Mary Manin Morrissey

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Mary Morrissey speaking before the Living Enrichment Center congregation, Wilsonville, Oregon, 1994

Mary Manin Morrissey (born 1949) is a New Thought minister from Oregon, U.S.A. She has served as president of the Association for Global New Thought.^[1] In 1995, she hosted an annual congress for the International New Thought Alliance.^[2] In 1998, she spoke before the United Nations with Arun Gandhi (grandson of Mahatma Gandhi) regarding the Season for Nonviolence.^[3] She has also participated in interfaith dialogues with the Dalai Lama.^[4] She is the author of "Building Your Field of Dreams",^[5] a book that was adapted as the basis of a PBS special titled "Building Your Dreams".^[6]

Mary Manin Morrissey co-founded Living Enrichment Center, a New Thought Christian church, in the 1970s. 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. Living Enrichment Center closed in 2004 as a result of a $20 million financial scandal.^[7] 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.^[8] In the August 28, 2006 edition of Wilsonville Spokesman, editor Curt Kipp wrote that Mary Manin Morrissey has repaid $24,000 of the debt.^[9]

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.'"^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13] In the October 16, 2006, Oregonian article "Forgiveness, for minister, starts with self", staff writer S. Renee Mitchell indicated that Mary Morrissey and Ed Morrissey have divorced. Mitchell wrote, "When the smoke cleared, Morrissey — who had once cozied up to the Dalai Lama and other world spiritual leaders — was divorced, houseless and in debt for more than $10 million."^[14]

Mary Manin Morrissey currently maintains two websites: "Evolving Life Ministries with Mary Morrissey"^[15] and "Life Soulutions".^[16] Mary Manin Morrissey's speaking engagements are listed on these websites. Morrissey is also listed on the "Ocean of Gratitude" website as one of the featured speakers.^[17]

[edit] Early life

Mary Manin in high school yearbook photograph, Beaverton High School.

In her books Building Your Field of Dreams and No Less Than Greatness, both published by Random House, Mary Manin Morrissey writes that she was born into a middle class home in Tigard, Oregon. In various articles and talks, Mary Manin Morrissey claims that she was a popular student at Beaverton High School. But by the end of her junior year, the 16-year-old Mary Manin was pregnant from her boyfriend Haven Boggs. Mary Manin Morrissey writes that she was subsequently required to marry Haven Boggs, and that Beaverton High School required her to leave school and enroll in a night school for delinquents.^[18]^[19]

Janine Robbin of Willamette Week writes, "The couple's first child, a son, was born midway through Mary's senior year. A second son followed 21 months later; then two more children in 1975 and 1977. Morrissey attended college, getting a degree in elementary education before the couple moved from Washington County to Phoenix, Ariz., where joined her husband in ministry school. After graduating from the School of Christian Philosophy, the couple returned to Washington County, where, in 1980, Morrissey says an 'inner voice told me to take our ministry on the road.'"^[20]

There is variation in the portrayal of the status of Mary Manin Morrissey's Doctorate of Humane Letters. In at least two cases, Morrissey's doctorate is referenced in a context which could imply that she earned her doctorate as a result of literal matriculation at a university. In at least one case, Morrissey's doctorate is referred to as an honorary doctorate. On her official biography on her Friends of Mary website, Mary Manin Morrissey makes reference to her Doctorate of Humane Letters, but does not cite the university or reference the matriculation or honorary status of the degree.^[21] The website for Ocean of Gratitude, a motivational cruise ship enterprise with which Morrissey became involved during the summer of 2006, contains a biography that also makes reference to Mary Manin Morrissey's Doctorate of Humane Letters, though the degree granting institution is not cited nor is the matriculation or honorary status of the degree referenced.^[22] A profile of Mary Manin Morrissey on The Translucent Revolution website does not list the degree granting university, but does state, "Mary holds a master’s degree in psychology, was ordained in 1975, and received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters in 1999."^[23]

[edit] Church founding

Entrance to Living Enrichment Center 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."^[24]

Morrissey writes that in 1979, she and her husband took the family on 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.'"^[25]

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.'"^[26]

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."^[27]

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."^[28] Haven Boggs is Mary Manin Morrissey's former husband with whom she founded Living Enrichment Center in the 1970s.

Pulaski wrote, "Back in the 1970s, Lorraine Boggs looked at the cluster of blue shacks on her 133 acres and saw what could be: A spiritual retreat for the Living Enrichment Center, guided by her son and daughter-in-law."^[29] Though the article never refers to Mary Manin Morrissey by name, it is implied that Mary Manin Morrissey is the daughter-in-law in question because in the 1970s Mary Manin Morrissey was Lorraine Boggs' daughter-in-law, then known as Mary Manin Boggs. Mary Manin Morrissey has occasionally referred to the Boggs family farm. In her book Building Your Field of Dreams Morrissey writes, "After graduating from ministerial school in Arizona, we moved our family to a farm Haven's mother had owned in Oregon. Haven's two brothers joined us, drawn by the lush greenery of the gently rolling hills."^[30] In her book No Less Than Greatness, Morrissey writes, "My first husband and I had married young and rented, then moved into a farm owned by his family. There we remained for seventeen years."^[31] However, Mary Manin Morrissey had never made reference to Campo Azul.

Regarding the conditions of the camp, Pulaski wrote, "The camp's dilapidated state makes it a constant drain on money and energy. Inspectors from the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, who nearly closed the camp in 1998 because of numerous sanitation violations, found 25 such violations in an August visit last year."^[32] The article refers to church groups who attempted to improve living conditions of Campo Azul. Living Enrichment Center is not listed among the church groups.

Mary Manin Morrissey holding the Dalai Lama's right hand. Also pictured are various other New Thought ministers, such as Rev. Michael Beckwith.

After her divorce from Haven Boggs in the early 1990s, Mary Manin Boggs married Edward Morrissey. She eventually became the Senior Minister, and the church eventually grew to become the largest New Thought church in the state of Oregon, as well as one of the largest New Thought churches throughout the entire world. Various media reports have estimated Living Enrichment Center's congregation as numbering between 2,000 to 5,000 members. Additionally, Mary Manin Morrissey's Sunday sermons at LEC were broadcast to a cable access market available to an estimated 2 million homes on the US West Coast.^[33] The Portland, Oregon, media often referred to Living Enrichment Center as a "mega-church". In the 2003 promotional video for Living Enrichment Center called "What the World Now Needs", Rev. Christian Sorenson claims that Living Enrichment Center had replaced Unity Village as the "mecca" for the New Thought Movement.^[34]^[35]

Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey eventually became a well known and respected figure within the New Thought and human potential movements. For a time, she served as president of the Association for Global New Thought. She also became well respected for her ability to "network" with many famous speakers in her genre, such as Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dyer, Neale Donald Walsch, Deepak Chopra, and Jean Houston, all of whom spoke at Living Enrichment Center. (Jean Houston came to fame in the early 1990s for encouraging first lady Hillary Clinton to "talk to" Eleanor Roosevelt.) Mary Morrissey became a founding member of the "Season for Nonviolence",^[36] and addressed the United Nations with Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, regarding the need to teach peaceful resolutions to conflicts. Mary Morrissey also participated in interfaith dialogues with the Dalai Lama.^[37]

[edit] Financial scandal and church closure

"How did Mary Morrissey's mega-church get into such a mega-mess?" asks Willamette Week's May 19, 2004, cover story.^[38]

During its various incarnations from the 1970s until the 1990s, Living Enrichment Center held services in various locations in the Portland, Oregon, area. For a time, services were held at Valley Theatre in Beaverton, Oregon, and even in a tent in a parking lot in Tigard, Oregon. Eventually, in 1992, Living Enrichment Center moved to the abandoned Callahan Center in Wilsonville, Oregon, adjacent to Dammasch State Hospital on the outskirts of the city. 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 60 rooms, which were used for spiritual retreats conducted via LEC's sister organization, Namaste Retreat Center.

Shortly after its move to the Wilsonville property, Living Enrichment Center began to experience a series of financial problems that would eventually result in its closure little more than a decade later.

Donation drives and various other means of encouraging congregation contributions were a cornerstone of the church. But by 2003, the church's financial situation had deteriorated to a point beyond recovery. In November of 2003, Mary Manin Morrissey told her parishioners that Living Enrichment Center had a debt of $600,000. Then, in late February of 2004, Mary Manin Morrissey told her congregation that the church's debt was $15 million. A month later, in March of 2004, the congregation was told that the debt had risen to $20 million. Mary Manin Morrissey claimed that the church owed over $10 million on the Wilsonville property which was purchased in the early 1990s for less than $3 million. Others, however, noted that while there had certainly been capital improvements on the Wilsonville property over the more than ten years during which the church had occupied it, there had not been $7 million worth of improvements.

After little more than a decade at the expansive Wilsonville property, in the summer of 2004 Living Enrichment Center moved from its Wilsonville lot and returned to its earlier location of Valley Theater in Beaverton, Oregon.^[39]^[40] By the time of the return to Beaverton, as a result of the financial scandal, which gained considerable attention in the Portland, Oregon, media, the LEC congregation had been diminished by 20% or more. Shortly after the return to Valley Theater, Mary Manin Morrissey resigned as senior minister of Living Enrichment Center. In August of 2004, Living Enrichment Center held its final service at the Valley Theater. Mary Manin Morrissey did not attend the final service of the church she had helped to found more than two decades previous.

The backyard of Mary Manin Morrissey's house on Bull Mountain in Tigard, Oregon. Allegedly, the grounds keepers of Living Enrichment Center were paid with LEC funds to tend to the yard of the Morrisseys.

Mary Manin Morrissey had been listed as a defendant in several lawsuits filed by former members of her congregation. These former congregation members accused Rev. Morrissey of encouraging them to purchase unsecured stocks in various companies controlled by Rev. Morrissey and her husband Edward Morrissey. Some congregation members claimed that Rev. Morrissey encouraged them to make sizable loans to the church, promising a high interest return and prompt repayment. However, payment was usually not prompt; often there was no interest paid, and in many cases the loaner was asked to forgive the debt and consider their loan a donation to the church.

One member of Rev. Morrissey's congregation, a mentally disabled woman whose affiliation with the church consisted primarily of viewing Life Keys programs on television, claimed Rev. Morrissey encouraged her to invest her lifesavings in stocks the Morrisseys claimed, but turned out not to be, secure.^[41] This congregation member claims that Rev. Morrissey made repeated telephone calls requesting the loan.

Shortly before Living Enrichment Center filed for bankruptcy and closed in the summer of 2004, Rev. Morrissey announced that her husband, Edward Morrissey, had been suffering from manic depression for some time and that he was in a psychiatric facility being treated for his condition. Rev. Morrissey also claimed that much of the responsibility for the financial problems faced by the church were the fault of her husband's mental state.

In the spring of 2005, Edward Morrissey accepted a plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney's Office. As a result of their settlement, neither Edward Morrissey nor Mary Morrissey may sell securities,^[42] and the Morrisseys agreed to undertake a repayment plan wherein all who loaned funds to Living Enrichment Center would be reimbursed. Edward Morrissey also pled guilty to one federal count of money laundering, and admitted to using church money for personal expenses. Allan Garten, assistant U.S. attorney who worked with the investigation team, was quoted as saying that Edward Morrissey "deceived congregants into thinking they were loaning to the church and that their loans were secured," and, "Not only were the loans not secured, but some of the money was also going for the personal use of Mr. Morrissey and his wife."^[43]

An aerial view of the Living Enrichment Center campus building and grounds on the outskirts of Wilsonville, Oregon.

Jeff Manning of The Oregonian wrote, "Some former Living Enrichment parishioners were angered that Mary Morrissey eluded federal charges. Mary Morrissey leaned hard on parishioners to make the loans, some said, but she has claimed she had no knowledge of her husband's use of that money."^[44] Jeff Manning also reported that Mary Morrissey did not attend her husband's plea hearing in U.S. District Court before Michael W. Mosman. Edward Morrissey was sentenced to 33 months in a medium security federal prison. He began serving his sentence in August 2005.^[45]

The former Wilsonville LEC campus was listed for sale shortly after Living Enrichment Center's closure. In September, 2006, Wilsonville Spokesman ran a story that claims the former LEC campus was sold to a development company from Salem, Oregon. According to editor Curt Kipp, the property was purchased by a development company which plans to create a retirement community known as "The Grove". Plans may include the demolition of the former LEC building.^[46]

[edit] Department of Consumer and Business Services Settlement

Cases like this one should remind people that basing investment on trust and personal relationships is not a substitute for conducting their own due diligence before investing.^[47]

[edit] Announcement

On April 6, 2005, Department of Consumer and Business Services announced its settlement with Mary Manin Morrissey and Edward Morrissey. The settlement was reached in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney General's office in Portland, Oregon. On that same day, the judgment was filed with Multnomah County Circuit Court.

As part of the settlement, neither of the Morrisseys may offer or sell securities. Edward Morrissey agreed to plead guilty to one federal count of money laundering. The plea agreement reached between Edward Morrissey and the U.S. Attorney’s Office called for the government to recommend a 36-month prison sentence. DCBS alleged violations of state securities laws including unlicensed activity, sale of unregistered products, and fraud in connection with the offer and sale of securities. DCBS contended that many congregants of Living Enrichment Center invested money in promissory-note programs and the purchase of stock in entities controlled by either or both of the Morrisseys. Restitution of over $10 million is due to investors. A down payment of $50,000 was to be required by October 15, 2005, with incremental payments due at 90 and 120 days prior to that.

An injunction was imposed against Edward Morrissey and Mary Manin Morrissey prohibiting both from selling securities, acting as officers for any issuers, or serving as directors or other officers in nonprofit organizations. Civil penalties totaling $200,000 were imposed, of which $150,000 was suspended so long as the Morrisseys complied with the judgment. The amount not suspended, $50,000, was to be paid in full by December 31, 2005, with incremental payments due 90 to 120 days prior to that.^[48]

[edit] Complaint

The State of Oregon claimed that unless enjoined the Morrisseys are likely to commit similar violations in the future.^[49]

In the complaint filed, State of Oregon, Department of Consumer and Business Services, detailed the action resulting in the in loss of congregant loans and investments. In the complaint, it is stated that between 1996 and 2004, the Morrisseys offered and sold unregistered securities and made materially false and misleading statements and omissions concerning those securities. Through these activities, the Morrisseys raised over $10 million.

The State of Oregon's complaint states that the Morrisseys took advantage of their unique relationship and position of trust with the Living Enrichment Center congregation. Mary Manin Morrissey and Edward Morrissey asked congregation members and others to transfer assets by representing that their money would be safe and that it would be repaid with interest. Congregation members did transfer assets as requested, although at least some of the statements made by the Morrisseys were not true. While some funds, including interest, have been repaid, a significant number of investors' requests for repayment have gone unanswered or met with requests that the interest be forgiven or donated to Living Enrichment Center. The complaint states that by engaging in the transactions, acts, practices, omissions, the Morrisseys violated securities laws. The State of Oregon claimed that unless enjoined the Morrisseys are likely to commit similar violations in the future. Many investors and congregants, claims the state, have suffered financially due to the Morrisseys' conversion and inability to repay the amounts owed.

The 23-page complaint ends with seven-page list of people who had either loaned money to, or invested in securities controlled by, Mary Manin Morrissey and Edward Morrissey.^[50]

[edit] Judgment

The Department of Consumer and Business Services Judgment explains that the Morrisseys have been ordered to repay all offerees who loaned money to or otherwise invested money in or through them. The total amount to be repaid is $10,763,507. The Morrisseys are instructed to place repayment in escrow. The 22-page document includes the signatures of both Mary Manin Morrissey and Edward Morrissey.^[51]

[edit] Convenant

In a three-page document signed by Mary Manin Morrissey, Department of Consumer and Business Services Judgment outlines the agreement made between the Morrisseys. The Convenant is signed only by Mary Manin Morrissey.^[52]

[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/.^[53]

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."^[54]^[55] 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."^[56] 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."^[57]

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."^[58]

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?"^[59]

[edit] Nancy Bertram's statement

On Sunday, February 20, 2005, a woman by the name of Nancy Bertram posted about her experience with Mary Manin Morrissey, writing, "After my husband died, I was in Mary's office planning his memorial service when she asked me to loan the church money. - Hard to believe but true. I wrote her a check for $25K that was to be repaid in 30 days, and was to earn 9% interest - the interest was paid monthly, but it took about 9 - 10 months to get the $25K repaid and it took a tremendous effort on my part to get it back. Mary also, about a month after his death, Mary started calling me wanting me to loan LEC more money.... she was after the life insurance. She would not leave me alone. I found it so insulting that during the whole time my husband was ill she was not accessible, but when she wanted money, she could not contact me enough. Having one's spiritual leader hounding a grieving widow for money is simply put - inappropriate and predatory. She even had the financials for the church sent to me. My sister is a CPA and I had her look at the financials.... nowhere did it indicate the enormous dept that was outstanding to congregants. Fortunately I had my sister call Mary - she instructed Mary to never call me asking for money again (after about 3 months of the calls)." ^[60]^[61]

[edit] Boggs farm and Campo Azul

A view of Campo Azul, the migrant camp headquartered on the Boggs family farm. Source: Joe Stark, former manager of the Campo Azul. Photograph originally published at LEC World Refugees.

On the online discussion group, Rita Allen Boggs, Mary Manin Morrissey's former sister-in-law, wrote, "I agree it was unconscionable of Mary and Haven to turn a blind eye to the conditions of the camp, especially when other community members were providing goods and services to the migrants there. Mary and Haven were no more good stewards of the farm than they were of LEC."^[62] When asked if the migrant workers were ever invited to services at the church founded on the Boggs farm, Rita Allen Boggs responded, "The migrants were never invited to services because to Mary's mind they didn't exist. So much so that when she hired household help they never came from the camp. To Mary the camp was another world which had nothing to do with her. Nor did any of the migrants ever come to a service, I'm sure they would have been welcomed if they had. Most of them are Catholic and do not speak English so I'm sure it never occured to them to attend a service. At that time, when the church was meeting in the big house there was a sign out front proclaiming it to be the Living Truth Center. That was the invitation extended to all who wanted to attend. At any rate, the camp's condition really had nothing to do with Mary. For her it didn't exist as long as no one caused her trouble, and the migrants never did trouble her so they were easy to ignore. What the camp did was increase the value of leasing out the berries which kept the farm afloat while Mary and Haven pursued their dreams."^[63]

[edit] Allegations of addictions

In 2005, Parodi forwarded to the group private e-mails he had received from Joe Stark and Rita Allen Boggs. Rita Allen Boggs is Mary Manin Morrissey's former sister-in-law and also a former employee of Living Enrichment Center. Joe Stark is also a former employee of LEC and the Boggs family farm. In the private e-mails, Rita Allen Boggs and Joe Stark claimed that while living with Mary Manin Morrissey (then known as Mary Manin Boggs) on the Boggs family farm in the 1970s and 1980s, they witnessed Mary Manin Morrissey using marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, and cocaine.

Joe Stark's candid of Mary Boggs, circa 1970s. Picture originally published at LEC World Refugees discussion group website.

Rita Allen Boggs wrote:

"Would it matter to anybody that the first time I met Mary she offered me a joint? Much of the early years of building the church she was high on something, not God. Mary has a very addictive personality, I've seen her not just using substances, but engaging all around her in their 'powers'. I've seen her through the dope years, on to the acid and mushroom trips and deep into cocaine, where she used farm money to purchase quantities which she would then sell to her friends, or just share. Now here is why the family went on the road for a year, Haven decided he had to do a geographic to get her off the cocaine. When they returned her drug of choice was Chardonnay. When John Boggs stole money from the church, while we were still at Westgate, and his cocaine addiction came out, Mary gave up the Chardonnay. Money has been her drug of choice ever since then."^[64]

In her e-mail, Rita Allen Boggs also claimed that years previous to the financial scandal of Living Enrichment Center, Mary Morrissey accepted a $64,000 loan from her mother-in-law, Lorraine Boggs. Rita Allen Boggs claimed that Mary Morrissey did not pay back this loan but left repayment responsibilities to her ex-husband, Haven Boggs.

Alleged portrait of Joe Stark, former LEC employee and personal friend of Mary Morrissey. Picture originally published at LEC World Refugees discussion group website.

In his e-mail, Joe Stark wrote:

“Last I heard Haven and one of the kids was headed for Mexico.^[65] Mary and Haven already have one son who has been living in Mexico for many years after it was discovered he had embezzled thousands of $ from Lec where he worked in the accounting dept. Also Mary told me that he was down there to escape prosecution for a shoplifting charge as well. Oh. the reason he took the cash was to support his cocaine habit. That was Marys drug of choice. I witnessed them not only using drugs in front of their kids but as the kids grew older they begin sharing those drugs with the kids.”^[66]

Rita Allen, Joe Stark, Mary Manin Morrissey (as Haven's wife), and Living Enrichment Center are all referred to in the April 24, 2000, Oregonian article titled "An Uncertain Future for Migrant Camp".^[67] Although this article is about the Boggs family farm and Campo Azul, it does not define nor refer to Mary's past or her involvement with the property. It may be a useful reference, however, as a means of verification of the authenticity of said individuals and their respective roles within the Boggs family farm, Campo Azul migrant camp, and Living Enrichment Center. Additionally, Rita Allen Boggs is referred to in the "acknowledgments" section of "A Miracle in Motion" on page 6.^[68]

Prior to forwarding the e-mails in question, Mr. Parodi claimed to have met personally with Joe Stark at the Wilsonville Starbucks in early 2005 so as to verify the authenticity of Mr. Stark's statements about Mary Manin Morrissey's past. Parodi also presented the online support group with various pieces of evidence verifying Joe Stark's involvement with Mary Manin Morrissey, including early candids of Mary Boggs, Haven Boggs, early LEC product prototypes, an early LEC audio cassette meditation program with Joe Stark's name on the label, and a picture of Joe Stark himself, all of which Parodi claimed Joe Stark shared with him at their personal meeting. Parodi reported that Joe Stark claims to be the "Joe" referred to on page 163 of Mary Manin Morrissey's book "Building Your Field of Dreams".^[69]

On August 6, 2006, Rev. Robert W. Figley,^[70] a minister who claims to have received training at Living Enrichment Center (among other places), alleged that as early as 1992 there were signs of financial impropriety at Morrissey's church. Figley wrote:

"Back in 1992, just before the move to Wilsonville and of the divorce between Haven and Mary, the Board of Directors at LEC, being so concerned by Mary's spending habits and her constant co-mingeling (sic) of funds between her personal accounts and LEC's, (Very against the law!) decided to have an intervention meeting with Mary. This is the same type of intervention you would have with any person you care about who is hooked on drugs, booze etc. With Mary it was money. The intervention was to take place on a Monday morning. Somehow, Mary caught wind of it. In a pre-emptive strike, on Sunday evening she fired the whole board. By Monday morning, when the intervention was to take place, she had installed a whole new board, hand picked by Mary and Ed, with a new set of rules for the board, making them more or less a rubber stamp."^[71]

Rev. Figley has also written about Haven Boggs' current lifestyle in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Rev. Figley stated that, unlike Mary Morrissey, Haven Boggs has admitted to past drug addictions:

"Haven and his wife live in a two-bedroom rental house. When Haven went back to school, he paid for it mostly with government student loans, which he has since paid back. He is an active member of a local church, but is not in a leadership position. (By choice, it seems.) He freely admits past drug and alcohol addiction, has been clean and sober for many years, and still attends 12-step groups."^[72]

[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, including the intention to make Mary Manin Morrissey a "national celebrity". Click on the images to enlarge and maximize readability.

[edit] Trivia

Mary Manin Morrissey's Limited Liability Company "Evolving Life Ministries" is listed as a contributor to "Project Everlasting".^[73] "Project Everlasting" is a documentary and book publishing venture to study the secret to long lasting marriages. "Project Everlasting" is headed by Mary Manin Morrissey's son Mat Boggs. Mat Boggs is pictured with his mother on the website, whom he refers to as one of his inspirations.^[74] Haven Boggs, Mary Manin Morrissey's former husband who currently runs a marriage business in Cabo San Lucas called "Wedding Haven",^[75] is also listed as a contributor. Mat Boggs has appeared on The Today Show to promote this project. On the "Project Everlasting" website, Mat Boggs describes himself as a 28-year-old bachelor who wants to fall in love with a woman. Mat Boggs has cited the break up of his parents' marriage as inspiration for researching the secret to lasting marriages. Boggs and his partner, Jason Miller, have a book deal in the works and claim to have received calls from representatives of Oprah Winfrey.^[76]^[77]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] State of Oregon Corporate Securities Findings Regarding Morrissey Investigation

Documents last accessed on August 2, 2006.

Settlement announcement

[edit] Related websites, blogs, and discussion groups

Index of articles from The Oregonian and other Portland area papers

KGW TV coverage of LEC's closure

Friends of Mary and Evolving Life Ministries are Mary Morrissey's current organizations.

LEC World Refugees is an online support group for former members of Mary Morrissey's former church, Living Enrichment Center.

Synthesis Dialogues is the official site for the interfaith dialogues in which Mary Morrissey participated with the Dalai Lama. Morrissey is pictured on the front page of this site, holding the Dalai Lama's right hand.

"Intersection of Spirituality and Fleecing" blog entry by Jeff Bull regarding the plea bargain struck with Ed and Mary Morrissey wherein Mary Morrissey did not serve time in prison.