Scientology Today

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers were recognized for their Haiti disaster response by Georgia  Senate Resolution 998, passed on February 8, 2010, which states:

“WHEREAS, the Volunteer Ministers’ selfless service to the nation of Haiti and the survivors of one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in the history of the Western World stands as a true example of compassionate humanitarianism and is worthy of recognition.

“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body commend the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Corps on its tradition and history of service to others and extend their utmost respect and thanks for the Volunteer Ministers’ altruistic service to the people of Haiti.”

To read the full resolution click here.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada—Fifteen hundred Scientologists and their guests from across Nevada and the Western United States gathered Saturday for the grand opening celebration of the new Church of Scientology of Las Vegas. The 40,000-square-foot Church, located at 2761 Emerson Avenue, will serve parishioners from throughout Nevada and represents significant growth for the congregation formed in Las Vegas 40 years ago.

Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center and ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, presided at the evening dedication ceremony, welcoming the assembled Scientologists and guests to their new Church.  He was enthusiastically acknowledged by those in attendance for dedicating the Las Vegas Church and for his instrumental role in making it possible.

Special guests participating in the dedication of the new Church included United States Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Las Vegas City Council member Steven Ross, and Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department specialist and mayor’s representative to the Community Interfaith Council Maria Castillo-Couch.

In welcoming the parishioners and guests, Mr. Miscavige said, “You don’t get much closer to the spirit of what we represent than a city that rests on the dreams of artists and treats everybody as somebody.  So, yes, we have opened new Churches in cultural epicenters before.  But talk about ‘Center Stage Planet Earth.’  This one stands in a town so bright you can even see it glowing from deep space.  And now it’s home to our newest Church of Scientology and Celebrity Centre Las Vegas.”

The Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, welcomed the new Church: “Artistic creativity not only transforms the way a city is perceived, but the way its residents think of themselves. It changes their entire outlook and attitude towards life itself. That is where you play an especially vital role. Therefore as the mayor of the fastest-growing city, I look forward to partnering with you as the fastest-growing religion.”

In her address, Congresswoman Berkley acknowledged the human rights initiatives of the Church: “It is more than encouraging to find your members moving effectively among Las Vegas families, school groups, youth organizations, and other community-based organizations, to provide effective human rights education. It is through such effective community involvement and contribution that the Church of Scientology will continue to strengthen this nation and build a worldwide foundation for peace.”

Talking about the new Church, Mr. Miscavige said that Celebrity Centres are those special Churches of Scientology designed to enhance a culture by enhancing the artist.

“The first of this new breed was opened only just last year in Nashville—otherwise known as Music City, USA,” he said.  “But as your honorable Mayor pointed out, what plays in this city now plays in every other cultural capital on earth.

“And even more than that—and with all due respect to your Mayor’s modesty—it’s not a London, a Paris, a Tokyo, Milan or New York that tops the résumé of international performers these days. No, it’s the fact one can say:  ‘I do Las Vegas, which is Show Town planet Earth.’

“So, yes—and unquestionably—when L. Ron Hubbard spoke of ‘art as viewed by people, heard by people and felt by people, because art is not just the fodder of a close-knit group of initiates but the soul food of all people…’ he might well have been speaking of what this city represents as a worldwide capital of art and entertainment—a place where big shows qualify as an ‘act of God’ and there are no words for ‘over the top,’ so long as people are enthralled,” Mr. Miscavige continued.

“All of which is why it’s more than a little significant that we now cut a ribbon on an Ideal Organization that embodies what else LRH said about art—and I quote:

“‘A culture is only as great as its dreams and its dreams are dreamed by artists.’

“But still that’s not all this new Ideal Organization represents.  Because as an Ideal Church of Scientology, it’s amply equipped to embrace everyone else who makes up this culture.  Those in the wings of every performance, those who service, care for, prop up and cater to every entertainer—as they, too, are Las Vegas, so this Church is also theirs.  And the same again for everyone else who pumps the lifeblood through this city: Its technicians, its teachers, its cops, its cooks, its managers and professionals of every description—what this Church affords is likewise theirs for the asking.

“So if drug abuse and addiction plagues every showbiz palace, then spills out all over the streets—this Church can make a difference,” he said.  “In point of fact, you have our anti-drug programs that routinely knock down usage rates 40, 50 and 60 percent wherever they play.  Then again, if there are kids out there who will never come close to achieving any meaningful goal for the simple fact they cannot read and cannot study, we have a technology that just as routinely raises literacy rates two and three grade levels in a matter of weeks.  And if there are households out there in discord and contentious rifts in the neighborhoods, you have our common sense guide to living, The Way to Happiness. And wherever else social fabrics fray and citizens fall through the safety net, this Church is here to help.”

Set on five acres of desert landscape, the former synagogue and school has undergone extensive renovation to accommodate all Scientology religious services and also serve as a home for the community services the Church provides through the many activities and humanitarian programs of its members.

An expansive Public Information Center houses a permanent multimedia exhibit describing the Church’s beliefs and practices and he life and legacy of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Displays also cover the Church-sponsored humanitarian and social betterment programs that offer practical answers to the societal ills of crime, drug abuse, illiteracy, declining moral values and natural and man-made disasters. These programs represent the work of the Church of Scientology in servicing every community in which they reside as well as other communities around the world.

There is also a Chapel for Sunday services, weddings, naming ceremonies and other congregational gatherings including workshops and seminars for artists; spiritual counseling rooms; course rooms for religious study; seminar rooms; a bookstore containing the written and spoken materials of L. Ron Hubbard; and Community Relations offices and meeting rooms to coordinate social betterment programs with like-minded organizations in the community. There are spacious lounges and a central courtyard to serve as a gathering place for artists and community visitors, in keeping with the unique purpose of a Scientology Celebrity Centre to help the artist and thereby benefit the culture as a whole.

In closing the dedication ceremony, Mr. Miscavige spoke of the significance for Las Vegas of the new Church: “Yours is a city that rose out of sand to become an artistic empire and inspire the world. As such, it really is a place of dreams—and extravagant dreams at that. So as we, too, know what it means to build upon a dream, let this new Church of Scientology signify the fact we believe in your artists, we respect the audacity of your vision—and together, we can light up this city so brightly, it will shine unto eternity.”

Accompanied by local Scientologists who spearheaded the drive to build the new Church, Mr. Miscavige cut the ribbon and invited all to enter.

Las Vegas is the third new Church of Scientology opened in 2010 and the eighth in the past year. The Brussels branch of Churches of Scientology for Europe was opened on January 23. The Church of Scientology of Quebec was dedicated on January 30 by Mr. Miscavige, the first new major Church to open in Canada. In October 2009, Mr. Miscavige dedicated two major Churches: the Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, DC, and the Church of Scientology of Rome. In April 2009, he officiated at the openings of Scientology Churches in Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; and Malmo, Sweden.

These Churches join the roster of new Churches of Scientology in the world’s cultural capitals, including the National Church of Scientology of Spain in Madrid’s Neighborhood of Letters; the Church of Scientology of New York, just off Times Square; the Church of Scientology of San Francisco, California, in the original historic Transamerica Building; the Church of Scientology of London, England, located in the epicenter of the city; and the Church of Scientology of Berlin, Germany, near the Brandenburg Gate.

Another 12 new Churches of Scientology are scheduled for completion before the end of the year.

Fifty-four-year-old Scientologist from Monrovia, California, runs to combat violence and help youth make the right moral choices.

Ultra-marathoner John Radich is already training for the May 2010 launch of a 3,700-mile run to promote moral values.  His Trans USA Run will follow historic Route 66 from Santa Monica  to Chicago, and will carry on from there to New York City and Washington, DC.

Along the route, John will hand out The Way To Happiness, a non-religious moral code based wholly on common sense that can serve as a guide to better living.  “Violence is a fact of life in our society, ” says Radich.  “It doesn’t have to be that way.  If youth learn common-sense values they can make the right choices.”

In addition to distributing booklets, Radich will hand out The Way To Happiness DVDs containing the unabridged book on film.

Radich, 54, has completed hundreds of ultra marathons and covered 30,000 miles since his first in 1979, raising over $100,000 for charities in the process.

He is a nine-time finisher of the 135-mile Badwater Run from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, known as one of the world’s toughest races.  He is a three-time Arizona Six-Day Run winner for 2005, 2006 and 2007 and has also run in the Angeles Crest 100-miler. In 1999 John ran for Human Rights from Athens, Greece, to Hamburg, Germany.

For more information or to help sponsor the program, visit the website at http://www.thetransusarun.blogspot.com/ or e-mail John at thetransusarun@gmail.com.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers India Goodwill tour has trained tens of thousands of people in technology developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard

Since arriving in India in September 2005, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers India Goodwill Tour has delivered training to professionals in many fields.  Tour leader, Ms. Marion Whitta, describes the work they have done.

Scientology Newsroom: How many people have you trained in technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard since you arrived in India?

M.W.:  We have trained well over 30,000.  There has been enormous interest in our programs.

Scientology Newsroom: Tell us about training the Maharashtra Civil Defense Trainers after the Mumbai terror attacks.  How did that come about?

M.W.:  We were in Mumbai with the Goodwill Tour several months before the terror attacks of November 26, 2008, and we rushed back and worked with disaster response agencies and medical staff to restore order and help the victims.  In coordination with the dean of the Sir JJ Hospital, we worked in the wards providing logistics support for medical staff caring for the victims.

Hearing of our work, the Commandant General of Maharashtra Civil Defense asked us to train 40 of his trainers, who in turn train 15,000 Civil Defense workers every year.  We trained them on the Scientology Disaster Response Specialist Course, and as a result of the success of this program, the Gujarat Home Guards and Civil Defense asked us to train their trainers as well, which we have done.

We also trained the 30 West Bengal Civil Defense staff who train all new members of their corps as well as the officers of the National Disaster Response Force.

Scientology Newsroom: You have worked with hospital staff as well?

M.W.:  Yes.  One of the most popular tools of the Volunteer Ministers is Scientology Assists—simple procedures developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that address the emotional and spiritual factors in stress, trauma, illness and injury.

To healthcare professionals these techniques make a lot of sense.  At hospitals throughout India, nursing staff, teaching staff and hospital administrators have been eager to implement Scientology Assist technology because they see the results.  Patients and their families are calmer, more extroverted, less worried and more confident.

Also in Lucknow, we trained the faculty of Vivekananda Polyclinic to deliver Scientology Assists at the request of Swami Muktinathanda who said, “We have been trying to improve the hospital in various ways, but with Scientology technologies we find that there has been a significant improvement so far as the attitude of our nursing staff is concerned.”  As a result, the clinic administrator requested that we train all the hospital tutors so they could incorporate Scientology Assists in the school’s nursing training.

In Kolkata we also trained tutors at major hospitals such as BM Birla and CMRI (Calcutta Medical Research Institute) on the Scientology Disaster Response Specialist Course.

Scientology Volunteer Minister, Nicole, tells of her first day in Haiti

Nearly three weeks after the 7.0 earthquake destroyed the city of Port-au-Prince, doctors, nurses and other medical workers continue the battle to save lives of the victims of the disaster.  Teams of Scientology Volunteer Ministers are providing support to the medical teams at the General Hospital and the University of Miami Hospital Tent that was erected at the Port-au-Prince Airport, helping with everything from distributing food and water to cleaning and bandaging wounds, assisting doctors in Intensive Care Units and operating rooms and lending moral support to the victims.

Nicole, a Scientology Volunteer Minister from Los Angeles, left on January 22 on a flight chartered by the Church of Scientology, to transport doctors, nurses and EMTs to Haiti, with Volunteer Ministers for logistics support.  Her first day there, assigned to help at the General Hospital, Nicole was startled to see all the patients had been moved out of the building onto the sidewalk or the grass and were lying there on blankets or cots.  Despite the possibility of complications from unsanitary conditions, the likelihood of the hospital collapsing from damage caused by the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks was an even greater threat to the patients’ survival.

Almost every patient Nicole saw had open, bleeding wounds.  Most were amputees or were otherwise disfigured.  Inspired by the dedication of the doctors and nurses, Nicole took on any task that would free them up so the patients could get more treatment for them.  “I washed patients and fed those who could not feed themselves. I massaged atrophied muscles. I got people to sing, to lift their spirits.”

Nicole will never forget the patient she called “Miracle Man,” a name she gave him because only a miracle could have kept his emaciated, maggot-ridden body alive.  Oblivious to his surroundings, he could not eat his food, so Nicole found baby food, which she mixed with water and fed to him through a syringe. She held him, sang to him, and tried to draw his attention to the world around him.

Suddenly she saw him focus.  His eyes no longer vacant, he began to speak.  He called her “sister,” telling her he had no one else in the world—she is his sister now.  He told Nicole to return the next day, that he will be there waiting for her—he had decided to live.

More than 100 Volunteer Ministers have volunteered in Haiti with the Scientology Disaster Response Team, working in hospitals, distributing food, water and medicine, and providing any other assistance needed by medical workers and other humanitarian groups to bring help to the people of Haiti.

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers and their work in Haiti, visit their blog at blog.volunteerministers.org.

Today Show covers the work of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Haiti.

“They were at Ground Zero following 9/11, they were at Katrina, and now they’re here, often doing the work that no one else wants to.”

QUEBEC CITY.  Fifteen hundred Scientologists and their guests from across Canada and the United States packed the street in front of 665 rue Saint-Joseph in the heart of the Nouvo Saint-Roch district of Lower Quebec City to attend the opening of the Church of Scientology of Quebec/Eglise de Scientologie de Quebec on Saturday.

The opening of the 47,000-square-foot Church, which will serve parishioners from throughout the province, represents significant growth for the congregation, which was formed in Quebec 35 years ago.

Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center and ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, presided at the dedication ceremony, welcoming the assembled Scientologists and guests to the new Church.  His introduction was met with prolonged and enthusiastic ovation in appreciation of his presence in Quebec and his instrumental role in making possible the opening of this new Church and all it represents for the future of Scientologists in Canada.

As Mr. Miscavige stated, “This new breed of Church is all in preparation for much more to come in the future.  Well, that future is upon us now.”

The Quebec Church marks the beginning of a major Scientology expansion across Canada, with new Churches to be opened in Montreal, Quebec; Kitchener, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and a full renovation of the Church of Scientology in Toronto.  Also on the horizon, on 190 acres just outside Toronto, is the Scientology Advanced Organization for Canadian parishioners and Canada’s Continental Liaison Office to coordinate Scientology expansion and social betterment programs across the nation.

Dignitaries participating in the dedication of the new Church included the Honorable Alvin Curling, former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and now Senior Fellow at the Center for International Governance for Innovation; the Honorable Pamela Appelt, a judge in the Court of Canadian Citizenship and a patron of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development; and Mr. Alan Stein, noted religious freedom and human rights attorney and professor of law.

In his address, Mr. Curling said, “Let this new home for the Church of Scientology in Quebec be a beacon to all men and women of goodwill - a place where they will always be welcome to work together in helping this world. Bringing together people of goodwill is a hallmark of the Church of Scientology, which is why I celebrate this new Church with you today.”

The three-story stone and glass structure spans a city block with distinctive Art Deco façades at the two main entrances. The building has undergone extensive renovation to accommodate all Scientology religious services and also serve as a home for the community services the Church provides through the many activities and humanitarian programs of its members.

An expansive Public Information Center houses a permanent multimedia exhibit describing the Church’s beliefs and practices and the life and legacy of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Displays also cover the Church-sponsored humanitarian and social betterment programs that offer practical answers to the societal ills of crime, drug abuse, illiteracy, declining moral values and natural and manmade disasters. These programs represent the work of the Church of Scientology in servicing every community in which they reside as well as other communities around the world.

There is also a Chapel for Sunday services, weddings, naming ceremonies and other congregational gatherings; spiritual counseling rooms; course rooms for religious study; an event hall and seminar rooms; a bookstore containing the written and spoken materials of L. Ron Hubbard; and Public Affairs offices and meeting rooms to coordinate social betterment programs with like-minded organizations in the community. For the convenience of parishioners and visitors, there is also a café.

In opening the dedication ceremony, Mr. Miscavige noted that the day gave new meaning to Quebec’s motto Je me souviens- I remember.  In closing, he said, “Let this new Church symbolize the fact that we not only remember Quebec, we shall also never forget our commitment to her people-and all in the spirit of this from L. Ron Hubbard:

“‘When you leave here today and walk out into the world, remember the tools of life that you have and your role to use them to help your fellows.’”

Accompanied by Scientologists from Quebec who led the drive to build the new Church, Mr. Miscavige cut the ribbon and invited all to enter.

___________________________

The Quebec Church is the second new Church of Scientology opened this month and the seventh in the past year. The Brussels branch of Churches of Scientology for Europe was dedicated on 23 January 2010. In October 2009, Mr. Miscavige dedicated two major new Churches: the Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, DC, and the Church of Scientology of Rome. In April 2009, he dedicated new Scientology Churches in Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; and in Malmo, Sweden.

These Churches join the roster of new Churches of Scientology opened in the world’s cultural capitals, including the National Church of Scientology of Spain in Madrid’s Neighborhood of Letters; the Church of Scientology of New York, just off Times Square; the Church of Scientology of San Francisco, California, in the original historic Transamerica Building; the Church of Scientology of London, England, located in the epicenter of the city; and the Church of Scientology of Berlin, Germany, near the Brandenburg Gate.

An additional two Churches of Scientology are scheduled for ribbon cutting in February 2010, with another 12 new Churches of Scientology scheduled for completion before the end of the year.

Le Journal de Québec video interview of Scientology spokesperson, Karine Bélanger, on the grand opening of  the Church of Scientology of Québec, located at 665 rue Saint-Joseph in the heart of the Nouvo Saint-Roch district of Lower Québec City.

To view the video, click here.

Scientology Volunteer Minister Karen Farrell, who is also a midwife, delivered six babies in one week while serving with the Scientology Disaster Response Team in Haiti.

Karen Farrell is a midwife and a Scientology Volunteer Minister who lives in New England. When she heard about the Haiti earthquake on January 12, her first thought was that she needed to help. Four days later she was in Port-au-Prince with the medical and disaster relief team of doctors and nurses from the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad, paramedics and Volunteer Ministers who boarded a flight in New York on January 16, chartered by the Church of Scientology to take medical personnel and supplies to Haiti.

Karen was assigned to General Hospital, where the facilities were woefully inadequate for the doctors and nurses working desperately to do something for the worst of the enormous numbers of earthquake victims. Overwhelmed with casualties, the medical staff could scarcely tend to women having babies.

The Norwegian Red Cross had set up a small makeshift obstetric and surgical unit and welcomed the midwife and doctors newly arrived from America.

Karen and a Haitian-American obstetrician from the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad who arrived on the same flight set up a rudimentary labor and delivery room that Karen described as “archaic” and started moving women in.

After a 12-hour shift, exhausted obstetrics staff started leaving for the night. With no doctor on duty, Karen decided to stay. A fortunate decision. Karen delivered two babies that night.

The first baby was a girl whose mother named her “My Love.” The second was born to a 16-year-old first-time mother. Alone, without her family or the father, the young mother was exhausted and terrified. “1 held her in my arms for a long time, rocking her,” said Karen. “After eight hours, we were finally able to move her to a room with power (yes, we were in the dark all that time). I had to show her how to push and get her to understand me.” With the help of a translator, she told the woman, “Be strong and deliver this baby now!”

On another night, six women were in labor, two of them difficult cases. Karen could only hope their babies would hold off until the obstetrics staff came back on duty. Then, as morning dawned, another earthquake struck. Panic swept through the hospital. Some patients, forgetting their limbs had been amputated, tried to stand up and run out. Others who were far too sick to move struggled to get out of bed and out of the building.

“People were screaming and the whole building was shaking,” said Karen. The labor room and all the obstetrics patients were in the basement, and Karen knew that if the building collapsed they would all be trapped.

She scrambled with medical students and military personnel to evacuate the patients from the basement and the wards, carrying them outside and placing them on the ground away from the unstable hospital building.

The move was too much for some. A young man died when his oxygen tank was disconnected so he could be moved. The nurse with him went into shock and was unable to function. Karen quickly applied her Volunteer Minister Disaster Response training that orients a person to their immediate surroundings, and the nurse soon snapped out of her shock and said, “OK, we have a lot of work to do,” and got back to work moving patients to safety.

Amid the death and destruction, one of the pregnant women started giving birth. Haitian women near the mother-to-be began to sing. When the baby appeared, a doctor shouted, “A baby has been born! There is hope in the world.”
Karen was still hoping the two difficult cases would hold off until an obstetrician came back on duty. Just as one woman was about to give birth, her labor slowed and the obstetrician arrived in time and delivered the baby by Caesarian section.

Karen also helped non-obstetrics patients. Many had no family because they were killed or separated in the earthquake, so Karen comforted them.  Though I don’t speak Creole, I could still sit with them and simply listen to them talk. I couldn’t understand their words, but I wanted them to know they were not alone.

“One gentleman had so much fear in his eyes. I put my hand on his shoulder and in French I said ‘calm.’ I just wanted him to know that someone was there. He talked and talked and I nodded my head. I understood enough to know that he was in a lot of pain and was terrified. He thought he was dying, and he was. I got a cold cloth and wiped his face and the back of his neck.

“Everything was in disarray, including the area where the medicine was kept, and the doctors were spending their precious time picking though the medicine trying to find the one the man needed. I told them I would look for it so they could keep treating patients. I finally found it and they gave it to him and he recovered. He made it.”

Karen returned home to Boston after a week, to go back to her job. In one week in Haiti she delivered six babies with her own hands and helped with another. She says the experience changed her, and she will never be the same.

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Haiti Disaster Response, visit http://blog.volunteerministers.org.

To provide news and personal accounts from post-earthquake Haiti, a new blog has been added to the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website at blog.volunteerministers.org.  Although it documents nearly inconceivable hardship in Haiti, its tone reflects the courage and spirit of the volunteers as they work with people of all faiths, backgrounds and walks of life to bring help to the people of this shattered nation.

Karen writes about the seven babies she delivered in one week in Port-au-Prince. Michaela will never forget working at the General Hospital, caring for the patients who were moved out onto the sidewalks when an aftershock made it too dangerous to keep them inside.  Ellen describes saving the life of a man in the Intensive Care Unit.  The doctors told her if the man fell asleep he would die, so she shook him nonstop for half an hour, calling his name to him over and over—”Jean-Pierre, bon jour! Bon Jour!” Finally, the man pulled through.

Living in tents, subsisting on protein bars and nuts and making do with a bucket for a shower, the optimism of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers shines through.  They take on whatever task is needed to help the people of Haiti, whether it is helping at the hospitals, distributing food and water, delivering medical supplies, or providing Scientology assists—spiritual first aid to help people recover from stress and trauma.

The personal accounts and images on the Volunteer Ministers blog balance the horrors of Haiti with a message of hope.  True to the motto of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers—”Something CAN be done about it”—the Scientology Haiti Disaster Response Team members are making a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti, one person at a time.

Nearly 1,000 Scientologists and their guests from across Europe attended the dedication of the Brussels branch of the Churches of Scientology for Europe on Saturday.

Brussels January 27, 2010—A representative of Church of Scientology International, the Mother Church of the Scientology religion, officiated at the ceremony held in the early-20th-century historic structure at Boulevard de Waterloo 100-103.

Presiding was the Reverend Robert Adams of the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology International. In welcoming the parishioners, staff and guests from more than a dozen countries, he introduced the new Brussels branch as “an international Church for an international city, dedicated to helping all the people of Europe.”

Rev. Adams called the opening the “beginning of a new era for Scientology parishioners and all residents of Belgium and Europe. You are always welcome in our Churches, and we invite you to participate with us as we serve the larger community with effective solutions to uplift the visible decay of the society in which we live.”

Distinguished guest speakers participating in the dedication of the new Church were the Honorable Hugo Coveliers, Senator in the Belgian Parliament; Professor Abolfazl Beheshti, Professor of International Relations and Energy Economy at the University of Lille, France; The Honorable Juan Ferreiro, Spain’s Deputy Director General for Religious Affairs at the Spanish Ministry of Justice; Ms. Katalin Szomor, expert member of the Drugs Commission of the Hungarian Parliament and former national drug coordinator; and the Reverend Christopher Vonck, Rector of the Faculty for Comparative Study of Religions at the University of Antwerp.

In his address to the Scientologists and guests, Senator Coveliers said, “This new Church in the capital city of Europe stands as a beautiful testament to your help, and you can be certain of my continued support. You care for people, and this Church is such an example of this attitude.”

The new Church in Brussels has undergone extensive renovation not only to accommodate all Scientology religious services but also as a home for the community services provided through the many activities and humanitarian programs of Church members.

The 88,000-square-foot Church includes an expansive Information Hall housing a multimedia exhibit describing the religion’s beliefs and practices and the life and legacy of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Displays also cover the Church-sponsored humanitarian and social betterment programs that offer practical answers to the societal ills of crime, drug abuse, illiteracy, declining moral values and natural and manmade disasters. These programs represent the work of Churches of Scientology in servicing every community in which they reside as well as other communities around the world.

There is also an auditorium for congregational gatherings which also serves as a Chapel for Sunday services, weddings and naming ceremonies; a Documentation Center containing the written and spoken materials of L. Ron Hubbard; rooms for religious training and religious counseling; and Public Affairs offices and meeting rooms to coordinate human rights initiatives across Europe with like-minded organizations.

Rev. Adams closed the ceremony with these words from Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard:

“Change no man’s religion, change no man’s politics, interrupt the sovereignty of no nation. Instead, teach man to use what he has and what he knows to the factual creation, within any political reference, of a civilization on Earth for the first time.”

The new Brussels branch is the third Church of Scientology opened in Europe in the past year. In April 2009 a new Church opened in the Swedish seaport city of Malmo, and in October 2009 a new Church was opened in Rome.

Brussels, Malmo and Rome now join a roster of new Churches of Scientology opened in capitals across Europe, including the National Church of Scientology of Spain, in Madrid’s Neighborhood of Letters; the Church of Scientology of Berlin, Germany, near the Brandenburg Gate; and the Church of Scientology of London, England, located in the epicenter of the city.

To serve growing congregations and their communities, major Churches of Scientology were also opened in the United States in 2009: In Texas, the Church of Scientology of Dallas, opened in April 2009; in Tennessee, the Church of Scientology and Celebrity Center Nashville, opened in April 2009; and in the nation’s capital, the Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, DC, opened in October 2009.

An additional three Churches of Scientology are scheduled for ribbon cutting in February 2010, with another 12 new Churches scheduled for completion before the end of the year.

On the New York Times blog, Robert Mackey describes relief efforts of John Travolta and wife Kelley Preston, quoting Travolta as saying, “We have the ability to actually help make a difference in the situation in Haiti, and I just can’t see not using this plane to help.”

Travolta flew four tons of ready-to-eat meals, medical supplies, a team of doctors and other relief specialists and Scientology Volunteer Ministers to Haiti, Monday January 25th.

Coverage includes a video clip from AP.

Click to read full article and watch video.

Cedar Rapids ABC affiliate, KCRG, reports that Cedar Rapids’ Peter Teahen — disaster specialist, funeral director and recent candidate for the U.S. Congress — is flying into disaster-hit Haiti this evening with actor John Travolta and a medical contingent in Travolta’s jet. The disaster-relief effort is being sponsored by the Church of Scientology, of which Travolta is a member.

Mr. Tehan told the station: “…the church [of Scientology] has come to play a bigger and bigger role in disaster relief both internationally and in the United States. ” Teahen also said he first met Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Click to read the story and watch the video

AFP coverage on the Haiti disaster includes a story about the work of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers.

For the full article, click here.

Fox TV coverage on the disaster relief initiative of the Church of Scientology:

The Church of Scientology has chartered a jet to ferry about 160 doctors, nurses and other volunteers to Haiti on Saturday to help in the earthquake relief efforts.

A small group of volunteers, including a Haitian-American nurse and a Haitian-American construction worker, was meeting Friday night at the Haitian Embassy in Washington for a midnight bus ride to New York City. They were to join the others for that chartered flight out of JFK International Airport. >>

Click here to watch the video

Miami Herald coverage of the Scientology Haiti disaster relief effort.

The Church of Scientology is chartering a plane Thursday evening from Miami International Airport to Port-au-Prince carrying Scientology ministers, Mormon medics and Haitian-American doctors to join relief efforts in Port-au-Prince.

The 168-seat aircraft is the second the church is sending to Haiti. A crew of 126 volunteers flew from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Haiti Sunday to provide water, food and medical supplies to earthquake victims.

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“I want to go to Haiti with the Scientology Volunteer Ministers to help my people.” - Jude Falaise

When a flight chartered by the Church of Scientology leaves Los Angeles for Port-au-Prince on January 21, Haitian Jude Falaise and her 16-year-old son will be on board.  Falaise lost 11 family members-brothers, sisters and cousins-in the 7.0 earthquake January 12 and says she wants to help those who did survive.

While receiving grief counseling last week at a Los Angeles Church of Scientology, Falaise learned that the Church was organizing a flight to Haiti for doctors, nurses, EMTs and Volunteer Ministers. She contacted the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Relief Coordinator to offer her family’s homes in Port-au-Prince as housing for volunteers, and when she learned of their work, she decided to join the volunteer team herself.

“I’m leaving the comfort of my home and I’m taking my teenage son with me to go volunteer.  What if it was me there with my family, my husband, my children?  I feel it is my duty to go.”

She has also contacted doctors in Port-au-Prince to encourage them to work with the Volunteer Ministers.

More than 100, including Scientology Volunteer Ministers and medical personnel, will be on Thursday’s flight to Port-au-Prince to join teams already there, including 126 Haitian doctors, nurses, EMTs and Volunteer Ministers who arrived on a January 16 charter flight from New York organized by the Church of Scientology.    The Volunteer Ministers are stationed in Port-au-Prince Airport, where they are helping allocating medical personnel, distributing water and food and giving spiritual first aid to relieve shock, stress, exhaustion and trauma.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Corps is an embracive program of the Church of Scientology to provide community service, disaster relief and emergency response. Created more than 30 years ago by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, the program has expanded to 203,000 Volunteer Ministers worldwide who have served at 145 worst-case disaster sites, including Ground Zero after 9/11, the Southeast Asia tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

For more information on the Haiti disaster relief effort visit the Scientology Volunteer Ministers blog.

Church of Scientology organizes charter flight from JFK to Port-au-Prince to bring doctors and relief workers to help in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake.

NEW YORK (January 18, 2010)—A charter flight organized by the Church of Scientology carried 126 doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians and Scientology Volunteer Ministers to Port-au-Prince where the group arrived Sunday. Assisted by Homeland Security, the plane left JFK International Airport Saturday to provide urgently needed help in Haiti in the wake of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the island on January 12.

The effort brought together medical doctors and nurses from the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad (Association des Medecins Haitiens a l’Etranger), paramedics and emergency medical technicians from New York City and New Jersey led by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and Scientology Volunteer Ministers from New York, Tampa and elsewhere.

Upon arrival in Port-au-Prince Sunday, the group received official escort to the designated non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and relief organizations headquarters and coordination center to conference with fellow relief organizations and coordinate their efforts to bring reinforcements to the greatly overtaxed medical teams.  The Volunteer Ministers will also provide spiritual first aide to traumatized earthquake victims and relief workers.

Teams of Scientology Volunteer Ministers from throughout the U.S., Mexico, Europe and elsewhere continue to arrive and will provide administrative and organizational support to the medical teams, distribute supplies and provide trauma relief and grief counseling to the victims and their families.

“We had to reach out to provide substantial and meaningful help to the victims of this disaster,” said Pat Harney, a spokesperson for the Scientology Volunteer Ministers who is heading up the team in Haiti. “We have an outpouring of support from Scientologists and others around the world and we are underway in getting much-needed aid to the people of Port-au-Prince.”

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Corps is an embracive program of the Church of Scientology to provide community service, disaster relief and emergency response. Created more than 30 years ago by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, the program has expanded to 203,000 Volunteer Ministers worldwide who have served at 145 worst-case disaster sites, including Ground Zero after 9/11, the Southeast Asia tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

New York City, January 16, 2010—Dozens of nurses, doctors and emergency responders…will provide desparately needed medical care in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince….The Church of Scientology brought these volunteers together and is sponsoring their chartered flight.

Fox TV coverage, January 16:   Nearly 130 doctors, nurses, EMTs and ministers left from Kennedy Airport for Haiti.  They got the call last night and dropped everything to go.  The Church of Scientology organized the charter flight.

WUSA9 TV reports that more than a dozens volunteers from the Church of Scientology provided help at the Haitian embassy in D.C. today.  Many Haitians lost family members in the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on Tuesday. “We can see these people are in big trouble,” one Scientology Volunteer Minister says. “We are here to help.”

See the full TV clip on WUSA9.com

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Coordinator has put out a call for Volunteer Ministers to travel to Haiti, in response to the January 12, 2010, magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive estimates the death toll from the earthquake, which destroyed most of the Capital City of Port-au-Prince, could reach hundreds of thousands. Lack of resources and decimated infrastructure in Haiti, the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world according to the US State Department, is severely hampering the search and rescue operation and care for the survivors.

For information on how to join the Volunteer Ministers team in Haiti or to sponsor a volunteer to go contact the Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Coordinator at vm@volunteerministers.org

In 1961, Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “…a being is only as valuable as he can serve others.” This is a precept that inspires the work of Scientologists around the world including those in the Tampa Bay area. The following is a brief description of some of the community outreach groups and organizations local Scientologists have founded and participate in. Membership is not limited to Scientologists and people of all faiths are welcome to volunteer to provide needed services to the people of the community.

Say No to Drugs Race

Twenty years ago, Clearwater resident and world-class runner Sandra Johnson started the Say No to Drugs Holiday Classic to promote an anti-drug message.  Now under the direction of local resident, Chris Alexander, a team of 200 volunteers ensure the race comes off each year without a hitch.  It has become one of the premier races in the Tampa Bay area, drawing up to 1,000 runners with athletes competing from all over the world.

The Community Learning Center (CLC)

Holly and Brendan Haggerty, parents of four, founded the Community Learning Center in 1998 to provide a safe place for kids for afterschool arts and sports programs. The Haggertys have now expanded their program to include literacy tutoring for adults.  Based near downtown Clearwater, their afterschool tutoring programs also run in Pinellas, Dade, Hillsborough, Alachua, Broward-Deerfield and Broward-Ft. Lauderdale counties.  Their 89 volunteers have tutored some 500 students in the past year alone.

Criminon—Florida

Clearwater resident Susan Broughton runs Criminon Florida, a chapter of Criminon International that offers character-building criminal-rehabilitation programs through correspondence courses to more than 2000 inmates in 85 percent of the 75 Florida state prisons. Courses address a wide range of subjects from character building and drug education to study and communication skills.  This activity is 100 percent volunteer-based.

Narconon—Florida

Narconon provides substance abuse education and rehabilitation in three Florida locations: Clearwater-based Narconon Florida, Narconon Destin and Narconon Spring Hill on the Florida Panhandle. Spring Hill and Destin are residential facilities, and the Clearwater operation offers help to addicts who can carry on with their work and their day-to-day lives while participating in the program.   At each of these centers the addicts not only withdraw from drugs, they also address the underlying cause of their addiction by working out and resolving the problems they were trying to “solve” with drugs.  Life skills courses are key to the success of the program. Narconon Florida is a part of Narconon International, a world-wide network of 188 drug education and rehabilitation facilities in 46 countries.

The Way to Happiness

Written by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s, The Way to Happiness is a non-religious, common-sense moral code designed to help young and old alike make decisions that enable them to live happier and more productive lives. In Tampa Bay, the Way to Happiness Club, led by Clearwater resident Betsy Cramb, distributed 62,800 free booklets and held 52 events last year to educate children in the application of this non-religious moral code to improve their survival and the survival of those around them.

The Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV)

What originally started as the Women’s Auxiliary of the Church of Scientology, the Clearwater Community Volunteers holds fundraisers and events throughout the year to benefit local charities. These include Winter Wonderland in downtown Clearwater, the Easter Egg Hunt in Coachman Park, and Fashions-with-Flair fashion show at the Belleair Country Club. With the funds raised from these events, CCV contributes tens of thousands of dollars each year to worthwhile local charitable organizations. Pamela Ryan Anderson now heads a team of more than 800 CCV volunteers.

Foundation for a Drug-Free World, Florida

Led by Julietta Gil, this group was founded to educate people about the dangers of abusing harmful drugs. A chapter of the international Foundation for a Drug-Free World, members of the local group gave 30 drug education lectures in schools throughout Pinellas and Hillsborough County to about 3,500 people last year. They also distributed 75,000 drug education booklets over the last two years. They partner with many local  groups including the Dunedin Blue Jays, the Clearwater Downtown Partnership and the Sunscreen Film Festival.  The program includes a local chapter of the “Drug Free Marshals,” youth who pledge to be drug-free and encourage others to do the same.

Human Rights Awareness

The protection of basic human rights has been a hallmark of the Church of Scientology since its earliest days. In Tampa Bay, Scientologists participate in two groups that educate people about their rights—the Tampa Bay Chapter of Youth for Human Rights and the Human Rights Group.   Members of Youth for Human Rights give presentations on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in schools throughout Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. They pass out thousands of booklets and arrange the airing of public service announcements depicting the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Headed by Linda Drazkowski, the Human Rights Group held its third annual Human Rights Walk-a-Thon in March at St. Petersburg’s Straub Park. More than 1,000 local residents from many different faiths and backgrounds marched in support of human rights.

Church of Scientology of Pasadena anticipates a new era of expansion with the renovation and restoration of its new headquarters in Old Pasadena

Artist’s rendition of the planned exterior of the new Church of Scientology of Pasadena.

The Church of Scientology of Pasadena is bringing in the new year and decade by beginning renovation of the historic Braley Building this week in the heart of Old Pasadena.  The full renovation and restoration of the Braley Building by fall 2010 reflects significant expansion for the Pasadena Church.  The 50,800-square-foot building at 35 South Raymond Avenue will serve 10,000 parishioners and provide a broad spectrum of community outreach programs in the greater Pasadena area, including Glendale, La Cañada, La Crescenta, Sunland/Tujunga, the San Gabriel Valley, the Inland Empire and San Bernardino.

The first floor of the new Pasadena Church will house an extensive Public Information Center with more than 20 multimedia displays, designed to answer nearly any question about Scientology and provide information regarding the Church’s community outreach and social betterment initiatives, including their anti-drug and human rights programs.  The first floor will also hold a bookstore, café, chapel and a multipurpose room that will host community meetings and events.  The upper floors are devoted to course rooms for religious studies and individual counseling rooms.

Scientology churches are well known in the field of adaptive reuse—an efficient and environmentally responsible trend in architecture, which retains the classic features of historic buildings while converting them for new uses—and have renovated, restored and opened 15 new Churches in major cities around the world in the past decade.  Five new Churches were opened and dedicated by Mr. David Miscavige, the Church’s international ecclesiastical leader, in the last year alone: Dallas, Nashville, Washington, DC, Rome and Malmö, Sweden.

In its story announcing the Church of Scientology of Pasadena’s long-awaited renovations project, the Pasadena Star-News reported that Old Pasadena Management District President Steve Mulheim said everyone is “thrilled” to see progress on the building.

“Our new beautiful Church is a whole new expansion for us and it is going to be a wonderful community asset,” said Eden Stein, President of the Pasadena Church.  “We are greatly looking forward to sharing it.”  Ms. Stein said the new facilities will make it possible to provide an entirely new level of community outreach.

The Church will provide introductory and parishioner services at its new location seven days a week until 9:30 p.m. weekdays and until 6 p.m. weekends.

Matt Sedensky of the Associated Press covers the work done to release more than a thousand lectures by L. Ron Hubbard, announced at the New Years event 2010.

More than 1,000 unreleased recordings of lectures by L. Ron Hubbard and reams of corresponding writings have been unveiled in the culmination of a 25-year project to locate, restore and transcribe lost pieces of the Scientology founder’s work.

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