Editing New religious movement (section)

===Leadership and succession===
[[File:Mary Baker Eddy cph.3b20582.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mary Baker Eddy]]]]
NRMs are typically founded and led by a charismatic leader.{{sfn|Barker|1989|p=13}} The death of any religion's founder represents a significant moment in its history.   Over the months and years following its leader's death, the movement can die out, fragment into multiple groups, consolidate its position, or change its nature to become something quite different from what its founder intended. In some cases, a NRM moves closer to the religious mainstream after the death of its founder.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|pp=58–60}}

A number of founders of new religions established plans for succession to prevent confusion after their deaths. [[Mary Baker Eddy]], the American founder of Christian Science, spent fifteen years working on her book ''The [[Manual of the Mother Church]]'', which laid out how the group should be run by her successors.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=66}} The leadership of the Baháʼí Faith passed through a succession of individuals until 1963, when it was assumed by the [[Universal House of Justice]], members of which are elected by the worldwide congregation.<ref>[http://home.wanadoo.nl/arjen.nandita2/bahai-world-statistics-2001.htm Baha'i World Statistics 2001] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017212116/http://home.wanadoo.nl/arjen.nandita2/bahai-world-statistics-2001.htm |date=2007-10-17 }} by Baha'i World Center Department of Statistics, 2001–08</ref><ref>[http://bahai-library.com/danesh_life_shoghi_effendi The Life of Shoghi Effendi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919010001/http://bahai-library.com/danesh_life_shoghi_effendi |date=2010-09-19 }} by Helen Danesh, John Danesh and Amelia Danesh, Studying the Writings of Shoghi Effendi, edited by M. Bergsmo (Oxford: George Ronald, 1991)</ref> [[A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada]], the founder of the [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]], appointed 11 "Western Gurus" to act as initiating [[gurus]] and to continue to direct the organisation.<ref name="isbn0310232171">{{cite book
|author = Ron Rhodes
|title = Challenge of the Cults and New Religions
|publisher = Zondervan
|year = 2001
|quote = Before Prabhupada died in 1977, he selected senior devotees who would continue to direct the organization.
|page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780310232179/page/179 179]
|isbn = 978-0-310-23217-9
|url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780310232179/page/179
}}</ref><ref name="isbn0-941532-57-7">{{cite book
|author1=Smith, Huston |author2=Harry Oldmeadow |title = Journeys East: 20th century Western encounters with Eastern religious traditions
|publisher = World Wisdom
|location = Bloomington, IN
|quote = Before his death Prabhupada appointed eleven American devotees as gurus.
|page = 272
|year = 2004
|isbn = 978-0-941532-57-0
}}</ref><ref name="isbn0-8135-1114-3">{{cite book
|author = Rochford, E. Burke
|title = Hare Krishna in America
|publisher = Rutgers University Press
|location = New Brunswick, NJ
|year = 1985
|page = 222
|quote = In the months preceding his death Srila Prabhupada appointed eleven of his closest disciples to act as initiating gurus for ISKCON
|isbn = 978-0-8135-1114-6
}}</ref> However, according to British scholar of religion [[Gavin Flood]], "many problems followed from their appointment and the movement has since veered away from investing absolute authority in a few, fallible, human teachers."<ref name=Flood1996>{{cite book
|author = Flood, G.D.
|year = 1996
|title = An Introduction to Hinduism
|url = https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo
|url-access = registration
|publisher = Cambridge University Press
|isbn = 978-0-521-43878-0
|quote=Upon demise of Prabhupada eleven Western Gurus were selected as spiritual heads of the Hare Krsna movement, but many problems followed from their appointment and the movement had since veered away from investing absolute authority in a  few, fallible, human teachers.
|page = [https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo/page/272 272]
}}</ref>