the eyes with a sledge hammer, that Miss Velma succeeds in getting their attention. One night in par ticular (‘Miss Velma descending 40 feet from the ceiling in a Gold Cage and speaking from a Gold Cage’) she held the packed auditorium spellbound, when, after a blackout, a spotlight hit her up near the ceil ing and she began to be lowered slowly to the ground, roaring her sermon into a concealed micro phone. . . .Once seated, the con gregation watched expectantly as Miss Velma appeared with a cha licelike receptacle held close to her bosom which contained the Oil of Youth. . . . The congregation filed down to have the healing cross marked on their foreheads.” Even the communion service has a show business touch. Mr. Bishop describes it: “ They [the Jaggers] move briskly along, satisfying the public need for live entertainment with a little healing on the side. Velma Mary Lee has lately begun to transubstantiate bread and wine every three months. The World Church elders sit white-robed, each with a jeweled crown before him, in a semi-circle on the stage. There are large piles of bread loaves and flagons of wine ringed around them as Miss Velma performs the bene diction and b ring s abou t The Change. All present then partake (with the offering box overflowing in the face of this physical addition to the heavenly bounty) and at clos ing, Rev. 0. L. Jaggers picks a tune on his guitar and personally serenades the crowd as it files, up lifted, through the doors.” Repeated requests to this Church for a doctrinal statement have been ignored but this is not surprising. It is such a mockery of the Gospel that it can only lead men and wom en into spiritual darkness. It is a pity that such energy could not be invested in the proclamation of our wonderful Saviour who can “ heal the sin-sick soul” who comes to Him and believes in His death and resurrection. *From FAITH HEALING: GOD OR FRAUD? by George Bishop. Used by permission of Sherboume Press, Los Angeles, California 90035. 21
Cults’ Critique W m Ë The Cult in a Cage of Gold i £ by Betty Brueehert a
S ensationalism, appearances in court on various charges, in novations in a myriad of religious symbols and forms of worship bor rowed from many sources, and an unusual ability in accumulating of ferings for the work, have char acterized the 0. L. Jaggers cult. His second marriage added a new dimension. Some of the goings-on of this organization are described graphically in a book by George Bishop, entitled “ Faith Healing — God or Fraud?’’* from which the following is quoted: "From the first night (news paper ad: ‘Revelations of 0. L. Jaggers, Divine Healing Line Every Night’ that the Jaggers p itched their tent on the south side of Los Angeles, the California crowds took to the good-looking evangelist who tempered the threat of God’s wrath descending upon the heads of the sinful by sitting down and singing them a little song. They anted up for the healings and for the sing ing as well, so much so that 0. L. soon got himself a genuine Church SEPTEMBER, 1970
and auditorium, paid for with the offerings of the faithful; it was dedicated as The World Church and guaranteed regular healing ses sions under a permanent roof.” As for the contribution of Mrs. Jaggers, Mr. Bishop states: “ Confronted with an initial re luctance to be accepted over her husband, the stocky, aggressive blonde, Velma Mary Lee, as she later billed herself, soon caught on with the congregation. . . . Miss Velma donned white, flowing priest ly vestments and began preaching in front of a Romanesque altar. Candles burned through dark-red glass . . . and a holy Oil of Youth was administered by Miss Velma's thumb to the forehead of the faith ful in the form of a cross. The flashy gave way to the baroque and then to the bizarre and even a hardened habitue attending one of the contemporary World Church ministries would find it difficult to believe it’s for real. . . . There is no doubt, as the man said when he hit the recalcitrant mule between
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