Rasa Von Werder (also known as Kellie Everts; born Rasa Sofija Jakstas, July 16, 1945) is a German author, former

stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at private events. Modern forms of stripping m ...

female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

, photographer, and founder of a church.

Personal life

Kellie Everts, née Rasa Sofija Jakstas, was born on July 16, 1945, in

Calw Calw (; previously pronounced and sometimes spelled Kalb accordingly; ) is a Landstadt, town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, capital and largest town of the Calw (district), district Calw. It is located in the North ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Her

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n parents, Stasys and Regina Jakstas, had fled from Lithuania (then part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) under

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. The family ended up in a

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...

, and in 1949, boarded the naval ship USS ''Heintzelman'' bound for the US. Kellie's parents were sponsored to stay in an ethnic community in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. Her father, Professor Jakstas, founded a Lithuanian school in a church auditorium, having previously founded the first State Teacher's College in

Kaunas, Lithuania Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. When her parents separated, she moved with her father to

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

. A month after finishing high school, she ran away (reportedly with one of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

's photographers) to

Hollywood, CA Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, where she began a career in

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

. She lived in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

next to the pier, where she married Stanley Everts in 1963 and had a daughter named Kellie. She later lived in the Pacific Palisades, then

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

, and finally

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Stanley Everts died in 1966. After ten years of living in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, she returned to Williamsburg, where she spent 17 years. She started a successful business and managed to acquire $200,000 in savings, which she used to buy a house in

Binghamton Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the con ...

, in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

, where she has lived ever since. She married Richard Allan Von Werder in 2000 after being engaged since 1986, and they remained married until he died in 2002.

Career

Female bodybuilding and strip dancing

Everts was effectively the founder of

female bodybuilding Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

; before her involvement, it was extremely rare for women to participate in the sport. She began competing in various bodybuilding contests in the New York City area in 1972. Due to her work, which included a 6-page layout in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' magazine in July 1975, television appearances on ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'', ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

'' and ''The

Stanley Siegel Stanley Siegel, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, author, lecturer, and former Director of Education and Senior Faculty member of New York's Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy. After creating and writing the "Families" column for ''Newsday'' he we ...

Show'', and inaugurating female bodybuilding in ''Playboy'' magazine in May 1977, serious female fitness and bodybuilding contests began to be held. The first was IFBB Miss Fitness 1979, and the next was IFBB Ms. Olympia 1980. After these first two, many more were held, and hundreds, later thousands, of women began to train and compete. She elaborates further in one of her many books, ''The Origin & Decline of Female Body Building'' (2011), and in a 2019 interview with David Robson. Despite having single-handedly laid the groundwork for female bodybuilding and having trained for the event, she was barred from entering the 1981

Caesar's Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesars ...

Boardwalk Regency IFBB in Atlantic City. However, by then, she had accomplished her goal of legitimizing the sport. Rasa won the titles of Miss Nude Universe in July 1967, by strutting and bouncing around totally nude in front of a nude audience, and Miss Americana 2nd place and Best Body in 1972 (on the same stage as

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

), Miss Body Beautiful 2nd place in 1973, Miss Body Beautiful U.S.A. in 1974, and Miss Americana 2nd place & Best Body 1974 (the same stage as Arnold Schwarzenegger again). She made nine appearances in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''. She was the first female bodybuilder to do so, in the "Humping Iron" edition, May 1977 (predating

Lisa Lyon Lisa Robin Lyon (May 13, 1953 – September 8, 2023) was an American female bodybuilder and photo model who is regarded as one of female bodybuilding's pioneers. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, on May 13, 1953, Lyon studied art at th ...

's appearance by three years). Later, she appeared in a two-page spread titled "Stripping for God". Her live dancing career spanned North America from March 1966 to August 1987. She quit to focus on producing dancing and female domination videos. She made enough money to purchase a large private property in

. On February 2, 2007, the World Bodybuilding Guild (WBBG) named her "Progenitor" of Female Bodybuilding and, in August 2007, inducted her into their Hall of Fame.

Ministry

In September 1973, Everts gave her first religious talk before dancing at the Melody Theater in Times Square. This combination act of stripping and preaching led the press to dub her the "Stripper for God". Everts traveled in the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, giving over 1,000 sermons in

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

theaters and nightclubs. "Stripping for God" created public debate about the coexistence of sexuality and spirituality, and conflicted with prevailing social norms and constructs at the time. The assertion of being an ordained minister while openly working in the adult entertainment industry was controversial. In 1988 she appeared on ''

The Morton Downey Jr. Show ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show'' is a syndicated American talk show presented by Morton Downey Jr. that ran from 1987 to 1989. The show and its host pioneered the concept of "trash TV" format. Starting as a local program on New York-New Jersey su ...

'' on an episode about strippers She filed a lawsuit against host Morton Downey Jr. and the television network

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alon ...

alleging libel. Everts later changed the emphasis of her mission to the return of

matriarchy Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of Power (social and political), power and Social privilege, privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. Whil ...

and the feminine divine. On June 16, 1978, she preached a message about

Our Lady of Fátima Our Lady of Fátima (, ; formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portu ...

in front of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, intending to bring about the conversion of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and, by extension, preventing a potential nuclear

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

. The gist of the message was, "Pray the

Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

for the conversion of Russia, or nations will be annihilated." After shifting her focus, she founded The University of Mother God Church, which became a distinct religion for women. Everts has done much unrelated activism,

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

, and community work, primarily in Brooklyn, New York.

Author

On May 24, 2004, Everts, under her present name Rasa Von Werder or Guru Rasa of the Church of MotherGod, started the Woman Thou Art God Website. She has since continued publishing online on her religious beliefs. She has thirty-eight (and counting) books published on female empowerment, her biography,

spirituality, and various other subjects. Since 2014, Rasa has also had another main website as well, Embodiment of God, that further builds upon the first one. She has also collaborated with other authors as well in writing books and online articles, most notably including William Bond, who is also featured on that site.

Later years

In her later years, after 30 years of

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

for spiritual purposes, beginning at age 63 in 2008 (according to her, God told her to stop suffering, quit celibacy and have fun – thus it was "the Will of God"), Rasa became a "

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

" and photographer of males, mainly in the

college town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

, to further the cause of

female empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, equal status in society, ...

. At

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...

, she was popular overall and featured several times on the front page of their student newspaper. She has written about this experience in several books (see Bibliography section). Rasa has also expanded upon her new

matriarchal religion A matriarchal religion is a religion that emphasizes a goddess or multiple goddesses as central figures of worship and spiritual authority. The term is most often used to refer to theories of prehistoric matriarchal religions that were proposed b ...

for women, writing the book ''Woman, Thou Art God: The New Religion for Women'' in 2019–2020. She is currently working on several other books from 2021–2024. These include further volumes in her autobiographical ''I Strip For God'' book series and books containing all the guidelines, directions, doctrine, and suggestions for her Sisterhood and "New Religion for Women" that she founded.

Filmography

Film

* ''She Did It His Way'' (1968) * ''The Girls on F Street'' (1967) * ''Dude Ranch'' (1966–1968) * ''The Swinger'' (1966)

Television

*England documentary on people starting their own

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

videos, and her dancing (2008) * ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show'' (1988) *''National: Entertainment Tonight'' regarding ''The Morton Downey Jr. Show'' (1988) *''People Are Talking'' (1988, multiple times) *''The Sally Jessy Rafael Show'' (1988) *Various international documentaries, including ''60 Minutes Australia'' (1988) – and also appeared on shows & documentaries in Italy *''Geraldo'' (1987) *''Phil Donahue'' (1987) *''Regis Philbin & Kathie Lee'' (1986) *''San Francisco News'' (1984) *''Detroit TV'' (WXYZ Detroit) (1982) *''Tom Snyder'' (twice) – 1976 & 1981 – 1976 as ‘Stripper for God', and 1981 as Body Builder with

, where Rasa spoke & posed in a white bikini *''To Tell the Truth'' (twice) – once as impersonating the "World's Yo-Yo Champion" and second, as herself, a minister and body builder doing some bench presses at the end (1978) *''Chicago: Warren Saunders' Common Ground'' (1978) *''Chicago – Ron Hunter Show'' (1978) *''AM Chicago'' (1978) *''Chicago – Friday Night Live with Jay Levene'' (1978) *''AM Washington'' (twice, 1974 and 1978) *''Inside Edition'' (Florida) (1978) *''The Bill Boggs Show'' (1976) *''Real People'' (5 times total) for all that she did – Stripper for God, Body Builder (1975–1981) *Mike Douglas (1975) *''AM New York'' (many times, including once with Arnold Schwarzenegger) (1974) *And various other TV news shows (many coast to coast in the US as well as in Canada) from 1972 to 2017 for her various activities, Stripping for God, Body Building, getting arrested in Ohio and Toronto, and her new church

In popular culture

As a result of her influence, Werder has made numerous appearances in numerous forms of magazine prints, including ''The New York Post'' (1974), ''D-Cup'' (1989), ''The Examiner'', ''The Sun'' (1998) and has frequently been portrayed on ''Playboy''.

Bibliography

*''The Man Whisperer: How an Old Lady Snags Young Men for Sex'' (featuring William Bond and Pete Jackson) (2024) *''Can Female Power Save The Planet? Part 2, Women's Sexual Freedom'' (featuring William Bond, Pete Jackson, ''et al''.) (2024) *''God Waits for Them: The Souls in Purgatory'' (featuring William Bond, ''et al.'') (2024) *''I Strip for God, Part 10'' (2023) *''I Strip for God, Part 9'' (2022) *''I Strip for God, Part 8'' (2022) *''I Strip for God, Part 7'' (2022) *''I Strip for God, Part 6'' (2022) *''I Strip for God, Part 5'' (2021) *''I Strip for God, Part 4'' (2021) *''I Strip for God, Part 3'' (2021) *''I Strip for God, Part 2'' (2021) *''Woman, Thou Art God: The New Religion for Women'' (2020) *''America's Most Beautiful Men'' (2019) *''Old Woman, Young Man: Why They Belong Together, Part II'' (2019) *''America's Most Beautiful Man'' (2016) *''Old Woman, Young Man: Why They Belong Together, Part I'' (2011) *''Theater of the Mind: Dreams, Symbols, & Meanings'' (2011) *''Guru Rasa and her Devotees'' (2011 and 2009) *''Secrets of Yoga and Christianity: Are They Compatible?'' (2011 and 2006) *''The Beatific Vision: Seeing God Face to Face'' (2011 and 2009) *''Theater of Justice: Celebrity Souls Appear'' (2011 and 2007) *''The Future of Male-Female Relationships'' (2011 and 2009) *''On the Attainment of the Divine Stigmata'' (2011) *''Worship of Beautiful Women Is Hunger for Mother God'' (2011 and 2009) *''Breastfeeding Is Lovemaking Between Mother and Child'' (2011) *''The Origin and Decline of Female Body Building'' (2011) *''I Strip for God, Part 1'' (2009) *''It's Not Over Till the Fat Lady Sings: Mother God Strikes Back Against Misogyny'' (featuring William Bond, ''et al.'') (2006 and 2007) *''Can Female Power Save the Planet? The Fate of the World Depends on Women'' (2006)

References

External links

Kellie Everts WebsiteOfficial website of Kellie Everts 'I Strip for God'Mother God Church websiteEmbodiment of GodKellie Everts
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Kellie Everts
at

Internet Adult Film Database The Internet Adult Film Database (IAFD) is an online database of information pertaining to the sex industry, pornography industry: Pornographic film actor, actors, Pornographic film actor, actresses, Film director, directors, Pornographic film s ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Werder, Rasa Von 1945 births Living people German emigrants to the United States German female erotic dancers German people of Lithuanian descent Professional bodybuilders People from Calw American people of Lithuanian descent People from Binghamton, New York