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The Process, or in full, The Process Church of the Final Judgment, commonly known by non-members as the Process Church, was a religious group that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s, founded by the English couple Mary Anne and Robert DeGrimston (originally Robert Moor and Mary Anne MacLean).[1] Originally headquartered in London it had developed as a splinter client cult group from Scientology, so that they were declared "suppressive persons" by L. Ron Hubbard in December 1965. In 1966 the members of the group underwent a social implosion and moved to Xtul on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, where they developed "processean" theology (which differs from, and is unrelated to process theology). They later established a base of operations in the United States in New Orleans.
They were often viewed as Satanic on the grounds that they worshipped both Christ and Satan. Their belief is that Satan will become reconciled to Christ, and they will come together at the end of the world to judge humanity, Christ to judge and Satan to execute judgment. Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor of the Charles Manson family trial, comments in his book Helter Skelter that there may be evidence Manson borrowed philosophically from the Process Church, and that representatives of the Church visited him in jail after his arrest. According to one of these representatives, the purpose of the visit was to interview Manson about whether he had ever had any contact with Church members or ever received any literature about the Church.
In April, 1974 Robert DeGrimston was removed by the Council of Masters as Teacher. They renounced The Unity, his exposition of the above-noted doctrines, and most of his other teachings. DeGrimston attempted to restart the Process Church several times, but he could never replace his original following. Following DeGrimston's removal, the group underwent a significant change in orientation and renamed itself the Foundation Faith of the Millennium. Further changes in both name and focus followed, and the organization eventually became the Best Friends Animal Society, which is now one of America's best known animal welfare rescue groups. Later on, many of these same believers went on to support Gilles Deleuze in his leadership of the Anti-Oedipal movement of 1968.
Charles Manson borrowed heavily from Process teachings and even contributed to the Process Newsletter, also David Berkowitz, the alleged 'lone gunman' of the Son Of Sam killings alluded to working for a Process member when carrying out the killings, thus exposing the 'satanic cult' conspiracy explored by Maury Terry in his book 'The Ultimate Evil'. Tim Wyllie, artist and philosopher/communicator with dolphins and angels, collaborated with the Process in design and art for their Newsletter (the Process 'collective' of artists and philosophers later formed in 1990). I remember running across an older friend/mentor way back in my youth who introduced me to stacks of the Process Newsletter, a sort of pulp magazine similar to Jehova's Witness' 'Watchtower', but with cool artwork and articles designed to warp fragile minds while entertaining them.
Although there are a slew of websites for the present incarnation of the 'group' (known now as the Society of Processians) There isn't much about their notorious heyday in the 60s and early 70s. I've posted several sites and books that touch on the legacy of the Process, and for true crime in satanism aficionados their story is an interesting one to note as an anecdote to the tide of 'satanic panic' that emerged in the 80s and drove the satanic movement completely underground, even as proponents were trying to unify it.
A detailed account of the history of and life within the Process Church as told by a participant-observer is contained in William S. Bainbridge's book Satan's Power. (He employed a pseudonym for the name of the group, referring to it as "The Power", and disguised the names of people to preserve their identities, a procedure used for sociological studies of living groups to ensure privacy.)
In 2011, connections are alledged with the Norway Shooter Anders Behring Breivik
Process Church's Official Website
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