I'SOT, which stands for In Search of Truth, is a

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 ...

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 ...

-based offshoot Christian religious group founded in the late 1960s by E. Marie White (also known as E. Marie Tolbert) in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

, United States. The group was named after a religious tract published by Mrs. White in

Gilroy, California Gilroy is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. It had a population of 59,520 as of the 2020 census. Gilroy's origins lie in the village of San Ysidro, which developed in the early 19th ...

. The I'SOT community's main branch is in Canby, California, with a second branch in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Canby is known for the I'SOT's nativity scenes prominently displayed along the town's main street,

California State Route 299 State Route 299 (SR 299) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the northern part of the state. At , it is the third longest California state route, after Route 1 and Route 99, and the longest east-we ...

. Of the several thousand onetime dedicated members to pass through the group, a small group of about 75 to 100 active members are still living today in the small rural town of Canby in

Modoc County, California Modoc County () is a county (United States), county located in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least ...

and a few isolated places in the northwest.

Criticisms

Allegations of physical and sexual abuse brought against members by clients of I'SOT's Group Home/Foster Home during the late 1980s prompted an investigation by State of California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division. The final report was filed July 26, 1991. That investigation found a "preponderance of the evidence" that members of I'SOT had physically and sexually abused residents of the group home between 1978 and 1990. I'SOT's application for renewal of their license to operate the Group Home was denied, after which they appealed the decision and lost. The Group Home was sold to ''Environmental Alternatives'', but many I'SOT members still work there.

References

External links

* *{{cite web , last=Hankins , first=Michael , title=ISOT Survivors , website=ISOT Survivors , url=http://isotsurvivors.info/ , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228080606/http://isotsurvivors.info/ , archive-date=December 28, 2018 , url-status=dead Intentional communities in California Jesus movement Religious organizations established in the 1960s Pentecostal churches Pentecostalism in California