Bridget M. Jacobs, M.A., is employed by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; however, her interest and work in cult studies, outreach, education and activism are not directly connected to her work for the university but rather from her past membership in Every Nation Churches and Ministries (or EN; formerly known as Morning Star International or MSI). This group is directly descended from the much better known Bible-based, Shepherding “cult,” Maranatha Campus Ministries, which was active on college campuses internationally during the 1970s and 1980s but legally disbanded in 1989-1990. She is part of a growing, yet very loosely organized group of former Every Nation/Morning Star and Maranatha members using online forums and blogs for mutual support, research, outreach and activism, and was part of a small initial group of former members who first spearheaded open, online discussions regarding the group on the FACTNet discussion forum (www.factnet.org/discus) beginning in mid-2004.  She has also developed a historical timeline tracing the current group’s leadership and corporate organization back to its Maranatha roots, currently maintained at http://www.geocities.com/ulyankee.

Ms. Jacobs has a master’s degree in English from Radford University (VA) and has attempted to utilize academic research and literary/rhetorical critical methods to help foster and support Internet-based, grassroots education, networking, support and activism among former Maranatha and MSI/EN members.