The origins of the "holy banquet" are in the communal home meals served to Father Divine's followers before 1932. By the mid-1930s, these communal meals had become well-attended banquets, feeding thousands of people. Often, Father Divine would give impromptu speeches during the meal. The Peace Mission viewed the banquets as the reinstatement of the "Christian love feast" mentioned in the New Testament and the Last Supper that Jesus Christ attended before his crucifixion. Divine Marriage anniversary celebration The April 29, 1946, interracial marriage of 70-year-old Father Divine to his 21-year-old Canadian-born secretary is called the "Marriage of Christ to his Church" and the "fusion between heaven and Earth" in Peace Mission theology. It is celebrated each year in April as an "international, interracial, universal holiday", according to Peace Mission literature. Every year since 1948, Peace Mission members gather at Father Divine's home or at headquarters in order to celebrate a special Holy Communion service for the Divine marriage anniversary celebration. Communal shareholding Members of the Peace Mission were encouraged to pool their individual resources and invest in businesses, the profits of which were to be divided up and shared. During the 1930s, these properties and businesses were quite numerous. Peace Mission businesses included the Divine Lorraine and Divine Tracy Hotels in Philadelphia, farmlands in upstate New York and garages. History of the International Peace Mission movement Beginnings The Peace Mission grew out of the ministry of George Baker Jr ("Father Divine"). In 1906, Father Divine became acquainted with the ideas of Charles Fillmore and the New Thought Movement, a philosophy of positive thinking that would inform his later doctrines. George Baker Jr attended a local store front Baptist Church, often preaching and teaching in the church's Sunday school, until 1907, when he became a follower of Samuel Morris, a.k.a. "Father Jehovia". In Georgia, Father Divine got into conflicts with local ministers and was sentenced to 60 days on a chain gang. Upon his release, he attracted a following of mostly black women in Valdosta, Georgia. Several followers' husbands and local preachers had him arrested for lunacy and he was incarcerated in an insane asylum. He was later released and pronounced mentally sound in spite of his "maniacal" beliefs, and admonished to leave the state. 1914–1932: The Proto-Peace Mission Movement In 1914, Father Divine traveled to Brooklyn, New York, with some followers and an all-black congregation. In 1919, he and his