Home Temple Movement

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Home Temple Movement

The Home Temple Movement emerged in the 1990s within the esoteric/theosophical tradition as an alternative to the standard Liberal Catholic Church format of institutional church and priesthood. The Home Temple Movement is similar to the house church movement that has existed for several decades among Protestants. Cofounders of the movement are Louis S. Keizer and his wife Willa Esterson Keizer, both bishops of the Independent Church of Antioch. Louis Keizer left the Episcopal Church in 1975 and was consecrated by Archbishop Adrian Spruit of the Church of Antioch. He subsequently exchanged consecrations with Bishop George Boyer of the Sanctuary of the Gnosis in London. Together, they founded the International Federation of Gnostic Bishops.

Willa Esterton Keizer is a homeopathist and hypnotherapist. She studied with Indonesian martial arts master Bapak Subur Rahadja and became an instructor and lineage holder in his White Crane Association. She was consecrated as a bishop by her husband in 1997.

As leaders of the Home Temple Movement, the Keizers have developed a correspondence training program to assist men and women in becoming priests for a home-based spiritual ministry. The course integrates information on the spiritual teachings of Jesus drawn from the mystical, esoteric, and Gnostic writings of the centuries with a program of spiritual exercises and communication with experienced Gnostic leaders around the world. Much of the teaching material has been placed on videotapes or is made available online for use by the students. Instructions are also provided for those who wish to progress beyond the priesthood to the episcopacy. Students in the San Francisco Bay area may also take advantage of the classes that Bishop Keizer teaches at the University of California-Santa Cruz Extension program on its Cupertino campus.

The Home Temple program is supplemented with the training offered by the Temple of the Holy Grail with which the Keizers cooperate. The Temple offers training in a system of theurgy. The Home Temple Movement may be contacted c/o the Keizers at P.O. Box 3816, Santa Cruz, CA 95062. It has a website at http://www.hometemple.org/.