Summit Lighthouse (parent of Church Universal and Triumphant)

Summit Lighthouse traces its lineage through the early-20th-century Theosophical and 'I AM Activity' (Guy and Edna Ballard, 1930s) movements that introduced Ascended Master cosmology — the teaching that historical figures (Saint Germain, El Morya, Kuthumi, Jesus) continue to communicate from a 'plane of mastery' through designated channels. Mark Prophet founded the organisation in 1958 in Washington DC, claimed the messengership from El Morya, and developed the distinctive 'decree' practice — rapid rhythmic affirmations intended to invoke divine intervention. After Mark's 1973 death, Elizabeth Clare Prophet ('Guru Ma') consolidated leadership and grew the organisation through televised teachings and an extensive publishing programme. The 1986 Royal Teton Ranch (Corwin Springs, Montana) relocation and the 1989–1990 'shelter cycle' — during which Elizabeth Prophet prophesied imminent Soviet nuclear war and members moved into purpose-built underground shelters with stockpiled food, weapons, and survival gear — was the peak high-control era. The prophesied attack did not materialise; substantial member departures and class-action litigation followed through the 1990s. Elizabeth Prophet was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1998, stepped back from leadership, and died in 2009. Successor leadership (the President's Office and Council of Twelve) has explicitly distanced the organisation from the shelter-cycle approach, restructured finances, and shifted toward a more publishing-and-online-teaching model with periodic in-person gatherings. Membership has declined from ~30,000 1990s peak to several thousand active globally. CUT remains a separate organisational entity with its own membership track but shares doctrinal authority with Summit Lighthouse.