Creating A Temple

In 1985, Eckankar purchased the 174-acre plot on Powers Boulevard and, in February of 1989, applied for a conditional-use permit from the City of Chanhassen to build an 800-seat church, an office space for twenty workers, and a caretaker’s residence on the property.

In response to Eckankar’s application, about five hundred Chanhassen residents signed a petition protesting the proposed complex. Gale Kurtz, who was responsible for circulating the petition, said, “It’s going to tear our community apart. Kids go off the deep end real easy…It’s a scary situation.

¹ Along with the fear that Eckankar would recruit vulnerable children, some residents voiced concern that “the group is a cult that uses mind control.² The conversation surrounding Eckankar at the time focused almost explicitly on the question of ECK’s legitimacy as a religious tradition as compared to a dangerous cult. Robert Burrows, of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project based in Berkeley, California, which researches and criticizes new religious movements said, “[Eckankar] is based on a hierarchy, like most Eastern mystical groups with a guru at the center, an ECK Master. He is essentially the conduit of divine revelation to the followers and actually is the full embodiment of the deity. If you put yourself in that position, there is a tremendous ability to wield power and authority over the followers.³ Tal Brooke, chairman of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project, criticized Harold Klemp, the Living ECK Master: “He claims to be the perfect master. The perfect master can ask unswerving loyalty of his devotees. This creates a cult scenario with a cult leader."⁴

He [Klemp] claims to be the perfect master. The perfect master can ask unswerving loyalty of his devotees. —Tal Brooke from the Spiritual Counterfeits Project

“If Eckankar comes here, I will remove my family from this community. If they have a church here, that means they’re going to move here, and I will not have my children going to school with people who believe what they believe” —Janice Duininck, Chanhassen Resident

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At a Chanhassen Planning Commission meeting on March 1, 1989, the group voted 4-1 to approve Eckankar’s request for a permit to build its religious complex on the purchased Lake Ann land. The Commission listened to nearly two and a half hours of “pleas from residents urging that the application be denied because they feared construction of the church would lower the property values of nearby homes and bring a cult to the shores of Lake Ann."

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“I don’t think there’s any way to say no to this application because it doesn’t meet our Judeo-Christian beliefs. We can’t deny it based on moral issues” —Commissioner Annette Ellson

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We are community-minded. We join with the people where we live. We are not communal. We do not push our beliefs on anyone at all” —Toni Lucas, executive secretary in the office of Eckankar’s president

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