By the summer of 1930, the people of Jonesboro, Arkansas were exhausted. They had survived the devastating floods of 1927 and endured a crushing drought that followed. The town of roughly 10,000 was battered and weary, but still clinging to hope. What they didn’t know was that a new storm was about to sweep through—one that had nothing to do with weather and everything to do with a fiery little preacher named Joseph Jeffers.
A Showman in the Pulpit
At just 32 years old, Jeffers was no ordinary evangelist. A former actor turned preacher, he knew how to work a crowd. His sermons were bold, theatrical, and laced with fire and brimstone. Local leaders set up a massive canvas revival tent, and nearly half the town—around 5,000 people—crammed inside or gathered outside to hear him speak.
Newspapers described the crowds as “zealous” and “entranced.” For weeks, Jonesboro buzzed with revival fever. The offerings piled up, conversions were reported, and Jeffers extended his stay.
But behind the curtain of revival, trouble was brewing.
Winning the Pulpit—and Making Enemies
When the town’s First Baptist Church pastor, A.W. Reaves, resigned, Jeffers was offered the pulpit permanently. He accepted, but not everyone was thrilled. Some church members whispered that Jeffers was more con man than clergyman.
They questioned his wild stories, like the time he claimed to have been shot in New Orleans during a card game where he was supposedly “preaching against gambling.” To many, his tales were vague and unverifiable. To others, they sounded like outright lies.
Still, Jeffers’ charisma won over the majority—at least for a while.
The Vote That Changed Everything
As tensions mounted, the church called a vote. Jeffers lost. A new pastor, Dow Heard of Big Springs, Texas, was elected instead. Jeffers left Jonesboro in a huff, his ego bruised but not defeated.
Before leaving, he boasted that his revival had reached 25,000 people, brought in $3,000 in offerings (over $57,000 in today’s money), and resulted in 400 conversions with 60 baptisms. Whether those numbers were fact or fiction is impossible to verify, but one thing was certain—Jonesboro had not seen the last of Joseph Jeffers.
Storm Clouds Ahead
When Jeffers rolled out of town, some breathed a sigh of relief. But others missed the firebrand preacher who had electrified their summer. Less than a year later, he would return—and this time, his revival would ignite something far darker than spiritual fervor.
The stage was set for what history would call The Jonesboro Church War. Stay tuned for part 2 in this blog series.
NEW BOOK ALERT: Madman or Messiah?
Madman or Messiah? An Investigation into the Crimes & Charisma of Cult Leader Joseph D. Jeffers
From extreme fundamentalist ideologies to the paranormal and the occult, Joseph Jeffers’ message integrated with the times and incited a religious fervor amongst his followers. In the 1930s, he was causing war in Arkansas and inciting violence that would lead to the death of one man and the attempted murder of a local preacher. In the 1940s, he was making headlines in L.A. for his lewd house parties. In the ’50s, his third wife would be brutally murdered. Her homicide would go unsolved. In the ’60s, he would make headlines in Arizona when he gambled off all of the church funds at the race track. In the ’70s, he would prophesy great and mighty things to do with UFOs and the Bermuda triangle. By 1978, he would be building a pyramid to withstand the apocalypse in Missouri. And by 1988, he would die of old age. No one ever stopped this man from stealing millions of dollars, coercing innocent young women, or hiring a hitman to kill his wife. Read this book to find out more about the crimes, the chaos, and the injustice in the life of Dr. Joseph D. Jeffers.
How could this man have gotten away with all of these crimes, and how could he have flown under the radar? After making so many ludicrous headlines, how do we not know the name of Joseph Jeffers?
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