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Sheryl Ruthven was a preacher from Blaine, Washington, who started her cult and began preaching to followers to worship cats as divine creatures. Ruthven had a natural gift of preaching and developed a set of dedicated followers who believed in the dream of a new Eden after the apocalypse and that cats would be the only saviors.
Together, they started a cat foster home named Eva's Eden, which sheltered dozens of cats, and held adoption events in Columbia, Tennessee. However, Sheryl Ruthven secretly ran a dedicated cult, which had a history of imposing its followers with rigid and stringent rules.
The complete story of Sheryl Ruthven and her cult is documented in The Curious Case of… episode titled The Doomsday Cat Cult. The episode made its release on February 17, 2025, and is available for streaming on Max. The official synopsis of the episode reads,
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"Sheryl Ruthven beguiles her followers into subservience and uses them to settle personal scores."
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5 key details about the rise of Sheryl Ruthven's cult
1) Sheryl Ruthven first started gaining followers after preaching in a Pentecostal Church
As per a Nashville Scene article published on September 8, 2016, Sheryl started preaching in the 1990s at a Pentecostal Church named Gates of Praise in Bellingham, Washington.
As per one of her followers, Michelle Lamphier, the episode subject Ruthven had a natural gift for preaching. She had a magnetic personality, which made people listen to her in a trance and idealize her.
Eventually, Sheryl gathered members from the congregation who were devoted to listening to her sermons. Eventually, at the beginning of the 2000s, Ruthven split from the church. She went on to establish her church and named it Freedom Fire Ministries.
2) Sheryl Ruthven began to impose her domination on the members of her congregation
As per the Nashville Scene, Sheryl established rigid rules among the members of her congregation. She claimed that she had direct contact with the divine, and her words became the words of God.
None of her followers were allowed to disagree with her orders. Anyone who failed to disobey her rules was banished from the congregation. The Lamphiers even went to the extent of disowning their teenage daughter, as per Ruthven's orders.
3) Sheryl Ruthven considered cats as divine creatures to be worshipped
As per Ruthven, cats were divine creatures who carried 144,000 souls, as mentioned in the book of Revelation. She provided her followers with a dream of New Eden after the apocalypse and cats to be the only saviors.
Eventually, Sheryl Ruthven claimed herself as the reincarnation of Mary Magdalene. As per the Nashville Scene, Sheryl changed her church name to Moriah Ministries. The church eventually stopped celebrating Easter and Christmas and rather focused on celebrating Jewish Holidays.
4) Sheryl Ruthven and her followers disguised their cult as a cat foster home
According to The State article published on September 12, 2016, Sheryl's cult moved from Blaine, Washington, to Columbia, Tennessee, in 2013. The cult eventually started a nonprofit cat foster home named Evas's Eden.
The members sheltered dozens of cats and hosted cat adoption events. However, the former members of Sheryl's church started exposing the cult through their Facebook page. The members who were either banished or willingly left called the cult as having an abusive environment.
Soon, questions began to arise about the double nature of Eva's Eden. It was reported that Sheryl Ruthven had a history of having legal troubles with her ex-husband, Marc Walker, a developer in Washington.
5) Eva's Eden closed down its website after reporters reached out for an interview
It was in January 2013 when reporters from the Nashville Scene reached out to Eva's Eden. They replied that it was not a social gathering but a Temple of God, which worships the Feline creatures.
It was in August 2013 when the reporters reached out to the shelter manager of Evas's Eden, Nicole Walker. It was on August 11, 2013, when she reached back through email, saying,
“Thank you for your understanding,” she added. “I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
However, Eva's Eden deleted its Facebook page and closed its website the next day. The group's treasurer, Georgia Snow, said they don't know if Eva's Eden will continue its cat rescues or hold adoption events again.
Check our other articles to know more details on The Curious Case of… episode titled The Doomsday Cat Cult.
