The Alamo Christian Foundation was an American

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

which was founded in 1969 by Tony Alamo and his wife, Susan Alamo. Susan Alamo died in April 1982. After years of legal troubles during which he engaged in abusive behavior against his followers, Tony Alamo was convicted of 10

child rape Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

offenses in 2009. He received a maximum sentence of 175 years and was imprisoned until his death in May 2017.

Founders

Tony Alamo (September 20, 1934 – May 2, 2017) was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

. At the age of nine years old he was abandoned at the Father Flanagan Boys Town where he claimed to have been abused for his Jewish ancestry. He grew up there and he also went to local schools but later, he migrated to the West Coast where he adopted Christianity as his faith. By the 1960s, he had settled in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, where he performed as a pop singer under the names Mark Hoffman and Marcus Abad. He was a petty criminal who was convicted of statutory rape, burglary, and theft before he was 21 years old. Also, he claimed to be a music promoter and owned the Little Mark, Alamo, and Talamo Records record labels. Susan Alamo (April 25, 1925 – April 8, 1982) was born Edith Opal Horn in

Alma, Arkansas Alma is a city in Crawford County, in far western Arkansas, United States. It is located within the Arkansas River Valley at the edge of the Ozark Mountains; the city is the sixth largest in the Fort Smith metropolitan area. The population wa ...

. Twice married and with a daughter, she moved to Hollywood and attempted to become an actress. She had Jewish roots, but was reared a Christian Nazarene, never needing to convert from

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, she became an itinerant evangelist modeling her ministry after her idol

Aimee Semple McPherson Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson (née Kennedy; October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian-born American Pentecostalism, Pentecostal Evangelism, evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920 ...

before she met Hoffman. After the couple divorced their respective spouses, Hoffman and Horn got married during a ceremony which was performed in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 1966. They legally changed their names to Tony Alamo and Susan Alamo.

History

Early years

Tony and Susan Alamo founded the Alamo Christian Foundation in 1969 in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

. The church became the subject of controversy, especially as its members were active in trying to recruit new members in Hollywood but their building was more isolated, located about an hour away. It was frequently criticized for its manner of

evangelization Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

, which frequently involved requiring young members of the congregation to walk around Hollywood, inviting people to convert to Christianity. They would take them to the church in Agua Dulce – roughly an hour away – for evening services, consisting of a meeting and a meal. Many of these individuals chose to stay on to become

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

students and lay ministers. In 1976, the church relocated to

Dyer, Arkansas Dyer is a city in Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 876 at the 2010 census. History Dyer was platted in 1884 by G. E. Dyer soon after th ...

, where Susan Alamo had been raised. There, in the small town which is located in the western part of the state, the church grew to several hundred members. It established printing facilities, a school, and a

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

. It also claimed to operate a

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general int ...

facility, but in fact it was Christian conversion. Members of the church developed several businesses in the

area. As the church expanded, it established other churches in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

. Alamo started a business, which relied heavily on unpaid child labor, of decorating denim jackets and

airbrush An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint, but also ink, dye, and make-up. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of airbrush. History Up unt ...

ing them with bright, colorful designs. Many Hollywood celebrities were seen wearing them, including

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. He wore a modified leather Alamo jacket on the cover of his album ''

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

''. The church's projects included Nashville's largest

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, or d ...

clothing store. The church published religious tracts and it also distributed tapes of sermons by the Alamos. With the help of some church members, they also produced records and tapes, and they also launched a national television ministry in the 1970s. The ministry mostly aired on low-rated, non-network, high-power television stations in major markets. Susan led the preaching aspect of the ministry, with Tony mostly staying in the background in a production role, making only occasional appearances, usually to perform an inspirational song on camera. As the decade progressed, the criticism of their ministry grew. In response, the ministry produced "Susan Alamo Speaks Out", an interview-based program made up of claimed converts who had been transformed by the Alamos' ministry.

Death of Susan Alamo

Susan Alamo died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

on April 8, 1982, after first being diagnosed with the disease in 1975. She died 17 days short of her 57th birthday, at the

Oral Roberts Granville Oral Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christianity, Christian televangelist, who was one of the first to propagate Prosperity theology, Prosperity Gospel Theo ...

City of Faith Hospital in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. In the reported belief that she would rise from the dead, her embalmed body was kept on display for six months."Tony Alamo (1934–2017)"
''Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture'' website, 30 August 2023 It was then entombed in a

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

-shaped

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

on church property. In 1991, the federal government confiscated the property. Its agents learned that Susan's remains had been removed. Her estranged daughter, Christhiaon Coie, filed a lawsuit against Tony Alamo because he had stolen the body. Her stepfather (by an earlier marriage of her mother) obtained a court order which required Tony Alamo to return the body.Beverley, James A. ed. (2009) ''Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions''. Thomas Nelson Inc.

Tax problems and criminal proceedings

In 1982, the same year that Susan Alamo died, Alamo discontinued the foundation in their name. He replaced it with the newly incorporated Music Square Church (MSC). MSC had been granted 501c tax-exempt status in 1981. After the federal government had started investigation of the entity, the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

retroactively revoked that tax-exempt status on April 5, 1996. The IRS Commissioner found that "MSC was so closely operated and controlled by and for the benefit of Tony Alamo that it enjoyed no substantive independent existence; that MSC was formed and operated by Tony Alamo for the principal purpose of willfully attempting to defeat or evade federal income tax; and that MSC was inseparable from Tony Alamo, and failed to operate for exclusively charitable purposes." MSC sued and lost in the

United States Court of Federal Claims The United States Court of Federal Claims (in case citations, Fed. Cl. or C.F.C.) is a United States federal courts, United States federal court that hears monetary claims against the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government. It ...

. It lost on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals in 1999. Alamo was arrested several times throughout his life, beginning with a charge in 1966 for illegally possessing a weapon, for which he served prison time before he married Susan Alamo. He encountered increasing problems after Susan's death. Women said that he had sexually abused both them and minor children. In 2009, Alamo was convicted of 10 counts of transporting minors as young as 9 across state lines for sex. Alamo received the maximum sentence for his crimes, 175 years in prison. In June 2013, the federal government filed forfeiture and collection actions in federal court on 27 properties which were owned by members of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, in an attempt to collect $2.5 million in restitution that Alamo was ordered to pay to his victims. The U.S. Attorney's Office argued that the owners were "owners in name only" because the properties were still under Alamo's control.

Death of Tony Alamo

Alamo died on May 2, 2017, while he was in custody at the Federal Medical Center, Butner in

Butner, North Carolina Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007. History The area eventually comprising the town of ...

. He was 82 years old. The Alamo Ministries posted a notice of his death on its website's homepage, but it did not post a notice of succession nor did it state its future plans. The site, along with this notice, was still live, but it was inactive, . The website had made two posts about Israel and a post with a file entitled ''There is no

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

'' or "19200.

pdf Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

Beliefs and practices

The church was

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

in nature. It was frequently referred to as a

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

of the

Jesus movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

. It was also extremely

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

. Additionally, it only accepted the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

of the

. Susan Alamo frequently attacked

organized religion Organized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established, typically by an official doctrine (or dogma), a hierarchical or bureaucratic leadership ...

on her programs. Its members adhered to a moral code which required proper dress and standards of behavior, and condemned and forbade the use of

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

, and

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. Individuals who sought to join the church agreed to turn all of their money and property over to the church. In return, their own needs would be met and their children would receive a basic education through

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

In popular culture

In 2016, playwright Ernest Kearney produced his one-man show ''My Alamo War'' for the Hollywood Fringe Festival in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The show recounted his four-year struggle against the Alamo church in Hollywood. He succeeded in getting the high-end jackets which were designed by Alamo and manufactured by unpaid cult members removed from a majority of the clothing stores which were located on

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

. He and his supporters also gained the attention of the local media by informing it about the abuses of the cult. The show won the Fringe's Encore Producer Award. In 2019,

Sundance TV Sundance TV (formerly known as Sundance Channel) is an American pay television channel owned by AMC Networks that launched on February 1, 1996. The channel is named after Robert Redford's character in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and, w ...

broadcast a four-part miniseries, ''Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo'', based on the lives of Tony and Susan Alamo. It described their founding and running of the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation – it also called the foundation a "

". It also described how the couple became rich by exploiting their followers who truly believed in them. Following his conviction, the program charged Tony Alamo with being a

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

r, a

polygamist Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

and a

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puber ...

. The documentary series includes archival footage, including Alamo's videotaped deposition, and interviews with former members of the cult and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent who brought Alamo down. The series of four 40-minute episodes was also broadcast on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

and in April 2024, it was broadcast on the

iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

. In 2025, Freeform produced a series titled ''How I Escaped my Cult: Ten Stories of Survival'', in which former members talk about their time in the Alamo Christian Foundation.

References

External links

Alamo Ministries
* *

Evil Lives Here ''Evil Lives Here'' is an American documentary television series on Investigation Discovery that debuted on January 17, 2016. This 60-minute true crime show spends each episode interviewing a family member of the highlighted criminal. On August ...

{{Authority control 1969 establishments in California 1982 disestablishments in the United States 20th-century Protestantism American members of the clergy convicted of crimes Anti-Catholic organizations Anti-Catholicism in the United States Christian fundamentalist organizations in the United States Christian denominations founded in the United States Christian organizations established in 1969 Christian organizations disestablished in 1982 Criticism of the Catholic Church Evangelicalism in the United States Evangelical organizations Jesus movement King James Only movement Pentecostal denominations in North America Pentecostalism in Arkansas Pentecostalism in California Pentecostalism in the United States Pentecostal organizations Polygamy in the United States Protestantism in Arkansas Protestantism in California Religious tract publishing companies Polygamy in Christianity New religious movements established in the 1960s