George J. Adams - Church of The Messiah

By the late 1850s, Adams had established a church in New England called the Church of the Messiah. Adams claimed to be a prophet of Jesus Christ to the world and began publication of a periodical called The Sword of Truth and Harbinger of Peace. In 1864, Adams established the headquarters of his church in Indian River, Maine, near the Canadian border. Later that year, Adams announced a great mission whereby he and his followers would travel to and settle in Palestine. Adams taught that their colony could prepare the land for the return of the Jews, which in turn would hasten the Second Coming of Jesus. The members of the church donated much of their money to the church in an effort to realise Adam's proposal.