Gordon Winrod: From Defenders of the Faith to States’ Rights Politics

Gordon P. Winrod was a white supremacist leader from the Midwest who gained notoriety in the 1990s for spreading Christian Identity doctrine through evangelism and thousands of "Winrod Letters" mailed to multiple states in the United States. The letters declared that America was facing a "Jewish problem," and that the only way it could be solved was through bloodshed. Winrod was eventually arrested for the kidnapping of six grandchildren from North Dakota and is serving a 30-year prison sentence. According to former members of William Branham's "Message" cult of personality, Winrod actively worked with churches associated with Branham's sect until his arrest.[1]

America's and the world's foremost problem is the Jewish Problem ... The only problem that cannot be solved without bloodshed is the Jewish Problem[2]
- Winrod Letters.

Gordon was the son of Gerald Winrod, nicknamed the "Kansas Hitler" and "Jayhawk Nazi" for his antisemitic propaganda and promotion of white supremacy.[3] Gerald worked closely with several key figures either involved with or strongly influential upon the Latter Rain and New Apostolic Reformation movements. His organization, "The Defenders of the Christian Faith," held nationwide conferences that attracted several prominent figures in Christian Fundamentalism, including Charles Fuller[4] and Paul Rader.[5] Gerald Winrod served on the board of directors for the Fundamentalist League[6] alongside Klan leader Roy E. Davis[7] and John Roach Straton.[8] F. F. Bosworth,[9] and other key figures submitted articles to Gerald Winrod's Defender magazine.[10] Gordon continued his father's legacy of white supremacy, spreading "some of the most vicious and hate-filled antisemitic propaganda to be found on the American scene."[11]

Gordon Winrod, now in his late 60s, who has declared that "Not Jew-wise, the American citizenry always gets Jewed," is the current patriarch of the Winrod clan. His father was the late Rev. Gerald B. Winrod of Wichita, Kansas, a propagandist so notorious for his pro-Nazism and anti-Semitism in the 1930s and 1940s that he earned himself the sobriquet of the "Jayhawk Nazi" ("Jayhawk" is a nickname for a Kansas native.) Gordon's son, David Winrod, now in his mid-40s, has taken up the cudgels to spread his and his father's hatred of Jews.[12]
- The Winrod Legacy of Hate - Anti-Defamation League

Clerical Background and Early Ministry

Gordon Winrod graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois,[13] in 1955. He then served as pastor of Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) congregations in Mount Carmel, Illinois,[14] San Antonio, Texas,[15] and Little Rock, Arkansas.[16] At the time of his arrest, Winrod was the central figure of a destructive Christian Identity cult based in Gainesville, Missouri.[17]

Political Activity and Extremist Alignment

After Gerald Winrod's death in 1957, Gordon Winrod played an active role in continuing his father's operations. He openly declared that the United States was being "communized from within," a phrase used to suggest infiltration by Jewish and African American sympathizers. He promoted propaganda intended to convince Americans that political and religious institutions had been infiltrated by a "Jewish conspiracy," and that opposition to radical right-wing fundamentalists constituted an invasion of the nation by Jews. Winrod organized and spoke at rallies opposing the federal government under the banner of "Patriotism from a Christian View."[18]

In 1960, Winrod entered the political arena in an attempt to claim Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat but failed to secure the required 8,000 votes. He subsequently launched a write-in campaign declaring himself "in favor of segregation, states' rights, and a firm anti-Communist foreign policy." He opposed the federal income tax, the Communist Party, and United States membership in the United Nations.[19] Soon afterward, Winrod was named National Chaplain of the National States' Rights Party.[20]

In a day when America is being communized from within, when churches are being infiltrated and subverted with socialist and internationalistic teachings, when government officials are controlled by radical liberal and leftist elements, it is good to see Old Glory wave so proudly[21]
- Gordon Winrod

Collaboration with Roy E. Davis and Regional Activity

Gordon Winrod maintained a strong presence in several locations critical to Roy E. Davis' white supremacist campaigns, suggesting continued cooperation similar to that of his father. Winrod was well known in Shreveport, Louisiana, where subscribers of the Shreveport Journal requested that he receive complimentary subscriptions in recognition of his "patriotism."[22] After relocating to Little Rock, similar requests followed.[23] These newspaper requests coincided with Davis' public campaigns for the Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Shreveport, indicating that Winrod was likely present in the area during that period.[24]

Following the Little Rock Nine desegregation crisis, the FBI confirmed that Davis played a key role in organizing white supremacist protests in Little Rock, suggesting that Winrod was also active in these campaigns. Regardless of whether direct collaboration can be proven in each instance, Winrod's ideology closely aligned with Davis' agenda.

After being removed from the Lutheran Church, and shortly after Davis' Little Rock activities, Winrod founded St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Little Rock and intensified his antisemitic preaching.[25] At National States' Rights Party meetings in Little Rock, Winrod declared that "international Jewry is attempting to destroy America."[26] The party maintained a post office box in Jeffersonville, Indiana,[27] the hometown of William Branham, where Davis had previously ordained Branham as a bishop[28] for the Pentecostal Baptist Church of God sect.

Personal records of Imperial Grand Dragon Roy E. Davis of captioned organization [The Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Aka The Original Ku Klux Klan, Formerly Known as U. S. Klans, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc., (Texas)] of Dallas Texas. Among these papers was what appeared to be a new address book containing handwritten names of what appeared to be members of his organization in Arkansas and Texas. {...} All of the individuals listed at Little Rock are known to be members of the captioned organization at Little Rock with the exception of J. R. English"[29]
- Office Memo, Director FBI

The Winrod Letter and Nationwide Propaganda

In 1960, Winrod began publishing the "Winrod Letter,"[30] a white supremacist newsletter promoting antisemitic ideology. By 1977, the same year as William Branham's doomsday prediction,[31] Winrod's supporters financed a large-scale propaganda campaign. Thousands of antisemitic letters and pamphlets were mailed across the country,[32] prompting warnings from newspaper editors that Winrod was launching a "twisted and verbal attack on the Jewish people; nor did he leave out Black Americans."[33]

The materials were printed at Winrod's Gainesville, Missouri compound and distributed through the United States Postal Service, as well as by adherents placing them on doors, automobile windshields, and other public locations. In March 1977, Winrod admitted responsibility for the distribution and expanded his outreach through radio broadcasts, with WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia serving as the flagship station.[34] Journalists observed that Winrod repeated the same themes across six radio stations from South Dakota to West Virginia.[35] Gordon's son David circulated a four-page newsletter, "Our Savior's Cross," accusing Jewish people of causing world wars and most global crimes.[36]

The Rev. Gordon Winrod, pastor of a church in southern Missouri, said his group was responsible for the distribution of anti-Semitic material at several Little Rock area shopping centers. Winrod, who heads the Our Savior's Church in Gainesville, said the materials were paid for by his congregation and other supporters from throughout the country. He said his group is not anti-Semitic, but is what he called anti-Jewish. The papers, which were put on car windshields, said Jews started Communism; control pornography, movies, the news media and television; make money off all wars, dope and liquor.[37]
- Memphis Press Scimitar.

The Ozarks Compound and Cult Dynamics

After relocating to Ozark County, Missouri, the Ozarks region became a hub for Christian Identity adherents.[38] The Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri overtook Richard G. Butler's Aryan Nations as the epicenter of white supremacy in the United States.[39] Large "superconferences" were held in Branson, drawing Christian Identity leaders, Aryan Nations members, and other extremist groups.[40] The Anti-Defamation League characterized these organizations as anti-democratic groups engaged in paramilitary preparation against the federal government.[41]

Kidnappings and Criminal Convictions

In June 1993, Gordon's daughter Sharon Leppert and her brothers-in-law Sam, Mark, and Brad were arrested on charges of assault and criminal trespass related to the kidnapping of Sharon's four-year-old daughter.[42] Winrod responded by mailing an issue of the Winrod Letter portraying an "anti-Christian, pro-Jewish conspiracy" by county officials.[43] More than 2,000 residents of south-central North Dakota received the mailing, prompting investigation by State's Attorney Ron Splitt.

As many as 2090 box holders in southcentral North Dakota opened their mail last month to find the fierce anti-Jewish sentiments and accusations masked in scripture. Reaction to The Winrod Letter in Kulm said people were amused and annoyed, and state's attorney Ron Splitt said that in addition to finding humor, "people are shocked, that in this day and age, that in this country and in this county, people could subscribe to that Jewish hatred." Some people just don't talk about it.[44]
- Bismarck Tribune

According to Delores Leppert, the "Winrod Hour" radio program lured her family to Winrod's Our Savior's Church compound. Three of her sons married three Winrod daughters, and a fourth son moved nearby. Over time, Leppert concluded that the compound functioned as a cult. The property spanned 300 wooded acres enclosed by barbed wire, with congregants largely related by family ties. Winrod exercised extraordinary control over daily life. Leppert stated, "No matter what it was, you'd have to ask Winrod. When he was around, you watched what you said. It's like a cult."[45] The general manager of the Ozark Times compared the compound to Waco and expressed concern over a potential armed standoff.[46]

Between 1994 and 1996, multiple Leppert children were abducted in connection with Winrod's group.[47][48][49] Tim Leppert reported that Winrod viewed the Iraq War as the beginning of the End of Days.[50] Combined with Gerald Winrod's race war theology, the group radicalized to the point of systematic kidnappings. Over two years, Tim and his brother Joel lost eight children to ex-wives within the Winrod cult. Authorities reportedly responded to 130 calls related to the feud during that period.[51] Delores Leppert later stated that she had "never been able to hold [her] grandchildren because Gordon doesn't want us to. Winrod thinks we don't have a right to our family. In my estimation, he's done a poor job of spreading the message of God."[52]

When the war was on in Iraq, he was just sure that was the start of the end of the world. It was coming any minute. He says he'll know the exact day when the end of the world is coming and these people believe it.[53]
- Tim Leppert.

In November 1996, cult members Mark and Sharon Leppert were convicted of abducting five-year-old Thomas Leppert[54] and sentenced to eight years each in prison. In February 1997, Quinta Leppert was convicted of abducting Stephanie Leppert and sentenced to ten years in prison.[55] These rulings provoked Winrod to initiate another wave of Winrod Letter mailings calling for "death to all Jews on a global scale."[56]

Winrod was eventually arrested in connection with the kidnappings.[57] During his arrest, children barricaded themselves inside his home in a standoff reminiscent of Waco.[58] Authorities rescued the children, returning four of the six to North Dakota. The two oldest, aged 14 and 16, stated that "they would spend the rest of their lives in jail before they would go back to North Dakota."[59]

During the subsequent trial, evidence revealed the extent of abuse within the Gainesville compound. Children were confined for three days in a reinforced bunker known as "the priest hole." Authorities discovered journals describing a "siege by the Jews." Child psychologists identified psychotic distress and paranoid personality traits consistent with sustained indoctrination. Two children required institutionalization.[60] Winrod was convicted on six counts of child abduction in February 2001[61] and sentenced in March to the maximum term of 30 years in prison.[62]