Leader of controversial
church group dies
Bozeman
Daily Chronicle (October 17, 2009)
By
Amanda Ricker and Karin Ronnow
Elizabeth
Clare Prophet, longtime spiritual leader of the controversial Church Universal
and Triumphant (CUT), died Thursday evening at her apartment in Bozeman. She was 70.
She
suffered from advanced Alzheimer's disease and died with her daughter, Moira,
and granddaughter by her side, her daughter, Erin Prophet, said Friday.
The
longtime spiritual leader of the controversial church died Thursday evening at
her apartment in Bozeman. She was 70. As the charismatic leader of the New Age
sect that many considered cult-like, Prophet led her followers along a path
that over the years included apocalyptic predictions, run-ins with local
environmental groups, legal trouble and even a late-in-life "miracle"
pregnancy that resulted in the birth of her fifth child when she was 55 years
old.
Prophet
retired from the church in 1999, but her followers still call her
"Mother" and listen faithfully to the dictations she recorded while
channeling messages from the "Ascended Masters" over the years. A
much smaller CUT than the one Prophet moved from California to Montana in the
mid-1980s continues to operate from its headquarters on the Royal Teton Ranch
in Corwin Springs.
Although
Prophet led a private life, largely away from the church, for the past decade
due to her illness, CUT President Valerie McBride said Friday that the woman
who led the church for 25 years will be greatly missed.
"She
has uplifted millions with her message of spiritual liberation and we're very
excited about carrying that message forward," McBride said.
Murray
Steinman, former CUT spokesman who, along with Erin Prophet, served as
Elizabeth's legal guardian for the past decade, said despite how the media
painted Prophet, she had a brilliant mind and cared about people.
"She
made a real contribution to not just religious and spiritual thought, but to
try to help people lead better lives," Steinman said.
The
church hasn't been generated much in the way of news since Prophet retired,
noted Carlo Cieri, a Park County commissioner from 1985 to 1995, the years when
the CUT was making a lot of headlines.
"Now,
they're kind of a real low profile," Cieri said.
Early
years
Prophet,
born in Red Bank, N.J. and also known as Guru Ma, became the church's leader
after her second husband and founder of the group, Mark Prophet, died in 1973.
Mark Prophet had founded the group in 1958 under the name The Summit
Lighthouse. Mark and Elizabeth had four children together.
After
Mark's death, Elizabeth Clare took over the teachings, which involved an
eclectic mix of karma and reincarnations, belief in celestial beings that spoke
through her, and bits and pieces of Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, astrology
and Confucianism.
Prophet
was said to have extraordinary abilities, capable of serving as an earthly conduit
for the "Ascended Masters."
Even
those who weren't followers noticed her ability to mesmerize a crowd.
"She
charmed lots of people," said Bob Raney, who was Livingston's
representative to the Montana Legislature from 1985 to 2000. "When you
went in a room and she was there, you understood it. She had quite an aura, no
doubt about it."
The
church moved several times in the early years, finding a home in Colorado,
California, and, in 1986, on the Royal Teton Ranch, a 12,000-acre spread on the
Yellowstone River Prophet had bought from publisher Malcolm Forbes for $7
million in 1981.
She
intended to create an exclusive, self-reliant community on the ranch just north
of Yellowstone National Park. Church members and their leaders considered the
ranch their promised land, and moved n some from as far away as Europe and
South America n to Park County in numbers that caught locals off guard.
"They
came here in swarms and they had some real smart people who had doctorates and other
big degrees," Cieri said.
But
many locals had a hard time with the New Age theology Prophet was preaching,
including the CUT's emphasis on dictations from religious and historical
figures that ranged from Jesus Christ to an obscure French count, St. Germain,
who in past lives was believed to be Jesus' father Joseph, from Merlin the Magician
to Christopher Columbus.
Prophet
also believed in reincarnation and told followers that in past lives she had
been Marie Antoinette, King Arthur's Queen Guinevere and the Biblical figure
Martha.
Shelter
years
After
moving the organization to Royal Teton Ranch, Prophet put her staff and members
to work building the largest private underground bomb shelter in the United
States. CUT leaders were also quietly amassing an arsenal of weapons and
armored vehicles, led in part by Prophet's fourth husband, Ed Francis.
All
of this revolved around Prophet's prediction that the end of the world was
imminent and that her followers needed to be prepared.
Construction
of the 756-person bomb shelter, however, brought the CUT a lot of unwanted attention.
It was built up Mol Heron Creek, in an alpine meadow called "The Heart of
the Inner Retreat." Environmentalists, already worried that the
mushrooming community threatened the ecological balance of Yellowstone National
Park, complained loudly that the state needed to intervene and insure water
quality and wildlife in the area were protected.
The
state stepped in and did an environmental review, ultimately giving the CUT the
go-ahead for the shelter.
Less
than a year later, word got out that Prophet was predicting the world would end
in March 1990.
"That's
when it really got strange," Raney said. "There was a frenzy about
getting ready for the end."
Members
had also been instructed to build similar shelters in Glastonbury, a Paradise
Valley subdivision then limited to members of the sect.
On
the night of March 15, 1990, hundreds if not thousands of CUT members entered
the bomb shelters. Some had quit jobs and run up big debt, anticipating the
apocalypse.
"There
was car after car heading up the valley," Cieri said. "Some of them
were crying because they didn't think they'd get in (a shelter) before the
world ended."
But
nothing happened.
Church
officials maintained the next day the whole thing had been a drill.
Retirement
In
its heyday, the church had 600 employees at Corwin Springs and many hundreds of
followers in Park and Gallatin counties. It operated construction, engineering,
food process and printing businesses.
The
church owned between 30,000 and 40,000 acres of land in Park County. Only the
federal government and Burlington Northern railroad owned more.
But
after the apocalypse never came, the church began to shrink.
Prophet
announced she was pregnant in 1994, when she was 55 years old. She declined to
discuss details. She gave birth to a son, Seth, who lives with his father, Ed
Francis.
Four
years later, Prophet announced she had Alzheimer's disease. She retired the
following year.
By
that time, the group had laid off 90 percent of its employees at Corwin
Springs, closing most of its business operations. That same year, the church
sold a swath of land to the federal government for a conservation easement. The
deal put wildlife habitat in public hands and eased tensions between the church
and community.
Today,
CUT President McBride said there are thousands of members who belong to 250
chapters across the globe and hundreds who attend the church-owned ranch in
Corwin Springs. Church literature is printed in 29 different languages.
Prophet
has lived in Bozeman since her retirement. Her legal guardians limited
visitation beginning in 2003 due to her illness.
Some
CUT members who knew she was in her final days last week filed papers in
Gallatin County District Court asking a judge to force Prophet's guardians to
put her on a feeding tube to keep her alive.
Prophet
had lost the ability to swallow, as is common with dementia patients.
But
Erin Prophet said Friday that feeding her mother intravenously would have
caused other complications and would not have prolonged her life.
A
public visitation for Prophet is planned for 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Dahl
Funeral Chapel. A private memorial ceremony will be held later in the week and
may be broadcast on the Internet, though details were not available Friday.