Editing Church Universal and Triumphant (section)

==History==
===Origins===
[[File:Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.jpg|thumb|The Russian-born [[Helena Blavatsky]] founded [[Theosophy]], one of the two major influences over the CUT]]
The Church Universal and Triumphant was strongly influenced by two earlier religious movements, Theosophy and I AM.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=376|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=7|3a1=Palmer|3a2=Abravanel|3y=2009|3p=172}} Theosophy had been established largely by [[Helena Blavatsky]], a woman born in the Russian Empire but who moved to the United States. There, during the 1880s, she presented the claim that she had been contacted by spiritual adepts known as the Masters and that she was relaying their messages through her publications.{{sfn|Melton|1994|p=2}} Barrett described the [[Theosophical Society]] as the "spiritual great-grandparent" of the CUT.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=380}}
 
I AM adopted the idea of Ascended Masters from Theosophy.{{sfn|Melton|1994|p=2}} In 1929, an American named [[Guy Ballard]] claimed to have encountered an Ascended Master named [[St. Germain (Theosophy)|Saint Germaine]] while on [[Mount Shasta]] in California. He subsequently began delivering messages to his followers that he maintained were from these Ascended Masters.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1pp=2, 4|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Abravanel|2y=2009|2p=172}} It was Ballard, the scholar of religion [[J. Gordon Melton]] claimed, who was responsible for "developing much of the Church [of Universal and Triumphant]'s thought and practice".{{sfn|Melton|1994|p=1}} I AM taught that the Ascended Masters had designated the United States as the place where the new [[Golden Age|golden age]] of humanity would begin.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=8}} Its political stance was right-wing, characterised by firm American patriotism and strident anti-communism, features that would influence the CUT.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=7, 44}} Ballard died in 1939.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=4|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Abravanel|2y=2009|2p=172}} While I AM became embroiled in legal issues, new groups formed from people claiming to be Messengers from the Ascended Masters during the 1940s and 1950s.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1pp=13-14|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Abravanel|2y=2009|2pp=172-173}}

===Mark Prophet===
Mark Prophet, the founder of the organization that became the CUT, had been involved in one of the factions that splintered from I AM in the 1950s.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=8}} This was [[Francis Ekey]]'s Lighthouse of Freedom, which had established formal classes in 1954.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=27}} In its newsletter, ''I AM the Lighthouse of Freedom'', the group anonymously published messengers allegedly channeled from the Ascended Masters; Prophet was the one responsible for providing these messages.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=27}} Raised into a working-class [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] family, Prophet was an Army Air Corps veteran from [[Chippewa Falls]], [[Wisconsin]].{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=27}} He alleged that the Ascended Master El Morya had first appeared before him when he was driving spikes on the railway line near Chippewa Falls, asking him to serve their cause.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=28}}  Whitsel described Prophet as one of "the most prominent competing Messengers" from the Ascended Masters amid the vacuum caused by Ballard's death.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=28}}

Prophet severed his links with the Lighthouse of Freedom in 1958. From Washington DC, where he had lived with his wife and children since the mid-1950s, he then established his own group, the Summit Lighthouse.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=14|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=28}} For several years there was friction between the Summit Lighthouse and the Lighthouse of Freedom.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=28}} Prophet printed the messages he claimed to have received from the Ascended Masters in a publication, ''Ashram Notes'', that was then mailed to members, who at that time largely resided in suburban parts of Washington DC.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=28-29}}

====Meeting Elizabeth Prophet====

Prophet embarked on a speaking tour of colleges in the north-eastern states. In April 1961 he spoke at [[Boston University]], where he met a 21-year old undergraduate student of [[political science]], Elizabeth Clare Ytreberg (née Wulf). Born to a German father and Swiss mother, the latter of whom was a [[Christian Science|Christian Scientist]], Elizabeth had an interest in esotericism.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=29-30}} Like Prophet, Elizabeth was married, but they swiftly established a relationship, annulled their existing marriages, and married each other.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=29}} Between 1961 and 1966, Prophet trained his new wife to become a co-Messenger of the Ascended Masters, claiming that he was doing so with the assistance of two Ascended Masters in particular, Morya and Saint Germain.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=31}}

[[File:Lanello, Guru Ma e Tatiana.JPG|thumb|left|Mark and Elizabeth Prophet]]

In 1962 the Prophets moved the Summit Lighthouse headquarters to Fairfax, Virginia, establishing a teaching center in their home.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=14|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=30}} They then established an inner circle of dedicated members within the Lighthouse, known as the Keepers of the Flame Fraternity.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=30}} There, they purchased a mechanised printing press, allowing them to greatly expand the production of ''Ashram Notes''.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=30}} Mark Prophet's 1965 book ''The Soulless Ones'' reflected his growing concerns about extraterrestrials whom he thought were combating the Ascended Masters' efforts to perfect human society.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=32-33}}

The Prophets briefly relocated to Vienna, Virginia and then in 1965 to Colorado Springs.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=32}} There they bought a 19th-century mansion in the centre of the city, which became their home and the Summit Lighthouse's headquarters; they named it La Tourelle.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=32}} The group's most committed members moved into this property with the Prophets and their children.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=33}} Whitsel believed that the relocation to Colorado and away from the vicinity of Washington DC reflected the group's growing suspicion of the federal government;{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=32}} by this point, the group was espousing a belief in a conspiracy of the government, mainstream religion, and extraterrestrials to combat its attempts to build earthly perfection.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=12}}

In Colorado Springs, they replaced ''Ashram Notes'' with ''Pearls of Wisdom'', a weekly newspaper distributed for free to anyone interested, allowing them to attract a larger pool of people around their work.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=32}} In Colorado, the Summit Lighthouse launched its nationwide conferences, called Ascended Master Conclaves, initially held on a 200-acre ranch outside the city which they leased.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=32}}

In 1969 they established a regional teaching center in Santa Barbara, calling it "the Motherhouse".{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=39}} By 1971 this was being used as the site for the administration of a two-week training course, called the Ascended Master University.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=15|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=39}} In 1970 they also launched the Montessori International School for the children of their followers, which was based on the educational theories of [[Maria Montessori]].{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=15|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=36}} Between 1969 and 1972, the Prophets began traveling abroad – to Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and India – to promote their teachings.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=36}} Over the course of the 1970s, the group would see a substantial growth in its membership.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=33}} In 1972, the Prophets issued ''Climb the Highest Mountain'', a book explaining their teachings.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=36}}

===Elizabeth Prophet's leadership===

[[File:Elizabeth clare prophet 1984.jpg|thumb|right|Elizabeth Clare Prophet, photographed in 1984]]

On February 26, 1973, Mark Prophet died of a sudden seizure, leaving his wife, then aged 33, as the group's sole leader,{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=15|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=37}} as well as their sole Messenger of the Ascended Masters.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=1}} She announced that Mark had become an Ascended Master known as Lanello; this was similar to a claim made by Edna Ballard after Guy Ballard's death.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=15|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=37|3a1=Palmer|3a2=Abravanel|3y=2009|3p=171}} Elizabeth then stated that she felt called by Jesus to reconstitute the Summit Lighthouse in new form as the Church Universal and Triumphant. As part of this, the old institutional structure was broken up, new by-laws introduced, and a new board of elders introduced.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=16|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=38}} The Summit Lighthouse became the publishing arm of the new CUT.{{sfnm|1a1=Melton|1y=1994|1p=16|2a1=Barrett|2y=2001|2p=374|3a1=Whitsel|3y=2003|3p=38|4a1=Palmer|4a2=Abravanel|4y=2009|4p=175}} Elizabeth stated that the name "Church Universal and Triumphant" had been suggested to her by [[Pope John XXIII]], an Ascended Master.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=175}}

Elizabeth began calling herself the "Vicar of Christ."{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=38}} Elizabeth emphasised the importance of the feminine Mother as a counterpart to the male Father.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=37-38}} She presented an image of herself as the "Divine Mother," manifesting the [[Virgin Mary]], the "Maker of the Flame."{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=38}} Church members called Elizabeth "Mother,{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=374|2a1=Whitsel|2y=2003|2p=5}} or "Guru Ma."{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=374}}

In 1973, Elizabeth moved to Santa Barbara as her permanent home.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=39}} That year she extended the training programme operating there from two to twelve weeks and renamed it as the Summit University.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=39}} Under Elizabeth's leadership, new teaching centres were established in US cities like Minneapolis, Washington DC, and New York City,{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=38}} while she continued making extended lecture tours across the country.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=41}} 1973 also saw the CUT form the Lanello Reserves Inc, a private, property-making corporation that focused on trading in gold and silver coins; Prophet headed its board of directors.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=56}} The CUT's members were encouraged to transfer their savings into gold and bullion, reflecting the Church's mistrust of the Federal Reserve and banking system.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=57}} The Church also formed a survival food processing business in Colorado Springs,{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=43}} with Prophet's rhetoric becoming increasingly survivalist during the 1970s and the Church selling survival equipment to its members.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=42}}

She also announced the launch of Operation Christ Command in 1973, to alert its members to the likelihood of nuclear war with the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=42}} Fearing the collapse of American society, some high-ranking members spent $100,000 on large numbers of firearms; these were officially obtained through a joint-stock company, the Rocky Mountain Sportsmen Club, to provide Prophet and the Church with plausible deniability.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=43}} These weapons were initially stored on Church property before being moved elsewhere.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=43}}

====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}}

====Entering a survivalist strategy====

[[File:Taylor Meadows fuel spill 1.jpg|thumb|right|A leaking fuel tank being removed at a bomb shelter on the Royal Teton Ranch in 1990]]

In the late 1980s, the CUT entered a survivalist strategy.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}} Prophet stated that the world had entered a "danger period of accelerated negative karma" and that this would precipitate a Soviet nuclear strike against the United States.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=1}} She insisted that the liberalising ''[[glasnost]]'' project of Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] was a propaganda front and that his government was planning a nuclear attack.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=105}} In a 1986 [[Thanksgiving]] message that she claimed came through her from Saint Germain, Prophet stated that the Church must start preparing underground shelters to survive a nuclear war.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=86-87}} It subsequently began construction of a multi-acre underground nuclear shelter near Mol Herron Creek on the Royal Teton Ranch;{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=102}} costing over $3 million to build, it would provide shelter for around 750 people and was called "Mark's Ark" after the Church's founder.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=105}}

Emily Harnett describes the compound:
{{blockquote|Made of steel and concrete, the structure consisted of multiple underground passages arranged in the shape of an H and divided with submarine-style doors. The largest of its shelters was big enough to fit a semitruck. Each was equipped with decontamination chambers at its entrance—shower stalls, landlines within reach—to wash off radioactive fallout. The church built bunk beds with purple seat belts on them. There were infirmaries and laundry facilities. Radiation suits and Geiger counters and body bags. Huge armored trucks designed for transporting military combat crews. They had enough food to last them seven years—floor-to-ceiling grain supplies, nonperishables. According to Erin, they had a tractor trailer’s worth of Isuzu pickup trucks. Beneath the bunker, in a chamber, they had more than five million dollars’ worth of gold and silver bullion, as well as twenty-five thousand dollars in pennies. (Paper currency, they suspected, would have little use in the postapocalyptic world.) And they had guns: fifty AR-15s and thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammunition, for defense against roving bands of marauders.
All told, the church spent around $12 million on the project.<ref name="Harnett-Failed-June-2024-56-7" />}}
The residents of Glastonbury also created around 45 smaller fallout shelters for their own use.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=105}}

The group began stockpiling food, survival equipment and other material, believing that after a nuclear war began they would be forced to hide underground for a period lasting between several months and seven years.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=1-2}} In July 1989, senior Church member Vernon Hamilton was arrested after trying to buy weapons in Spokane, Washington. Although the purchase of these weapons was legal, he had tried to do so under a false name, which was against the law.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=106}} Federal agents seized over $100,000 of weaponry and 120,000 rounds of ammunition from Hamilton.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=106}} The CUT's acting vice president, Edward Francis – who was also Prophet's fourth husband – also admitted involvement in Hamilton's scheme and received a short prison sentence.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=106}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Eng|first=James L.|title=Montana Church Member Spared Jail Time for Illegal Weapons Purchase|url=https://apnews.com/81fcca81a2400cde0d904cc881dcff3f|work=AP News Archive|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref> Prophet met locals in Montana to calm fears that her community planned to attack others; she denied any knowledge of Hamilton's plans, although many observers did not believe these denials.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=106}} Environmentalist concerns were also raised about their activities and the impact they had on the adjacent Yellowstone National Park.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=176}} In April 1990, CUT storage tanks leaked, spilling 21,000 gallons of diesel and 11,500 gallons of gasoline.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=176}}

====Prophesying a nuclear strike====
The Mol Herron shelter was completed in early March, 1990.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=106}} Prophet began predicting that March 15, 1990 would be the day of the Soviet nuclear strike, claiming that the "karmic increase" would peak on that day.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=108-109}} Throughout the first half of March, CUT members began flocking to the Church's Montana properties in large numbers, attracting attention.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=111}} Growing media attention followed.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|pp=2, 111, 114}}  On March 15, around 7000 CUT members entered the shelters,{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=176}} to begin what the church now calls the "shelter cycle".<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-56-7>{{cite magazine | title=The Prophet Who Failed |first=Emily |last=Harnett |magazine=Harper's|date=June 2024 |pages=56–7 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2024/06/the-prophet-who-wasnt-after-the-apocalypse-that-failed-emily-harnett/ |access-date=30 July 2024 }}</ref> Many Church members, banking on their faith in Prophet, had quit their jobs, drained their bank accounts, sold their houses, furniture, cars, to buy survival supplies and flee to the compound.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}}

In her memoir, Prophet's daughter Erin writes that at first the mood of the followers underground was "jubilant",<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-58>{{cite magazine | title=The Prophet Who Failed |first=Emily |last=Harnett |magazine=Harper's|date=June 2024 |page=58 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2024/06/the-prophet-who-wasnt-after-the-apocalypse-that-failed-emily-harnett/ |access-date=30 July 2024 }}</ref> but on the morning of March 16, many members left the shelters to find that the nuclear attack had not occurred. Many immediately reassessed their beliefs.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}}   About a third of the Church's members immediately broke from the group.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}}  By the second night underground, the mood among the followers was "tense, muted desperation". Gathering her closest followers, Elizabeth proclaimed it time to call down judgment upon America. Elizabeth herself, wielding a ceremonial sword, called on the archangel Michael to "let the bombs descend."<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-58/>

In the prophecy's aftermath, Prophet maintained that the nuclear attack had failed to materialise not because her original predictions were incorrect, but because the Church's prayers had led to divine intervention to avert the disaster.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=2}} Another explanation offered by the church (by minister Neroli Duffy) was that Prophet had never predicted the end of the world and the event had simply been a "drill".<ref name="legacy">{{cite news|last1=Flandro|first1=Carly|title=The legacy of Elizabeth Clare Prophet|url=http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/100/newsmakers/the-legacy-of-elizabeth-clare-prophet/article_03a800bc-d139-11e0-ab6a-001cc4c03286.html|access-date=May 31, 2017|work=Bozeman Daily Chronicle|date=August 28, 2011}}</ref>

===Decline and reorganization===
The collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War also left the Church without ongoing relevance for a major component of its ideology.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=5}} After the Justice Department discovered that the CUT had been hoarding weapons for several years, it urged the [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) to strip the Church of its tax-exempt religious status. The IRS did so in 1992, and demanded $2.5 million in back taxes and penalty fees.{{sfnm|1a1=Whitsel|1y=2003|1pp=2-3|2a1=Starrs|2a2=Wright|2y=2005|2p=109}}{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=176}} The CUT's attorneys argued against this, claiming that the Church was the victim of religious discrimination orchestrated largely by the [[anti-cult movement]]. The Church won its legal arguments and had its tax-exempt status restored in 1994.{{sfnm|1a1=Whitsel|1y=2003|1p=3|2a1=Starrs|2a2=Wright|2y=2005|2p=110}}

In 1996, several Church members split to form their own group, the Temple of the Presence, based in [[Chelsea, Vermont]]. They claimed that they were the true Messengers of the Ascended Masters.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=5}}

In July 1996, Prophet announced that she was transferring chief administrative role to the Belgian-born Gilbert Cleirbaut, who was not a Church minister but had experience in management.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=375|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Abravanel|2y=2009|2p=177}} In November 1996, she then announced her divorce from her fourth husband, Edward Francis, although he remained executive vice president of the Church until 1998.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1pp=374-375|2a1=Palmer|2a2=Abravanel|2y=2009|2p=178}} In late 1997, the Church revealed that Prophet had been affected by a neurological disorder, later diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease. She subsequently limited her activities with the group.{{sfnm|1a1=Whitsel|1y=2003|1p=5|2a1=Starrs|2a2=Wright|2y=2005|2p=111|3a1=Palmer|3a2=Abravanel|3y=2009|3p=178}} In 1998 she appointed a friend to have limited guardianship over her.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=375}} By this point, none of her four children were associated with the Church, quashing suggestions that they might succeed her as Messenger.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=5}}

The Church administration attempted to modernise the group, transforming its image into that of a New Age corporation, as part of which they loosened its authoritarian leadership and focused on developing the approximately 200 small teaching centers and study groups.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=1}} Amid growing financial difficulty, in 1999, the CUT either sold or put into conservation easements approximately half of its 12,000 acres at Royal Teton Ranch; this raised $13 million for the group.{{sfnm|1a1=Whitsel|1y=2003|1p=5|2a1=Starrs|2a2=Wright|2y=2005|2p=112}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Wald|first=Matthew L.|title=Federal Land Deal Protects Yellowstone Herd and Geysers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/22/us/federal-land-deal-protects-yellowstone-herd-and-geysers.html|work=New York Times|date=22 August 1999 |access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref> The Church also had to cut back on its ranch workforce from around 600 people to 75.{{sfn|Whitsel|2003|p=6}}

The radical changes brought resistance from many Church members, especially its hundreds of former employees.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=180}} Cleirbaut's emphasis on globalizing the Church also clashed with the belief in the United States as having a special place in the Ascended Masters' plans, generating further tension.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=182}} The Board of Directors began blocking Cleirbaut's proposals and in 1999 he was removed from office.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=180}} Regional Church leaders had been emboldened by Cleirbaut's reforms and were resistant to the new board of directors-driven leadership and its attempt to re-assert centralised control.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|pp=181, 184}}

Having moved to Canada in 2001, Cleirbaut began claiming that he had received messages from Mother Mary, Jesus, and St Germain, on the basis of which he launched LLL (Launching Loving Legacies).{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=183}} Various groups began splintering from the Church, some led by individuals who claimed that they were now Messengers from the Ascended Masters.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|pp=173, 186}} In 2006, one CUT official stated that they were aware of 17 schismatic groups.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=173}} The most successful of these was the Temple of the Presence.{{sfn|Palmer|Abravanel|2009|p=186}}

Prophet retired in 1999 for health reasons. She died in 2009.<ref name="LAObit">{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-elizabeth-clare-prophet19-2009oct19-story.html |title=Elizabeth Clare Prophet dies at 70; former leader of religious sect | date = October 19, 2009 | website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 12, 2019}}</ref>

A 2020 article in ''[[Insider Inc.|Insider]]'' stated that the group had largely disintegrated and the majority of the group's assets had been sold off. Several splinter groups exist, near Billings, Montana, and Yellowstone, with several hundred members.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Orecchio-Egresitz|first=Haven|title=The world didn't end, and this once thriving doomsday cult has faded. But some of its loyal leaders still operate near Yellowstone National Park.|url=https://www.insider.com/a-once-thriving-doomsday-cult-has-shrunk-2020-2|access-date=2021-05-05|website=Insider|language=en-US}}</ref>  As of the 2020s, Emily Harnett writes that the church still holds quarterly conferences, which involve services for veteran members as well as an introductory program, at Royal Teton Ranch, the church headquarters in Corwin Springs, Montana.<ref name="Harnett-Failed-June-2024-52,54,55">{{cite magazine | title=The Prophet Who Failed |first=Emily |last=Harnett |magazine=Harper's|date=June 2024 |pages=52, 54, 55 |url=https://harpers.org/archive/2024/06/the-prophet-who-wasnt-after-the-apocalypse-that-failed-emily-harnett/ |access-date=30 July 2024 }}</ref>