John Moore was a retired Methodist minister who served in congregations in Northern California – including the Bay Area – from the 1950s to the 1980s. His wife, Barbara Moore, died in 2004. Two of their children – Carolyn Moore Layton and Ann Elizabeth Moore – and a grandson, Jim Jon (Kimo) Prokes, died in Jonestown. He was also the father of Rebecca Moore and father-in-law of Fielding M. McGehee III, the managers of this site.
John died in July 2019. A remembrance of his life appears here.
In addition to the articles below, John Moore is the author of “Notes and reflections on our trip to Guyana”, a report written in May 1978 which appears on the Primary Sources page here. He also preached a sermon in Reno, Nevada on 26 November 1978 entitled “A Witness to Tragedy and Resurrection,” and – three weeks later – wrote a longer Statement about one family’s history through Peoples Temple, as well as a letter to The Christian Century in an attempt to place the Temple in the context of the political and social movements of the 1960s. These latter three Primary Sources appear here.
Jim Jones and Me (2018)
Prayer at May 29, 2011 Jonestown Memorial Dedication Service (2011)
New Jonestown Memorial Concludes Years of Struggle (2011)
Carolyn Moore: A Father’s Biography (2009)
Survival as a Shared Journey (2008)
The Path to Forgiveness (2008)
Robert Buxton Moore: A Remembrance (2007)
Responsibility for Jonestown Deaths Falls on Us All (2006)
Dear People Creates Bridge between Temple and Outside World (2005)
Barbara Moore: A Remembrance (2004)
A biographical profile – including an oral history interview and accompanying transcript – of John’s life appears here.