In the News...

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (EP) - Fifteen years ago, sociologist Rodney Stark calculated that at its present rate of growth, membership in the Mormon Church could reach 267 million by the year 2080. But speaking to the Mormon History Association in late May, Stark noted that the 10 million-member denomination's rate of growth has increased. In fact, the Mormon church grew 61 percent per decade between 1950 and 1980 - more than the 30-50 percent per decade growth rate used in Stark's calculations. Today, the church's membership is ahead of Stark's highest projection for 1999. Stark, a non-Mormon scholar who studies the sociology of religion, noted that the cult's growth isn't "based on recruitment of isolates, but on networks" of friends and family members.

New Mormon Temples

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has broken ground on new temples in Albuquerque, NM and Houston, TX. They also announced the July 26 dedication of  their first "Mini-Temple" in Monticello, UT and have released the location of six other smaller temples in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Kailua-Kona, Hawaii; Caracas, Venezuela; Fukuoka, Japan; Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; and Suva, Fiji (LDS News, June 22, 1998).

10 Million Mormons Worldwide

By Anne Hand and Mike Paquette © Religion News Service
Sources: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches

New Age Guru Carlos Castaneda Dies

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Carlos Castaneda, an early leader of the New Age Movement whose best-selling books claimed to contain the ancient mystical secrets of a Native American Shaman named Don Juan Matusa, died of liver cancer April 27. He was believed to be 72. He had millions of followers around the world, and his 10 books continue to sell in 17 languages ("A Hushed Death for Mystic Author Carlos Castaneda," Los Angeles Times, June 19, 1998, p. A-1).

Since the 1960s, Castaneda claimed to have been the student of the Yaqui Indian sorcerer. His books extolled  Peyote induced altered states of consciousness and related spiritual insights learned from Don Juan. Researches and investigators were never able to find Don Juan. This along with Castaneda's "penchant for lying" and other evidence, led critics to conclude it was "an elaborate, if ingenious, hoax."

Lenz's Death Ruled Suicide

 OLD FIELD, N.Y. - According to Associated Press and CNN reports, the death of New Age guru Frederick Lenz has been ruled a suicide by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's office (See Watchman Expositor, Vol. 15, No. 2 p. 22).

Lenz, known by his followers as Zen Master Rama, along with an unidentified female companion took an overdose of Valium. The woman survived her suicide attempt but Lenz's body was discovered by divers in a bay next to his $2 million home on April 11 two days after he had fallen off his dock.

Lenz authored the popular New Age books, Surfing the Himalayas and Snowboarding to Nirvana. Critics accused Lenz of cultic practices and claimed he had sexual relations with his female followers. Lenz denied any wrongdoing, but said sex with students was "perfectly acceptable."

France Denies Tax Break to JWs

The French Tax Authority ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses are ineligible for a church exemption from taxes and assigned a sixty percent tax rate to the Watchtower Society.  The Witnesses now owe $25 million in back taxes, and another $25 million in interest and penalties. A lien was put on all Watchtower Society property in France. The decision was made in May after the Authority audited donations to the Society.

There are 220,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in France.  The Society has been active in the country since 1900.