🎤 1985 The Covenant, the Sword & the Arm of the Lord C.S.A. in Oakland, Arkansas

 

From the beginning of 1984 through the start of Autumn, the Marion County militia & cult known as the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) was in the headlines locally. By the Spring of 1985, the CSA was receiving national & international attention. The CSA, as it was locally known, was an organization that was labeled as a survivalist group. The CSA occupied a 224-acre area in the far northeastern portion of Marion County, near Oakland, Arkansas, on the Arkansas/Missouri border since the late 1970s. Except for the occasional attention brought on it by media from outside the region, the CSA lived in relative obscurity.

The CSA developed from a Baptist congregation, and they were locally known as the Zarephath-Horeb Community Church, which was founded in 1971 in Pontiac, Missouri. By the Summer of 1978, the church became radicalized. The CSA veered into unusual theology for the Ozark's region as it strengthened its White Identity or Superior Aryan Doctrine, in addition to its Plurality in Marriage. They believed they were soldiers & a haven for the coming End-Time & Tribulation Period, and they were planning for planning for Armageddon.

The CSA event came to an apex in April of 1985. More than 300 officers reportedly participated in the 1985 standoff and raid.

Today, the CSA Compound acreage has been divided up, and the main base is private property. So, please respect the current owners. Last Fall, in 2022, I met a new friend, and we took an adventure to visit & walk the former CSA compound.

The Baxter County Library has the Bob Ketchum Video Archive. Within the collection lie some wonderful historical nuggets. I am working on transcribing a TV43 program with news reporter Susan Ketchum interviewing CSA Elder, Kerry Noble.
It is full-length, unedited & fascinating.

Some of the key figures during the 1985 escalating events were:
CSA Elder, Theologian & Spokesman, Kerry Noble
CSA Leader, Jim Ellison
Missouri State Highway Patrol, Stephen Bartlett / Air Surveillance - Command Post was out of his aircraft hanger
Marion County Sheriff, Roger Edmondson & deputies
Ozark County Sheriff, James Shaw & deputies
Baxter County Sheriff, Joe Edmonds & deputies
Baxter County Deputy, Major McPherson
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson
Missouri Department of Conservation
FBI / Federal Bureau of Investigation
ATF / Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Arkansas State Police
Missouri Water Patrol
Minneapolis (Minnesota) Police Department K-9 unit
U.S. Corps of Engineers
U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers 

There are also a few stories on the CSA in Thelma Spencer's biography of former Ozark County Sheriff, Herman Pierce, "Sheriff Takes the Stand." It is currently out of print.
Additionally, The Baxter Bulletin & other newspapers detailed the affair and can be found online at Newspapers.com

CSA Founder, Jim Ellison, died March 27th, 2021, at 11:15 from congestive heart failure at the age of 80 years.

Kerry Noble was a true representation of what repentance can do. While in prison, he began to see the error of his way, and he began to sound the alarm for others not to follow the path of White Supremacy. Kerry Noble wrote about his experiences in "Tabernacle of Hate: Seduction into Right-Wing Extremism" & "Tabernacle of Hope: Bridging Your Darkened Past Toward a Brighter Future."
Kerry Noble passed away earlier this year on January 9, 2023.
According to Kerry's oldest child, Tara, he went, "…into the hospital December 29, 2022, with pneumonia. He had a massive heart attack the morning before he was to have an angioplasty procedure done. Thank you for your prayers for the family."

With all the judgment & condemnation we can throw at one party or person, we should pause to look at our own hearts. In retrospect, sometimes we never realize the wooded path & journey our neighbor travels in a lifetime. Love is quick to forgive & restore.
Rest in Peace, Kerry Noble

2 Kerry Noble Books: 

Tabernacle of Hate: Seduction into Right-Wing Extremism 

Tabernacle of Hope: Bridging Your Darkened Past Toward a Brighter Future 

 #1985 #cult #fbi #ozarks #oklahomacitybombing #csa #marioncounty #baxter #oakland #polygamy