New lawsuit against Southern Arizona religious sect alleges forced labor

A new federal lawsuit is putting allegations of forced labor and family separation involving a Southern Arizona religious community before a Tucson judge. Joshua Lilly, a former member of the Global Community Communications Alliance, says he spent roughly a decade directing construction work for the organization without pay, benefits or ordinary employment protections. The work helped create the group’s compound near Tumacacori, as well as buildings and businesses in Tucson that residents may recognize, including the former Soulistic Hospice offices on East Speedway Boulevard and the Sea of Glass arts and event venue on East Seventh Street.

Lilly filed the case in the U.S. District Court in Tucson, seeking compensation under federal laws that prohibit coerced labor and labor trafficking. His original complaint was filed July 23, followed by an amended complaint Sept. 25. The lawsuit says Lilly worked as GCCA’s licensed general contractor from 2006 through November 2016 and oversaw the design and construction of more than 40 structures on the organization’s 227-acre property. That site, known as Avalon Gardens and Ecovillage, sits along the Santa Cruz River near Tumacacori and became the center of the group’s operations after its move from Sedona.

According to the complaint, Lilly routinely worked 12 to 20 hours a day, seven days a week. It says he received no wages, benefits or other workplace protections, and that income from contracting jobs outside the community was turned over entirely to GCCA. He also supervised a construction crew and led work on the group’s Trinity Dome, a prominent structure at the compound. The lawsuit describes the buildings and infrastructure as the physical foundation of GCCA’s religious and commercial activities, built through what Lilly characterizes as years of unpaid labor.

The case also centers on how Lilly says the organization controlled members’ finances, relationships and ability to leave. The complaint alleges that members were required to surrender assets, and that some were assigned debts to the group. It says members signed documents stating that if they left, their children could remain with the parent who stayed in GCCA or with the organization itself. Lilly further alleges that members were required to disclose personal information during counseling sessions, report on other members and accept the group’s characterization of departing members as apostates. Those who left, he says, faced shunning and the loss of their community and family ties.

Lilly was first brought into the organization by his parents when he was about 12, while the group was based in Sedona. His parents later became senior leaders, and he was expelled at 16, according to the lawsuit. He returned in 2006 after his wife wanted to rejoin and because relatives remained in the community. The complaint says that, after he objected to a demand that his contact with his children be approved and supervised by GCCA leaders, he was expelled again. He says he was left in Nogales without money, housing or a support network.

The lawsuit alleges that GCCA then served Lilly with divorce and custody papers and made any possible return conditional on surrendering parental rights and paying $50,000. Lilly ultimately accepted supervised visitation, according to the complaint. His last supervised visit with his son Cleson, who was about 18 months old, lasted one hour. Lilly says he was notified of the child’s death on Aug. 26, 2016, and expelled from the compound before the funeral. The complaint alleges he needed permission from GCCA founder Anthony Joseph Delevin to deliver a eulogy. Lilly is seeking damages for the value of his labor, lost earning capacity, assets he says he surrendered, legal expenses connected to proceedings initiated by GCCA and emotional distress. The case also seeks punitive damages.

The defendants include GCCA, Delevin’s estate, four senior leaders, and three businesses associated with the organization. Those leaders include Lilly’s mother, Catherine “Centria” Lilly, who the lawsuit says oversees GCCA’s finances and businesses. Delevin, who used several religious names before legally changing his name to Van of Urantia, died in August 2025. The corporate defendants include Soulistic Medical Institute and Avalon Universal Enterprises, which does business as Arc Roofing and Earth Harmony Builders.

GCCA denies the allegations and is asking the court to dismiss the case. In a motion filed Sept. 11, its attorneys argued that some of Lilly’s claims were filed too late and that his allegations do not establish legally coerced labor. The lawyers said the complaint does not describe assault, confinement, physical restraint, threats of bodily injury or the use of legal process to compel work. They also point to Lilly’s eventual departure from the community as evidence that his labor was not forced. In a statement, GCCA representative Selendra Calverio said Lilly voluntarily returned to the religious community as an adult, understood its terms and accepted what she described as a vow of poverty similar to commitments made in other religious traditions. She said the organization considers his claims untrue or misleading and will contest them if the case survives the dismissal stage.

The lawsuit follows two other cases filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court by women using the names Jane M. Doe and Jane S. Doe. Those suits also allege forced labor, coercion and efforts to conceal sexual abuse. A recent investigation into GCCA’s finances and labor practices reported that the organization relied on unpaid work from about 100 members and on revenue from Soulistic Hospice, which generated millions of dollars in profits each year. The new federal case is now at the stage of dismissal motions, and the court must first decide whether Lilly’s claims can proceed before the broader allegations are tested through litigation.