Shepherd's Rod - Original Members

Original Members

Ben Roden was a businessman from Odessa, Texas. He died in 1978. It was through him that Don Adair came into the Rod message while still a youth, which at that time both Ben Roden and Don Adair studied under V. T. Houteff. According to some original Davidian Seventh Day Adventists (DSDA) a division occurred within the Davidian movement, upon V.T. Houteff's death. One of the leading factors was Ben Roden's own interpretations of Scriptures and his teachings, some of which were not in harmony with his mentor Victor Houteff (see Don Adair's book "A Davidian Testimony"). Ben Roden soon changed the name of his group to Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists. Although they have many common beliefs, they are a separate and distinct group from original Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, started by Victor T. Houteff. Long after the death of V. T. Houteff, Ben's surviving wife, Lois, was involved with a peripheral movement within Davidia. In it she proclaimed that the Holy Spirit was female; a doctrine never supported or supplied by V. T. Houteff. It was through the association with Lois Roden that Vernon Howell (aka David Koresh) became aware of the message. Stock-piling weapons, believing that humans constituted the angels of Ezekiel 9, however, were never doctrines initiated or supported by V. T. Houteff.

Bonnie Smith (née Campbell) grew up at Mt. Carmel center under V T Houteff's administration. She married Sydney Smith, Bibleworker for Mt. Carmel (see Fundamental Beliefs and Directory). Her copies of Davidian publications furnish the original publications and charts of the Shepherd's Rod material found on at http://www.shepherds-rod-speaks.org/shepherds-rod-charts/# and http://www.upa7.org/.

Donnie Adair, (prefers Don) was born January 23, 1932 in Hollis, Oklahoma (Adair, Don, A Davidian Testimmony, Mt. Carmel Center, 1997, p. 10.) He originally heard the Rod message from Ben L Roden (Ibid 13) at the age of 19 (Ibid 18). Don made the transition from Seventh-day Adventist to Davidian very quickly but found that he was not welcome to attend or be baptized at the Odessa, TX Seventh-day Adventist Church (Ibid 14) due to his beliefs in the Rod. Ben L Roden invited the 20-year-old Don and his brother Dale to study at Mt. Carmel Center. Don left his regular employment and moved to Mt. Carmel Center (Ibid 19) to work in the print shop. He acted as Vice President of the Davidian Youth Society (Ibid 25, 26) while engaged in studies at Mt. Carmel and upgrading his English and Speech skills at Baylor University (Ibid 25). He began to date fellow believer Juanita (aka Wanda) who worked in the Administration Building as a typist when he was 22 (Ibid 177) and they married. In January 1955 he moved to Logan, Utah with his wife to apprentice in his father-in-law's electric shop. When he learned from Bonnie Smith that V T Houteff had died, he moved back to the Waco area where he painted houses (Ibid 179).

E. T. Wilson, a Seventh-day Adventist minister and Carolina general conference leader, became Davidian after being handed volumes 1 and 2 of the Shepherd's Rod (see The Great Controversy Over the Shepherd's Rod, page 10). He left his position with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and became Vice President of the General Association of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. As Vice President, the Leviticus of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists states that E. T. Wilson had the responsibility to act in the president's (V. T. Houteff's) absence.

Martin James Bingham (aka M J Bingham) was born February 22, 1905. He was in charge of the Education Department and school at Mt. Carmel Center, as well as being an ordained minister of the Rod, under V T Houteff (see Fundamental Beliefs and Directory). He also performed ministerial duties (travelled and taught the Shepherd's Rod message), and acted as Editor of many of the Shepherd's Rod publications. He married on December 5, 1955 to Jemima (aka Jemmy) in Georgetown, British Guiana (Monett Times-Bi County Obituaries, August 4, 1988).