Parrish-Harra, Carol W. (1935-)

Carol W. Parrish-Harra—author, New Age leader, and founder of the Light of Christ Community Church—emerged in the 1980s after establishing the Sparrow Hawk Spiritual Community in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and publishing several popular New Age books. She was born on January 21, 1935, and in 1958 had a life-changing experience. A Florida housewife at the time, she was given a pain killer during the birth of her sixth child. In an allergic reaction to the drug, her lung collapsed and she slipped into unconsciousness. She would later claim that her consciousness left her body, and a new consciousness, who retained the memories of her previous earthly years, replaced it. As a result, she emerged as a new person. Formerly passive, she became assertive and outgoing. No longer content at home, she got a job and soon worked her way into an executive position.

In 1969 Parrish-Harra attended a lecture at a Spiritualist church in St. Petersburg, Florida, and began studying there. Two years later she was ordained as a minister in the Christian Metaphysical Church, became an associate minister (medium) at the church, and through the 1970s gave lectures around the United States. In 1976 she founded the Villa Serena Spiritual Community in Sarasota, Florida.

In 1981 she founded a New Age community on 300 acres in Oklahoma with five families from Florida. Parrish-Harra's Light of Christ Community Church ministered to the spiritual welfare of the residents. Planned to be the home of approximately 150 people, the community is organized into clusters (tribes) to allow for both intimacy and community and serves as a prototype for other communities and as a training ground for future leaders.

Many people first heard of Parrish-Harra in 1983 in Ruth Montgomery 's Threshold to Tomorrow. In the book Montgomery describes people who had had experiences similar to the one Parrish-Harra had in 1958. Montgomery designates such people as " walk-ins, " and suggests that such changes represent the actual replacement of the consciousness of one person with the consciousness of another (rather than a new integration of the individual's personality). In any case, Parrish-Harra's experience was noted as a heretofore unrecognized type of personal event.

Sources:

Montgomery, Ruth. Threshold to Tomorrow. New York: Putnam, 1983.

Parrish-Harra, Carol W. Messengers of Hope. Black Mountain, N.C.: New Age Press, 1983.

——. A New Age Handbook on Death and Dying. Marina del Rey, Calif.: DeVorss, 1982.