29 years working in a Scientology Church

I just wanted to acknowledge Alex Car who writes the blog for the Church of Scientology of Kansas City. Alex has been on staff in Kansas for 29 years! Wow. That is an awesome achievement.

The longest I ever worked at one place was twelve years and that was broken into three slots because I twice left to work at startups that didn't.

Alex' blog can be found here: Church of Scientology of Kansas City "Ideal Org" Blog

Scientology Expansion

It has just been announced that a new Advanced Organization is being created in Africa. This is great news for Scientology and Scientologists and is another sign of the huge expansion Scientology is currently experiencing.

For people not familiar with what an Advanced Organization (AO) is or how this shows huge expansion, let me explain. The structure of the Church of Scientology is described here: Ecclesiastical Structure of Scientology - that tells you all the details. The quick overview is: there are different kinds of Scientology Churches:

• Missions
• Class V Churches
• Advanced Organizations
• Flag
• Freewinds

There are hundreds of Missions and Class V Churches and these deliver the majority of the spiritual services and training available in Scientology. There are four AOs in the world, they deliver more advanced services and training.. There is only one Flag and one Freewinds, they deliver the most advanced services and training. See the links above for more details on what that all means.

The last AO was formed over 20 years ago in Australia so the announcement that a new AO is forming in Africa means that there is so much expansion going on that the existing AOs are not enough to handle the number of people who want the Advanced Courses these churches deliver.

The premises for the new AO in Africa have been purchased and the place is beautiful. It's out in the country side and is a huge property with a 5-star hotel and lots of other buildings. Perfect for the volume of people who will be going there.

So, that's the news!

Church of Scientology of South Africa Wins Tax Exemption

With so much good news coming out about Scientology I almost missed this one. The South African Revenue Services (the IRS of South Africa) has granted the Church of Scientology South Africa tax exempt status because it is a Public Benefit Organization.

Here is the story: South African Church of Scientology gets tax exemption

Volunteer Ministers Celebrate another year of helping New York

The Church of Scientology of New York Volunteer Ministers Street Fair this year was another huge success. The Scientology VMs were there at Ground Zero after 9/11 and they continue to provide help whenever new disasters occur.

Of course, not all disasters are of the magnitude of 9/11 or the Asian Tsunami, so the VMs are ready to help even with the smaller disasters of everyday life: marriage difficulties, drug problems, family situations and more.

VMs are trained in the methods described in the Scientology Handbook and they have received numerous recognitions for the effective help they have provided to millions. (Scientology Volunteer Ministers Recognitions) So an annual celebration seems very much in order!

Drug-Free Hungary Marathon 2007

Look at all the hands! That's kids in Hungary pledging to be drug free!

Just one of the many products from the Drug-Free Hungary Marathon 2007.

I wrote an article earlier about Scientologists being drug-free and the Marathon is just one more way we go about encouraging others to live happy and drug-free lives. We're a busy lot!

Good news for the North East of England

The first piece of good news is that Sunderland have not only gained promotion to the Premiere League but they did it by winning the Championship League! Not bad for a team that started the season at the bottom after losing their first four games!

Keane takes Sunderland to Championship title: Sunderland put the icing on Roy Keane's first season in charge by winning the League Championship title on Sunday. Their 5-0 win at relegated Luton Town coupled with Birmingham City's 1-0 defeat at Preston North End sent the Wearsiders into the Premier League as champions. Keane, who guided Manchester United to seven Premier League titles in his time as a player, took charge in August with Sunderland bottom of the table after losing their first four games.

When I was growing up in the area I was a devote Newcastle United supporter but after moving to the US and being away for so many years, I have become a supporter of both local teams. My hope is that now Sunderland has made it back to the Premiere League (and in such glory), it will give Newcastle a good kick in the butt and encourage them to get out of the doldrums they have been wallowing in for the past couple of disappointing years.

The other good news is that the Church of Scientology of Sunderland has purchased a new MUCH bigger building and will move into it after renovations are completed. This means that the North East will soon have a major Scientology Church with the capability of delivering services to thousands of people!

Expansion like never before

I've been amazed over the last couple of years at the rate of expansion of Scientology. It has expended more since 2001 than in the prior 50 years!

One manifestation of this expansion is the number of new buildings being purchased for Churches around the globe. At the L. Ron Hubbard birthday celebration in March, 5 or 6 more new large building purchases in 4 or 5 different countries were announced.

Here is a story about just one such building: Kansas City Scientologists Look to the Future

Scientology Opens Prominent New Church In Berlin

Berlin has a new Church of Scientology. There has been a Scientology Church in Berlin for a long time, but the new building is enormous! Read all about the grand opening of the Church of Scientology of Berlin.

Also visit the Church of Scientology Berlin website to see a slide show of the grand opening of the Church of Scientology of Berlin.