The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord

Lore & Background

The CSA was founded by James Ellison, who was mentored by Richard Girnt Butler of Aryan Nations and Robert E. Miles of the Mountain Church of Jesus Christ the Savior. The group's Council of Elders included Ellison, Kerry Noble, and William Wade. The CSA believed doomsday was imminent and trained members in paramilitary operations at a 224-acre compound in Elijah, Missouri, and later at the Arkansas compound. In July 1983, the group published a manifesto called A.T.T.A.C.K., declaring war on the government. Members attempted to dynamite a natural gas pipeline near Fulton, Arkansas in 1983 but failed. The group also conducted mock assassinations and operated a training facility called Silhouette City, where targets caricatured Blacks, Jews, and police officers.

Reader's Guide

The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord represents a significant example of the far-right extremist militia movement in the United States during the late 20th century. Its blend of Christian Identity theology, anti-government rhetoric, and paramilitary training influenced later white supremacist groups. The CSA's ties to Aryan Nations, The Order, and the Mountain Church illustrate the interconnected nature of these organizations. The group's 1985 siege and subsequent dissolution marked a key law enforcement action against domestic terrorism. Its legacy includes the spread of survivalist and anti-Zionist ideologies, as well as the use of compounds for training and planning violent acts. The CSA's activities, including the attempted pipeline bombing and the theft of property, highlight the operational methods of such groups. The group's decline after the arrest of its leaders underscores the impact of federal intervention on extremist organizations.

Did You Know?

• The CSA developed from a Baptist congregation called Zarephath-Horeb Community Church, founded in 1971 in Pontiac, Missouri.
• The group's compound in Arkansas had perimeter indicator plates at 100, 200, and 300 yards for adjusting rifle sights.
• CSA members attempted to dynamite a natural gas pipeline near Fulton, Arkansas in 1983 as part of its A.T.T.A.C.K. operations.
• The ATF later determined the CSA had obtained 155 Krugerrands, one live light antitank rocket, and a quantity of C-4 explosives.

From Pulpit to Paramilitary: The Birth of the CSA

The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord did not emerge overnight from the anti-government underground. Its origins stretch back to 1971, when a Baptist congregation named the Zarephath-Horeb Community Church was planted in Pontiac, Missouri. Over the following years that religious community steadily radicalized, hardening into a militant extremist organization that eventually discarded its founding name and rechristened itself the CSA. The group's operational heart was a 224-acre tract on Bull Shoals Lake in Marion County, Arkansas, which founder James Ellison bought from Campus Crusade for Christ in 1976. Members called this northern Arkansas compound "the Farm." By mid-1982 the community numbered roughly ninety to one hundred twenty people—men, women, and children living communally. The CSA's theology was apocalyptic: doomsday was near, and the group prepared accordingly. It branded the United States government a "Zionist Occupied Government" and, by July 1983, had escalated from a professed belief that the government would simply collapse under its own corruption to an outright declaration of war in a manifesto titled A.T.T.A.C.K.

Fortified Ground: Military Infrastructure and Training

Inside the compound, the CSA built what amounted to a small fortified military installation. The perimeter was marked with indicator plates nailed to trees at 100, 200, and 300-yard intervals so defenders could quickly adjust their rifle sights. A 95-foot tower anchored the central rallying point, standing beside a concrete bunkhouse that housed communications radios. Scattered around the property were numbered bunkers, each sized for one to three men and assigned to specific individuals as a post of responsibility. The infantryman's standard weapon was a Ruger Mini-14 in .223 Remington, organized into four-man fire teams modeled on early Marine Corps doctrine. Each team included one soldier carrying a Heckler & Koch Model 91 in .308, modified to selective fire. The elite "A" Team dressed in black and carried suppressed .22 Ruger target pistols and MAC-10 submachineguns in both 9 mm and .45 ACP. The ATF later catalogued the group's broader arsenal: 94 long guns, 30 handguns, 35 sawed-off shotguns, machine guns, a heavy machine gun, a live antitank rocket, 155 Krugerrands, and C-4 explosives.

Spiritual Authority and the Christian Identity Web

James Ellison stood at the center of the CSA's spiritual and organizational life, though his worldview was shaped by a web of mentors and allied figures. He was mentored by Richard Girnt Butler, the founder of Aryan Nations in Hayden Lake, Idaho, and by Robert E. Miles, who ran the Mountain Church of Jesus Christ the Savior in Cohoctah, Michigan. Both men practiced Christian Identity, a theology the FBI has placed on its watch list of extremist religions. Ellison also maintained close ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Robert G. Millar served as one of Ellison's spiritual advisers and went on to found Elohim City; after Ellison's release from federal prison, he relocated to that community and married Millar's granddaughter. The CSA's governance rested on a nine-man Council of Elders that deliberated on spiritual direction and group activities, though only three names—Ellison, Kerry Noble, and William Wade—have been publicly identified as members. The council's decisions were informed by outside mentors and the broader Christian Identity network, blending apocalyptic scripture with a paramilitary ethos that left little room for dissent.

The Long Unraveling: Defection, Foreclosure, and the 1985 Siege

The CSA's end came not through a single dramatic confrontation but through a slow unraveling of finances, membership, and legal pressure. In 1982, military leader Randall Rader departed with roughly thirty followers after a rift over Ellison's attempt to take a second wife, joining the newly forming group The Order in Idaho. The defection dealt a financial blow, and by 1983 the CSA could no longer service its mortgage. On December 20 of that year the bank foreclosed, selling the property back to Campus Crusade. Rather than leave, the group squatted on the land and mounted armed patrols to pressure the local sheriff, who repeatedly delayed eviction. Membership had already shrunk to fewer than seventy by April 1984. In April 1985, federal and state law enforcement—investigating weapons violations and terrorist acts—launched a three-day siege of the compound. The standoff ended peacefully. Officers arrested the CSA's top leaders, who were subsequently convicted, and the organization dissolved.

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