David Moseley used to believe in The Message, the faith founded on the teachings and sermons of the late Rev. William Branham.
Rev. William Branham
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The interior of the Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft that Message believers bought for their prophet, William Branham, to fly around the world. The plane was also once used to fly former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson across the nation. Photo taken during a tour of the plane at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. Here, the plane is pictured at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Joseph Branham
William Branham pictured by his car in Tucson, Arizona in 1964.
Jeremy Evans, spokesperson for Voice of God Recordings, shows one of the recording studios in the nonprofit’s office and production facility Jan. 15, 2024, in Jeffersonville, Ind. Voice of God Recordings’ mission as a nonprofit is to distribute William Branham’s more than 1,200 recorded sermons around the world. The nonprofit has translated some of the sermons into 70 different languages and is working on translating all of them into both written form and new recordings with interpreters.
Voice of God Recordings at 5911 Charlestown Pike in Jeffersonville, Ind. is pictured Jan. 15, 2024. The nonprofit’s goal is to distribute the sermons of the late Rev. William Branham around the world. Its facility has a lobby area, multiple office spaces, recording studios, a kitchen area, a lounge space, a small chapel, multiple warehouses, a packaging center and a production facility that creates computer tablets with Branham’s sermons. Branham, a ‘50s-era healing revivalist believed to be a prophet, died in 1965 but has millions of followers to this day.
Worker Christopher Wenger, 28, prepares and packages online orders for booklets containing sermons of the late Rev. William Branham at Voice of God Recordings’ production facility Jan. 15, 2024, in Jeffersonville, Ind. Branham, a ‘50s-era healing revivalist who was believed to be a prophet, died in 1965 but has millions of followers to this day. Voice of God Recordings’ mission is to spread Branham’s sermons worldwide. The nonprofit used to do that primarily through the distribution of books, but changed to mp3 players and then to tablets, which are its focus today.
A pulpit that the Rev. William Branham preached from in the ‘50s is preserved in the lobby of Voice of God Recordings in Jeffersonville, Ind. on Jan. 15, 2024. Voice of God Recordings is a nonprofit that distributes Branham's recorded and written sermons around the world. Branham died in 1965. Millions of people around the world still follow his teachings to this day and believe he was a prophet.
Jeremy Evans, spokesperson for Voice of God Recordings, describes the boxes of computer tablets stacked in a warehouse at the nonprofit’s production facility Jan. 15, 2024, in Jeffersonville, Ind. The tablets, which the nonprofit created in-house, contain the Bible and William Branham's sermons translated into the language of the recipient. They'll be shipped worldwide.
Worker Christopher Wenger, 28, prepares and packages online orders for booklets containing sermons of the late Rev. William Branham at Voice of God Recordings’ production facility Jan. 15, 2024, in Jeffersonville, Ind. Voice of God Recordings’ mission is to spread Branham’s sermons worldwide. The nonprofit used to do that primarily through the distribution of books, but changed to mp3 players and then to tablets, which are its focus today.
Technician Ben Jones, 33, tests several “Agapao” tablets before packaging them for international shipping at the Voice of God Recordings production facility in Jeffersonville, Ind. on Jan. 15, 2024. Produced entirely in-house, the tablets contain the Bible, all sermons of the late Rev. William Branham, children’s games and other resources — all translated into the language of the recipient.
Bergen
John Collins, an ex-Message member and researcher who has written several books about the late Rev. William Branham, adjusts microfilm in the Jeffersonville Township Public Library on Jan. 13, 2024. Collins has spent countless hours researching in the library, including at one point examining every local newspaper published over a several-month period surrounding June 1933. Collins found no newspaper record substantiating Branham’s claim that he baptized 500 people in the Ohio River in front of a crowd of 10,000 as a “mystic light” appeared overhead.
The Municipal Bridge is pictured in Jeffersonville, Ind. on Jan. 15, 2024. The late Rev. William Branham, who was believed to be a prophet, had a vision about 16 workers falling and drowning during the construction of the bridge. Branham’s followers believe the prophecy, though they acknowledge a lack of historical records to substantiate Branham’s claims. Ex-Branham followers tried to prove the 16 deaths happened but found no evidence after a review of local newspapers, engineering records and Coast Guard logs. The group found only two deaths during the construction of the bridge, both from blunt-force injuries, not drownings. The bridge was completed in 1929, years before the day Branham predicted the worker deaths would occur.
Saucedo
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. The plane was also once used by former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Here, the plane is pictured at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. The plane was also once used by former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Here, the plane is pictured at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. The plane was also once used by former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Here, the plane is pictured at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. Here, the plane's interior is pictured during a tour at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. Here, the plane's interior is pictured during a tour at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. Here, the plane's interior is pictured during a tour at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas plane to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. Here, the plane's tail number, N777EA, is seen on the plane at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
Message believers bought this Douglas DC-7 Seven Seas aircraft to fly their prophet, William Branham, around the world. The plane was also once used by former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Here, the plane is pictured at the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport in November 2012.
A lounge area at Voice of God Recordings’ office and production facility Jan. 15, 2024, in Jeffersonville, Ind. The lounge is often used as a space for youth groups to gather.
Technician Ben Jones, 33, inserts SD cards for several “Agapao” tablets before packaging them for international shipping at the Voice of God Recordings production facility in Jeffersonville, Ind. on Jan. 15, 2024. Produced entirely in-house, the tablets contain the Bible, all sermons of the late Rev. William Branham, children’s games and other resources — all translated into the language of the recipient. “It's their own computer that we send across the world free of charge,” says Jeremy Evans, spokesperson for Voice of God Recordings.
William Branham memorabilia on display at the nonprofit Voice of God Recordings in Jeffersonville, Ind. Jan. 15, 2024. Branham loved the outdoors and hunting. The nonprofit’s spokesperson Jeremy Evans is seen in the reflection. Voice of God Recordings distributes written and recorded sermons of Branham worldwide.
Researcher and ex-Message member John Collins walks across the Ohio River Jan. 13, 2024 on the Big Four Bridge, which connects Louisville, Ky., to Jeffersonville, Ind. Branham claimed he prophesized that 16 men would fall and drown during the construction of a different bridge nearby, the Municipal Bridge. Message believers say they trust Branham’s vision, even though Collins and other researchers have found no newspaper, engineering or Coast Guard records of the 16 drownings. Collins said Branham may have confused his bridges. This bridge, the Big Four Bridge, had 37 deaths during its construction, including 21 men who fell to their deaths and drowned during an 1893 bridge collapse.
Contact reporter Emily Hamer at emily.hamer@lee.net or 262-844-4151. On Twitter: @ehamer7
Contact columnist Tim Steller at tsteller@tucson.com or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @timothysteller
