The Saint Germain Movement is an American

religious movement Various sociological classifications of religious movements have been proposed by scholars. In the sociology of religion, the most widely used classification is the church-sect typology. The typology is differently construed by different socio ...

, headquartered in

Schaumburg, Illinois Schaumburg ( ) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 78,723, making Schaumburg the most populou ...

, a suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, with a major facility just north of

Dunsmuir, California Dunsmuir is a city in Siskiyou County, California. It is on the upper Sacramento River. Its population is 1,707 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 1,650 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census. Dunsmuir is curren ...

, in the buildings and property of the

Shasta Springs Shasta Springs was a popular summer resort during the late 19th and early 20th centuries on the Upper Sacramento River in northern California. It was located just north of the town of Dunsmuir, and just north of Upper Soda Springs along the Si ...

retreat. There is also a facility in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in downtown

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. The organization's doctrines are based on teachings and wisdom received by

Guy Ballard Guy Warren Ballard (July 28, 1878 – December 29, 1939) was an American mining engineer who, with his wife Edna Anne Wheeler Ballard, founded the "I AM" Activity. Ballard was born in Newton, Kansas and married his wife in Chicago in 1916. ...

in 1930. Ballard was hiking on the slopes of

Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( ; Shasta people, Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk language, Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a Volcano#Volcanic activity, potentially active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. A ...

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 ...

, and claimed that Saint Germain appeared to him and began training him to be a "Messenger". Ballard published his experiences in a series of books. The organization's philosophies are known as the "I AM" Activity, and its members popularly known as "I AM" students. There are hundreds of "I AM" temples and sanctuaries located in most principal cities of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and locations in India, Latin America and Africa where members come together every week to decree for the benefit of mankind. There are also group meetings on various continents, as well as introductory classes and musicals. The Saint Germain Foundation and Press serves "I AM" students all over the world and performs pageants for residents and visitors alike in Mt. Shasta: "For more than 70 years, the 'I AM' COME! Pageant, on the Life of Jesus the Christ, has been given annually in the outdoor G. W. Ballard Amphitheater, with magnificent Mt. Shasta (California) as a backdrop." The next performance will be Sunday, August 3, 2025. There are also "I AM" musicals that are free for listening over the web.

J. Gordon Melton John Gordon Melton (born September 19, 1942) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the I ...

, an American religious scholar, studied the group and ranked it in the category "established cult". Also present in New Zealand, the St. Germain Foundation is considered by the writer

Robert S. Ellwood Robert S. Ellwood (born 1933) is an American academic who focuses on world religions. He was educated at the University of Colorado, Berkeley Divinity School and was awarded a PhD in History of Religions from the University of Chicago in 1967. He ...

as a religious group with

theosophical Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...

and

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

roots. It is recognized by the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

and the

Great White Brotherhood The Great White Brotherhood, in belief systems akin to Theosophy and New Age, are said to be perfected beings of great power who spread spiritual teachings through selected humans. The members of the Brotherhood may be known as the Masters of the ...

. The group was labelled as

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

in the 1995 report established by

Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France The French National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of France, set up a Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France (), also known as the Guyard Commission, on 11 July 1995 following the events involving the members of the Order of th ...

. The group founded a community in France in 1956 and is now located in the

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

. It counts less than 50 members. In 1997, the Belgian parliamentary commission established a list of 189 movements containing I AM. Worldwide, the religious group had over one million members in 1940, but it began to decline after Ballard's death. Among its splinter groups have been

The Bridge to Freedom The Bridge to Freedom, an Ascended Master Teachings religion, was established in 1951 by Geraldine Innocente and other students of the Ascended Masters after she received what was believed to be an "anointing" to become a "messenger" for the Grea ...

The Summit Lighthouse The Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) is a New Age religious organization combining elements of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Theosophy, founded in the United States in 1975 by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. The church is headquartered near ...

, and the

Church Universal and Triumphant The Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) is a New Age religious organization combining elements of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Theosophy, founded in the United States in 1975 by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. The church is headquartered near ...

References

External links

*
Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, EDNA ANNE processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
a document with all published pages of this case.
Release 1 of the Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, GUY WARREN processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
a document with all published pages of this case.
Release 2 of the Publications of the FBI Case BALLARD, GUY WARREN processed and released pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
a document with all published pages of this case. {{Authority control Ascended Master Teachings Schaumburg, Illinois Religious belief systems founded in the United States New religious movements established in the 1930s

See also

References

External links