At the age of 70, Jerry Golland is delving into a dark chapter of his life. Most people know him as a former English teacher and musician. When he worked for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, his classes often involved music, and he still carries his guitar everywhere. For the years between and , he has no record of official employment.
In those missing years, he was a member of Children of God COG , a bizarre and shocking religious movement. Founded in , COG is now seen as an outgrowth of the counterculture movement of the time. Members of the group, mostly young and idealistic, were sometimes erroneously called Jesus People. The philosophy was a bizarre mix of Christian doctrine, predictions of doom, and bizarre concepts of sex.
David Berg, the founder and leader who was also known as Moses David, was a self-styled prophet who interpreted the concept of free love in a rather literal way. Berg led a shadowy lifestyle, ruling from a distance with absolute authority.
Very few members of the cult ever laid eyes on him. The COG flourished into a movement with tens of thousands of devoted members and chapters around the world, including Ottawa and Hull. Golland is set to self-publish a book sometime this year, which looks back at his COG time β the working title is Only One Man: A Memoir β but he is still very much struggling to come to grips with this period of his life.
I just ended up at the age of 24 very, very lost. I suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]. I was laughed at all through school. You get labelled a weirdo and a little bit stupid.
