Thousands of Scientologists gathered last weekend to celebrate the grand opening of two new Ideal Scientology Churches—the Church of Scientology Salt Lake City February 17 and the Church of Scientology Silicon Valley February 18, testimony to the accelerating pace of Church openings and the growing worldwide expansion of the religion.
Mr. David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, dedicated both new Churches. It is Mr. Miscavige who launched the Ideal Org (short for “organization”) strategy to transform all Scientology Churches into Ideal Churches and accomplish the goal L. Ron Hubbard set for Scientologists—to one day create Churches that are the physical embodiment of Scientology technology to help all beings attain spiritual freedom.
The new Church of Scientology of Salt Lake City is a gracious 43,000-square-foot facility on the city’s iconic South Temple Street. And the new Church of Scientology Silicon Valley is a 50,000-square-foot structure, located minutes from the center of the city of Mountain View in the heart of Silicon Valley. Both are modern, elegant, and meticulously designed to integrate with the local environment: In the case of Salt Lake City, a city founded on the principle of religious freedom sitting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains…
…and Silicon Valley, the center of the tech capital of the world.
These two, the first of a profusion of new Scientology Churches slated to be opened in 2018, bring the total of Scientology Ideal Orgs to 65 internationally.
The purpose and rationale of creating Ideal Scientology Orgs is presented in the special year-end edition of Freedom Magazine, which also reports on the tremendous progress in accomplishing this goal in 2017: “An Epic Year: The Scientology Humanitarian Movement.”
The international expansion of the Church of Scientology, which began just a decade ago with the establishment of the religion’s first “ideal” Church in Johannesburg, South Africa, continued at its unprecedented pace throughout 2017…
In January, the congregation in Auckland, New Zealand kicked off the year of growth with the rebirth of the Church of Scientology New Zealand—the second oldest on the planet. Over the course of the year, on average, a new Church was opened every 45 days.
But the expansion of congregations around the world involved much more than the meticulous construction and architectural restorations of these elegant new homes for the spiritual growth of Church members.
Every Scientology Church offers a wide array of resources from a Public Information Center providing an introduction to the principles and practices of Scientology and the life and legacy of Founder L. Ron Hubbard, to congregational services on Sundays, in addition to Life Improvement Courses and spiritual counseling (auditing).
The new Church openings also represent new platforms for the Church’s worldwide humanitarian campaigns in the fight against the social ills so adversely affecting urban populations such as drug abuse, violations of human rights, illiteracy, mental health abuse, social injustice and religious bigotry.
Recognizing the need for sweeping social change and betterment, each of these new Churches of Scientology serves as a center for volunteers and members studying the technologies developed by L. Ron Hubbard to address those issues.
The doors of every Church of Scientology are open to interfaith and community groups in their respective cities, with each new Church serving as a home for wider outreach of these social programs and the promotion of peace and unity among all people.
