Church of the Creator is a Christian-based faith organization headquartered in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...

. The church is most notable for achieving protection of its

registered trademark The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or word ...

name "Church of the Creator" through legal proceedings within US Federal Courts, "''TE-TA-MA v World Church of The Creator''" and the criminal indictments, trials and convictions that were precipitated during and after the litigation. After a protracted legal battle, which culminated in a denied appeal to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, the Foundation was awarded sole usage of the name "Church of the Creator"; the name had previously also been used in part by a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

group known as "World Church of the Creator", later renamed to "

The Creativity Movement Creativity, historically known as The (World) Church of the Creator, is an atheistic ( "nontheistic") white supremacist religious movement which espouses white separatism, antitheism, antisemitism, scientific racism, homophobia, and religious a ...

" in 2003. The group, both before and after the trial, was not associated with the Oregon-based church. The Church of the Creator is associated with ministries located in the United States in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as in Canada, South America and Europe."Case: 1:00-cv-02638 Document #: 1 Filed: 05/02/00
PACER: Complaint, filed May 2, 2002

History

The organization was founded as a church association in 1969 by Grace Marama Uri (1932-2006) and her husband James Germain Uri. It was chartered as Grace House Prayer Ministry, Inc. on July 14, 1975. The name of the corporation was changed in 1976, restructured in 1977, and now operates as the TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation-Family Of URI, Inc., a California nonprofit

public-benefit corporation Public-benefit corporation may refer to several types of corporate entity: United Kingdom * public benefit corporation, the legal form of NHS foundation trusts United States * Benefit corporation or public-benefit corporation, for profit but with ...

. The Foundation, within public ministries, anchored through use, the name "Church of the Creator" first conceived in 1974. The Foundation registered the name Church of the Creator in Oregon in 1982.
Oregon Business Name Search, enter=Church Of The Creator

Tenets, principles and practices

The church is described in a dictionary of new religious movements as having a "synthesis of

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

thought, Christianity, and Jewish mystical ideas, such as

kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

and gemiatry. Particular emphasis is given to the

archangel Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

and high priest

Melchizedek In the Bible, Melchizedek (, hbo, , malkī-ṣeḏeq, "king of righteousness" or "my king is righteousness"), also transliterated Melchisedech or Malki Tzedek, was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as "most high God"). He is f ...

" and the goal of the church is unification of mankind "with the highest truth and justice for all". (Se
Google books excerpt

References

External links

* {{Authority control Christian new religious movements Christian organizations established in 1969 1969 establishments in Oregon Ashland, Oregon