A Course In Miracles is not centrally organized or monitored. There is no central "mother" organization looking over all satellite organizations and monitoring their activities. The ACIM movement is quite broad and very diverse. There are actually several different versions of the book published by several different organizations.

There was an early attempts to organize, centralize and impose controls on how ACIM could be taught and studied. This was done through a strict control of the primary copyright and turning the words "A Course In Miracles" and the letters "ACIM" into legal service marks that could be regulated. However the primary copyright and the service marks were declared null and void in the USA federal courts and the possibility of central control evaporated. Practically, even the early attempt to centralize was fairly ineffective with numerous organizations and teachers sprouting up everywhere. Various organizations found ways to navigate around the early legal restrictions.

Be aware that when you hear things like, "ACIM is not a religion" or "ACIM is a self study course", that these are merely people's opinions. There is nothing within the books themselves which says either of these things. ACIM itself is a complex, abstract teaching, open to many interpretations. The ACIM community has evolved, and continues to evolve, in numerous ways so that many of these divergent interpretations find a home and are then promoted.

Different ACIM organizations are governed by their local, state and federal governments. Fair business practices against fraud and insuring financial accountability are provided by these government structures. Other than those, there is no central screening board, no agreed upon authorization procedure and no centralized body dictating an ACIM interpretation or practice.

While at first this may seem unfortunate as the new student usually wants concrete answers and definite structure, it has the advantage of insuring that every student can find a teacher or an organization that resonates with his or her particular needs and energy. This makes it possible for the spiritual healing ideas taught in ACIM to find their way into as many open minds as possible.

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