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Church of Satan (1966)
The Church of Satan was established by Anton Szandor LaVey on Walpurgisnacht — a Christian feast day linked to the warding off of evil spirits that has roots in pre-Christian pagan practices — in 1966. It is considered the first modern organized church devoted to the figure of Satan and describes itself as the “oldest Continue reading
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Church of Sacrifice (1911)
The Church of Sacrifice was a short-lived death cult that may not have actually existed. Clementine Barnabet, an African American woman who became lined to a series of unsolved axe murders in Louisiana and southeastern Texas, claimed in a confession to have been acting on the orders of such a sect, but its existence and Continue reading
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Church of Light (1932)
The Church of Light is a religious organization incorporated in Los Angeles in November 1932. Its stated mission is to “teach, practice, and disseminate The Religion of The Stars, a way of life for the Aquarian Age, as set forth in the writings of C.C. Zain.” The church’s creation was prompted by county ordinances passed Continue reading
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Church of Jesus Christ at Armageddon/Love Israel Family (1968)
The Love Israel Family, formally incorporated as The Church of Jesus Christ at Armageddon, was a communal religious movement founded in Seattle in 1968 by Paul Erdmann, a former television salesman. After founding the group, Erdmann adopted the name “Love Israel,” and many members took on the surname “Israel” along with biblical or virtue-based first Continue reading
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Church of Israel (1972)
The Church of Israel is a Christian Identity-linked sect founded in 1972 by Dan Gayman. Originally called The Church of Our Christian Heritage, it arose from a schism within the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) and is now linked to white supremacist interpretations of theology, though Gayman has attempted to distance his church from Christian Continue reading
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Church of Immortal Consciousness (1983)
The Church of Immortal Consciousness (COIC) was an apocalyptic new religious movement founded by Trina and Steven Kamp and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1983. The group presented itself as an alternative spiritual community, offering teachings that diverged from mainstream religion. It became best known for its central doctrine centered on Trina Kamp’s claimed Continue reading
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Church of God with Signs Following (1910)
The Church of God with Signs Following is a Christian snake-handling sect primarily located in the Appalachian region of the southeastern United States. The group is known for its literal interpretation of Mark 16:17-18, which it understands to command acts such as handling venomous snakes, drinking poison, and enduring fire as demonstrations of faith and Continue reading
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Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God (1998)
The Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is a splinter group of Herbert W. Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God (WCG) that was founded in 1998 by Ronald Weinland, a former WCG minister. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the COG-PKG operates internationally and primarily through the Internet. It is one of several groups Continue reading
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Church of God of Prophecy (1886)
The Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP) emerged from a late 19th-century restoration movement in the Appalachian Mountains. In August 1886, Richard Spurling, an ordained Baptist minister, rejected what he viewed as the restrictive creeds and exclusivism of Landmark Baptist teaching. Seeking a return to faith based solely on the New Testament, he organized the Continue reading
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Church of God International (1978)
The Church of God International (CGI) was founded in 1978 as an offshoot of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), founded by Herbert W. Armstrong, and emerged after internal disagreements over doctrine and governance. The CGI’s creation followed the excommunication of Garner Ted Armstrong (1930-2003), Herbert Armstrong’s son, from the WCG. After his dismissal, Garner Continue reading
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Church of God (Restoration) (1980)
Daniel Wilburn Layne, who usually went by “Danny,” was raised in the Church of God in California, where his father was a minister. In early adulthood, Layne developed a heroin addiction and became a petty criminal and drug dealer to support his habit. His autobiography recounts a period of significant psychological distress, including a stay Continue reading
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Church of Euthanasia (1992)
The Church of Euthanasia was launched in Boston in 1992 by Chris Korda, an artist and musician. Though Korda insisted that the church was a serious new religion, most aspects of its publicity and activities had overtones of performance art and it is unclear how sincere Korda was in this assertion. Korda was born in Continue reading
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Church of Eden (1996)
The Church of Eden was founded by JC Gordon after he experienced a near-death experience in 1996. Gordon, who describes himself as a “Spiritual Futurist,” defines the church’s mission as the dissolution of fear, which it calls the “hidden operating system that has enslaved humanity for over 6,000 years.” It presents itself as existing outside Continue reading
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Church of Divine Science (1888)
The Church of Divine Science was established in San Francisco in 1888 by Malinda Elliott Cramer as part of the New Thought movement that was emerging at the time. It describes itself as “an organized teaching pertaining to God and the manifestation of God in Creation,” based on the principle that “limitless Being, God, is Continue reading
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Church of Bible Understanding (1971)
The Church of Bible Understanding, originally known as the “Forever Family,” is a Christian new religious movement founded in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1971 by Stewart Traill. The organization developed into a large communal network during the 1970s, reaching an estimated 10,000 members and operating about 110 communes, mainly in New York. Over time, its communal Continue reading
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Church of Aphrodite (1938)
The Church of Aphrodite was a religious group founded in 1938 by Gleb Botkin, a Russian émigré who had settled in the United States. It is recognized as one of the early precursors to the later Goddess movement in North America. The church was monotheistic, centered on a single female divinity named after the ancient Continue reading
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Church of Almighty God/Eastern Lightning (1991)
The Church of Almighty God (CAG), also known as Eastern Lightning, was founded in China in 1991. Its central belief is that Jesus Christ has returned to Earth and now lives as a Chinese woman who is worshipped as the “Almighty God.” The name “Eastern Lightning” references Matthew 24:27: “For as the lightning cometh out Continue reading
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Church of All Worlds (1961)
The Church of All Worlds (CAW) is an American Neopagan organization co-founded by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, then known as Timothy Zell, in the early 1960s. Its stated mission is to develop a network of mythology, information, and experience intended to foster the reawakening of Gaia, the Earth Mother Goddess, and to reunite humanity through community, stewardship, Continue reading
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Church of AI (2024)
The idea of a “Church of AI” has emerged as a cultural development in which people attribute religious or spiritual meaning to advanced artificial intelligence models, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. The phenomenon reflects how these systems’ conversational fluency and emotional responsiveness can shape users’ beliefs, sometimes reinforcing existing psychological or spiritual Continue reading
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Chung Moo Quan (1973)
John C. Kim, known to followers as “Grandmaster ‘Iron’ Kim,” founded the martial arts organization Chung Moo Quan after emigrating from South Korea to the United States in the early 1970s. He opened his first school in Westmont, Illinois, in 1973. Over time, the organization expanded under several names, including Chung Moo Doe and Oom Continue reading
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Chundawat Family (2018)
Eleven members of the Chundawat family of the Burari neighborhood of Delhi died in a group suicide on July 1, 2018. The incident was later formally ruled by police to be motivated by a shared psychotic disorder (folie à deux), but the investigation uncovered a complex, cultlike belief system rooted in a spiritual delusion that Continue reading
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Christian World Liberation Front (1969)
The Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF) was an evangelical Christian campus ministry at the University of California, Berkeley, active from its founding in April 1969 until its dissolution in June 1975. It emerged during the peak of the 1960s counterculture and became one of the most visible ministries associated with the wider Jesus People movement, Continue reading
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Christian Science (1879)
The Christian Science movement was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879. Her belief system is based in the notion that reality is purely spiritual and good, while the material world — including sickness, evil, and death — is an illusion. Eddy’s personal experiences of chronic illness played a central role in shaping her theology. Continue reading
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Christian Identity (c. 1920)
“Christian Identity” is an umbrella term for organizations and beliefs falling under a racial interpretation of Christianity which asserts that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as Anglo-Saxons and the Nordic nations, are the genuine descendants of the ancient Israelites and are therefore God’s “chosen people.” It is not an organized religion, nor is it Continue reading
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Christian Gospel Mission/Providence (1980)
Christian Gospel Mission, officially known as Providence and commonly referred to by the acronym JMS (Jesus Morning Star), is an offshoot of the Unification Church (“Moonies”) founded by Jung Myung-seok in South Korea in 1980. The organization has been widely designated as a cult by international media. Before establishing his own group, Jung was a Continue reading
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Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 