jim jones was just 25 years old when he started peoples temple in indianapolis in 1956. as a lonely only child in a small indiana town, jimmy jones took comfort in religion and became something of an evangelical prodigy, entertaining friends in his backyard barn with long winded sermons and animal funerals. his indianapolis ministry aroused controversy with its integrated socially active congregation in a city with historic ties to the ku klux klan. i was staying at the ymca. i saw in a recorded paper, an advertisement about the peoples temple. he called me later and said why didn t you come back to the temple. i thought, no one no pastor ever asked me to come to temple before or why i wasn t in church. so i went back. he offered me to sit down in the seat where he was sitting. at the table to eat. he said, you can have my seat.