The Summit Lighthouseâ and

Church Universal and Triumphantâ

Office of the President 
 

INTERIM POLICY

FOR TEACHING CENTERS AND STUDY GROUPS ON

PRESENTERS AT CHURCH UNIVERSAL AND TRIUMPHANT AND THE SUMMIT LIGHTHOUSE GROUPS 

  

INTRODUCTION 

Many requests have come from members of Teaching Centers and Study Groups to ranch headquarters for clarification and guidelines on the use of the Teaching Center or Study Group by lecturers, counselors, business people and spiritual teachers, whether they are members of our organization or not. In the past individuals have contacted church members or board of trustee members of a local group to sponsor them financially to come to the center and in some cases charge for their services.  

We look to Mother’s teachings, the mission statement of the organization, Teaching Center and Study Group bylaws and the Internal Revenue Code to set the guidelines for presenters in our groups.  

Mother has given specific teaching on the purpose of a teaching center as a community, a home that supports the flame of the Great White Brotherhood and offers the ascended masters a place to feel welcome and at home. In our mission statement we see that the purpose of our organization is in part to apply the teachings delivered by Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet to assist the soul in her relationship to God.  

The Teaching Center and Study Group trademark and license agreement and bylaws support Mother’s teaching and the mission statement. The bylaws are registered documents that link the local groups to our organization legally and provide both a spiritual and legal framework under which we operate. Both documents state that our groups are to disseminate and promote the teachings of the ascended masters as published by The Summit Lighthouse.  

The Internal Revenue Code is the other legal document we look to for guidance. As a registered non-profit church organization under IRC Section 501(c)(3), our Teaching Center and Study Group members have an obligation to avoid the appearance of and actual sponsorship of political candidates and legislation.  

 

MOTHER’S TEACHING ON THE PURPOSE OF TEACHING CENTERS  

On January 24, 1976, speaking in Minneapolis, Mother said this about the purpose of Teaching Centers. 

"What we can do in a teaching center is something that we cannot do alone because it involves community. Community is the great dream of the masters of the Great White Brotherhood, they have carried the flame of community for centuries…"  

"Let us consider then what can really be fulfilled in a teaching center. First of all we must remember that it is a home, an ashram for the ascended masters. It is a residence for the masters of the Great White Brotherhood, a place where they are welcome." 

"And as each teaching center comes forth one by one, we have these little communities of the Holy Spirit which spring up and one day we will find ourselves reaching a critical mass, an intensity of light and the teaching centers, the flame of each one, will leap across the forcefield -- across the entire planetary mandala and we will find that this fire will truly be the torch that lights a world. 

“And so the teaching center is the place where the Mother is enshrined. And it is the flame of the Mother, which each member of the teaching center holds. It is the flame of the Mother that attracts the children of God from every walk of life because they have missed the Mother; this long, long period when we have been without the Mother as teacher. And as I was musing on this concept of the great avatars who have come and gone, we have seen them set the example, we have seen them work miracles, we have seen them demonstrate an inner law. But they have come and they have gone and they have not left the formula and so while they were with us we rose and when they left us we fell again. 

“And so the great joy of this moment in ten thousand years is that the Divine Mother, whom we call Omega the counterpart of the Divine Father, has come forth to explain to us the teachings of the avatars; to give us techniques in self-mastery, to tell us, look you can realize the Christ where you are, you can realize the Buddha. And so the teaching center is the place where we feel the very soul, the very spirit of the Divine Mother, where we respond to her call -- where we give the instruction, where we are patient with the children and understanding and give compassion and pray for one another and receive the whole world because they are the children of the Mother. We find that the quickening action which comes through the Mother flame is the quickening of the Holy Spirit. We find that the understanding of community, of communion is not really experienced unless the components, the parts of the whole have been quickened by that flame.” 
 

MISSION STATEMENT 

The mission statement of The Church Universal and Triumphant and The Summit Lighthouse is as follows:  

Our mission is to publish and apply the teachings delivered by the Ascended Masters to their Messengers Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet and their anointed successors in order to restore the original one-on-one relationship between the soul and God and to liberate the souls of planet earth. 
 

All programs and activities of the Teaching Centers and Study Groups are to support this mission. 
 

TEACHING CENTER AND STUDY GROUP BYLAWS 

The Summit Lighthouse Study Group Trademark License Agreement and Bylaws addresses this policy and is in effect. 

Below the pertinent sections of the bylaws state that the purpose of our Study Groups and Teaching Centers is to sponsor activities to disseminate and promote the teaching of the ascended masters as taught by The Summit Lighthouse. Our groups are to use only Summit Lighthouse decrees and may not use The Summit Lighthouse and Church trademarks for other religious teachings, beliefs, practices or philosophies.  

In 2.02(F) the purposes of the Study Group are outlined, “To sponsor meetings, services, lectures, discussions, informal gatherings, social functions and retreats, to the end of disseminating the promoting the teachings of the ascended masters as published by THE SUMMIT LIGHTHOUSE.” 

In 2.08: “ . . . All services, lectures, and gatherings must be conducted in accordance with currently approved guidelines of the CHURCH. Only decrees published by The Summit Lighthouse are to be used and given at the meetings, and no other decrees are to be recommended and encouraged outside of the services. . . ” 

In 3.03: “. . .The STUDY GROUP may not use the trademark to promote any religious teachings, beliefs, practices or philosophies other than as are published, distributed or otherwise specifically endorsed by the CHURCH. . .” 

The Church Universal and Triumphant Community Teaching Center Trademark License Agreement and Bylaws state the following and are currently in effect. 

“2.02 PURPOSES AND POWERS. The purposes and powers of the COMMUNITY TEACHING CENTER shall be as follows: 

In 2.02(m): “To sponsor meetings, services, lectures, discussions, informal gatherings, social functions and retreats, for the purpose of helping to uplift the souls of all to the higher integration with the living Spirit of Almighty God, individualized in the beloved I AM Presence and Christ Self of each one, and thereby disseminating and promoting the teachings of salvation as published by The Summit Lighthouse.”  

The Teaching Center and Study Group is a place for the student to learn about the teachings of the ascended masters and their Messengers. It needs to be a place where the student can study these teachings in their purest form. Hence what is taught are the teachings of the ascended masters as released through their Messengers Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. This includes all of the lectures, dictations, meetings, books and so forth. Those sharing the teachings with new students and with the membership should not introduce other spiritual activities, teachings, teachers or their books and tapes. However, from time to time other teachings that have been taught by the Messengers may be included. For example, Mother or Mark may have taught about another teacher or teaching from another book or resource. (In this way Mark and Mother were able to sponsor the teaching and give any necessary correction.) Some examples are Riches Within Your Reach, Dweller on Two Planets, the first three I AM books and so forth.

The study of these other teachings recommended and sponsored by the Messengers should not be a central focus of the group, which should always be on the teachings of the ascended masters released through their Messengers Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. 
 

OUTSIDE BUSINESSES IN TEACHING CENTERS AND STUDY GROUPS 

The Church has at various times in the past issued statements on the subjects of: 1) people promoting pyramid schemes or business scams; 2) Keepers of the Flame engaging other Keepers in their business practices or soliciting their investments in same; and, 3) people using Mother's or the Church's name to market or promote their products or services; 4) people using their church membership to legitimize (or leverage) their product or service. 

Over the years, the Church has responded to dozens of inquiries on these matters, specifically in response to other church members inquiring as to the legitimacy of various ventures. Due to repeated involvement and problems among Keepers, the Church's statement bears repeating. It is as follows: 

Church members and affiliates should make their own decisions as to whether or not they want to become involved in any business opportunity--whether it is a network or multilevel marketing program, a business venture with another church member, investments in "get-rich-quick" schemes or as consumers of any product or service or seminar. 

In order to ensure that people who come to Church properties for spiritual teachings and renewal are allowed to focus on the spiritual nature of the Church's programs, the board of directors has a long-standing policy whereby church members are not allowed to promote their personal business enterprises (including multilevel

marketing activities), solicit investments or promote the sale of products, health treatments or services to other conferees, visitors and staff on Church property. In short, no persons should use any Church property, address or telephone number (including Teaching Centers and Study Groups) as a base for carrying out such activities. 

This policy applies during all conferences, services and special events held on Church property or on any property that has been designated for Church-sponsored activities. Church property includes properties of all Teaching Centers and Study Groups (whether rented, leased or owned) as well as any location where the Church is sponsoring a conference, seminar, service or other special event.  

Finally, we strongly recommend that individuals do not look to other Church members as "a ready market" of potential customers or patients to be recruited into their business venture. This always runs the risk of perverting the ascended masters’ teaching of "I am my brother's keeper" to "My brothers are my keeper." In addition, some members find such solicitations--especially during Church-sponsored events--to be offensive and not what they expect to encounter at a spiritual activity. 

This has been the long-standing policy of our Church based upon teaching from Mother. If we follow this policy, then we also find ourselves in compliance with IRC Section 501(c)(3) on non-profit corporations.  

In addition, the Internal Revenue Code requires that a non-profit corporation comply with the following.  

“ . . . (That) no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” 

If someone at the Ranch or a member at a Teaching Center or Study Group would use our membership base to conduct a writing campaign on behalf of certain legislation or a political candidate, or attempt to influence legislation, then the organization would be violating the Internal Revenue Code. The organization would then be in jeopardy of losing its non-profit, tax-exempt status. Every employee, board member, local trustee or member can potentially have an impact on our tax-exempt status.  

Both from the spiritual and legal perspectives, there are guidelines to be met by the employees at the Ranch, and members of local Teaching Centers and Study Groups.

We request that sensitivity to the issues of personal businesses and political activities in our Teaching Centers and Study Groups be maintained and that all members enter into a cooperative effort to protect and sustain our centers as a haven for the ascended masters, their students and others who may seek refuge from a world in turmoil.