The guy who leads the Church of Scientology

So with all the great things I've been talking about over the last couple of days the obvious question is: Who is behind all this expansion?

The answer is Mr. David Miscavige. He has been the leader of the Church since the 1980s and has taken it into the greatest period of expansion it has ever seen.

You can read more about him below.

References:
David Miscavige And The Scientology Renaissance
David Miscavige: The Peacemaker
David Miscavige: International News
David Miscavige Biographies and Articles
Mr. David Miscavige
David Miscavige Opening Speechs
A Most Special Guest, Mr. David Miscavige

Scientology: Social Betterment Campaigns

I've been talking a lot about the huge expansion of Scientology and perhaps if you are not a Scientologist you are thinking, "Big deal, so the Church is expanding, so what?"

Well, believe it or not, all this expansion benefits you too. The Church and its members sponsor many social betterment campaigns which help improve life for everyone, not just Scientologists.

For example,

• The massive human rights campaign that the Church sponsors: Human Rights.
• The largest non-governmental anti-drug campaign in the world: Foundation for a Drug Free World.
• The campaign to bring about a calmer and safer world: The Common Sense Guide to Better Living
• The largest non-governmental volunteer disaster relief force in the world: Volunteer Ministers

These programs benefit all of mankind, not just members of the Scientology religion. As the Church of Scientology expands, so do these programs and so do the benefits felt by all.

Ideal Churches of Scientology

It's not an easy thing to meet the world wide demand for Scientology, but in 2004 David Miscavige came up with a way to do it.

It is called the Ideal Orgs Strategy and the idea behind it is to transform all existing Churches of Scientology into Ideal Churches of Scientology. So what does Ideal mean?

Here is a quote from L. Ron Hubbard that gives you an idea:

You are creating an island of friendliness, decency and succor in the sea of a violent world.... Sometime in the future the islands will become the sea.

A more formal definition would be: An Ideal Org (for “organization”) is a Church configured to provide the full services of the Scientology religion to its parishioners and to the community.

You can read more about it here: Meeting the Global Demand for the Scientology Religion

More Scientology Expansion in Florida

Yesterday I wrote about the Fort Harrison hotel, today I'm writing about the building right next door to it, which is called the "Scientology Mecca" because it represents the spiritual center of the religion.

This beautiful building will be delivering some of the most advanced and spiritually beneficial services that exist in Scientology. When the renovations on the Fort Harrison were completed, the final phase of construction began on the Scientology Mecca. You can read more here: Planned to Perfection: Scientology Mecca Enters Final Construction Phase.

Scientology Expansion: The Fort Harrison

The Church of Scientology's spiritual headquarters is the "Flag Land Base" in the Florida city of Clearwater. The HQ used to be on a ship, but moved to Clearwater in 1975, hence the name "Flag Land Base".

Clearwater is a beautiful city, with one of the best beaches in the world, so its a great place to visit or to live in. Thousands of Scientologist live here and thousands more visit every year to avail themselves of the services offered at Flag.

Not surprisingly the Church is the largest property tax contributor on the tax rolls of downtown Clearwater. And also not surprisingly is very active in maintaining and improving its properties.

Just this March the renovations of the Fort Harrison hotel, a cultural landmark purchased by the Church in 1975, were completed and the building reopened. The work done to beautify the FH was just a typical example of what the Church and its members are doing all over the world to new Church buildings that are being purchased as part of the enormous expansion Scientology is experiencing.

You can read more about it here: Fort Harrison Grand Re-opening