community but were unable to leave because they were starving on a ship in the ocean (source)
Members were forbidden from leaving the commune (source)
After a child expressed a desire to leave the cult, he died after being refused food, water, or medical attention (see "Murder" section above)
Members had to give up all of their property when they joined but did not receive anything when they left, forcing all ex-members to walk away homeless, penniless, and fully isolated from everyone they knew. As a result, those who left were often forced to return to the cult, as they were unable to survive on their own (source)
When one member left, other members bought a ticket on the same train as her to publicly shame her to other passengers (source)
Parents were punished if their child escaped the cult (source)
Celibacy: Members were forbidden from even touching members of the opposite sex (source)
Other info:
Sandford refused to work for money, believing that it was "against God's law" (source)
Sandford was largely influenced by John Alexander Dowie of the Christ Community Church cult (source)
Sandford had influenced and been closely associated with Charles F. Parham, the "father of Pentecostalism" (source)
Members were commanded to hate their family members (source)
Other tags:
Parable of the Drowning Man
A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help.
Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.” So the rowboat went on.
Then a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the motorboat went on.
Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.” To this the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the helicopter reluctantly flew away.
Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!”
To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”
Overview of the Sandford and his influence on the broader Pentecostal movement