The Shiloh Youth Revival Centers movement was the largest
Jesus People
The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement which began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, and Central America, before it subsided in the la ...
communal movement in the United States in the 1970s. Founded in 1968 as a small communal house (
House of Miracles) by John Higgins, a former drug addict who had converted to fundamentalist Christianity by reading the bible, in
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...
,
the movement quickly grew to a very large movement catering mostly to disaffected college-age youth. There were over 100,000 people involved and 175 communal houses established during its lifespan.
The notion of "being part of Shiloh" was not well-defined. Shiloh did not have official membership.
The most generous definition of being "involved in Shiloh" ...in addition to the Staff ( offices. print shop. Land Staff. etc.) and the Teams (who were schooled and sent out to chosen cities to open a Shiloh House) would also include all the individuals who spent the night or days as guests.
Shiloh houses operated like hippy-style rescue missions, in the sense that people who needed a place to stay for a couple nights were welcomed; but the guests were not documented; no identification was asked for; their names were not written down.
Consequently, it is unclear how the claim of a hundred thousand people "involved in Shiloh" could be defended.
[This edit was written by Jacob Wegelin, who lived in the communal Shiloh houses from July 1971 until August 1976, and edited again by Rhonda Gordon who lived in the communal houses from September 1972-July 1976 and then became part of the Shiloh Marrieds Ministry from July 1976 - September 1982.]
Two years after the movement's founding, Higgins and some of the core members of the movement bought of land near
Dexter, Oregon
Dexter is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located near Dexter Reservoir, a.k.a. Dexter Lake, a reservoir of the Middle Fork Willamette River along Oregon Route 58.
A post office was established in the loc ...
, and built a new headquarters which they called "The Land". The movement grew quickly until the mid-1970s as growth in the Houses began to slow down. When Shiloh board members dismissed Higgins in 1978 for his authoritarian leadership style, the organization experienced severe upheaval. Higgins then became a pastor with the
Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel is an association of evangelical churches, maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs.
Beginning in 1965 in Southern California, this fellowship of churc ...
, leaving a few remnant groups to struggle on. By 1986 none were left. Following a series of court cases relating to taxation, the organization formally disbanded in 1988.
Several individuals remained on the Oregon property as caretakers, but an eventual legal battle with the
IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
over the charitable status of incomes earned by members during the movement's existence ultimately led to the complete dissolution and liquidation of the movement and its assets in 1989.
While membership in the movement was voluntary, it was also communal and required substantial commitment. To join the movement, members were expected to make a commitment to
Jesus 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), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and, in return, their needs would be provided for: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. All members worked together for the support of the ministry, so all wages went into the common fund and were distributed throughout the Houses as needs were addressed.
External links
Shiloh Youth Revival Centers websiteShiloh Memories websiteShiloh Youth Revival Centers website
References
{{Reflist
*Goldman, M. S. Continuity in Collapse – Departures From Shiloh. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1995 Sep; 34(3):342–353.
Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity
Christianity in Oregon
Lane County, Oregon