Swett, Mark.

The religious sect known as the Branch Davidians was the product of a reform movement within the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Problems began when a group of Adventists, led by Bulgarian immigrant Victor Houteff, began to challenge the traditional hierarchy of the denomination. Houteff claimed to have received personal revelations from God and published his controversial views in a book entitled The Shepherd's Rod (1932). Houteff and his followers believed that the spiritual gift of prophecy was necessary for effective leadership so that King David's earthly kingdom could be re-established on earth prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. After the leaders of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church excommunicated his sect, Houteff moved to Waco, Texas, and continued to preach until his death in 1955.

Upon Houteff's death, the mantle of leadership fell to Benjamin Roden and his wife Lois. This couple would lead the Branch Davidians well into the 1980s. Some of their work including sermons, pamphlets, and personal correspondence are found in the Mark Swett Collection.

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