"The leader of a religious community south of Tubac that has drawn national criticism died Aug. 8, according to a spokeswoman for the group.
Many words have been used to describe Gabriel of Urantia over the
years — preacher, prophet, grifter, cult leader, con artist, CosmoPop.
The man leading a new street ministry on North 4th Avenue in 1979 gave few signs of being a budding New-Age guru. At the time, he went by the name Tony Delevin, and he was catering to “the drifters and runaways, the drunks and drug addicts who are still on the street when night falls,” as the Arizona Daily Star’s Judith Ratliff reported that year.
Gabriel was born in Pittsburgh on July 5, 1946, was not his last name at birth — it was Dell’Erba. ...and would later become best known as the co-founder of the Global Community Communications Alliance, a religious cult based in Tubac, Arizona. He started a street mission called Son Light Ministries in Tucson in 1979. After the failure of this faith community (and his second marriage), he moved back to Pittsburgh, where he recorded his first album Unicorn Love in 1985.
Following a convenient “vision” on Mount Washington, overlooking downtown Pittsburgh, Delevin reinvented himself as Gabriel, a cosmic middleman channeling celestial beings with names like Paladin and The Bright and Morning Star. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Moses, Mozart, George Washington, and basically every important figure in human history. Except, notably, Jesus Christ; sometimes even narcissists know the limits of their market.
Avalon Organic Gardens and EcoVillage, co-founded in Arizona in 1989 with Gabriel’s partner Niann (née Nancy) Chase, had a time-tested business model. Members surrendered their worldly
possessions, worked for free, and submitted to psychological manipulation programs borrowed from the discredited Synanon cult. As the group grew, it moved from Sedona to Tubac, on the Mexican border. Around the same time, the group’s name was changed to the Global Community Communications Alliance. Members moved from relative freedom to a fenced-in ranch “compound,” complete with surveillance systems, thought policing, and the systematic isolation of followers from their families — all while maintaining the fiction of voluntary spiritual community. The Global Community Communications Alliance purchased the Potreros Ranch along the Santa Cruz River for $4.8 million in March, and is in the process of moving its headquarters and 100 members — ranging in age from babies to their 80s — to the property.
The group bases its worship on The Urantia Book, a 2,097-page
work published in 1955 that claims to have been presented by celestial beings as a revelation to the planet Urantia, which is Earth.
Its members say they follow Jesus' example, though they don't believe in some tenets of Christianity. 28-year-old Torrea Vinyard says she grew up believing she would be a Catholic nun. But when an older nun advised that she was meant to do something different with her life, Vinyard began praying and searching for something else.
"My prayers were fulfilled," she said. "I heard from God. The Urantia Book expands more of who Jesus is."
They say their leader, Gabriel, is in contact with celestial beings who speak through him with revelations, which he's putting into a series of books called the Cosmic Family volumes.
His followers, who are from all over the world, are not referred to by their birth names but rather by "spiritual names" that represent a higher self.
--Gabriel aka Tony Delevin has wrongly predicted doomsday end of
the world events and told his followers they'd be rescued by spaceships.
--Polygamy is allowed for Gabriel but not members who must remain celibate until marriage.
--Gabriel is also the lead singer of a "Spiritual CosmoPop" group called TaliasVan & The Bright & Morning Star Band.
--He recently said that Jesus would come back in 2024 on a Mothership spaceship the size of "four states."
The man leading a new street ministry on North 4th Avenue in 1979 gave few signs of being a budding New-Age guru. At the time, he went by the name Tony Delevin, and he was catering to “the drifters and runaways, the drunks and drug addicts who are still on the street when night falls,” as the Arizona Daily Star’s Judith Ratliff reported that year.
Gabriel was born in Pittsburgh on July 5, 1946, was not his last name at birth — it was Dell’Erba. ...and would later become best known as the co-founder of the Global Community Communications Alliance, a religious cult based in Tubac, Arizona. He started a street mission called Son Light Ministries in Tucson in 1979. After the failure of this faith community (and his second marriage), he moved back to Pittsburgh, where he recorded his first album Unicorn Love in 1985.
Following a convenient “vision” on Mount Washington, overlooking downtown Pittsburgh, Delevin reinvented himself as Gabriel, a cosmic middleman channeling celestial beings with names like Paladin and The Bright and Morning Star. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Moses, Mozart, George Washington, and basically every important figure in human history. Except, notably, Jesus Christ; sometimes even narcissists know the limits of their market.
Avalon Organic Gardens and EcoVillage, co-founded in Arizona in 1989 with Gabriel’s partner Niann (née Nancy) Chase, had a time-tested business model. Members surrendered their worldly
The group bases its worship on The Urantia Book, a 2,097-page
Its members say they follow Jesus' example, though they don't believe in some tenets of Christianity. 28-year-old Torrea Vinyard says she grew up believing she would be a Catholic nun. But when an older nun advised that she was meant to do something different with her life, Vinyard began praying and searching for something else.
"My prayers were fulfilled," she said. "I heard from God. The Urantia Book expands more of who Jesus is."
They say their leader, Gabriel, is in contact with celestial beings who speak through him with revelations, which he's putting into a series of books called the Cosmic Family volumes.
His followers, who are from all over the world, are not referred to by their birth names but rather by "spiritual names" that represent a higher self.
--Gabriel aka Tony Delevin has wrongly predicted doomsday end of
--Polygamy is allowed for Gabriel but not members who must remain celibate until marriage.
--Gabriel is also the lead singer of a "Spiritual CosmoPop" group called TaliasVan & The Bright & Morning Star Band.
--He recently said that Jesus would come back in 2024 on a Mothership spaceship the size of "four states."
--Gabriel claims to be the "most highly evolved human being on the planet."
--Ex-members allege billionaire hedge fund manager Michael Steinheardt financed the cult's compound in Tumacacori in order to maintain visitation with his son Daniel who is in the cult.
Gabriel's son Amadon is now set to take over command of the cult.
John Thurstin, 79,....left the group in 2005 after living there 13 years.
He says Gabriel uses the title of "Planetary Prince," and says members are told that, if they do not obey Gabriel, they will die.
Marayeh developed the "chip game,” a system where members conduct extensive surveillance and reporting on each other. Members give chips to each other when they witness discretions and Gabriel ends up with their written reports of how they violated his rules. Marayeh also brought the method known as "The Game" from Synanon where members viciously attack each other's vulnerabilities.
After the Dateline expose in 1998 and the later series in Sedona's Red Rock News Gabriel was pressured to leave the town. The
community believed he was dangerous. Similar to Jonestown, the social security checks of older members are collected by Gabriel.
Gabriel’s daughter Sanskrita escaped the compound in 2017, only to die tragically in a house fire this past March while listening to podcasts about recovering from narcissistic abuse. The cosmic messenger’s own child fled his “paradise” and spent her final years trying to heal from the damage he’d inflicted.
The American West is littered with the bones of failed prophets, snake oil salesmen, and cosmic hucksters who promised transcendence and delivered exploitation. Anthony Delevin was just another figure in that grand tradition, but a notable one."
Protestia/FailedStateUpdate/Tuscon.com/gurumag
*Order in Tubac prepares for apocalypse
--Ex-members allege billionaire hedge fund manager Michael Steinheardt financed the cult's compound in Tumacacori in order to maintain visitation with his son Daniel who is in the cult.
Gabriel's son Amadon is now set to take over command of the cult.
John Thurstin, 79,....left the group in 2005 after living there 13 years.
He says Gabriel uses the title of "Planetary Prince," and says members are told that, if they do not obey Gabriel, they will die.
Marayeh developed the "chip game,” a system where members conduct extensive surveillance and reporting on each other. Members give chips to each other when they witness discretions and Gabriel ends up with their written reports of how they violated his rules. Marayeh also brought the method known as "The Game" from Synanon where members viciously attack each other's vulnerabilities.
After the Dateline expose in 1998 and the later series in Sedona's Red Rock News Gabriel was pressured to leave the town. The
Gabriel’s daughter Sanskrita escaped the compound in 2017, only to die tragically in a house fire this past March while listening to podcasts about recovering from narcissistic abuse. The cosmic messenger’s own child fled his “paradise” and spent her final years trying to heal from the damage he’d inflicted.
The American West is littered with the bones of failed prophets, snake oil salesmen, and cosmic hucksters who promised transcendence and delivered exploitation. Anthony Delevin was just another figure in that grand tradition, but a notable one."
Protestia/FailedStateUpdate/Tuscon.com/gurumag
