Religion of Fear: The True Story of the Church of God of the Union Assembly by David Cady (review)

Drawing on interviews with numerous current and former members of the Church of God of the Union Assembly, novelist David Cady exposes the schemes the religious group used to exploit and control its members for nearly a century. Logically arranged into three parts, the book centers on Pratt family leaders who served as moderators or general overseers of the church.

Charlie Thomas “C. T.” Pratt founded the church shortly after being expelled in 1917 from the holiness Church of God of the Mountain Assembly for preaching amillennialism, the belief that the millennial reign of God had started and the prophecies in Revelation had been fulfilled. Despite being illiterate, he used wit, charisma, and showmanship to build a strong following among numerous uneducated persons from the lower social strata. He preached that only followers of the Union Assembly would survive the second coming of Christ. Contending that disobedient members risked experiencing eternal damnation, he used fear to cajole members to give excessively to the church, including the money they needed to pay for living expenses.

During his tenure as leader of the church, Jesse Pratt Sr., C. T. Pratt’s fourth son, continued his father’s practice of encouraging members to give nonsensical portions of their income to the church, which was equivalent to giving money to the Pratt family. He threatened disobedient members that God would punish them by inflicting them with a disease. Unlike his father, Jesse Pratt Sr. ruled the church like a dictator, forcing members to confess their sins to him at the altar via a “‘confession train’” (p. 123). He physically reprimanded persons who challenged his authority by grabbing them by the head and shaking them forcefully. Besides abusing members of his church, Jesse Pratt Sr. also battered his wife, Irene. Cady intimates that Irene was probably culpable or complicit in his murder, though the police accepted her story that her husband died of a heart attack.

Almost immediately after her husband’s death, Irene ensured that her son Jesse Pratt Jr. emerged as the new leader of the church because she believed she could control him. As general overseer, Jesse Pratt Jr. “creat[ed] higher levels of terror” and continued the tyranny of his father, including but not limited to physically rebuking members (p. 182). Addicted to drugs, Jesse Pratt Jr. mismanaged the church’s finances and caused the church to fall into severe debt. Ultimately, the Supreme Council defrocked him and elected his younger brother Charlie Thomas Pratt III as general overseer. Charlie managed to get the church afloat and disdained the fear tactics of his brother.

Cady suggests that the Church of God of the Union Assembly was a religious cult. Yet he does not distinguish the cult from the holiness-Pentecostal tradition. He shows that the Pratts embraced traditional holiness-Pentecostal theology, such as beliefs in divine healing, sanctification, glossolalia, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. However, he might have given more attention to how the church deviates from the tradition as well. The religion of fear promulgated by the Pratts diverges from the Pentecostal message of love advanced by William J. Seymour, one of the pillars of Pentecostalism.

Additionally, many statements in the various chapters of the book seem redundant. However, this repetitiveness is necessary and helps indicate how the Pratt leaders employed similar coercive methods to exert control over parishioners. The numerous former members Cady interviewed reveal a recurring pattern of oppression and manipulation. Overall, Cady masterfully exposes the malicious ploys of leaders in the Church of God of the Union Assembly. This book may help elevate readers’ awareness and suspicion of church leaders who use fear to manipulate their members today.