Editing Church Universal and Triumphant (section)

{{Short description|Esoteric religious organization}}
{{For|the traditional divisions of the Christian Church|Churches Militant, Penitent, and Triumphant}}
{{Infobox organization
|name= Church Universal and Triumphant
| image = Churchuniversalandtriumpantlogo.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| headquarters = Gardiner, Montana
| alt = 
| caption = Official logo
| formation= 1975
| type= [[New Religious Movement]] ([[Ascended Master Teachings]] religion)
| leader_title = Founder
| leader_name = [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet]]
}}
The '''Church Universal and Triumphant''' ('''CUT''') is a [[New Age]] religious organization combining elements of [[Christianity]], [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]] and [[Theosophy]],<ref name="Grimes-NYT-obit">{{cite news |last1=Grimes |first1=William |title=Elizabeth Prophet, 70, Church Founder, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/us/17prophet.html |access-date=31 July 2024 |work=New York Times |date=16 October 2009}}</ref> founded in the United States in 1975 by [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Melton |first=J. Gordon |author-link=J. Gordon Melton |date=2001 |title=Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology |publisher=Gale Group, Inc. |edition=5 |pages=293 |chapter=Church Universal and Triumphant |url=https://annas-archive.org/md5/ad2e4e6771fc34639f1db83cd9e3e2af |isbn=0-8103-8570-8 }}</ref> The church is headquartered near [[Gardiner, Montana]], and the church has local congregations in more than 20 countries.

Influenced by [[Theosophy]] and [["I AM" Activity|I AM]], the Church originated as '''The Summit Lighthouse''', established by [[Mark L. Prophet]] in 1958. He claimed to be a Messenger who was dictating messages to humanity from the Ascended Masters. In 1961, he married [[Elizabeth Clare Prophet]], whom he announced was also a Messenger. In 1965, they moved to Colorado Springs. In 1975, Mark died and Elizabeth reformulated the organization as the Church Universal and Triumphant. Prophet's predictions became increasingly apocalyptic, claiming nuclear war was imminent. The Church established a community at Royal Teton Ranch in [[Montana]], where they built a series of underground fallout shelters. In March 1990, Church members hid within these shelters in response to Prophet's announcement that a nuclear attack on the U.S. was about to occur. As Prophet began suffering from [[Alzheimer's disease]] in the 1990s, there was reorganization in the Church, which saw a significant decline in membership and various groups splintering off.

The goal of the human life, the CUT claimed, was for each individual to spiritually evolve to the point where they would ascend themselves. The CUT taught that the Ascended Masters' plans to perfect human society were being thwarted by "Dark Forces", among whom they included [[Communism|communists]] and other left-wing activists, the federal government, mainstream religions, and extraterrestrials. A [[Millenarianism|millenarian]] group, it held that the global build-up of negative karma would result in an apocalyptic catastrophe – something it ultimately predicted would occur in 1990.

Estimates for the number of CUT followers during its heyday range from 10,000 to 50,000. The Church attracted controversy, with critics in the [[anti-cult movement]] labelling it a "[[cult]]".