The Twelve Tribes, formerly known as the Vine Christian Community Church, the Northeast Kingdom Community Church, the Messianic Communities, and the Community Apostolic Order is a new religious movement founded by Gene Spriggs (now known as Yoneq) that sprang out of the Jesus movement in 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The group calls itself an attempt to recreate the 1st-century church as it is described in the Book of Acts; the name "Twelve Tribes" is also derived from a quote of the Apostle Paul in Acts 26:7. The group has ignited controversy and garnered unfavorable attention from the media, the anti-cult movement and governments. History The origins of the Twelve Tribes movement can be traced back to a ministry for teenagers which was called the "Light Brigade" in 1972. The ministry operated out of a small coffee shop called "The Lighthouse" in the home of Gene Spriggs and his wife Marsha. The Light Brigade began living communally and opened a restaurant called "The Yellow Deli" while its members were attending several churches, before they decided to join the First Presbyterian Church. Members of the Light Brigade, while affiliated with First Presbyterian, caused friction within its establishment by bringing in anyone who was willing to come with them, including members of different social classes and racial groups, a practice which was not engaged in at that time. On January 12, 1975, the group arrived at First Presbyterian only to find out that the service had been cancelled for the Super Bowl, this led the group to form The Vine Christian Community Church. During this time, the church "planted" churches, each with its own Yellow Deli, in Dalton and Trenton, Georgia; Mentone, Alabama; and Dayton, Tennessee. Their withdrawal from the religious mainstream turned what had been a friction-filled relationship into an outcry against them. They began holding their own services, which they called "Critical Mass" in Warner Park, appointing elders and baptizing people outside any denominational authority. The deteriorating relationship between the group and the religious and secular Chattanooga community attracted the attention of The Parents' Committee to Free Our Children from the Children of God and the Citizen's Freedom Foundation who labeled the church a cult and heavily attacked Spriggs as a cult leader. This led to what the group refers to today as the "Cult Scare" in the late seventies. A series of deprogrammings starting in the summer of 1976 were