The Process evolved out of a self-help group founded in London, England by Robert de Grimston ("The Teacher"). To a Processean, "The Process" means change - specifically, the changes necessary to avoid the end of the world with its associated judgment.
From 1964 to 1974, Processeans were traveled throughout Europe and North America and organized Traveling, Administrative, and Open Chapters. Church leaders wrote books such as "Exit", "As It Is", "For Christ Is Come", and other titles which the Church used as its reference texts. By mid-1974, several Chapters in the US and one in Canada were operating, with headquarters in Washington DC Free shops for clothing and Free Kitchens for food dispersed donations in all of the Chapters. In the communities where Chapters were located, Processeans took on a variety of projects and received grants from local and state government agencies. Mass feeding stations were established in 'skid-row' areas where Chapters were present; these operated on a daily basis for years. Ministers and Lay-members took part in community action programs and responded to natural disasters alongside the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Weekly visitations to homes for the elderly, blind, and mentally handicapped were a regular weekly occurrence. In some Chapters, prison ministries were set-up.
The Process welcomed all through its doors. The Church legally ordained women as Priests. The was an equal balance of the sexes in the ruling body and in the operational and administration of the Church and its Chapters. It performed wedding ceremonies, baptisms and ordinations. The Church opposed the Vietnam War but left the decision of military enlistment up to the individual.
A crisis occurred in 1974. Robert de Grimston gradually removed himself from daily Church administration & activities. Disputes arose between the ruling body of the Church and The Teacher. This ultimately led to the dismissal of Robert de Grimston as Chief Theologian. The ruling body legally dissolved The Process. After unsuccessfully trying to reorganize a group of Processeans in Massachusetts, the Teacher returned to England.
In 1979 The Process was reformed as a loosely knit group, under new leadership. In 1987 a vigorous expansion effort began. Private Chapters were established in which individuals operated programs aimed at helping the homeless become self-sufficient.
In 1988, the Society Of Processeans was formed as a largely secular organization. In 1993, the faith and teachings of The Process were declared obsolete, the Archives were destroyed and the Church dissolved. Members continue, organized as a self-help organization. The future is unclear.
The Process Church published the magazine "Process" and a monthly newsletter "The Processeans".
Christ's teachings to "love your enemies" became their prime rule of behaviour. They love the individual, but not his/her evil deeds. These beliefs led to a love for Satan - not to his acts but to Satan, the Being.
The Process taught a dual concept of divinity. That is, that there are two more or less equal powers in the universe: Christ and Satan; one all good - the other all bad. The historic roots of this belief are traceable to the Zoroastrians in Persia in the 6th Century BCE.
Deviating from traditional Christianity, God and Satan are not opposite and conflicting supernatural entities. They are both believed to contribute to the world and the rest of the universe. Their long standing enmity has disappeared. Jesus is pictured as the judge at the end time, while Satan becomes the executor of Christ's judgments.
A book about Charles Manson, "The Family", claimed that Manson was a member of The Process. The Church obtained apologies and retractions to the book after it brought about a suit against the publisher. Because of the time it took to bring about the retractions, a large portion of book sales had occurred; so many of the books (without retractions) are on shelves today. The connection between Manson and the Process has not completely been corrected. Manson was never a registered member of The Process. A group of Processeans visited him in prison and confirmed that he had never been involved in the local Chapter.
More recently, a book was published that claimed a second mass murderer, David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" was also a member of The Process. The book stated that The Process was a network of killers and that Berkowitz was a look-out and did not take part in all of the killings. This conflicts with the police investigators who believed that Berkowitz was operating on his own. If they thought otherwise, the police certainly would have investigated the Church. Berkowitz claimed to have been a Satanist, and to have converted to Evangelical Christianity in prison. He claimed that the "Sam" in "Son of Sam" came from the name of the Celtic God of the Dead, Samhain (which he pronounced "Sam-hane"). His story is suspect, because his pronunciation is incorrect, the Celts never had a God of the Dead, there is no God by the name of Samhain and because Satanists do not worship Celtic Gods. In reality, Samhain means "end of summer", was a Celtic seasonal day of celebration, and remains a Wiccan Sabbat.
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