Editing Church Universal and Triumphant (section)

====Creating Camelot and Glastonbury====

In 1977, the CUT spent $5.6 million purchasing a 218-acre property near [[Malibu, California|Malibu]] on [[Mulholland Highway]], naming it "Camelot" after the legendary Arthurian city.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=16|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2pp=40, 51}} The Church's growing presence in California generated problems with local communities and the media, with areas of contention arising over the CUT's observance of [[zoning laws]] and negative reports provided by former Church members.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=40}} Negative attitudes towards the Church were exacerbated by the growth of the [[anti-cult movement]] during the 1970s;{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=41, 48}} sentiments that peaked following the [[Jonestown]] [[mass suicide]] of [[Peoples Temple]] members in November 1978.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=54}} The CUT's detractors alleged that the CUT [[brainwashing|brainwashed]] members using mind-control techniques so as to separate them from their families and ensure their loyalty to the group.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=379|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=48}} Media reports alleged that Prophet accumulated wealth and used it to fund a comfortable lifestyle, while members lived more modestly.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=48}}

[[File:Ecp-croagh-patrick-1980.jpg|thumb|left|Prophet on a visit to [[Croagh Patrick]] in Ireland in 1980]]

Shortly after Mark Prophet's death, Elizabeth married another senior Church member, Randall King, although they divorced in 1980.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=52}} In 1983, King filed a legal action against the Church, claiming involuntary servitude, fraud, and emotional distress; he settled out of court.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=54}} Further legal issues arose with other ex-members in the 1980s; in 1986, the Church brought a suit against Gregory Mull to recover a $37,000 loan. He counter-sued for fraud, involuntary servitude, and extortion, and won his case, being awarded $1.5 million in damages.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=54-55}}
From 1981, the CUT began acquiring large tracts of land in southwest Montana, near the [[Teton Mountains]].{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=47}} These mountains had been important for I AM and subsequent groups based upon its teachings, which regarded the Tetons as the hollow dwelling place of Saint Germaine.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=47}} The Church initially acquired a 12,000 acre ranch formerly owned by [[Malcolm Forbes]] before gaining neighboring land throughout the 1980s, to the extent that their Royal Teton Ranch amounted to over 24,000 acres.{{sfnm|1a1=Whitsel|1y=2003|1p=47|2a1=Starrs|2a2=Wright|2y=2005|2p=106}}

In Park County, Montana, there were growing concerns among locals that the CUT would use its growing presence for a political takeover; this was particularly a concern given that these were the tactics employed by [[Rajneesh]]’s religious community in [[Ashland, Oregon]].{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=49}} Some locals as well as environmentalists were also concerned about the CUT's construction projects at the Royal Teton Ranch; they had hoped that the land would have been incorporated into the nearby [[Gallatin National Forest]].{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=49-50}} Officials at [[Yellowstone]] were particularly frustrated that the Church's building was interfering with wildlife migration.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=50}} In early 1981, the US Representative [[Wayne Owens]] tried to introduce measures that would have allowed the government to compulsorily purchase the Royal Teton Ranch, but these proved unsuccessful.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=50}}

In 1986, the Church officially moved its headquarters to the Royal Teton Ranch in Montana, selling Camelot to Japanese investors representing the [[Nichiren Shoshu]] Buddhist group.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=16|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=47}} Prophet related that the Montana ranch offered her followers "protection from economic collapse, bank failure, civil disorder, war, and cataclysm".{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=78}} The ranch became home to around 600 Church members, all of whom had to be members of the Keepers of the Flame.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=47-48}} Many established homes on an area around 15 miles north of the ranch, near the hamlet of Emigrant; they called it Glastonbury after the town in England with Arthurian associations.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=19|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=105}} Life in Montana provided greater levels of autonomy and social isolation for the group;{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=91-92}} according to Whitsel, moving there "facilitated the further entrenchment of a countercultural outlook" among the Church.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=92}}

Following the move to Montana, the belief in a forthcoming major disaster became increasingly prominent within the group.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=314}} In 1980, it published ''Prophecy for the 1980s'', making apocalyptic predictions.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=47}}