Flirty Fishing required substantial organization. First of all, the Children of God had to prepare the “bait” (FF-ing female members) to go out, hook, and keep on hooking perspective fish. They had to find the fish to begin with. They also had to keep track of each transaction on a daily basis.

The King Arthur series of Mo Letters, and myriad issues of True Komix, strongly encouraged more attractive members to engage in the practice. For example, in issues #505 and #506 of TX, based on a DFO King Arthur Letter dated 6 April 1975, we find Berg personally chastising Mama Maria (Karen Zerby) for her hesitation to comply with the new dictate, telling her:

You really failed me tonight! You are the stubbornest piece of bait I ever tried to fish with! Jesus help us! You won’t cast in the direction I cast you, you won’t try to lure the fish I’m after….

Which showed the most love?--that you obey me or you don’t obey me? Because of some stupid idea about your wanting to be loyal to the fisherman, you don’t want to give him the line and the hook!…

The bait is out there to entice the fish! Lord help us catch men! You’re to go out there angling, procuring, pandering, whatever you like to call it, for fish! [emphasis original]

This passage (and others) show some of the dynamics of the group at that time. A theme stressed many times over in David Berg’s writings is the hierarchy that placed the welfare and concern of the group above its members in general, and men over women in the specific. Not even Mama Maria was beyond reproach in this regard. Moreover, Berg specifically stressed blind obedience in deference to loyalty. And here, it’s not as though she’s disobeying the dictate. Berg’s ragging on her because she isn’t complying enthusiastically enough. She’s holding back. Then again, one has to think that if the Queen Bee herself is doing it, any protestation by a rank and file member might sound (especially within the group) like the whining of a prima dona. Berg also exerted pressure by using the Bible to justify FF-ing. In “The FF-ing Patriarchs” (DFO, True Komix 533, based on Mo Letters written in April 1982), he claimed that such figures as Sarah, Esther, and Ruth had, at one time, done exactly the same thing.

Once they had enough women willing to sacrifice themselves as bait, leadership’s next task would be to cast them upon the water to see what bites. They sometimes used nightclubs to meet fish and witnesses to them. The problem with that is when plying one’s ministry to the population at large, even the most enthusiastic blue-collar fish can only “donate” so much, if anything. And if he doesn’t have much in terms of possessions, there’s not much he or his parents could give the cult should he join. So the question quickly became how to get a bigger bang for their buck--or more accurately, how to get bigger bucks for their bangs.

It didn’t take long for the witnessing aspect of flirty fishing to diminish as making money became a major concern. Quoting “The FF-er’s Handbook” (above left), “You’ve got to catch a few [fish] to make the fun pay for itself. So don’t do it for nothing.“ In a Mo Letter titled “Does FF-ing Pay? Who Foots the Bills” (DO, dated 6 September 1977), David Berg wrote:

IT’S ABOUT TIME THE MEN START FOOTING THE BILL in more ways than one!…Those guys who are practically living in, they’re old enough now in the Lord that they ought to see the responsibilities in supporting the work. They’ve go good jobs and businesses and they have the money and it’s time we told them (Some of them have already offered their support, God bless ‘em!)….

So don’t be afraid to let ‘em foot the bills, girls. Happy Hookin’!--But make it pay! The Gospel is free--but it costs, something to pipe it to ‘em. [emphasis and punctuation original]

Berg was clever enough to realize the usefulness of other types of “donations.” In the above Mo Letter, he went on to suggest that the women ask fish who were reluctant to fork over cash (because it seemed like out-and-out prostitution) to purchase goods and services as gifts. Yet, there existed an even more powerful type of donation, one actually worth more than money: favors, many of the political type. As the cult’s notoriety spread internationally, and because they were visible all over the world, Berg sought political alliances that could thwart investigations, raids and deportation hearings in host countries. As one member, identifying himself only by the name Simon, stated in an undated videotaped communication from Osaka:

With FF-ing being such an important ministry, and something we really need to attack on, it was decided it would be good to have a couple to oversee and coordinate things. And so Esther and myself were asked to do that. So, what the vision is is to be able to coordinate any upcoming events at hotels, or social events--places that we could meet some of these city fathers that would really be able to help keep us in the country. And what we discussed was how important it is to make sure we’re reaching the top. We start off by the letter, Esther the Queen of FF-ers, was read, and was really convicting about how we need to make sure that we’re reaching people that will be able to help us in our ministry.

Figure 1. Visa and Escort Report

In order to influence fish with potential clout, the CoG began to rely on run-of-the-mill escort agencies. In the above report, which also serves as a guide, you can see how they broke down the agencies into different types, and outlined the expectations, pros and cons of each. It didn’t take long for various colonies to form their own escort agencies. As mentioned in the article below (Fig. 2)

Figure 2. News of a CoG-run agency

Figure 3. Flirty Fishing report form (long)*

As with any business enterprise, it becomes necessary to keep track of transactions. Aptly illustrating its commitment to FF-ing, the cult issued forms (Fig. 3) that detailed, among other things, the depth of witnessing, the number of witnessing attempts, the occupations (which would imply social or class status) of the fish, and the total number of fish. With a preamble penned by Duchess Barbara Canevaro (then known to the cult as Queen Rachel), the instructions reiterated Berg’s admonition to “make it pay,” and counseled prospective bait to include both men and women fish in their report totals statistics, but only if the lovebombing entailed hardcore sex:

Q: Does ‘Loved Sexuality’ also include kissing and light petting?

A: We suggest you only include masturbation, sucking, and actual intercourse in the figures of fish, mate. brother or sister loved sexually [sic]. It’s all, or nothing at all! Hallelujah!

By 1987, the AIDS epidemic--not to mention the backlash against the “sexual revolution” that originated from it--led the Children of God (now the Family of Love) to abandon the practice of Flirty Fishing. As stated on their official website:

In 1987 the Family discontinued FFing to emphasize other means of ministering the Word of God to others, as well as to take advantage of opportunities to reach more people than the very personalized ministry of FFing allowed. At that time as well, the plague of AIDS had begun its rampage through the world—another indication that it was time to reconsider Family policy of allowing sexual interaction outside our communities.

Although we no longer practice FFing, we believe the scriptural principles behind the ministry remain sound.

Below, are the statistics on Flirty Fishing from 1978-1988 as compiled by the CoG/FoL.

Figure 4. CoG/FoL Flirty Fishing statistics, 1978-1988

You’ll note that although the group claims to have ended the practice in 1987, they were still collecting data on it in 1988.

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*There was also a short form.