There are several Davidian churches, most of them rather small. The Branch Davidians may be better known, but they are not the largest.
The Davidians began as an off-shoot of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which resulted from the teaching of Victor Houteff.
Born in Bulgaria, Houteff was raised in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. He emigrated to the US in 1907, and joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1919. He began teaching a Sabbath School class that deviated from the lesson quarterly.
His teaching gained interest, and other students began migrating from other classes to join his. Eventually, his classroom was filled and people were standing in the hallway and listening in from the windows.
Church leaders banned him from teaching, but he continued teaching in a building across from the church. Next, he was disfellowshipped from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and members attempted to having him deported from the country.
In an attempt to reach the larger leadership of the SDA, he wrote the Shepherd's Rod, which called for worldwide denominational reform, distributing copies to church leaders at the 1930 General Conference. Only two recipients responded, one of them only to advise him to give up his ideas.
Despite having been disfellowshipped, Houteff was opposed to founding a new movement. Various Houteff study groups continued to meet in SDA churches across the country, and many of those who accepted his teachings were disfellowshipped, and eventually removed physically from SDA worship services.
Some SDA church leaders were responsive to the message, however. The Carolina Conference President E.T. Wilson embraced his views, and became Vice President of the Shepherd's Rod in 1934. In 1934, a formal hearing was called to examine Houteff's teachings. However, a clandestine meeting of the highest ecclesiastical body of the church met the same day to declare his teaching to be heresy, and the hearing was abruptly adjourned.
In 1934, the first association was established as the General Association of Shepherd's Rod Seventh-day Adventists. The following year, its headquarters was moved from California to a location outside of Waco, Texas, where the new church had purchased 189 acres. Its headquarters was known as Mount Carmel Center, while the association's name was changed to Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association in 1942. Houteff was in control of the organization until his death in 1955.
During Houteff's tenure, several thousand Adventists accepted the doctrine of the Shepherd's Rod. One of these was a man named Benjamin Roden. A teacher, by profession, Roden joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kilgore, Texas in 1940. In 1946, he became a follower of the Shepherd's Rod, and resided at Mount Carmel Center for a short time in 1953.
Houteff's death in 1955 was sudden and unexpected, which allowed for a power struggle. His widow, Florence Houteff, the Association's Secretary, moved to eject E.T. Wilson, who had been appointed Vice President in 1934, and would become President by default. In Wilson's absence, she persuaded the Executive Council to appoint her Vice President and to remove Wilson.
Houteff published a prediction that the 42-month period referred to in Revelation 11:3-6 would begin in November of 1955 and end on April 22, 1959. She attributed the prediction to her husband but could not produce evidence of it. This later proved to be an embarrassment.
A few months later, Roden claimed to have received a revelation from God that he should be appointed the leader of the Shepherd's Rod. When his claims were rebuffed, he founded the Branch Davidian, which differed from the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists in several areas.
He opposed Houteff's 42-month prediction, for one thing, and when the predicted dates came and went, many discouraged Davidian Seventh-day Adventists joined Roden's church.
Roden also differed on teachings regarding the nature of the Holy Spirit, and the requirements for feast days.
David Koresh was a member and leader of the Shepherd's Rod, and joined the breakaway Branch Davidians. However, he competed for dominance of the Branch Davidians until Roden’s son, George Roden, was jailed for murdering another rival, for which he was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
By that point, there were several rival factions, but Koresh went on to lead the Branch Davidian faction that was attacked by the BATF in the infamous 1993 raid that led to the fiery death of Koresh and seventy-nine others.
This category and its subcategories will house sites related to any of the Davidian groups, including some that have not been mentioned here. Factions with five or more websites may be listed in subcategories while the others will be placed directly beneath this category.
Recommended Resources
Carol Moore: The Davidian Massacre Pages
The complete text of the 500-plus page book written by Carol Moore, entitled The Davidian Massacre, may be viewed here, or the book itself may be ordered in paperback format. The entire book may be read from start to finish, or shorter synopses may be viewed, such as an overview of the events, updates on the events, miscellaneous articles and documents, photographs and graphics, or a list of victims of the BATF raid on Mount Carmel.
http://www.carolmoore.net/waco/
The Christian Research Institute publishes a synopsis of the group of Branch Davidians who were the targets of a 1993 raid by the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the US Treasury Department, east of Waco, Texas. An outline of the event is presented, along with a profile of the Branch Davidian sect that was under the leadership of Vernon Howell (David Koresh), as well as their doctrinal beliefs.
http://www.equip.org/article/the-branch-davidians/
Davidian Seventh Day Adventist 11th Hour Publishing Association
The publishing arm of the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists publishes Bible lessons and other materials that represent the teachings of the church, including historical documents of the church, and other manuscripts, as well as sponsoring public speaking engagements, one-on-one Christian counseling services. Charts illustrating the importance of various feasts for Christians today are included.
http://www.dsdapublishing.com/
An official website of the General Association of Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, the site offers a library of textual articles related to the doctrine, practices, and teachings of the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, as well as an audio archive of tracts, greetings, and other messages, videos, and other topics, such as tracts, lesson plans, correspondence, and other materials. A blog is available, along with contacts and information about contributing to the church.
http://www.davidiantoday.org/
Written by Lexie D'Amico and Jeanne Stone, the site focuses on the faction of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists who followed Vernon Howell (David Koresh), telling the story of his leadership, a brief history of the Branch Davidians, its teachings and beliefs, including the differences in the teachings of the church under Victor Houteff, Benjamin Roden, and Vernon Howell, the April, 1993 siege of Mount Carmel by the BATF, and a bibliography.
https://deathofdavidian.weebly.com/
General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists
Claiming to represent the portion of the church that chose not to follow David Koresh, answers to commonly asked questions are provided, along with the writings of Ellen G. White, Victor T. Houteff, Benjamin Roden, Lois Roden, E.J. Waggoner, and Alonzao T. Jones, as well as organizational charts, testimonials, several Bible studies, and other publications. Announcements and contacts are included.
http://www.the-branch.org/
Intended as a message to all Davidians, the site admonishes and encourages all Davidians to return to the original message of The Shepherd's Rod, as written by its founder, Victor Houteff. The Shepherd's Rod Series is discussed and used as a guide to God's true government, and the various prophecies as taught by Howell and other church leaders. A brief history of the church's headquarters is included, and other subjects intended to bring splintered Davidians and Davidian groups together.
http://www.hearyetherod.org/
PBS Frontline: Waco: The Inside Story
The October 17, 1995 documentary on the BATF siege of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist compound at Mount Carmel, near Waco, in the spring of 1993, may be viewed here, along with a chronology of the siege, answers to frequently asked questions about the tragic event, and ten things you may not know about Waco. Other resources include audiotapes, a section on who's who at Waco, readings, photographs, and viewer reactions.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/waco/
Audio readings of the Shepherd's Rod book, volumes one and two, as well as several other Davidian Seventh-day Adventist publications are featured here, including the Golden Bowl Studies, the Entering Wedge, Answerer Books, Jezreel Letters, the Symbolic Codes, Timely Greetings, miscellaneous Shepherd's Rod documents, hymns, praises, and other works. Contributions are solicited.
https://www.shepherdsrodaudio.com/
Texas Observer: The Standoff in Waco
Written on April 18, 2013, the article looks back twenty years at the 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound east of Waco in the spring of 1993, and the tragedy that followed. The story itself is told, and the article also reflects on the effects of the BATF raid on some of the survivors, as well as their current opinions and reflections over their involvement with the group led by David Koresh, particularly Clive Doyle, an Australian who survived with severe burns.
https://www.texasobserver.org/the-standoff-in-waco/
Provided by the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, at New Mount Carmel, near Waco, Texas, the site offers the history of the Branch Davidian Church, before and after the leadership of David Koresh, as well as its current status and plans for the future, with representations of the various people who have claimed leadership position over the church over the years. The theology and practices of the church are related in detail.
http://www.2branches.info/
The General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists
Laying claim as the original Branch Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists, unrelated to the body of the same name created by Vernon Howell (David Koresh) in 1983, the church names a heritage through Victor Houteff, Benjamin Roden, Lois Roden, Doug Mitchell, and Trent Wilde, it site answers questions about its doctrine and practices, along with video, audio, photographs, and several publications.
http://www.bdsda.com/
The Shepherd's Rod Message to the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Available in English and Spanish, the site offers the text of The Shepherd's Rod, written by Victor Houteff, and originally addressed to the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which led to the formation of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church. The text is also available in audio format. Other writings of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church are also available, along with links to other Davidian websites and online resources.
http://www.davidiansda.org/
Addressed to all Seventh-day Adventists, the site advocates for a hearing of the original message that was brought to the Seventh-day Adventist church by the late Victor T. Houteff from 1930 to 1954, not that of the number of splinter groups that have arisen since the death of Houteff. Representing those who follow Houteff's teaching, the site's message is that of Victor Houteff, which was to suggest reforms to the Seventh-day Adventist church.
http://www.shepherds-rod-speaks.org/
Waco Tribune-Herald: The Branch Davidian Story
The coverage of the Branch Davidian sect, and of the raid of their church and residential facilities at Mount Carmel, east of Waco, Texas, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in February of 1993 is available here. Archives of its newspaper reports and video of the events are included, including all fifty-one days of coverage, special additions, trial news, and subsequent follow-ups on the story,
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/branch_davidians/
