Living Enrichment Center

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The entrance to Living Enrichment Center.

Living Enrichment Center was a New Thought church headquartered in a 94,500 square foot (8,800 m²) building on a forested area of 95 acres (384,000 m²). "LEC," as it came to be called, was located in Wilsonville, which is a suburb of Portland, Oregon. The congregation was estimated at anywhere from 3000 to 5000, making it one of the biggest churches in the state of Oregon. LEC was the biggest New Thought church in Oregon, and one of the biggest New Thought churches in the world. LEC also maintained Namaste Retreat Center on the grounds. LEC also maintained a Cristofori School, which taught ages kindergarten through third grade. The local media often referred to Living Enrichment Center as a "megachurch". Living Enrichment Center closed in 2004 amid a financial scandal.

1 Church founding
2 Namaste Retreat Center
3 Living Bookends Bookstore
4 Cristofori School
5 Life Keys programs
6 Closure
7 Online support group
8 "Living Enrichment Center: The 21st Century Church"
9 Trivia
- 9.1 Image gallery of LEC building in Thumbsucker movie
10 See also
11 External links
- 11.1 Websites
12 External links
13 Notes

[edit] Church founding

A view of the large and cavernous main LEC building in Wilsonville, Oregon.

"The dream called Living Enrichment Center began in 1974 when I graduated from divinity school in Arizona," Mary Manin Morrissey wrote in A Miracle in Motion: The Green Balloon Story. "I declined offers from five churches to return to my home in Oregon, intent on starting a congregation. Our tiny church, which we called The Truth Center, began in the living room of a small farm in rural Oregon. For five years, neither the farm, nor the ministry flourished. On many Sundays, my former husband and I, also a minister, conducted services only for each other. Even my closest friends kindly told me I was only 'playing' at being a minister."^[1]

Mary Morrissey writes that in 1979, she and her husband took the family and their ministry on the road, offering workshops on building self-esteem in churches around the country. "This was a true adventure in faith, what some might call blind faith", Morrissey wrote. "With only $300 in our pockets, we set out with four children, two cats, and window washing equipment, piling into a travel trailer that we hooked to a multicolored Checker cab. We painted the cab to fit the theme of our workshop, which we called 'Rainbow Connection.'"^[2]

After a year on the road, Morrissey wrote that she felt she received guidance to start a ministry in Beaverton, Oregon. "I don't know why it is that each of us receives our messages from the Presence a little differently," Morrissey wrote. "Some people get an image, some hear a voice, some people feel guidance. What matters is that each of us get in touch with how we perceive the Presence of God. I hear it in a Voice, and over the years I've come to know that Voice, a very calm, quiet, and penetrating resonance. The Voice had said, 'Travel around the country,' and when we were back in Oregon, the Voice said, 'Start a ministry in Beaverton.'"^[3]

Morrissey and her family returned home and began the church in the Beaverton Oddfellows Hall. Morrissey writes that Dycia Samuels, a church management consultant, advised that they name the church to reflect what they aimed to do. "We recognized that our goal was to assist one another in enriching our lives. We became Living Enrichment Center."^[4]

In its original form on the Boggs Farm, Living Enrichment Center was initially known as the "Church of Truth." It has been said that it was at this church that Mary Manin Boggs (later Mary Manin Morrissey) and Haven Boggs both received their ministerial certificates.

On April 24, 2000, The Oregonian published an article titled "An Uncertain Future for Migrant Camp" written by staff writer Alex Pulaski. The article concerned the Campo Azul, one of Oregon's most heavily fined migrant camps, which had become embroiled in a property battle within the Boggs family of Scholls, Oregon, after the death of family matriarch Lorraine Boggs. Pulaski wrote, "Ownership of the property is in a trust controlled by two of Lorraine Boggs' sons, Haven Boggs and Tony Allen, and Allen's wife, Rita."^[5] Haven Boggs is Mary Manin Morrissey's former husband with whom she founded Living Enrichment Center in the 1970s.

Teen Center mural depicting ecumenical philosophy of Living Enrichment Center.

By the mid-1990s, the church's congregation was variously estimated at numbering between 2,000 and 5,000, making it the biggest New Thought church in the state of Oregon, as well as one of the biggest in the world. LEC's Wilsonville headquarters consisted of a three-level 94,000 square foot building on a 93-acre lot. The lot also included 13 cabins, with over 70 rooms, which were used for spiritual retreats conducted via LEC's sister organization, Namaste Retreat Center. Living Enrichment Center became famous in the local community, and in some cases in the national and international spiritual community, for its extensive 95-acre (384,000 m²) grounds. There are 40 acres (162,000 m²) on the east side of Grahams Ferry Road, and 55 acres (223,000 m²) on the west side. The upkeep of the entire plot was assigned to only one gardener, who incorporated into the landscape many plant and tree species, both native and non-native, such as Japanese Maple trees and exotic plants such as 10 foot (3 m) high bamboo near the authentic Thai Buddha. In this capacity the head gardener was aided for a brief time by an assistant.

[edit] Namaste Retreat Center

A Nameste Retreat Center cabin, on Living Enrichment Center's grounds in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Namaste Retreat Center was a retreat center headquartered in Wilsonville, Oregon. It shared grounds and facilities with New Thought church Living Enrichment Center. The retreat center took its name from the sanskrit word namaste, in tribute to the eastern spiritual philosophy that was embraced by many staff members, retreat participants, and members of the congregation. From 1997 until 2004, Namaste Retreat Center was one of the most popular retreat centers in the state of Oregon. In its literature, Namaste Retreat Center billed itself as "Oregon's leading spiritual retreat center."

Namaste Retreat Center began with the intention of hosting mainly spiritually-based retreats. To that end, many personalities within the New Age and New Thought communities conducted retreats at Namaste Retreat Center. Retreat leaders included: Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Alan Cohen, Joan Borysenko, Shakti Gawain, Stanislav Grof, and Arun Gandhi. Mary Manin Morrissey, head minister of Living Enrichment Center, conducted a yearly women's retreat that was attended by as many was 300 women from all over the United States as well as foreign countries. Eventually, however, Namaste Retreat Center found that the proceeds from spiritually-based retreats alone were not enough to sustain the business. Corporate retreats, for the likes of Sysco and Nike, soon began to dominate the retreat bookings. Retreats for non-profit groups, such as Habitat for Humanity, were also held on the grounds.

Namaste Retreat Center closed its doors in 2004 when the umbrella organization of Living Enrichment Center folded amid a financial scandal.

[edit] Living Bookends Bookstore

A view inside Living Bookends Bookstore at the Wilsonville location.

Living Bookends Bookstore was the in-house bookstore of Living Enrichment Center, which was a 94,500-square-foot New Thought church in Wilsonville, Oregon. The bookstore was begun with a meager selection, hardly more than a few bookshelves, while LEC was still in Tigard, Oregon. Living Bookends Bookstore moved with Living Enrichment Center to the Wilsonville location in 1992. When Living Enrichment Center closed in the summer of 2004 amid a financial scandal, Living Bookends Bookstore closed along with it.

Because Living Enrichment Center was a New Thought church, much of the stock consisted of New Thought authors, such as Ernest Holms, Myrtle Fillmore, and Mary Baker Eddy. Books by more contemporary authors, such as Wayne Dyer and Marianne Williamson were also available. The books of Mary Manin Morrissey, who served as Senior Minister of Living Enrichment Center, were prominently on display. Books about UFOs, Bigfoot, and other New Age type speculation were also available.

Living Bookends Bookstore also had a large selection of Morrissey's Life Keys talks on display. Recordings of Morrissey's Sunday talks were made available in Living Bookends immediately after each Sunday service. While at the Wilsonville location, Living Bookends also sold assorted jewelry, candles, videos, CDs, and other New Age type products. Toiletries for people taking part in the retreats held on the grounds and conducted by Namaste Retreat Center were also sold. Living Bookends Bookstore also had an espresso machine.

Living Bookends Bookstore, along with its parent company of Living Enrichment Center, moved from the Wilsonville, Oregon campus to Valley Theatre in the summer of 2004. Living Bookends Bookstore had a going-out-of-business sale on August 29, 2004, which was the day of the final church service of Living Enrichment Center. By this point, Living Bookends had moved to a small office space near Valley Theatre, in Beaverton, Oregon, which is where the last few Living Enrichment Center services were held.

[edit] Cristofori School

Cristofori School was a kindergarten through third grade school that was headquartered at Living Enrichment Center in Wilsonville, Oregon, USA during the mid to late 1990s.^[6]

Though Cristofori School went through various different teachers, through the bulk of its relatively brief existence, it had three main teachers: Mark Till, Tad Beckwith, and Bonnie Eddy.

Students were taught the usual age appropriate lessons in math, reading, writing, etc. Students were also exposed to the ecumenical philosophy of New Thought, which was the governing philosophy of Cristofori's governing institution Living Enrichment Center.

[edit] Life Keys programs

A screen capture of the opening credits of the "Life Keys" television ministry program.

Life Keys was a name brand created by Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey, co-founder, along with then-husband Haven Boggs, of Living Enrichment Center. Life Keys produced audio tapes, CDs, and video cassettes of Mary Morrissey's Sunday talks. The videos were broadcast on many cable access stations across the West Coast of the U.S.. The audio and video cassettes were also available for purchase in Living Enrichment Center's Living Bookends Bookstore. Often, audio cassettes of a Sunday service were available immediately after service. The audio tapes were also available via a mail subscription for more than $200 per year.^[7]

The audio cassette and CD recordings produced by Life Keys were sold to an audience from all over the world. Though most of the talks in the Life Keys series were delivered by Mary Manin Morrissey, some were recordings of talks given by visiting speakers such as Arun Gandhi, Marianne Williamson, and Wayne Dyer.

The Life Keys series discontinued in 2004 when Living Enrichment Center filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors. Mary Manin Morrissey's last talk distributed in the Life Keys series was entitled The Right Questions to Ask and was recorded on August 1, 2004. It was also Morrissey's last talk as Senior Minister of Living Enrichment Center. In this last talk, Morrissey says her life is in "disarray," saying that her husband is in a mental hospital for depression and that she herself needs to take a break. During part of the talk she seems to be on the verge of tears.

[edit] Closure

Living Enrichment Center closed in 2004 as a result of a $20 million financial scandal.^[8] As part of a plea bargain with the state of Oregon, Mary Manin Morrissey has agreed to repay $10 million in loans from the congregation.^[9] In the August 28, 2006 edition of Wilsonville Spokesman, editor Curt Kipp wrote that Mary Manin Morrissey has repaid $24,000 of the debt.^[10]

In a 2004 e-mail to Willamette Week, Steve Unger, Mary Manin Morrissey's attorney, wrote that Mary Manin Morrissey and her husband Edward Morrissey had committed commingling, and that "the finances of [the] LEC, New Thought Broadcasting, Mary Morrissey and Ed Morrissey were treated not separately, but as a kind of 'financial family.'"^[11] In 2005, Edward Morrissey, a CPA and the former CFO of Living Enrichment Center, pled guilty to money laundering and using church funds for the personal expenses of himself and his wife.^[12] After a year in prison at Terminal Island, in August, 2006, Edward Morrissey was transferred to a Seattle halfway house. Edward Morrissey is slated for release from the Seattle halfway house on February 2, 2007.^[13] Both Mary Manin Morrissey and Edward Morrissey have injunctions against them, prohibiting them from heading or being agents in non-profit organizations. Both are also prohibited from selling securities.^[14]

After little more than a decade at the expansive Wilsonville property, Living Enrichment Center moved back to the Valley Theatre of Beaverton, Oregon. After only a few months at the Valley Theater location, LEC filed for bankruptcy and closed in the summer of 2004 amid a finanicial scandal [1] [2].

Three separate ministries grew out of the demise of Living Enrichment Center. Mary Manin Morrissey, the former Senior Minister of Living Enrichment Center, established "Friends of Mary" [3]. Several other former LEC ministers established New Thought Ministries of Oregon. And Barry Dennis, a former LEC musician, established "Celebration Church" [4].

[edit] Online support group

Wilsonville Spokesman article, written by editor Curt Kipp, which refers to LEC World Refugees online group.

Shortly before the closure of Living Enrichment Center in the summer of 2004, Andrew Parodi founded a Yahoo! group called LEC World Refugees. By the fall of 2006 the group had grown to over 275 members, including former congregation members, Living Enrichment Center employees, ministerial students, Rita Allen Boggs (Mary Manin Morrissey's former sister-in-law), and one minister from LEC's successor church New Thought Ministries of Oregon. On October 6, 2006, Rev. Rob Figley launched a sister site to the discussion group: LEC World Refugees.com. The name LEC World Refugees is likely a reference to Living Enrichment Center's now defunct domain name, which was http://www.lecworld.org/.^[15]

Andrew Parodi is a former congregant and employee of Living Enrichment Center. In letters to the editors of Willamette Week and Wilsonville Spokesman, Parodi wrote, "Time after time, year after year, anyone who questioned Mary, LEC's financial practices, or any aspect of the way she ran the institution in which she continually proclaimed we were all family, mysteriously disappeared and was never spoken of again. In 1999 when I voiced my concerns about LEC's finances, Mary sent me to see a therapist for my 'negative thinking.' The therapist told me that this was a common practice for Mary. Later, after I was told to never return to the grounds again, Mary forbade all her employees from having any contact with me."^[16]^[17] Rev. Rob Figley is a former ministerial student of Living Enrichment Center.

In an April 13, 2005, article titled "Former LEC congregants disagree on settlement deal", Wilsonville Spokesman editor Curt Kipp made the following reference to LEC World Refugees: "Parodi has formed an Internet support group of sorts, called 'lecworldrefugees', for former church members to share their experiences at LEC."^[18] On October 16, 2006, S. Renee Mitchell, columnist for The Oregonian, referred to LEC World Refugees in the article "Forgiveness, for minister, starts with self". Mitchell wrote, "A few disillusioned employees started an anti-Morrissey Web site that questions her integrity, her innocence and her lack of accountability for a lavish lifestyle despite her claims of not receiving a paycheck for 10 years."^[19]

Andrew Parodi contested the characterization of being "anti-Morrissey", stating:

"While we are not anti-Morrissey, we are pro-truth. Most group members believe that Mary Morrissey has not been fully truthful about her role in the financial scandal that closed LEC. Most of us believe that Mary Morrissey was as responsible as her husband for the financial scandal, but that her husband took the fall and went to prison because it was the best strategy for maintaining the marketability of Mary's image."^[20]

Rev. Rob Figley responded to Mitchell's column by writing:

"Mary Morrissey has made a living by playing the victim, and she does it again in this article. An article that is clearly an advertisement to drum up business for her speaking engagements. What about all the real victims? The people who lost thousands of dollars? What about the people who she spread lies about, who were emotional victims?"^[21]

[edit] "Living Enrichment Center: The 21st Century Church"

Below are links to digital images of a 9-page financial document from 1997 titled "Living Enrichment Center: The 21st Century Church". This document outlines Living Enrichment Center's marketing strategy. Click on the images to enlarge and maximize readability.

[edit] Trivia

The building that housed Living Enrichment Center in its Wilsonville location was originally known as the Callahan Center, a government facility built for rehabilitation of injured state workers. The Callahan Center was contiguous of Dammasch State Hospital, sharing an underground tunnel and electrical and water system.

The former Living Enrichment Center building in Wilsonville is featured in the 2005 movie Thumbsucker starring Keanu Reeves and Vince Vaughn. The former LEC building appears as a drug rehab center called "Maple Glen".

[edit] Image gallery of LEC building in Thumbsucker movie

Below are screen captures of the former Living Enrichment Center building as it appears in the 2005 Thumbsucker movie.

[edit] See also

Mary Manin Morrissey was the Senior Minister of Living Enrichment Center.
Edward Morrissey, husband of Mary Morrissey, he pled guilty to money laundering and using LEC funds for personal expenses of himself and his wife, and is currently in prison.

[edit] External links

[edit] Websites

LEC World Refugees is an online support group for former members of the LEC congregation.
Living Enrichment Center Blog
Oregon Conference Attracts Hundreds on Spiritual Journey from BeliefNet's website
The Practitioner Program of Living Enrichment Center
Corporate Securities Complaint Regarding Living Enrichment Center Investigation
Corporate Securities Consent Judgment Regarding Living Enrichment Center Investigation
Corporate Securities Covenant Regarding Living Enrichment Center Investigation

LEC's financial controversy was Willamette Week's cover story for May 19, 2004.

[edit] External links

[edit] LEC promotional video featuring Mary Manin Morrissey

Below are links to a promotional video produced by Living Enrichment Center in 2003. The video is called "What the World Now Needs". The video is hosted by Mary Manin Morrissey and features footage of the LEC grounds and services. Congregation testimonials are included. Also featured in the video are Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dyer, Neal Donald Walsch, Dennis Weaver, and many other New Thought and New Age speakers. Also featured is footage of Mary Morrissey with the Dalai Lama, and footage of Mary Morrissey speaking before the United Nations with Arun Gandhi. The video series ends with a plea from Mary Morrissey to the viewer for donations to the church. Less than a year after production of this video, the church closed due to a financial scandal.