Editing Elizabeth Clare Prophet (section)

{{Short description|American religious leader (1939–2009)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
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{{primary sources|date=February 2015}}
{{self-published|date=February 2015}}
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{{Infobox person
| name               = Elizabeth Clare Prophet
| image              = Elizabeth clare prophet 1984.jpg
| alt                = Elizabeth Clare Prophet wearing a white t-shirt, appearing to be wrapped in a blue and black checkered blanket, grinning at camera
| caption            = Prophet in 1984
| birth_name         = Elizabeth Clare Wulf
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1939|04|08}}
| birth_place        = [[Long Branch, New Jersey]], US
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2009|10|15|1939|04|08}}
| death_place        = [[Bozeman, Montana]], US
| nationality        = 
| other_names        = Guru Ma, Mother of the Flame 
| occupation         = Spiritual leader
| years_active       = 1959–2009
| known_for          = Founder of the [[Church Universal and Triumphant]]
| notable_works      = 
| children           = 5
}}

'''Elizabeth Clare Prophet''' (''née'': '''Wulf''', a.k.a. '''Guru Ma'''<ref>{{cite news|title=Church Blamed for Stroke |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5029388/church_universal_and_triumphant/|newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel|date=February 14, 1986|page=18|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = April 23, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref>) (April 8, 1939 – October 15, 2009)<ref name="LA"/> was an American spiritual leader, author, orator, and writer.<ref name="leader">{{cite book |last= Melton |first= J. Gordon |author-link= J. Gordon Melton |date=1991 |title= Religious leaders of America |publisher= Gale Research Inc. |edition= |pages=376 |chapter=Prophet, Elizabeth Clare |url= https://archive.org/details/religiousleaders00jgor |isbn= 0-8103-4921-3 }}</ref> In 1963 she married [[Mark L. Prophet]] (after ending her first marriage), who had founded [[The Summit Lighthouse]] in 1958. Mark and Elizabeth had four children. Elizabeth, after her second husband's death on February 26, 1973, assumed control of The Summit Lighthouse.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Lindsay |author-link= |date=2005 |title=Encyclopedia of religion (volume 11) |publisher= Detroit : Macmillan Reference USA |edition=second |pages=7445–7446 |chapter=Prophet, Mark and Elizabeth Clare |url= https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofre0011unse/mode/2up |isbn=0-02-865980-5 }}</ref>{{sfn|DeHaas|1994|p=21-37}}<ref name="teleobit">{{Cite news| title = Obituaries – Elizabeth Prophet| newspaper = Telegraph| date = October 23, 2009| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/religion-obituaries/6417918/Elizabeth-Prophet.html| access-date = February 13, 2010}}</ref> 

In 1975, Prophet founded [[Church Universal and Triumphant]] (CUT), which became the umbrella organization for the movement, which she expanded worldwide, and which has been described, including by Prophet, as "[[New Age]]".<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-51/> She also founded Summit University and Summit University Press.<ref name="LA"/> In the late 1980s Prophet controversially called on her members to prepare for the possibility of nuclear war at the turn of the decade, encouraging them to construct fallout shelters.<ref name="egan"/> The failure of prediction was a setback for the church, resulting in a loss of membership.<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-52-58/> In 1996, Prophet handed day-to-day operational control of her organization to a president and board of directors. She maintained her role as spiritual leader until her retirement for health reasons in 1999.<ref name="legacy"/> As of the 2020s, videos of her sermons play an important part of the church's religious work.<ref name=Harnett-Failed-June-2024-51/>

During the 1980s and 1990s, Prophet appeared on ''[[Larry King Live]]'', ''[[The Phil Donahue Show|Donahue]]'' and ''[[Nightline (U.S. news program)|Nightline]]'', among other television programs.{{sfn|DeHaas|1994|p=31-32}} Earlier media appearances included a feature in 1977 in "The Man Who Would Not Die", an episode of ''[[In Search of... (TV series)|In Search of...]]''<ref>[[Leonard Nimoy|Nimoy, Leonard]] (host) (December 31, 1977). "The Man Who Would Not Die". ''In Search of...'' [Television series]. NBC.</ref> She was also featured in 1994 on NBC's ''[[Ancient Prophecies]]''.<ref>McCallum, David (host) (1994). ''Ancient Prophecies''. Coast to Coast Productions. ASIN B0027PIA6M.</ref>