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Christian Catholic Apostolic Church (1896)
John Alexander Dowie, a Scottish-Australian minister, was a charismatic faith healer and evangelist best known for founding the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church and the theocratic community of Zion, Illinois. Born in Edinburgh in 1847, he emigrated with his family to Adelaide, South Australia, at the age of 13. After working in various jobs, he returned Continue reading
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Christian Assemblies International (c.1970)
Scott Williams, a former high school teacher from Ballarat East, Australia, founded the group that would later become Christian Assemblies International (CAI) in Feldafing, Germany, in the 1970s. Williams had faced allegations back home that he was indoctrinating students, and he faced the same accusations in Germany. After moving the organization to Stirling, Scotland, he Continue reading
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The Christadelphians (1846)
John Thomas was born on April 12, 1805, in London. Raised in a religious household by his pastor father, he later pursued studies in medicine and anatomy. In 1832, Thomas emigrated to the United States. During the voyage, his ship encountered a violent storm, and he vowed to devote his life to seeking God’s truth Continue reading
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The Christ Family (c. 1960)
Former painting contractor Charles Franklin McHugh founded the Christ Family in the early 1960s. After two failed marriages and the collapse of a small business, he went to the Arizona desert for a spiritual retreat. He claimed that after 40 days, he experienced what he said was the revelation that he was the second coming Continue reading
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Deepak Chopra (c. 1989)
Deepak Chopra is an author, public speaker, and alternative medicine advocate. Over the course of several decades, he has moved from a career in conventional medicine to a prominent role in the global wellness industry. His books, public appearances, and centers for health and well-being have made him one of the most widely recognized figures Continue reading
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Egon Cholakian (c. 2015)
Egon Cholakian has presented himself as a distinguished professional with a wide-ranging career spanning international tax law, particle physics, and national security. His resume, as described by him, includes service to multiple U.S. presidential administrations and prominent roles in both government and scientific research. At the same time, closer scrutiny of his claims reveals a Continue reading
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Chino-Shoho/Pana Wave (1977)
In 1977, Yuko Chino founded Chino-Shoho, a Japanese new religious movement blending Christianity, Buddhism, and New Age teachings. The group’s “scientific arm,” Pana-Wave Laboratory, later became notorious for its unusual doctrines. It was also considered a UFO or contactee religion, with membership ranging from several hundred to more than a thousand followers. Chino, a former Continue reading
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Children of Thunder (2000)
Glen Taylor Helzer was born on July 26, 1970, in Lansing, Michigan, and raised in a devout Mormon family alongside his younger brother, Justin, and sister, Heather. He graduated from Ygnacio Valley High School, served in the National Guard in Texas, and completed a missionary assignment in Brazil. In April 1993, he married Ann, with Continue reading
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Children of the Waning Star (2025)
Children of the Waning Star emerged as a digital phenomenon in July 2025, originating on the social media platform TikTok. The movement was initiated by creator Gigi Jarvis, a sociology graduate and professional actress, who uploaded a video titled “Starting a cult day one.” She later explained that her intent was to create a kind Continue reading
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Children of the Valley of Life (c. 1970)
Norman “Snake” Brooks was the founder and leader of a communal group known as the Children of the Valley of Life. He first appeared in Eugene, Oregon, in the 1970s with several of his wives and followers. Brooks, originally from Austin, Texas, had a troubled past, claiming to have been a car thief before becoming Continue reading
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Children of God/The Family International (1968)
David Brandt Berg was born on February 18, 1919, in Oakland, California. He was the youngest of three children born to traveling evangelists Hjalmar Emanuel Berg and Virginia Lee Brandt. His maternal grandfather, John Lincoln Brandt, was a Disciples of Christ minister, ensuring that religious authority surrounded him from a young age. Berg’s parents were Continue reading
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Child Evangelism Fellowship (1937)
Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) is an international interdenominational Christian nonprofit organization. Founded in 1937 by Jesse Irvin Overholtzer, it aims to teach the Christian Gospel to children and encourage their involvement in local churches. The organization is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Overholtzer was inspired by his belief that children Continue reading
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Chicago Rippers/Ripper Crew (c. 1980)
The Chicago Rippers, also known as the Ripper Crew, was an organized crime group of serial killers, rapists, cannibals, and necrophiles who operated in Illinois between 1981 and 1982. The group consisted of ringleader Robin Gecht and his three associates: brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis, and Edward Spreitzer. They were suspected of murdering up to Continue reading
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Chen Tao (1993)
Chen Tao, also known as the “True Way” or the God’s Salvation Church, was a UFO religion that originated in Taiwan. The movement combined elements of Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and extraterrestrial belief. It was founded by Hon-Ming Chen, a former associate professor of sociology. Hon-Ming Chen was born on April 22, 1955, in Chiayi, Taiwan. Continue reading
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Elior Chen (c. 2005)
Elior Chen was a self-proclaimed rabbi and spiritual leader who became the central figure in one of Israel’s most notorious child abuse cases. He gathered a circle of followers in Jerusalem, within which he orchestrated the systematic abuse of eight minors. The brutality of the crimes, combined with Chen’s manipulation of religious authority, drew nationwide Continue reading
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Champions for Christ (1985)
Champions for Christ (CFC) is a ministry dedicated to outreach among college and professional athletes. Founded in 1985, it began as part of the controversial Maranatha Campus Ministries before later being absorbed into other organizations, most recently the Every Nation group of ministries. At different points, it also operated under the Texas-based Mid Cities Christian Continue reading
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Challenge Day (1987)
The Challenge Day program, sometimes stylized as “ChallengeDay,” was founded by Rich Dutra-St. John and Yvonne St. John-Dutra in 1987 as a one-day workshop designed to promote empathy and connection among middle- and high-school students. Originally run as 14-hour Saturday marathons, the program was later reshaped into a six-and-a-half-hour school-day format to make it easier Continue reading
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Centrepoint (1977)
Centrepoint was a commune established in Albany, New Zealand, in 1977 by Herbert “Bert” Potter. At its height, around 275 people lived on the property, making it one of the largest alternative communities in the country. It drew middle-class families searching for support, intimacy, and alternative approaches to living. While initially seen as a social Continue reading
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Celestial Church of Christ (1947)
The Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) is a Pentecostal denomination that grew out of the Aladura movement in West Africa. It was founded on September 29, 1947, in Porto-Novo, Benin, by Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa. Since then, the church has expanded across West Africa and into Europe and North America, with its largest following in Continue reading
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Ramón Gustavo Castillo (2009)
Ramón Gustavo Castillo Gaete, born on December 20, 1977, was a Chilean musician who later became known as the leader of a doomsday sect. He styled himself as “Antares de la Luz” (Antares of the Light) and proclaimed that he was the second coming of Jesus Christ. Castillo studied pedagogy at the Metropolitan University of Continue reading
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The Cartel/Jorge Beltrão Negromonte da Silveira (2008)
Jorge Beltrão Negromonte da Silveira was a Brazilian serial killer and the founder of a sect he called “The Cartel.” Born in Portugal on December 14, 1961, he later moved with them to Pernambuco, Brazil. His early life was marked by instability and violence. As a young man, he was charged with murdering a 17-year-old Continue reading
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Caritas of Birmingham (1986)
Caritas of Birmingham is a self-described Catholic community founded in 1986 by Terry Colafrancesco in Sterrett, Alabama. It was created to promote the visions of the Virgin Mary as reported by six young people in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, starting in 1981. Colafrancesco, who is known to his followers as “A Friend of Medjugorje,” established the organization Continue reading
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Cao Dai (1926)
Cao Dai is a Vietnamese monotheistic and syncretic religion that officially began in Southern Vietnam in 1926. It is formally known as the “Great Way of the Third Time of Redemption,” a name that reflects its mission of unifying all spiritual paths into a single faith. Its theology, called “The Third Great Universal Religious Amnesty,” Continue reading
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Cantelmoism (2019)
Christopher Cantelmo was an American biochemist and founder of Cantelmoism, a spiritual cult that gained most of its following through Reddit. A Yale University graduate, he worked for more than three decades in the pharmaceutical industry. He became known for claiming that he had cured his brain cancer with the psychedelic drug Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a Continue reading
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Campus Crusade for Christ/Cru (1951)
Cru, known until 2011 as Campus Crusade for Christ, is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. Founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles, by Bill Bright and Vonette Zachary Bright, it grew into one of the most influential evangelical ministries in the world. The Brights were deeply shaped by Henrietta Mears, director of Continue reading
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Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 