Lois Roden

2025-10-12T13:43:09Z

2607:FB92:905:6717:85C0:F3E:F7A9:CDC4: /* Death */

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Short description|American sect leader (1916–1986)}}
{{distinguish|Lois Rodden}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lois Roden
| image = LoisIRoden.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|08|01}}
| birth_place = [[Stone, Montana]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1986|11|10|1916|08|01}}
| death_place = Texas, U.S.
| nationality =
| citizenship = American
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Author, Sabbath teacher, religious reformer
| known_for = "[[Branch Davidian|The Branch]]" leadership 1978–1986
| notable_works = ''Shekinah''
| awards = Excellence in Media Angel Awards, [[Dove Foundation|The Dove Foundation]] award
| children = 6, including [[George Roden|George Buchanan Roden]]
| spouse = [[Benjamin Roden|Benjamin Lloyd Roden]]
}}
'''Lois Irene Scott Roden''' (August 1, 1916 – November 10, 1986) was an [[Americans|American]] [[religious leader]] who was [[President (corporate title)|president]] of the [[Branch Davidian|Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church]], an [[apocalypticism|apocalyptic]] Christian sect which her husband, [[Benjamin Roden]] founded. The sect began in Texas in 1955 as a secession from the [[Shepherd's Rod]] movement led by [[Victor Houteff|Victor T. Houteff]], itself a secession from the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ird01 |title= Davidians and Branch Davidians |author1= Pitts, William L |publisher= Handbook of Texas - Texas State Historical Association |access-date= November 25, 2012}}</ref>

==Work==
Contemporaneous with the surge of the [[Feminist Movement]] in the 1970s (and corresponding with the [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] teachings of many Adventist sects), Roden asserted that women, like men, were made in the image and likeness of [[God]], and that they thereby hold a position of co-dominion with man in all things. She believed the Holy Spirit is a female entity. In 1977, a year before Benjamin Roden died, Lois said she had received a vision of the [[Holy Spirit]], describing it as "a silver angel, shimmering in the night. It was a feminine representation of this angel. I had been studying Revelation 18 and it said this mighty angel was to come down to earth and that was my understanding".<ref>Lois Roden in an interview on the Paul Bryan Talk Show on WFAA Dallas, November 4, 1980. Quoted in {{Citation |title=[[The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect]] |year=2006 |place=[[London]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |surname=Graham |given=Kenneth C. |ISBN=0199245746}} p.158</ref> She asserted as proof her ideas that the Hebrew word for Spirit (ruach) is feminine, and that [[Jew]]s regard the concept of "Holy Spirit" and the "Divine Presence" ("[[shekhinah]]"...both of which are [[grammatical gender|"feminine" words]] in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]) are one and the same.

In 1979, along with publishing many related tracts, Roden began publishing a magazine entitled ''Shekinah''. The magazine explored the issues of the feminine aspect of [[God in Christianity|the Godhead]] and women in the ministry of the Church. ''Shekinah'' magazine contained Lois' commentaries as well as reprints of news articles and excerpts of publications from a variety of Christian, Jewish, and other sources which addressed women's place in the world of religion. She received minor awards and commendations for the magazine from religious groups and individuals. Among them were an Award of Excellence from Excellence in Media Angel Awards, and another from [[The Dove Foundation]].{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

==Death==
From 1977 until the death of her husband Benjamin in 1978, she was co-president of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church along with him. When Benjamin Roden died, Lois remained as the sole lawful president until her death from breast cancer in 1986.<ref>{{cite web |last1=PHILLIPS |first1=ANDREW |title=ONE LIVED, ONE DIED {{!}} Maclean's {{!}} May 3, 1993 |url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1993/5/3/one-lived-one-died |website=Maclean's {{!}} The Complete Archive |access-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126133002/https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1993/5/3/one-lived-one-died |url-status=dead }}</ref> Early in her presidency her leadership was challenged by her son, [[George Roden]] in a leadership election in 1979, and in late 1983 by Vernon Howell (from 1990, formally known as [[David Koresh]]). Both challengers drew away supporters from the congregation, scaring away others by their reliance on the force of arms to advance their aims. Some claim that, before Koresh challenged her leadership, he and Roden (who was then in her late 60s) had an affair, which Koresh justified by claiming that God had chosen him to father a child with her, who would be the Chosen One.<ref>{{Citation | surname=Wilson | given=Colin | author-link=Colin Wilson | title=The Devil's Party | publisher=[[Virgin Books]] | place=[[London]] | year=2000 | ISBN=1-85227-843-9}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.the-branch.org/Studies_by_Lois_I_Roden Lois Roden's literature and studies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908075018/http://the-branch.org/Studies_by_Lois_I_Roden |date=September 8, 2012 }}
* [http://www.the-branch.org/Shekinah_Magazine Lois Roden's ''Shekinah'' magazine articles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819202101/http://www.the-branch.org/Shekinah_Magazine |date=August 19, 2012 }}

{{Branch Davidians}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roden, Lois}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:American feminists]]
[[Category:Branch Davidians]]
[[Category:Deaths from breast cancer in Texas]]
[[Category:People disfellowshipped by the Seventh-day Adventist Church]]
[[Category:Proponents of Christian feminism]]
[[Category:American Christian religious leaders]]
[[Category:Angelic visionaries]]
[[Category:Women Christian clergy]]

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Lois Roden