Jimmie T. "Jim" Roberts (born June 5, 1939) is the founder of a religious movement known as the Brethren (alternatively The Body of Christ, the Brothers and Sisters, or the garbage eaters).

Roberts was born in the American South, the son of a part-time Pentecostal preacher. He later joined the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

. Around 1970, He became convinced that mainstream churches had become corrupt and that the last days were imminent. Roberts began recruiting followers to his apocalyptic

Apocalypticism

Apocalypticism is the religious belief that there will be an apocalypse, a term which originally referred to a revelation of God's will, but now usually refers to belief that the world will come to an end time very soon, even within one's own lifetime...

views, advocating a lifestyle based upon an itinerant example he found in the New Testament accounts of Jesus sending forth disciples. Within the movement, he is known as "Brother Evangelist".

After several incidents during the late 1970s and early 1980s, both Roberts and the group became extremely secretive and disappeared from public view, except for occasional mentions in books and the media.