Jimmie T. Roberts

Jimmie T. "Jim" Roberts (born June 5, 1939) is the founder of a religious movement known as The Brethren. Within the group, it is alternatively referred to as the Brothers, the Church, the Assembly, and The Body of Christ. It is also known to some outsiders by the epithet, "the Garbage Eaters" for their habit of gathering edible food from grocery store dumpsters.^[1]

Roberts was born in the American South, the son of a part-time Pentecostal preacher. He later joined the United States Marine Corps. Around 1970, He became convinced that mainstream churches had become corrupt and that the last days were imminent. Roberts began recruiting followers to his apocalyptic views, advocating a lifestyle based upon an itinerant example he found in the New Testament accounts of Jesus sending forth disciples.^[2] Within the movement, he is known as "Brother Evangelist" and "the Elder".^[3]

Members of the group dress distinctively. Men wear their beards untrimmed and knee-length shirts sewn by the "sisters". Women wear their hair long, untrimmed and unstyled, and wear handmade long sleeve dresses down to the foot. The style of dress for both men and women is in order to be "Modest in color and fit".

After several incidents during the late 1970s and early 1980s, both Roberts and the group became extremely secretive and disappeared from public view, except for occasional mentions in books and the media.^[1]

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