CHURCH UNIVERSAL AND TRIUMPHANT

New Age religious organization founded by Mark Prophet in 1958 and later dominated by his widow Elizabeth Clare Prophet, teaching communion with Ascended Masters and practicing elaborate rituals while preparing for prophesied nuclear war through extensive survivalist preparations in rural Montana.

Mark Prophet established the Summit Lighthouse in Washington, D.C., claiming to channel messages from Ascended Masters including Saint Germain, El Morya, and Jesus Christ, who allegedly provided spiritual guidance for humanity's evolution toward higher consciousness. After Mark's death in 1973, Elizabeth Clare Prophet assumed leadership and dramatically expanded the organization's influence and apocalyptic focus.

The church relocated to a 12,000-acre ranch near Livingston, Montana, in 1981, where members constructed extensive underground fallout shelters and stockpiled weapons, food, and supplies based on Elizabeth Prophet's predictions of imminent nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The organization's "decreeing" practice involved members chanting repetitive prayers for hours to deflect negative karma and invoke divine protection.

Elizabeth Prophet's specific prophecy of nuclear attack in March 1990 prompted thousands of members to gather in the Montana compound's shelters, generating significant media attention when the predicted destruction failed to materialize. The event marked the beginning of the organization's decline as disillusioned members departed and financial pressures mounted from expensive construction projects.

Following Elizabeth Prophet's diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease in 1999, the organization fractured into competing factions while maintaining reduced operations and property holdings. Current membership remains significantly smaller than its 1980s peak, though the church continues teaching Ascended Master doctrines and conducting religious services for remaining adherents.