Fellowship of Friends

The Fellowship of Friends, also known as Living Presence and the Fourth Way School, is a new religious organization which is non-denominational that has been labelled as a cult by critics, ex-members and some academics.

[1][7] Members believe that most people normally exist in a state of "waking sleep," and that the way to a higher consciousness is through self-awareness, a positive attitude, and engagement in the fine arts.

[1][2] Burton considers one of his roles as a conduit for teaching ideas communicated to him by 44 beings he calls angels, who are the immortal spirits of men who have achieved awakening, including Abraham Lincoln, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jesus Christ, Leonardo da Vinci, Plato, and Walt Whitman.

[12] In 2021, Jennings Brown, an independent reporter, created a series of Podcasts on the Revelations site hosted by Spotify that are the result of an extensive investigation into the Fellowship of Friends.

[2] In the suit, Kevin Lloyd, a former Google video producer, alleges he was fired because he complained about the influence of the religious group in his business unit.

[2]: 1  Lloyd settled his lawsuit against ASG in December 2022, with terms undisclosed; Google confirmed at that time that Lubbers was no longer employed at the company, without explaining his departure.