Jim Jones - Mosque Maryam: Peoples Temple Revival: Ukiah Daily Journal, October 15, 1976

Ukiah Daily Journal, Ukiah, Calif.  Friday, October 15, 1976. Page 10

Temple revival services prove successful  

 

Capacity audiences hear Rev. Jones speak

Rev. Jim Jones, pastor of Peoples Temple, recently embarked on a series of remarkable revival services that have been highly successful and heavily attended.  The tour began with an interfaith meeting that featured ministers of several denominations (including the Nation of Islam, and a representative of the Jewish community) as well as government and civic officials, in Kansas City.

In subsequent meetings held in St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit, capacity audiences heard Rev. Jones stress the importance of humanitarian service.  Referring to examples from the life and teaching of Jesus with regard to care for the people in need, Rev, Jones emphasized the spirit of ecumenical unity as a vehicle for achieving these goals.

The revivals were held in Disciples of Christ, Methodist, and A.M.E. denominational churches.  

In every service, people with problems in the area of drug usage and alcoholism were ministered to, and many of these joined the Peoples Temple, choosing to relocate in California in order to receive more extended help from the rehabilitation outreach of the Temple.  These people boarded the bus caravan that was carrying many hundreds of Temple members traveling with Rev. Jones on this series of meetings, designed to spread the message of Christian human service and interfaith unity.

Rev. Jones has also been calling attention to the need for people of conscious to be concerned about the dangers facing our freedoms, especially freedom of the press.

Rev. Jones will be returning to California after paying a visit to the church’s agricultural mission project in South America, where great quantities of food have been harvested in efforts to help relieve world hunger.  

 

The project has received the plaudits of many government officials there and in the United States, and is demonstrating the kind of dramatic results that can be achieved when people work together with the spirit of service to mankind which, Rev. Jones emphasizes, is “the highest service to God.”

 

Jim Jones - Muhammad Mosque No. 30: Kansas City Times, October 4, 1976

The Kansas City Times. Monday, October 4, 1976.  Page 42

Jubilee Unites Faiths for ‘Human Service’
By Richard A. Serrano a member of the staff.

Jubilee For Unity.  Black and White Christians, Jews and Muslims attended a (Spiritual) Life Jubilee yesterday afternoon at the Muhammad Mosque No. 30, 2715 Swope Parkway, where speakers such as the Rev. Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple Church, urged that God, in whatever form, can best be found in the good works of man to man.  

(Staff photos by William H. Batson)

About 2,000 persons, members of different religions with different view points, joined forces yesterday afternoon for prayer, a barrage of talks and a display of camaraderie.  

The speakers, from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths meeting for the (spiritual) Life Jubilee at Muhammad Mosque No. 30, 2715 Swope Parkway, agreed that in whatever way man envisions God, brotherly love is the way to seek that vision.  

“Human service itself is the highest worship to God,” said the Rev. Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple Church.  In fact, his church, based in San Francisco, is made up of persons- the poor, the rich, minorities- who have different religious beliefs but who seek God in man’s compassion for man.

About 1,200 members of the church arrived in Kansas City yesterday morning for the jubilee, traveling here by bus caravan.  They later are to attend meetings in St. Louis and Detroit before returning to their homes in Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming and California.

As Michael Prokes, a church spokesman, said, many of the church members are lawyers, teachers, and medical workers.  Prokes was a CBS bureau chief who four years ago, while producing a documentary on the church, resigned and joined.  And as another spokesman said, “People must work together, regardless of religion.  This takes preference over anything else, so we all must choose programs to benefit the good of man.”

Mr. Jones echoed those views, calling for better drug reform programs, fewer politicians and more statesmen and defense of the freedom of the press.  

“It’s sad that even after Watergate, the press is not loved,” he said.

Wallace D. Muhammad, chief minister of the Nation of Islam, who was unable to attend the jubilee, told the group in a telephone conversation from Chicago that he was “very, very encouraged” at the meeting of minds in Kansas City yesterday.  

“I can’t help but feel good,” he said.  “We can forget about our religious labors and accept each other as brothers whenever people come together for the common good.”  

His brother, Nathaniel Muhammad, minister of the mosque here, which has about 600 members, said he was delighted at the success of the jubilee and said the mosque had not been so crowded in a long time.   
“Why the life?” he asked the congregation, referring to the title of the jubilee.  “Life is to be alive.  Let us come together and give the body a shot of truth and put it back on the right path.  Let us then wake up this community with the spirit of truth.”

He said he never dreamed this meeting would happen, “especially here in Kansas City.”

Another speaker was the Rev. James Leffingwell, executive director of the Metropolitan Inter-Church Agency, who said, “I’m for a world where liberty and justice for all means liberty and justice for all.”

Lorie Newhouse, executive director of the Religion and Culture United for Peace, said that he hoped that Muhammad(1) “will be treated in all fairness and decency in the days ahead” in his appeal of a drug conviction(2).  Newhouse also introduced his daughters, one an orthodox Jew, and the other a Moslem. 

City Councilman Bruce Watkins, speaking on behalf of the mayor, proclaimed yesterday Life Jubilee Day in Kansas City, saying “I am proud to be part of a city that recognizes all of its people.”  

A dinner was held after the meeting at the Salaam Cuisine Restaurant.  
 

1.  Nathaniel Muhammad - police informant:  https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=1597009&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjU1ODc0NjU1LCJpYXQiOjE2MTA4MTk0NTgsImV4cCI6MTYxMDkwNTg1OH0.u1VBJ3sW1EPZET9OYmA8GMF5V_vh0-Tafq7k7_3ePkM

2.  https://www.nytimes.com/1976/01/25/archives/islamic-leader-sentenced-to-8-years-on-drug-charge.html

Jonestown Massacre: Nation of Islam Joins First Interfaith Rally. L.A. Times. May 24, 1976

 

The Los Angeles Times.  Monday, May 24, 1976. Main Edition.  Page 24.

Nation of Islam Joins First Interfaith Rally

Group Once Known as Black Muslims Convenes in L.A.
BY JOHN DART

Times Religious Writer

The Nation of Islam, once known commonly as the “Black Muslims,” joined Sunday in its first major interfaith rally and heard its reform minded leader refer as much to the Bible as to the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

Wallace D. Muhammad of Chicago, chief minister of the Nation of Islam since his father’s death 15 months ago, spoke to an estimated 18,000 persons, all of whom had to pass through airport-type security checks to enter the Los Angeles Convention Center.  

Muhammad criticized world religious leadership to date for failing to end oppression or archive unity and he noted the traditional Islamic indebtedness to Moses and Jesus as predecessors of Mohammed.

“There is no division in the family of prophets,” he said, “but there is division in us.”

Under Wallace Muhammad’s leadership, whites have been admitted to membership and friendly relations have been established with Arabic Islamic representatives.  Sunday’s “Spiritual Jubilee” marked the sect’s first venture into interfaith cooperation.

Preceding Muhammad on the platform was Rev. Jim Jones, the white founder-minister of Peoples Temple, which claims more than 12,000 members in three California churches.  People Temple cosponsored the programs.

Jones, a Protestant minister, recalled several years ago tension was high between his San Francisco church and a neighboring Nation of Islam temple.

“But under Wallace Muhammad all those things have changed.”  Jones said “Peace has come.”

The People Temple churches, affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), are relatively unorthodox under Jones’ leadership.  The emphasis is on community service and support to worthy secular causes.

Jones says that even atheists and agnostics are welcome to his church as long as they agree with the gospel messages to serve others.

Pointing to the fact that traditional Islam regards Jesus as a prophet, the preacher declared- to the cheers of the audience- “It’s high time Christianity gave honor to Mohammad.”

Representatives of the predominantly Arabic Islamic Foundation of Southern California and the Southern California Council of Churches also extended their congratulations from the platform.  

Some speakers began with an Arabic Islamic greeting of peace, including Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally.  The latter recalled that “it wasn’t safe” to give such a Muslim greeting 14 years ago, recalling the exchange of gunfire by police and Muslims at a Mosque in Los Angeles in 1962.

Greetings were also extended by activist-educator Angela Davis, Mayor Bradley and a young black woman member of the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood who wore white clothing and headgear similar similar to the attire of

Please turn to page 3 col 1.

Jim Jones & Peoples Temple @Muhammad Temple No. 26. 1974

Jonestown Massacre: Nation of Islam - Peoples Temple. Ukiah Daily Journal. April 9, 1976

Ukiah Daily Journal, Ukiah, Calif. Friday, April 9th, 1976. Page 12

Joint worship service for Temple and Islam SAN FRANCISCO - 

A large number of civic and religious leaders gathered at Peoples Temple in San Francisco last weekend and participated in a joint worship service between the leadership of the Nation of Islam and Pastor Jim Jones’ congregation. 

The service represented a breakthrough in relations with the Nation of Islam. They recently became inclusive in their membership and accepting of all races, and now frequently worship with the Peoples Temple. 

San Francisco District Attorney Joseph Freitas, legislators from both State Senate and Assembly, as well as 15 pastors of all different faiths, including the bishop of the nationwide Christian Church denomination, participated in the worship service. 

The Los Angeles extension of Peoples Temple,which Jim Jones also pastors, is participating in joint services with the Nation of Islam mosque in Southern California, where Temple officers met recently with the movement’s national leader and chief minister, Wallace D. Muhammad. 

News of the meeting was kept private until released in the Temple’s newspaper, the Peoples Forum. which is circulated to 600,000 people throughout they bay region and Northern California. 

The paper is designed to report good news that is taking place in America, as well as being a “defense for the defenseless.” 

In recent issues the Forum has had wide ranging articles, including appeals for support in opposing the continued killing of baby seals in Canada. 

The paper also encouraged readers to write the Soviet Union, urging a liberalization of ‘emigration policies to allow free movement of its citizens, including Soviet Jews, to any country they would choose. 

 

 

Also mentioned in the Forum was a call for support of the family of a policeman who died just two and a half months before his retirement, causing the forfeit of a pension that woo;d have gone to his wife and children. 

The Peoples Temple congregation voted in one of its recent services to accept a visit from the consul general of the present Chilean regime. 

The officials request was made in response to a letter from the Peoples Temple thanking the new regime for releasing political prisoners in Chile. 

Rev. Jones told the members and visitors in service, “Though we do not approve of militant regimes, we do believe in freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas, and thus want to allow the opportunity of hearing both sides of the Chilean issue.”

Nation of Islam - Peoples Temple Agricultural Project: San Francisco Examiner Apr 3, 1976

The San Francisco Examiner Sat, Apr 3, 1976. Page 26

Peoples Temple guests include Bishop Irwin Dr. Karl Irwin, Bishop of the Disciples of Christ for Northern California and Nevada, will be among the guests at the 11 a.m. service tomorrow at the Peoples Temple, Disciples of Christ, at 1859 Geary Blvd. Invited guests include Mayor George Mascone

and Indian leader Dennis Banks, 

 

leaders from the Nation of Islam's San Francisco Temple and many community leaders.

The Rev. Jim Jones, pastor, will conduct the service.

Jim Jones and crowd outside Muhammad's Temple Number 26, 1974