Memorial services for Elizabeth Clare Prophet were held Thursday in Bozeman.
Prophet, who headed the Church Universal and Triumphant south of Livingston, suffered from advanced Alzheimer's died at her home last week at the age of 70.
Prophet was the spiritual leader for the controversial church. The group gained notoriety in the late 1980s for its followers' elaborate preparations for nuclear Armageddon.
Despite her health struggle, videos and writings of Prophet continue to dominate church teaching, transformed into a New Age publishing enterprise and spiritual university.
(from October 16, 2009)
Church Universal and Triumphant leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet has died in Bozeman at the age of 70.
Prophet, who had retired as president of Church Universal and Triumphant, died at her apartment Thursday, Oct. 15 following a lengthy illness, according to legal guardian Murray Steinman. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1997 at the age of 58. She formally retired from active leadership in 1999.
Prophet was the spiritual leader for a Park County church that at one time boasted 50,000 members. In the late 1980s assault rifles and armored vehicles were amassed in preparation for a nuclear missile strike that Prophet predicted was on the way. The sect combined icons from the world's major religions, mixing western philosophy and mysticism.
Prophet had also retired as president of the Summit Lighthouse, which was founded in 1958 by her late husband Mark L. Prophet. Upon his passing in 1973, Mrs. Prophet took over leadership of the organization.
(With information from the Associated Press)
