Terry Cole-Whittaker Says Goodby to Her Congregation

The Rev. Terry Cole-Whittaker, the bubbly minister whose “you-can-have-it-all” philosophy has made her the darling of the Me Generation, bid farewell Sunday to nearly 5,000 followers at a spirited Easter service in Golden Hall. “I no longer want to be a television evangelist. I no longer want to be a religious leader,” she told her faithful followers. “I want to be myself.”

Clad in a bright yellow suit and matching pumps and crying frequently during the two-hour service of swaying, singing, clapping and hugging, Cole-Whittaker shared for the first time the reasons that prompted her decision last month to leave her La Jolla-based church and cancel her weekly television shows.

“What became very clear to me was that I don’t like running a big organization, because that’s not my gift,” said the 45-year-old “Rev. Terry,” as she calls herself. “I’m an inspirer. I’m just a being. And I realized that I was becoming a victim of my own creation, that it was time to move from limitation to unlimitedness.”

In addition to feeling trapped by such burdensome managerial responsibilities, Cole-Whittaker said she decided to escape to Hawaii and “transition to a new, high-energy space” because as her personal fame has grown, her message--that prosperity is a divine right and followers can build a heaven on earth--has been lost.

“I’ve found that the more I’ve been interviewed . . . the more people didn’t want to hear the message,” Cole-Whittaker said. “Instead, they wanted to know what I thought about Jerry Falwell. Or abortion. Or school prayer.”

“It became clear that if I wanted to play the game of religion, I had to prove that my way was better than everyone else’s . . . and that’s not for me,” she said.

Although many among the young, well-dressed and largely white crowd that came from as far away as San Francisco for the farewell service said they would miss the stylish and vivacious Cole-Whittaker, all agreed that the day marked a happy, rather than sad, occasion. Indeed, at times --like when Cole-Whittaker did a snappy jig on the flower- and balloon-laden stage or exchanged “I love yous” with the crowd--the event resembled a boisterous family reunion more than the final chapter of a nine-year religious movement.

“I feel a lot of emotion, I did some crying and I know I’ll miss her jokes and the opportunity to smile into her eyes,” said Shyrl Rice, a metaphysics student who for nearly two years has driven from her home in the San Gabriel Valley to the weekly San Diego services. “Yet on the other hand, each time Terry takes a new step, I get a little braver to improve my own life. This is a new beginning.”

Gene Williams, an east San Diego resident who joined Cole-Whittaker’s crowd two years ago because “I got tired of people shoveling sin down my throat in other churches,” agreed.

“I’m not sad because I take responsibility for myself and my own happiness and I don’t need Terry,” Williams said. “We’re happy for her in her choice to move on, to go to another plane because it’s just another example of how people must . . . pursue the prosperity within themselves.”

Despite the celebratory atmosphere that dominated the service, the mounting financial troubles of the ministry at times appeared to cast a hint of gloom over the festivities. Although it reportedly brought in over $6 million last year, the ministry is in debt and has been sued for about $3,000 in back rent.

At one point, following a soulful chorus of “Morning Has Broken” by the 100-member Terry Cole-Whittaker Choir, ministry Executive Director Roger Lane appealed to the congregation to chip in by taking advantage of a special Easter offer--$99 for a six-part Rev. Terry home-study course and a tape of the Sunday sermon. Other wares were hawked vigorously in the lobby.

Later in the service, Bill Galt, founder of Good Earth Restaurants and a member of the Terry Cole-Whittaker Ministries board of directors, took the pulpit to give the congregation “some facts” about Cole-Whittaker and her church and to deliver another appeal for help.

Listing Cole-Whittaker’s assets as nothing more than “a dog and a parrot,” Galt told worshipers that the ministry is $350,000 in debt and called on the crowd to “wipe that out, clean up the past so this new ministry, the light of the world, can go forth.”

Moments later, ushers roamed the aisles, passing baskets. The checks--many for $100 and more--poured forth.

“I don’t mind helping out, because this is an investment in me,” said one La Jolla woman who contributed $250 and asked that her name not be used.

Galt said he hoped the contributions, combined with about $50,000 raised by a ministry-sponsored class that drew 800 participants recently, would enable the church to pay off the debts within two months.

Frequently called the Doris Day of television evangelists, Cole-Whittaker was ordained by the Los Angeles Church of Religious Science in 1975. She took over the tiny Church of Religious Science in La Jolla in 1977 but broke out on her own in 1982 and built a congregation of more than 2,000.

A former Mrs. California, Cole-Whittaker has been married four times and has authored several books, including “How to Have More in a Have-Not World” and “What You Think of Me Is None of My Business.” She is also known for her weekly television show, which reportedly reaches a million viewers, and self-improvement classes such as “Mastery in Wealth,” “Mastery in Love,” and “Dress to Win.”

Cole-Whittaker has hosted motivational seminars for TRW, the Rockwell Corp. and the Bank of America. Her most popular slogan and the heart of her gospel--”Pro$perity: Your Divine Right” --is commonly seen on buttons and bumper stickers.

The minister’s teachings have been criticized by some members of the mainstream Christian community, who call her a “cultic figure” and challenge her to tell those on skid row to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and take advantage of their “divine right.” Others see excessive materialism in her sermons and general philosophy.

Bringing her rambling, emotional farewell sermon to a close Sunday, Cole-Whittaker assured the congregation that the message of the ministry will continue to go out--and in an expanded way. The ministers she has ordained, who will continue as the Alliance of Light, plan to carry on with weekly “celebrations” in San Diego and establish faith centers in Orange County, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Jose and San Francisco. The new church’s first service will be held next Sunday in Balboa Park.

“I am not the guru, not their master,” Cole-Whittaker said. “I am my own master and all of you will go on as your own masters.”

As for her plans, she said she hopes to “do retreats, speaking engagements, and whatever,” and “will work with the highly dedicated spiritual student who is willing to become unlimited and seek very high-energy spiritual places.”

And will she return to television?

“No, you won’t see me spouting any religious dogma or doctrine trying to enroll anyone in my path to truth.”