Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2, 1995, page 53
in recent decades, this story includes the misuse of power, sex, and money by a less-than-
genuine, self-proclaimed spiritual leader of the planet.
Pietrangelo first met Elizabeth Prophet in 1969 when her group was called “The Summit
Lighthouse” in Colorado. He was a young and spiritually ambitious college student from
Mississippi who quickly fell under the allure of Elizabeth Prophet and her then-husband,
Mark Prophet, who founded the church in the late 1950s. Mark and Elizabeth were spirit
mediums who called themselves “messengers.” After their marriage in 1961, they claimed
to be the sole living messengers of the ascended masters of all the world‟s religions,
including some whose names are idiosyncratic to the cult. In New Age parlance, they
“channeled” beings like Saint Germaine, Jesus, Buddha, K-17, Morya, Quan Yin, Afra,
Hercules, Mighty Victory, Astrea, Shiva, Pope John XXIII, and so on--more than 35 by my
count.
In actuality, today Elizabeth Prophet heads one of the more successful sects that stem from
Rosicrucianism and, more specifically, from the Theosophical Society founded by Helena P.
Blavatsky and others in 1875. Prophet‟s church has between 5,000 and 15,000-plus
adherents, with diversified commitments worldwide. The core group of several hundred staff
members is supported by an estimated one to three thousand devotees living in Montana,
where the sect is headquartered.
Such sects and channelers all claim to represent a Great White Brotherhood (GWB) of
ascended masters who allegedly are guiding all of humanity into a new age of human and
planetary advancement. This new era is variously called the New Age, the Aquarian Age,
higher consciousness, a paradigm shift, or the seventh cycle or round. Other noteworthy
GWB sects are the Ramtha group led by J.Z. Knight near Seattle, Washington, and the
Order of the Solar Temple which performed a ritual murder/suicide in October 1994 (and
again in 1995), when more than 60 devotees in Switzerland, Canada, and France died.
CUT‟s parent group, the nearly defunct I AM Activity, founded in 1934, has experienced a
minor revival since 1980.
Pietrangelo became a church staff member in Colorado in the early 1970s, when he took a
position as a chef in the kitchen which served a staff of 70. “My salary was twenty dollars
per month gross. So compensation for an assistant chef, who labored some four hundred
hours per month, was a grand total of five cents an hour ...plus room and board,” writes
Pietrangelo (p. 18). His room was a shared barracks in the attic of the church center.
Throughout the history of CUT, staff members have been expected to make similar
sacrifices. The leaders, however, have always lived well.
The author recounts the two most significant relationships in his life as a result of his
initiation into the Summit Lighthouse, later renamed Church Universal and Triumphant as a
tax shelter (p. 84). He met his wife, Susan, during his early years as a devotee. They had
five children and remain happily married despite their harried existence as cult members.
He also met Randall (Kosp) King, the man who became Elizabeth Prophet‟s young, third
husband after Mark Prophet died in 1973.
Pietrangelo‟s first-person account exposes the reader to a very personal journey into what
the author once believed was the most important position any human being could have--
that of serving the one person who stood at the crux of human destiny. In order to establish
herself, Elizabeth Prophet has claimed an incredible array of past lives including many
queens and saints. Her devotees call her “Mother,” and believe she wears the crown of the
World Mother (p. xvi). Pietrangelo recounts his struggles with the Prophets, both of whom
exhibited loose tempers and a highly manipulative style of leadership, using “crisis
management” and deception: “Life in the organization, as in all cults, was a roller coaster
ride with incredible highs and fearful lows. There is never a dull moment, never a let-down
of emotional tension” (p. 72). For instance, just before Mark Prophet‟s untimely death and
in recent decades, this story includes the misuse of power, sex, and money by a less-than-
genuine, self-proclaimed spiritual leader of the planet.
Pietrangelo first met Elizabeth Prophet in 1969 when her group was called “The Summit
Lighthouse” in Colorado. He was a young and spiritually ambitious college student from
Mississippi who quickly fell under the allure of Elizabeth Prophet and her then-husband,
Mark Prophet, who founded the church in the late 1950s. Mark and Elizabeth were spirit
mediums who called themselves “messengers.” After their marriage in 1961, they claimed
to be the sole living messengers of the ascended masters of all the world‟s religions,
including some whose names are idiosyncratic to the cult. In New Age parlance, they
“channeled” beings like Saint Germaine, Jesus, Buddha, K-17, Morya, Quan Yin, Afra,
Hercules, Mighty Victory, Astrea, Shiva, Pope John XXIII, and so on--more than 35 by my
count.
In actuality, today Elizabeth Prophet heads one of the more successful sects that stem from
Rosicrucianism and, more specifically, from the Theosophical Society founded by Helena P.
Blavatsky and others in 1875. Prophet‟s church has between 5,000 and 15,000-plus
adherents, with diversified commitments worldwide. The core group of several hundred staff
members is supported by an estimated one to three thousand devotees living in Montana,
where the sect is headquartered.
Such sects and channelers all claim to represent a Great White Brotherhood (GWB) of
ascended masters who allegedly are guiding all of humanity into a new age of human and
planetary advancement. This new era is variously called the New Age, the Aquarian Age,
higher consciousness, a paradigm shift, or the seventh cycle or round. Other noteworthy
GWB sects are the Ramtha group led by J.Z. Knight near Seattle, Washington, and the
Order of the Solar Temple which performed a ritual murder/suicide in October 1994 (and
again in 1995), when more than 60 devotees in Switzerland, Canada, and France died.
CUT‟s parent group, the nearly defunct I AM Activity, founded in 1934, has experienced a
minor revival since 1980.
Pietrangelo became a church staff member in Colorado in the early 1970s, when he took a
position as a chef in the kitchen which served a staff of 70. “My salary was twenty dollars
per month gross. So compensation for an assistant chef, who labored some four hundred
hours per month, was a grand total of five cents an hour ...plus room and board,” writes
Pietrangelo (p. 18). His room was a shared barracks in the attic of the church center.
Throughout the history of CUT, staff members have been expected to make similar
sacrifices. The leaders, however, have always lived well.
The author recounts the two most significant relationships in his life as a result of his
initiation into the Summit Lighthouse, later renamed Church Universal and Triumphant as a
tax shelter (p. 84). He met his wife, Susan, during his early years as a devotee. They had
five children and remain happily married despite their harried existence as cult members.
He also met Randall (Kosp) King, the man who became Elizabeth Prophet‟s young, third
husband after Mark Prophet died in 1973.
Pietrangelo‟s first-person account exposes the reader to a very personal journey into what
the author once believed was the most important position any human being could have--
that of serving the one person who stood at the crux of human destiny. In order to establish
herself, Elizabeth Prophet has claimed an incredible array of past lives including many
queens and saints. Her devotees call her “Mother,” and believe she wears the crown of the
World Mother (p. xvi). Pietrangelo recounts his struggles with the Prophets, both of whom
exhibited loose tempers and a highly manipulative style of leadership, using “crisis
management” and deception: “Life in the organization, as in all cults, was a roller coaster
ride with incredible highs and fearful lows. There is never a dull moment, never a let-down
of emotional tension” (p. 72). For instance, just before Mark Prophet‟s untimely death and
