Adonai-Shomo was the name given to a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
which existed from 1861 to 1896 in
.
Second Coming
The commune was founded by
Frederick T. Howland, a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
who had become convinced that the
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...
of
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
and the subsequent
Last Judgement
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
would come shortly. On that basis, he started the commune, with initially roughly 30 members.
New leaders
Some years later, Howland died in an accident, leaving a leadership vacuum in the community. A man named Cook arrived and said that God had sent him to take over the community. The members of the group accepted him initially. However, Cook later began to institute some unusual sexual practices into the group, which led the members to depose him from the leadership and initiate criminal charges against him. Cook was replaced by a man named Richards, who led the group for several years, during which time it prospered and was able to purchase near
Petersham, Massachusetts
Petersham is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2020 census. Petersham is home to a considerable amount of conservation land, including the Quabbin Reservation, Harvard Forest, the Swift R ...
.
Disbanding
In time, the older members of the commune began to die off, and several of the younger members left. Eventually, a group of the younger members filed suit against Richards to gain partial control of the group's property, eventually winning the suit. However, the money from the sale of the commune's land was barely sufficient to cover the group's debts and legal fees, leading the group to disband in 1896.
References
Further reading
*
*
*{{cite book , title=Communities of the past and present , year=1924 , url=https://archive.org/stream/communitiesofpas00woos#page/62/mode/2up/search/Adonai-Shomo , page=63 , oclc=614382500 , first=Ernest S , last=Wooster , publisher=Llano Colonist , location=Newllano, LA
1861 establishments in Massachusetts
1896 disestablishments in the United States
Christian communities
Christian new religious movements
Intentional communities in the United States
Populated places established in 1861
Religion in Worcester County, Massachusetts