By Their Fruits

Three things to establish before going further. (1) Branham's preaching against homosexuality is a matter of unambiguous record: the corpus contains over 20 sermons in which he treats the topic explicitly, always in negative terms, and always in eschatological framing (the "days of Sodom"). (2) He preached this from his own pulpit at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and on his campaign trail. The 1965 Birth Pains sermon above was delivered in the last calendar year of his life. (3) Within Message theology, that preaching has authority — followers regard Branham as a prophet whose recorded teaching is binding. The sermons above are the doctrinal baseline against which the rest of this article documents the record.

The doctrinal claim Branham preached is precise: the same Spirit that allowed Jesus to know Peter's name without being told was, in Branham's telling, operating in his own ministry as the "sign of Branham" — a supernatural discernment that revealed the secrets of men's hearts. Branham staged that gift publicly at thousands of healing meetings, calling out attendees' names, illnesses, family members, hometowns, and hidden sins from the platform. His followers, then and now, regard the gift as the proof of his prophet-status.

The article holds this section in place — not to debate whether the gift was real — but because the next three sections describe what Branham, with that gift, did not publicly discern about the people closest to him.

1. "Leave them alone."

Per Lee Vayle's recorded testimony, when Branham received a vision warning that his core tape-ministry team (Goad and Mercier) were homosexual, his response was not to expose them or remove them from ministry. Vayle reports Branham's instruction was "leave them alone" — they would, per the vision, "leave and go into false doctrine and destroy themselves" in their own time. According to the published research, Branham later advised the men to marry women as a corrective measure rather than disclosing the issue.

2. "The Sex Papers" — public address without names

Per the William Branham Historical Research collection, the issue inside the inner circle eventually became significant enough that Branham was forced to address it generally in public sermons. He did so without naming specific individuals and without referencing the arrests or legal incidents involving members of his inner circle. The W-B.org collection notes that Branham at one point introduced sexual-explicit content for a "mixed crowd" separation — material he reserved "for the men" — and that transcripts of the relevant sermon preserve a [blank spot on tape] marker over the redacted graphic content.

3. Institutional protection

The pattern across the inner circle was consistent: ordinary followers were held to rigid standards (the misogyny article documents the women-must-obey teaching; the race-doctrine article documents the anti-interracial-marriage teaching; this article documents the anti-homosexuality teaching) — while individuals in Branham's operational elite who engaged in the same prohibited conduct were quietly tolerated or shielded from public exposure to preserve the ministry's reputation.

The next four sections document the specific individuals in that elite tier whose names have been publicly recorded in the historical research.

The role Branham gave Mercier and Goad was unusual in its scope. They were not merely friends. He called them his "student ministers," framed them as "missionary boys, studying for missionary," and over time made them the audio-distribution gatekeepers for every recorded sermon. By 1961, he is calling Mercier his "field secretary" — the official organizational role of his entire correspondence and prayer-cloth ministry.

According to Lee Vayle, the man William Branham personally selected to commit his theology to permanent written form (the co-author of the Church Age Book and one of the only ministers Branham trusted to systematize his teaching), both Mercier and Goad were homosexual, and Branham knew it at the time he hired them.

Frary von Blomberg (1903–1976)

Baron William Theobald Frary von Blomberg was a Boston publicity agent who later took the title of an adopted German baron. He served as a leader of the World Fellowship of Religions, a director of International Christian Leadership, a trustee of Bob Jones University, and one of the most significant financial sponsors of Branham's overseas campaigns. Through his connections to The Fellowship Foundation (the network behind the Washington Prayer Breakfast), Full Gospel revivalism, and his self-claimed ties to the German aristocracy, von Blomberg organized and underwrote Branham's international tours and offices. Lee Vayle named him, alongside Mercier and Goad, as homosexual within Branham's immediate orbit.

Paul Cain (1929–2019)

Paul Cain was one of the most prominent figures in the post-Branham healing-revival movement. He was personally part of Branham's "Message" community from at least 1951 until his death in 2019, spreading Branham's Manifested Sons of God theology across the United States and abroad. He was instrumental in the formation of multiple subsequent neo-Pentecostal movements — the Kansas City Prophets, the Vineyard Movement, the British Evangelical Alliance, and the International House of Prayer. He claimed personal ministry to political figures including President Clinton, Saddam Hussein, and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

In 2004, Cain's public ministry was suspended after his fellow charismatic leaders Jack Deere, Mike Bickle, and Rick Joyner issued a joint statement disclosing his long-standing alcoholism and homosexual conduct. Cain later issued a public statement acknowledging both. He is the most widely-publicized example of a man trained directly by Branham, propagating Branham's doctrines on a global scale, whose private life was eventually disclosed as contradicting the moral framework he preached.

Roger Rudin (Phoenix, Arizona)

Roger Rudin was a Branham-Message minister based in Phoenix who exploited Branham's end-time prophecies to drive doomsday migration and authoritarian control within his congregation. According to the William Branham Historical Research collection, Rudin "was a homosexual man, well known in the gay community," and his followers' tithes "quietly funded Rudin's gay bar."

Per the published research at william-branham.org, two photographs in particular have been preserved and discussed within the Message community:

• Holding hands with Pastor Willard Collins — the photograph above. A widely-circulated image, described in the W-B.org research as Branham holding hands with Pastor Willard Collins "in an overtly affectionate posture during an outdoor setting."
• A second holding-hands / close-affection photograph — published by William Branham Historical Research as the hero image of its dedicated "Holding Hands" research article. Reproduced below.
• Reclining against Wallace McAnally's crotch — a separate photograph depicting Branham "reclining against the crotch of Wallace McAnally while resting on the ground during a trip together." This photograph is referenced in the W-B.org text but does not appear to be publicly displayed on any William Branham Historical Research article page I have located. A separate W-B.org photograph identifying Wallace McAnally on a trip with Branham and another associate is reproduced below — that photograph is not the reclining one described in the text.

The article notes the same point the William Branham Historical Research collection makes: physical affection between men, in itself, does not imply sexual conduct. The reason the photographs are noted is that Branham repeatedly and explicitly preached the principle of avoiding even the "appearance of evil" — citing scriptural injunctions against any visual conduct that could create the perception of moral compromise. The photographs depict postures that, by Branham's own preached standard, would be flagged as compromising for any other man under the same scrutiny.

Branham's June 14, 1964 sermon above is his own on-tape acknowledgement of personal visits to The Park — Leo Mercier's "trailer court" in Prescott, Arizona. He praises the Park and the salvation of "twenty-eight of her family" there, including reference to a Loker family member he prayed for. (The Loker name will recur in the documented Park history.)

Within a few years of Branham's death in December 1965, the Park became infamous for documented systematic child abuse under Leo Mercier's leadership. The summary below is sourced to the survivors' published accounts and the journalistic and judicial records:

• Children were physically beaten by Mercier and the elders, some bleeding through their underwear; stripped naked and forced to march around the compound; some mutilated.
• Children were sexually abused. The California Supreme Court record cites evidence of sexual molestation at the Park.
• Sand was forced into children's rectums as part of the discipline regime.
• Leo Mercier was charged and found guilty of sexual assault.
• The Park ended in a killing spree by one of its members, Keith Loker — the same Loker family Branham referenced from the platform in 1964.

1. Golden Dawn Tabernacle / Tabernáculo Emanuel — Tucson, Arizona (2012 / 2024–2026)

The Arizona Daily Star and Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism team began publishing on the Tucson Branham-Message church Golden Dawn Tabernacle (formal name Tabernáculo Emanuel) in November 2024. The reporting, led by Emily Hamer and Tim Steller, has produced an ongoing series. The case has expanded substantially. As of the most recent reporting:

Three named child-abuse victims have come forward

• Philip — the original victim named in the November 2024 report. Philip, identified by first name only, stated that Jose Mora (at the time approximately 45, now 58) penetrated him with his fingers and forced oral-to-genital contact when Philip was 11 years old. Mora admitted in interview with the Star that he touched Philip's buttocks and genital area, but denied penetration or oral contact.
• Jonathan Santos (came forward June 2025) — public-named accuser, 23 at the time of disclosure. Santos alleged that Mora sexually abused him between the ages of 7 and 9, around 2009. Santos said Mora groped his buttocks and genitals, and then used his fingers to penetrate him.
• Marcello (came forward September 2025, first name only) — the third named accuser. Marcello told the Star that Mora molested him hundreds of times in the church pews as Pastor Noriega preached, hiding the abuse with his blazer. Abuse began in 1999 when Marcello was 11 and Mora was 35, and continued for more than three years. In 2002, Marcello alleges, Mora raped him at another congregant's home when the two were left alone.

Mora's criminal charges

Mora has been incarcerated at the Pima County Jail since April 2025 on a $300,000 bond.

• April 2025 — Mora was indicted on five counts of child molestation and three counts of sexual conduct with a minor in connection with the abuse of Philip and Santos. He already faced life in prison on those charges alone.
• February 2026 — Mora was indicted on two additional felony counts: continuous sexual abuse of a child, and sexual conduct with a minor under 15. Initial appearance February 24, 2026. The new indictment alleges abuse from 1999 to 2002 and a 2002 incident in which Mora "forced his penis into the victim's anus." The new charges track Marcello's allegations.
• Mora now faces 10 felony counts in total.

Mora's recorded admissions to the Arizona Daily Star

In a September 16, 2024 interview with Arizona Daily Star reporters — released as a companion audio piece on November 22, 2024 — Mora initially denied any abuse and then acknowledged repeated physical contact with Philip. The recorded admissions include:

• Mora described Philip, who was 11 at the time, as having "provoked" him.
• Mora admitted he and Philip touched each other's genitals and buttocks. He denied penetration.
• Mora acknowledged "maybe 4" incidents at his own house.
• Mora confirmed a shower incident involving hugging and kissing.
• Mora declined to answer when asked whether he had penetrated other children.
• Mora stated that he himself was sexually abused as a child in Mexico, around age 10.

Other young male members of the church reported a pattern of behavior consistent with grooming: Luis Santos (named in the reporting) warned the Star that Mora had purchased "birthday gift" underwear for his younger brother. Other youths described unwanted cheek kisses and leg-rubbing during services.

Pastor Isaac Noriega — arrested and indicted

Pastor Isaac Noriega, 83, was arrested and charged in June 2025 with two counts of failure to report abuse or neglect of a minor. Under Arizona law, clergy are mandatory reporters; failure to report child molestation is a felony.

• One count stems from Noriega's failure to report Philip's allegations. Per the Arizona Daily Star, Noriega advised Mora to "be careful" and suggested he speak with Philip's father. Mora's confession to Noriega was treated as confidential pastoral counsel rather than reported to police, in violation of Arizona's mandatory reporting law.
• The other count is for ignoring a teenage girl's disclosure that she was raped at age 7 by a teenage member of the Golden Dawn community.
• Noriega's attorney has argued he is incompetent to stand trial due to dementia. Court records describe him as having "late phase mild stage dementia, currently progressing into moderate stage dementia." One court-appointed doctor found him incompetent but restorable; a second found him incompetent and unrestorable. A January 26, 2026 judicial order requires Noriega to undergo a neuropsychological evaluation. Next hearing: April 27, 2026.
• Former members have publicly stated the dementia defense is being used to avoid accountability. John Calvo, a former Golden Dawn member who has been publishing research on the church for more than two years, has filed motions accusing the church of being a toxic environment and challenging Noriega's claimed health issues. Calvo notes that Noriega continues to preside over the church, preaching for hours, multiple times a week.

Twenty former congregants call it a cult

Per the Arizona Daily Star's reporting, twenty former congregants have publicly accused Golden Dawn Tabernacle / Tabernáculo Emanuel of being a cult. The allegations include: the church controls congregants' finances; it tears families apart by excommunicating former members; and it endangers children by ignoring abuse. Noriega denies the allegations. Marcello, the third victim, has stated that "this cultish environment" — including the fear of being publicly humiliated by Noriega from the pulpit — kept him silent about the abuse for years.

The Arizona Daily Star explicitly identifies Golden Dawn as part of "The Message" — the Branham-prophet movement. The investigation is ongoing.

2. Paul Cain — the global charismatic-movement carrier (1951–2019)

Paul Cain (1929–2019) joined William Branham's inner circle by 1951 and remained within it until his death. Branham personally mentored Cain and, per the published research, sent Cain to international revival meetings where Branham himself had been formally banned. Cain spent the next five decades carrying Branham's Manifested Sons of God theology into the global Pentecostal and charismatic mainstream — the Kansas City Prophets, the Vineyard Movement, the British Evangelical Alliance, and the International House of Prayer. He claimed personal ministry to President Clinton, Saddam Hussein, and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

In October 2004, after years of warnings, three of Cain's senior charismatic-movement peers — Jack Deere, Mike Bickle, and Rick Joyner — issued a joint statement publicly disclosing Cain's long-term homosexual conduct and alcoholism. Cain subsequently issued his own statement acknowledging both. The relevance to this article: Cain was the most globally-influential figure to carry Branham's authoritarian-prophetic framework into mainstream evangelicalism while concealing private conduct that violated the moral standard the framework enforced on ordinary followers.

3. Colonia Dignidad — Chile (1961–2005)

Paul Schäfer (1921–2010) was recruited into Branham's "Message" orbit during Branham's 1955 evangelistic tours of Germany — the same tours sponsored by Baron Frary von Blomberg, who appears in Section 5 of this article. Per Wikipedia's referenced biographical entry on Schäfer, "Schäfer led his followers in the teachings of William Branham."

In 1961, Schäfer fled Germany ahead of warrants for child molestation and relocated his followers to a rural compound in Chile that became known as Colonia Dignidad. Inside the colony, Schäfer enforced Branham-derived doctrines — absolute spiritual elitism, female submission, total obedience to the prophetic leader — to dominate his followers, separate families, and force children into labor.

The downstream record (per Wikipedia, Reuters, and the Chilean court of record):

• Schäfer maintained an active relationship with the Pinochet military dictatorship (1973–1990). Colonia Dignidad served as a clandestine torture and execution site for political dissidents during that period.
• Schäfer was implicated in weapons smuggling, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
• Schäfer was arrested in Argentina in March 2005 after years on the run.
• On May 24, 2006, Schäfer was sentenced in Chile to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing 25 children. He was ordered to pay 770 million pesos (approximately US$1.5 million) to 11 minors whose representatives had filed claims against him. He was convicted of 20 counts of dishonest abuse.
• Schäfer died in prison in 2010.

According to a Reuters wire investigation by Stephen Brown and Oliver Ellrodt (May 9, 2012): "Schäfer followed the teachings of American preacher William M. Branham, one of the founders of the faith healing movement in the 1940s and 50s." The Wikipedia article on Schäfer makes the same attribution in its own voice, with citation to the historical record. Colonia Dignidad is categorized on Wikipedia under "Branhamism."

4. Jim Jones — People's Temple / Jonestown (1955 / 1978)

The Branham–Jones connection is on the documentary record. The Branham campaign's field secretaries Mercier and Goad were first introduced from the platform as "tape boys" during a joint revival with Jim Jones at the Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis in June 1956. The pastor and theologian who connected Branham to Jones — Joseph Mattson-Boze of the Philadelphia Church in Chicago — also defended Branham during the Latter Rain controversy. From 1956 onward, Jones hosted Branham campaigns in multiple states, riding the Branham movement's reach to build his own audience.

The downstream record is the most-documented mass-religious death in modern American history. On November 18, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana, 909 members of the People's Temple died — 304 of them children — in a forced mass suicide by cyanide-laced Flavor-Aid, accompanied by the assassination of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and four others at the airstrip earlier that day. Per the published research at jonestown.sdsu.edu (San Diego State University's Jonestown research archive, where John Collins's co-authored research with Peter M. Duyzer is hosted), Jones's theological and organizational framework drew explicitly from Branham's 1950s healing-revival ministry, including the "vindicated prophet" and authoritarian-spiritual-elite framing that Schäfer would also adopt.

5. Ewald Frank and the Krefeld receiving network (1955–2024)

Ewald Frank (1933–2024) attended Branham's 1955 German demonstrations in Karlsruhe and afterwards founded a Branham-following circle in Krefeld, Germany. On New Year's Eve 1959 he formally established the Freie Volksmission (Free People's Mission). Frank spent the rest of his life — sixty-five years — translating, distributing, and propagating William Branham's sermons across Europe and globally, building one of the largest international Branham-Message networks outside the United States. Per Wikipedia's biographical record, Frank lived from 1956 to 1959 in the United States and Canada to absorb Branham's teaching directly before returning to Germany.

Per the published historical research, following Schäfer's arrest and the collapse of Colonia Dignidad, Frank's Krefeld-based network absorbed members of the colony into its own sectarian framework. The research notes that this represented a continuation of the same Branham-doctrinal authority structure under different institutional leadership, with limited public accountability for the receiving network's role.

Branham preached this passage many times. He used it as the test for distinguishing true ministry from false. Applied to his own ministry, the documentary record stands as follows:

• He preached against homosexuality from his own pulpit — repeatedly, until the last year of his life.
• He claimed a supernatural gift to read the secrets of men's hearts.
• Two men he personally hired and named publicly as his closest associates — Leo Mercier and Gene Goad — were homosexual, according to Branham's own closest theological successor (Lee Vayle, on tape). Branham elevated them to "field secretary" and tape-distribution roles. He referred to them on tape as "student ministers."
• One of those two men, Leo Mercier, was appointed to lead a Branham-Message commune in Prescott, Arizona. He was later charged and convicted of sexual assault. The Park's documented abuse record is the subject of a published memoir, two long-form podcast interviews with the author, and a California Supreme Court citation.
• Branham personally visited and praised the Park from the platform in June 1964 — eighteen months before his death.
• The Branham movement, in 2025–2026, has an ongoing documented case at Golden Dawn Tabernacle / Tabernáculo Emanuel (Tucson): congregant Jose Mora is in jail on 10 felony counts of child sexual abuse, with three named young-male victims; pastor Isaac Noriega has been arrested and charged on two counts of failing to report — a felony under Arizona law — and is defending against the charges with a dementia-based incompetency claim. Twenty former congregants have publicly identified the church as a cult.
• The most notorious documented Branham-doctrine-derived community of the twentieth century — Colonia Dignidad in Chile — produced a court-confirmed twenty-year sentence for the sexual abuse of children, against the founder who, per Reuters, "followed the teachings of American preacher William M. Branham."

The article presents that record without verdict. The reader applies Branham's own test.