Film archivist launches nationwide search for lost 1988 VHS documentary In Grand Assembly directed by Gregory Juaren.
New York, NY September 21, 2026: The TV Archive Project led by independent media researcher and Digital Archeologist Alexander Kinkade launched a multi-part historical inquiry into a little-known 1988 independent documentary, In Grand Assembly, and the filmmaker believed to be behind it, Independent Producer Gregory Juaren.
The investigation examines the documentary’s production and distribution, its connection to the 1988 Divine Justice convention series, reactions to the program, and questions surrounding what happened to the film and its creator as institutional religious video production expanded in subsequent years.
At the center of the research is a historical question: Could an independent filmmaker have demonstrated an important possibility in video production before a much larger organization developed its own substantial video-production capabilities?
The inquiry does not presume an answer.
A Search for an Original Historical Artifact
We are actively seeking an original copy of In Grand Assembly 1988, particularly a VHS copy retained with its original box, cover insert and packaging.
An acquisition offer is currently being made:
$500–$750 for a boxed copy of In Grand Assembly dating from the 1988–2003 period.
$750–$1,500 for a copy originally released in 1988 in a plastic box with a cover insert.
These offers target a key historical artifact currently at the center of our research team’s active search.
Individuals who believe they possess an original copy are encouraged to make contact before discarding, selling, altering or separating the recording from its original packaging.
Researchers are also interested in photographs of tapes and packaging, labels, receipts, advertisements, sales records, correspondence, broadcast information and other surviving documentation that could help establish the documentary’s origin, distribution and history.
The Gregory Juaren Question
Gregory Juaren is the central figure in the inquiry.
Researchers have contacted Juaren directly regarding the project. At present, he is unable to participate because of previous obligations. That circumstance is not being treated as evidence either for or against any of the historical questions under investigation.
Because original production materials and packaging have not yet been obtained from Juaren, the research continues through surviving documents, original copies, contemporary records, independent testimony and other evidence.
The investigation is particularly interested in determining what Juaren created and how audiences responded to his work.
One area of research concerns reports that viewers connected with the production in a particularly positive and empowering way. Another concerns reported letters of appreciation associated with the television broadcast of a six-part series and what those communications might reveal about the program’s reception.
These questions remain part of the investigation and are not being presented as established conclusions.
Why the Star Wars Reference?
The title deliberately invokes Star Wars, but the comparison is not intended to equate religious belief with fictional mythology or to compare real institutions with fictional characters.
Instead, the reference concerns a recurring storytelling idea: significant possibilities do not always originate at the center of power.
Luke Skywalker begins outside established centers of authority and eventually becomes important because of abilities and possibilities that others did not initially recognize.
The historical question surrounding Juaren is considerably narrower: Did an individual working outside a large institutional media operation demonstrate a form of video production that would later become important to a much larger organization?
If the evidence ultimately supports that possibility, another question follows: what happened to the individual’s place in the historical record?
If the evidence does not support it, that conclusion will also become part of the research.
A Media-History Investigation, Not a Religious Debate
The inquiry is explicitly focused on media history, not religious doctrine.
It is not an examination of the beliefs, doctrines, religious practices or personal experiences of Jehovah’s Witnesses, nor is it intended to argue for or against those beliefs.
The research instead focuses on people, technology, independent filmmaking, television broadcasting, distribution, surviving physical media and the historical documentation surrounding a particular period of video production.
Where evidence is incomplete, the investigation will identify what is documented, what has been reported by others and what remains unverified.
The objective is not to reach a predetermined conclusion, but to follow the surviving evidence.
An Open Historical Question
The inquiry begins with questions rather than a verdict.
What exactly did Gregory Juaren create, discover or develop?
What impact did his work have on viewers who encountered it through television?
What can surviving correspondence, broadcasts, videotapes and packaging reveal about the production?
Why might a production that generated a significant response have become difficult to locate decades later?
And how can researchers reconstruct a forgotten media story when portions of the historical record are incomplete, contradictory or missing?
Those questions form the foundation of the multi-part investigation.
Part One, “The Mystery Begins,” launches the series.
Future installments will examine Gregory Juaren, the television environment in which In Grand Assembly emerged, the 1988 Divine Justice convention, surviving documentation, the search for an original videotape and the broader history of independent religious video production during the period.
Individuals possessing information, original materials or documentation relating to In Grand Assembly, Gregory Juaren or the television broadcasts associated with the production are invited to contact Alexander K. Media Research.
Written and researched by Alexander K. Media Research (Digital Archeologist)
With assistance from individuals who provided information and research materials.
Historical research status: Ongoing. Some information currently under investigation is based on recollections and reports that have not yet been independently verified. Claims will be evaluated and updated as additional evidence becomes available.
For media inquiries, information about this inquiry, or to report an original copy of In Grand Assembly 1988 or related historical materials, please contact:
Alexander K. Media Research (Digital Archeologist)
Email: [email protected]
Please include “In Grand Assembly” in the subject line of email correspondence.
