Mary Manin Morrissey - Misplaced Pages

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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. In 1995, she hosted an annual congress for the International New Thought Alliance. In 1998, she spoke before the United Nations with Arun Gandhi (grandson of Mahatma Gandhi) regarding the Season for Nonviolence. She has also participated in interfaith dialogues with the Dalai Lama. She is the author of "Building Your Field of Dreams", a book that was adapted as the basis of a PBS special titled "Building Your Dreams".

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. Mary Manin Morrissey's husband, Edward Morrissey, pled guilty to money laundering and using church money for the personal expenses of himself and his wife , and spent time in federal prison.

Mary Manin Morrissey currently maintains two websites: "Evolving Life Ministries with Mary Morrissey" and "Life Soulutions". 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.

Early life

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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. At the end of her junior year, the 16-year-old Mary Manin was pregnant from her boyfriend Haven Boggs. Mary Manin Morrissey married Haven Boggs, left school and enrolled in a night school for delinquents.

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.'"

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."

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.'"

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.'"

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."

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." 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." 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." 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." 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." 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.

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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. 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.

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", 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.

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. In the August 28, 2006 edition of Wilsonville Spokesman, editor Curt Kipp wrote that Mary Manin Morrissey has repaid $24,000 of the debt.

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 LEC, New Thought Broadcasting, Mary Morrissey and Ed Morrissey were treated not separately, but as a kind of 'financial family.'" 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. After a year in prison at Terminal Island, in August, 2006, Edward Morrissey was transferred to a Seattle halfway house. Edward Morrissey was released from the Seattle halfway house on February 2, 2007. 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. 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."

Financial scandal and church closure

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

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. 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.

Mary Morrissey's BMW parked in Senior Minister parking lot at Living Enrichment Center, 1999.

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. This congregation member claims that Rev. Morrissey made repeated telephone calls requesting the loan.

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, 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."

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." 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.

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.

Department of Consumer and Business Services Settlement

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.

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.

Complaint

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.

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

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.

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.

Post-LEC career

*Friends of Mary* display table in lobby of the Valley Theatre during LEC's final service.

After the 2004 closure of Living Enrichment Center, Mary Morrissey founded several organizations. Initially, she founded "Friends of Mary" and "Success NW", which were both introduced in the lobby of LEC's final service at Valley Theatre on August 24, 2004. Friends of Mary held fundraising events to raise money for Mary Morrissey's legal defense. Both organizations have since become defunct. Mary Morrissey currently operates two organizations, "Evolving Life Ministries" and "Life Soulutions." On January 17, 2007, in an entry of The It List, Willamette Week made reference to Mary Morrissey's "Miracle Mastery Conference". The entry on the conference is titled "It's Only a Scam if You Believe It Is":

"With all of today's buzzwords and inflated promises, where can self-help seekers turn? Enter Mary Manin Morrissey and the 2007 Miracle Mastery Conference (lifesoulutions.com). This is serious straight talk. No mumbo-jumbo, just paradigm shifting solutions and positive energy. Morrissey, who steered her megachurch Living Enrichment Center right into the miracle known as bankruptcy ("The Prophet Margin," WW, May 12, 2004), will explain, in simple down-to-earth terms, how to become "empowered" and "grow your hopes and dreams." If you want to be spoon-fed a quick fix, then this ain't for you—Morrissey invented the "Miracle Minute" one-minute meditations, so clearly she believes life change requires time and energy. At $299—plus an extra $99 for Friday, plus $75 for "preferred seating" and just $50 more to attend the "Wisdom Lunch"—the conference might seem expensive, but with your self-actualization on the line, can you afford not to attend? Doubletree Hotel Lloyd Center, 1000 NE Multnomah Blvd., 922-3460. 7-9 pm Friday, 9 am-5 pm Saturday, 9 am-1 pm Sunday, Jan. 19-21. $299. All ages."

On June 9, 2007, The Oregonian published the article "Ex-church leader falls far behind schedule in repaying $10.7 million". Writes staff writer Jeff Manning, "Mary Manin Morrissey, the woman who built up the Wilsonville-based Living Enrichment Center into a powerhouse church with 4,100-members only to see it collapse in 2004 amid charges of fraud and betrayal, is restarting her life as a roving inspirational speaker. Morrissey is spending five or six days a week on the road traveling across the country to various engagements, generating a six-figure income. The charismatic 58-year-old has been less successful in repaying the $10.7 million she borrowed from her former flock." The article also claims that Morrissey's latest company, Life Soulutions, has raised concerns from the state of Oregon:

"But the organization of Morrissey's new company, LifeSoulutions, has prompted questions from the state. As currently organized, Morrissey's partner in the venture receives as much as 40 percent of the operation's revenue, which means it is not subject to the requirement that a portion of it be diverted to the restitution fund. State officials have asked Morrissey for documents detailing the corporate structure of LifeSoulutions. Morrissey told them that on the advice of an attorney, there are no such documents. Nothing was put in writing."

External links

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Living Enrichment Center internal document

Living Enrichment Center: The 21st Century Church

State of Oregon Corporate Securities Findings Regarding Morrissey Investigation

Documents last accessed on August 2, 2006.

Settlement announcement

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.

Part 1: Mary Manin Morrissey introduces Living Enrichment Center Accessed August 4, 2006

Part 2: Mary Manin Morrissey and various other speakers and services at Living Enrichment Center Accessed August 5, 2006

Part 3: Mary Manin Morrissey, New Thought speakers, and congregation testimonials Accessed August 6, 2006

Part 4: Mary Manin Morrissey discusses upcoming plans for LEC Accessed August 8, 2006

Part 5: Mary Manin Morrissey closes with a plea for money from the viewer Accessed August 8, 2006

Related websites, blogs, and discussion groups

Index of articles from The Oregonian and other Portland area papers

KGW TV coverage of LEC's closure

Evolving Life Ministries are Mary Morrissey's current organizations.

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.