Endeavor Academy
Encyclopedia
Charles Buell Anderson
Charles Buell Anderson was the founder of the Endeavor Academy, a religious community with its headquarters in Wisconsin, United States. Prior to founding Endeavor Academy in 1992, Anderson was a real estate salesman. Anderson also served in the US Marines in the 1940's. ...
, which focuses primarily on the teachings found in the book; A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum that aims to assist its readers in achieving spiritual transformation. The book describes a non-dualistic philosophy of forgiveness and includes what are meant to be practical lessons and applications for the practice of forgiveness in one's daily life...
(or ACIM). Anderson's teachings also incorporate elements from the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, and from other various spiritual and religious leaders.
The community lists itself as an "international school of enlightenment", and also as a seminary.
The stated purpose of the community is to provide its members with a "universal experience of oneness that is ideally the goal of every spiritual tradition." Anderson taught that certain events which might in some ways be likened to the Christian fundamentalist teachings about the Rapture
Rapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
were eminent, and accordingly the Academy Journal promises "an intensive encounter with Singular Reality and a forum for the complete transformation to enlightenment that is the inevitable destiny of mankind." Standard teaching sessions are provided for students on a daily basis, and an introductory session for the public is given each Sunday.
The organization is headquartered in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Dells is a city in south-central Wisconsin, with a population of 2,418 as of the 2000 census. It straddles four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. The city takes its name from the dells of the Wisconsin River, a scenic, glacially formed gorge that features striking sandstone...
, USA with affiliate centers in Poland, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Mexico. Over the years, some controversy has surrounded the organization as some of its former members have made public allegations of cult like behaviors within the group, and various other controversies have been associated with the group.
Founding and leadership
Endeavor Academy was founded in 1992 by Charles Buell AndersonCharles Buell Anderson
Charles Buell Anderson was the founder of the Endeavor Academy, a religious community with its headquarters in Wisconsin, United States. Prior to founding Endeavor Academy in 1992, Anderson was a real estate salesman. Anderson also served in the US Marines in the 1940's. ...
(b. ca. 1926, d. 2008). Amongst those who follow his teachings, Anderson is referred to as "The Master Teacher". Anderson described his 'Spiritual Awakening' as a spontaneous experience he had in 1979. A certain pair of earlier extraordinary experiences Anderson had, may offer some insight into Anderson's later experience of 'Spiritual Awakening'.
The first of these two earlier extraordinary experiences was Anderson's World War II experience in Nagasaki, Japan. Anderson's Nagasaki experience appears to have made a deeply profound and formative impression upon him. In a letter to the Atomic Veteran's History Project, Anderson described how, with the Marines 6th Regiment, he was one of the first to land at Nagasaki after the atomic bombing of that city in 1945, where he was faced with a vast and overwhelming feeling of the devastation he was witnessing:
Anderson wrote that his second such experience came 26 years later in 1971, during a certain 'Near Death Experience' he had. Anderson wrote that during this second such experience, he had a certain "space of peace and happiness" while lying on what he presumed would be his deathbed, and that also during this second event, he received a spontaneous healing from cirrhosis of the liver.
In an interview with CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
, Anderson denied having followers, teaching that "the Light is in everyone" and that "You are the light of the world." He claimed to be "returning to heaven" "shortly", and said that "everybody" will be going with him. "There's nothing dangerous about me," Anderson explained, "I am the danger of eternal love."
Since Anderson's passing in 2008, the Academy and its affiliates have so far continued to remain active, and have continued to produce and disseminate instructional materials teaching Anderson's views of the Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum that aims to assist its readers in achieving spiritual transformation. The book describes a non-dualistic philosophy of forgiveness and includes what are meant to be practical lessons and applications for the practice of forgiveness in one's daily life...
study program.
Following Anderson's passing, the nature of, and names of, the ongoing leadership of the Academy is unknown.
Publicity
At the end of 2006 film director Jubi Onyeama and producer Cameron Kennedy, both students of Endeavor Academy, started to interview approximately 120 fellow students. In April 2007 Endeavor Academy sent a film crew to Edinburgh, Scotland to interview additional students and teachers from affiliated centers in Europe. The film was shot over an approximately 2 year period and required more than 200 hours of shooting for the 4 part documentary. The movie, "A Course in Miracles Unleashed" was released on Labor Day 2008. The movie was first screened at Sundance Cinema Madison, WI and received much attention on the internet, IMDb. Within the first year of release, the documentary has been subtitled in Dutch, German, Polish, Spanish and Swedish. The documentary about the individual awakening of the students from Endeavor Academy was also screened at the Parliament of World Religions 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. Teachers from Endeavor Academy also represented A Course in Miracles at the 2004 Parliament of World Religions in Barcelona, Spain and at the 2000 Millennium World Peace Summit at the United Nations in New York City.History
Anderson received a copy of A Course in Miracles (ACIM) ca. 1982. In 1991 he first registered the organization in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, USA under its original name, which was "God’s Country Place" (GCP). This organization was based on many of the teachings of ACIM, as well as some Biblical and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) materials. By 1999, Endeavor Academy had grown to accommodate 500 residents.In 1992 the organization was registered to operate under the names; Endeavor Academy, and New Christian Church of Full Endeavor. Around this time, the use of the GCP name was discontinued.
Endeavor Academy's headquarters is a converted summer resort facility located in a diverse area of water parks and tourist attractions in the middle of Wisconsin Dells. The original facility of 1991 was a large main house, but in 1992 a summer resort motel complex was acquired and converted to meet its present needs.
In 1994 they opened the doors of the Miracles Healing Center for the first time. A 400 acres (1.6 km²) lot with the Miracles Healing Center in the middle. The lot holds also the Revelation Hall where big International events where held and 4 houses for the residential community are located.
Activities
Every Sunday,"Bible Alive" services are held in their Miracles Healing Center building on highway 23 in Wisconsin Dells. On the roadside they have a billboard promoting their Miracles Healing Center with "Always Open, Everyone Welcome". On their website is an email address and phone number for prayer requests that can be reached 24/7. In that same building twice a week, 12-step and AA-meetings are hosted by Academy teachers and students as a service to the community.For several years now, students have participated in helping inmates by offering them the 12-step program through their Miracles Prisoner Ministry.
The Miracles Prisoner Ministry is supporting the Christian Association for Prison Aftercare, Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice, Madison-area Urban Ministry, Inc.
Cult allegations
Ex-students of Endeavor Academy have accused Charles Anderson of brainwashing them. Other former students note having positive experiences with Endeavor Academy.Litigation related to the "A Course in Miracles" text
Endeavor Academy's primary text, A Course in MiraclesA Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum that aims to assist its readers in achieving spiritual transformation. The book describes a non-dualistic philosophy of forgiveness and includes what are meant to be practical lessons and applications for the practice of forgiveness in one's daily life...
, was published and distributed between 1995 and 2000 by Penguin Books. As a result of litigation with Endeavor Academy the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) copyright claims were largely voided in 2003 on the grounds of general distribution prior to obtaining copyright, thus placing the majority of the material previously claimed by FIP as under copyright protection in the public domain.
As a result of the copyright litigation, three earlier limited editions or drafts of A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles
A Course in Miracles is a self-study curriculum that aims to assist its readers in achieving spiritual transformation. The book describes a non-dualistic philosophy of forgiveness and includes what are meant to be practical lessons and applications for the practice of forgiveness in one's daily life...
surfaced (the Urtext draft, "Hugh Lynn Cayce" edition, and the "Criswell" edition), which also fell into the public domain. The US Trademark Office canceled both the Servicemark on "A Course in Miracles" and the Trademark on the acronym, "ACIM" in 2005. EA publishes their own edition of ACIM, called "The Advent of a Great Awakening" edition. This EA edition is currently available in print through many major book retailers. Meanwhile the Foundation for Inner Peace continues to also publish its version of the ACIM text, which also includes the smaller sections for which the copyright was upheld, and which the FIP claims to still be the only unabridged and complete version of the ACIM text available.