As their relationship with the Chattanooga community deteriorated, the group eventually left Tennessee and moved primarily to Vermont.

The group's teachings have been characterized as "racist, misogynistic and homophobic", and ex-members report excessive corporal punishment, failure to stop child sexual abuse, and exploitation of followers for labor.

[16] The origins of the Twelve Tribes movement can reportedly be tracked back to the "Light Brigade," a 1972 teenagers' ministry.

[17][2] The ministry operated out of "The Lighthouse,"[1] a small coffee shop in the home of Gene Spriggs and wife Marsha.

[18] During this time, the group "planted" churches, each with its own Yellow Deli, in Dalton and Trenton, Georgia; Mentone, Alabama; and Dayton, Tennessee.

[6] They began holding their own services, which they called "Critical Mass" in Warner Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee,[20] appointing elders[21][22] and baptizing people outside any denominational authority.

[19] The group nevertheless largely ignored the negative press and the wider world in general, and continued to operate its businesses[6] opening the Areopagus café and a second local Yellow Deli in downtown Chattanooga.

[5] At one point, a leader conceded that the group was deeply in debt[22] before closing the Dalton church down and moving the last members to Vermont.

[11] In 1983, charges were brought against Charles "Eddie" Wiseman (an elder in the group) for misdemeanor simple assault; this, combined with multiple child custody cases, formed the basis for a search warrant.

[24] Due to what the group perceived were a massive misunderstanding of the events and concerns leading up to and surrounding the raid, its members began formal relationships with their neighbors.

Two months after the raid, the case against Wiseman fell apart after the main witness recanted, saying he was under duress from the anticult movement.

[26] By 1989, the church had become widely accepted in Island Pond[29] and grew substantially during the 1980s and 1990s, opening branches in several different countries, including the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, and the United Kingdom.

[19] The founder of the movement, Elbert Eugene Spriggs Jr. (May 18, 1937 — January 11, 2021), died in 2021 while visiting his Hiddenite, North Carolina, property.

[27][34] This interpretation of the prophesied restoration of Israel[2] leads the group to believe that the end times has arrived, though no date has been set.

[38] Weddings are dramatized pre-enactments[8] of what the group believes will happen at the end of time when "Yahshua" returns to earth for his bride.

The Twelve Tribes believe that it is the parents' responsibility to properly enforce a consequence for sin (wrongful action, words, behavior) so as to allow the child to maintain the state of a clean conscience.

[10] Pardon released his research and findings in a report that stated "Messianic Communities, under the leadership of Spriggs, has tended towards an extreme authoritarianism" and a "Galatian heresy.

"[51] Twelve Tribes members Jean Swantko and husband Ed Wiseman have made efforts to combat social stigma and the anti-cult movement by engaging in dialogue with the media and government authorities.

[9] On June 22, 1984, Vermont State Police arrived at the Twelve Tribes's Island Pond residences and took custody of hundreds of group members with their children, based on an investigation of accusations of child abuse.

[64] In 2001, The New York Post ran an article accusing the group of child labor violations;[65][66] and later attributed itself as having prompted the investigation.

[67] The Twelve Tribes responded with a press conference at the Common Sense Farm where the alleged child labor had taken place.

They did propose a fine on two other industries: $2,000 for allegations of child labor law violations that the group's spokesperson, Jean Swantco Wiseman, was quoted in a news article as saying were for a 15-year-old pushing a wheelbarrow and another 15-year-old changing a lightbulb.

Both Acure and Savannah Bee terminated their contracts with Greener Formulas following the airing of the Inside Edition story.

[69] When fines and arrests failed to have an effect on the community, authorities granted the group the right to operate a private school on the commune's premises in 2011, under state supervision.

[70][71] Authorities revoked the school's right to operate in 2013, after it refused to answer to allegations of physical abuse and a lack of certified teaching staff.

[73] On September 5, 2013, German police raided two communities belonging to the Twelve Tribes and removed 40 children to protect them from continued abuse.

[76][77] In [the Wetjen v. Germany case], the parents believed, based upon their religion, that they had the obligation to cane their children under the age of 12 when they were disobedient.

The Court distinguished the right granted to parents to pass on their religious and philosophical beliefs from the Wetjen's actions stating that, "[w]hile the Court has accepted that this [the passing on of moral convictions] might even occur in an insistent and overbearing manner, it has stressed that it may not expose children to dangerous practices or to physical or psychological harm.