Elizabeth Clare Prophet

Who was Elizabeth Clare Prophet?

Elizabeth Clare Prophet was an American New Age minister and religious figure, self-proclaimed prophet, author, orator, and writer. In 1963 she married Mark L. Prophet, who five years earlier, in 1958, had founded The Summit Lighthouse. Mark and Elizabeth had four children. In their nine years of marriage, they embarked on spiritual pilgrimages to Europe, Ghana and India, where they met Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama. Elizabeth, just 33 years of age at the time of husband Mark's death on February 26, 1973, assumed control of The Summit Lighthouse at that time.

In 1975, Prophet founded Church Universal and Triumphant, which became the umbrella organization for the movement, and which she expanded worldwide. Prophet controversially called on her members in the late 1980s to prepare for the possibility of nuclear war at the turn of the decade, encouraging them to construct fallout shelters. In 1996, Prophet handed day-to-day operational control of her organization to a president and board of directors, maintaining her role as spiritual leader until her retirement due to health reasons in 1999.