As a teenager, DeWayne Hafen helped Ross LeBaron in his machine shop while LeBaron taught him about the Church of the Firstborn. When Hafen met him again as an adult, LeBaron was hesitant to ordain Hafen. The reason was Hafen’s previous affiliation with The Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of the Times. Even though Ross LeBaron considered his brothers’ organization a “counterfeit” of the true Church of the Firstborn, he wouldn’t “steal” someone who “belonged” to them.
In this interview given to journalist Dale Van Atta in June 1978, Hafen speaks of his disillusion with the two main leaders of the larger LeBaronite church, Joel and Ervil LeBaron. “There were deals for wives, women, money, land… A lot of people told me I was a damn fool. Everyone else was dealing for something. I wasn’t dealing for anything”.
After their “split”, DeWayne Hafen was a target for Ervil LeBaron, with one of his houses burned down by arsonists during an attack on Los Molinos (nowadays called Ejido Zarahembla), Baja California in December 1974.
Commenting on the reaction of the LDS hierarchy to The Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of the Times, Hafen said “They were shook. They really were. They were shook enough to write books against us”.
In 1979, Hafen would be ordained to the patriarchal priesthood by Ross LeBaron.
To read or download the interview, click here: DeWayneHafen – MSS 2258 Box 2 Interview to Van Atta in Los Molinos 1978.
Ross LeBaron, the Holy Order and the Church of the Firstborn 