In more news from Idaho, plans by a self-described religious sect to build a dormitory on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation have raised concerns.

The Idaho State Journal reports here that about three dozen members of The Church of the Firstborn and General Assembly of Heaven moved into the Reservation Road home owned by Joseph Ahlstrom earlier this summer. Neighbors have complained about the number of people on the property, and the stress that could place on area septic systems.

The Journal directs readers to the group’s Web site, dating back to its days in Magna, Utah.

According to the site, Terrill Dalton, president and founder of the church, was told by God around 2000 that he was one of the “Two Witnesses,” written about in the Bible. He wrote on the Web site that he then began to question some of the things he was taught during his upbringing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from which he was later excommunicated.

The Web site also maintains that the “Mark of the Beast” is a GPS tracking device implanted in people’s forearms.

The paper also says Dalton’s church is mentioned on the Latter Day Saint Movement site, run by a group that devotes itself to chronicling the schisms within the Latter-day Saints. According to that site, The Church of the Firstborn and General Assembly of Heaven practices polygamy and the law of consecration.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Fort Hall Indian Reservation, The Church of the Firstborn and General Assembly of Heaven