Scientology routinely claims “massive expansion” and “we are the fastest growing religion on earth” and other ludicrous claims. To “prove” it they always talk about “Opening new churches at an unprecedented rate” and show pictures of Miscavige yanking his ribbon in front of adoring crowds as balloons waft into the air in celebration…
This large lie seems to work with the sheeple, and even some less than diligent media. After all, they have held grandiose ceremonies for 4 or 5 “new churches” each year. In fact these are not new “churches” they are simply new premises for old and failing scientology outposts.
And here is a new promo piece that puts a spotlight on the true picture of the Alice in Wonderland world of scientology.
It is limited to the United States, but the US is the BEST case scenario for scientology. It is the home of scientology and the location of its headquarters and most important organizations and people. This will be the last place on earth where scientology organizations survive. The US is the BEST scientology has got to show for itself.
It is true scientology has renovated and opened 30 new buildings in the US in the last 15 years…
But in that time they have opened only TWO new scientology organizations – Harlem and Inglewood. But in that same time they CLOSED FOUR by combining them into the other org in the city – CC Dallas, CC LAs Vegas, CC Portland and CC DC.
A net LOSS of TWO scientology orgs (“churches”) over the last 15+ years.
The following states still don’t have a single scientology “church” — nothing in over the 60+ years of scientology’s existence:
Alabama
Alaska
Arkansas
Delaware
Indiana
Idaho
Iowa
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Mississippi
Montana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
I guarantee you the Church of Latter Day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses have their version of “churches” all over these states. In every city in the US where there IS a “church” of scientology they are outnumbered 20 or more to one by the other “new religions” and 2,000 to one by traditional churches.
The truth is that scientology is not just insignificant, it is contracting. The buildings and the grand events are just for show. They are all empty. It’s like the boxes Theranos was pitching (if you haven’t seen it, Alex Gibney’s new film The Inventor is an amazing look into how you can convince people you have the greatest thing ever, and it is simply an empty box).
Hey scientology, if there are so many people “curious” about scientology and it is in such enormous demand, why are there NO NEW CHURCHES OF SCIENTOLOGY?
And why is EVERY ONE OF THEM EMPTY?
I have been a driver in the Phoenix Arizona metropolitan area, the 5th largest metropolis in America, since 1995. Back when it was down in the top 20 somewhere. I know what growth is because I’ve seen it first-hand. To this day, there are still acre plots of farmland being bought up by developers and converted into housing neighborhoods. Sometimes there are multiple plots sold in one area. One thing they all have in common is, as soon as the development is pretty well built and is at least half full of new homeowners, a Latter Day Saints church is also built. Not every single development, but enough to where it’s noticeable.
This is the growth of a religion. Make it easy for new parishioners who are migrating here from places like Los Angelos and Chicago to come and worship. As far as I know, the only Scientology building in the greater Phoenix area is in a somewhat low-rent area of downtown, in a building that was bought and converted by Scientology. They did not build it from it from scratch the way the Mormons are doing.
I am not a religious man, so I have no dog in this fight except to say that I don’t like it when an organization tries to bullshit the general public. Dis-information. All a person has to do is be aware of their surroundings to see that Scientology is full of shit in regards to their claims of being “The fastest growing religion in America”. At least out here in the southwest, they have to outpace the Mormons and that is NEVER going to happen as they are the ones who played a big part in settling Arizona.
This is proof that the Entheta is overcoming them. Not even Tom Cruise can single-handedly save them using one of his useful Time Loops from the crushing Entheta. Come on, can’t the world come up with a better actor for these great Sci-Fi movies? Bruce Willis in the Fifth Element is 10x better than Tom Cruise and his running, hopping, lack-of-quality-narrative talent can come close to. Even Keanu Reeves is doing a better job at Sci-Fi than Tom Cruise can hope to accomplish. I would actually be happy if they called up Nicholas Cage for the next SciFi block-buster, as I enjoy his acting much more than TC. TC needs to stick to his drama cast with Brad Pitt, and do another Vampire movie or something. Almost as bad as John Travolta in Battlefield Earth.
Entheta much?
I tend to think less to think less “Alice in Wonderland” but more Wizard of Oz.
My only knowledge of their status here in Wisconsin is a small office in West Allis. That no doubt is only there to continually taunt and spy on Mr. Ron Miscaviage. So sad. Just leave the man alone already.
The so-called Milwaukee mission out that way appears to have closed recently:
https://www.mikerindersblog.org/thursday-funnies-211/#comment-269545
They’ve had a presence there in the Milwaukee area since the 1980s, and a satellite of some sort for a while in Racine as well, but apparently never enough for a “church” even though it’s a relatively large metro area:
http://www.xenu-directory.net/documents/corporate/entities.php?groupby=jurisdiction#j-1
Scientology is a sick evil cult the only reason there still in existence is because they are paying off ass kissing officials
They do not deserve moderation what ever happened to free speech
Alice, quote the post where it is said that scamology shouldn’t have free speech.
US helped Europe during the worldwars. A thanks is a low price and Australia consists of more than kangaroos.
Good Lord! How can people that are privy to this information stay with this decrepit mess?
This Boggles me and doesn’t at the same time. St. Louis. I have a top level insider here that has confirmed St. Louis is done fundraising at least that is what is being told to them at the Org. So why here do we see them “needing more funding”. This Org mind you runs on about 20 staff. One of the top auditors only has 3 PC’s.
Thanks for the inside scoop on St. Louis. Someone else commented that they don’t even use the top floor of the building they have.
20 staff seems about typical, though I don’t get what they do at an org with so little remaining business, like those 3 PCs – are the staff really all full time at a small and failing org like that?
I suspect that St. Louis, like Boston, is waiting to sell the old building that they bought first but finally gave up on, so that they have the proceeds to put towards the new project. However, in both cases they bought white elephant buildings, probably paying too much money for them (a lot of the purchases were at the peak of the real estate bubble, for prices that were almost suspiciously high), and then let them sit and deteriorate, so they are hard to unload and get the money back out of.
The org will probably get less than they had expected and planned on, and thus have a shortfall to make up with additional fundraising. Plus they have to come up with over $55,000 per year in taxes on the property, while it sits vacant waiting to be sold – an incredible waste, particularly given that members have literally lost their own homes and gone bankrupt due to trying to scrape up money to contribute to the project.
Crap! They are going to make Ventura an ideal org. Just what my city needs. I am not too worried as last time I was around there (about a week ago), there was no construction going on. There are lots of construction materials in the back parking lot and a lot in the parking floor but the stuff left out is starting to warp because of the weather.
The Boston Org nightmare continues. Once they were one of the few orgs that owned their own building, in a choice location as well. Now, 16 years after the Ideal Org evolution began, they sold their owned building, bought and are selling another building, never renovating it, and are stuck in a rental space far inferior to their original space and not in a good location either. And now they bought yet another building that they can’t yet afford to renovate and one are one of the last US orgs in line to be ideal. God knows how much money has been poured down the drain over 16 years to get what? In a worse position then they were in in the first place. The mismanagement and incompetency involved in their mess is beyond comprehension.
The building they bought and are selling, without ever using it, the Hotel Alexandra, is still tied up in a second attempt to come up with a viable redevelopment plan, which an actual sale is apparently contingent on:
https://boston.curbed.com/boston-development/2019/4/9/18301879/hotel-alexandra-roxbury-south-end
The org apparently needs the money from the sale so that they can renovate the much less attractive property that they bought instead, a 1980s office building typical of the cheap properties Scientology has purchased more recently. In the meantime they’re stuck paying commercial property taxes on the Alexandra.
Their current temporary location is so relatively inconvenient, and far from the central area where they used to be located, that I think I was in Boston 3 or 4 times before I could finally get around to making the detour necessary to check it out. That’s almost certain by itself, to have cause some dropoff in participation by long-term members.
And St. Louis is now in a similar mess, of trying to unload the building they bought to renovate about a decade ago, while the struggling org is stuck paying taxes on it.
I just keep thinking – over and over I just keep thinking, “Wait. Just wait for it to really dawn on these Stlll Ins how completely how utterly, they have been scammed by David Miscavige’s Ideal Org “program”.
And it will happen.
At some point something will occur that they can’t ignore. Something from which they won’t be able to twist and turn away, something which they can neither justify or ignore.
Its coming. That bell tolleth for every Still In.
Now, whether this something will be an outside occurrence or one of their own observations I don’t know, but its only a matter of time before they will have to confront having been TO-TAL suckers.
As did I. As did many here on this blog and elsewhere.
Its happening right now to some Still In.
Yo SIs,
Its coming.
Now, don’t dread it. Its not so bad.
It will be dreadfully uncomfortable at first but then you’ll get relief.
Honestly, there’s nothing like finally facing up to what a jerk you’ve been, accepting the embarrassing, humiliating, degrading awful truth of this and then forgiving yourselves – there’s just nothing like it to recharge the batteries and revitalize your lives. I speak from experience 🙂 Many people on this blog will tell you the same thing: its life enhancing.
So don’t hold on and hold on and hold on. Let go. Let that cookie crumble. Or, if you prefer, apply one of LRH’s WTH principles: “Seek To Live With The Truth”.
Highly recommended for optimum physical and mental health.
Can I ask what your wake-up call was?
There were 2 of them that got me looking but I’ll share the one that was born from Ideal Org Fundraising.
A dozen or so of us were at one of these fundraisers at my little org.
There was a presentation, a video “fly thru” of a building that we were told had been approved by COB and sold to the Church of Scientology to be our new building, and that this building had been partially paid for but 15 million more dollars were needed to cover the balance due.
Thus the fundraiser. We were told there would be MANY of these until the needed funds were accumulated. This money would NOT be coming from an IAS grant. It was up to US.
Now, almost immediately that ticked a box with me because I wondered how our org – our tiny org, which, with the exception of a few whales, was peopled with, optimistically about 40 or so non-rich, ordinary Scientologists like me – how were we going to raise 15 million dollars FAST enough to not lose out on purchasing this building AND (I assumed at the time) the 5 or so million down payment paid at contract.?
But these were the days when I was not reading the internet. I trusted the staff. I didn’t question them when they told me something. It didn’t even occur to me that I’d need to question them.
I concentrated on the presentation.
Gorgeous old building. Yuge. Charm, style. Endless rooms, tremendous potential
Our Org E/D narrated the video. “Here will be our Reception Area…Div 6…we’ll never run out of auditing rooms…how do you like your new HGC?… will you just look at this Purif area, guys?” Etc., etc., etc.
The fly through showed “our new building” already fully renovated to Ideal Org standards.
Because once it was fully paid for it would need to be renovated and furnished. The 15 mil was only to buy it. Once bought, more money would be needed to renovate and furnish it. Lots more. But the E/D glossed over that.
I forget how much I gave that night. Over timeI think I gave about 15K. That night? Maybe a thousand. I forget. Something else relating to that night caused me to go into shock.
Call it Wake Up Call #1. Pre-Internet.
A few days after this fundraiser, quite by accident, I discovered that that entire presentation had been one enormous lie to all of us.
A huge lie composed of nothing but smaller, supporting There was no truth to ANYthing we were told that night.
I can’t give certain details without outing myself but here’s the gist:
!) That building had NOT been purchased by the Church of Scientology
2) That building was not even for sale
3) Not only was it not for sale, it could not be sold.
Since the death of its former Owner(s) complex legal issues as to its legal ownership, as yet unresolved between the various heirs precluded the building being sold. Property taxes unpaid for nearly a decade and with interest accruing numbered in the millions. At some point, one of the supposed owners had ordered some kind of expensive restoration work which got halted so there were mechanics liens too. A complete mess. In brief:
The E/D and the org staff had totally lied to us.
This was not our new building.
It took me a few days to digest this.
How could they do it? How could they stand up there and lie like that?
They COULD have said: “This is a building we would LIKE to buy, if we could.” They could have said that, and it would have been then, a “postulate”.
“This is the kind of building we could have and this is what it would look like , if you would help.”
I’d have been OK with that.
But that’s not what they said.
They said, “This IS our new building (emphasis mine). Its partially paid for. We need 15 million dollars more for it to be fully paid for”. And then the fly thru: “Here’s our HGC, here’s our new Purif, etc. etc.”
Like I said it took me a few days to process this. In the meantime I said nothing to anyone. Something, some instinct, told me, “Don’t say anything about this to any of them.”
About a week later at the org I saw one of the old timers, a guy I’d seen at the org for 20 years. He was OT 8. He always chatted me up when he saw me. I knew he liked me. He spotted me across the room during course break and came over. He had been at that fundraiser. He was on the OT Committee.
I couldn’t keep it in anymore.
Smiling, trying to look unconcerned, with no hostility in my tone, observing him closely without appearing to do so, I decided to go for it.
“Jack”, I said, (not his name), “Can you explain something to me?”
“Sure, if I can”, he replied.
“Jack, that building that was presented to us as our new building. that beautiful building is not for sale. It can’t be sold.” And I explained to him how I’d come to find this out, quite by accident.
“Oh, I know”, Jack said, offhandedly.
More shock.
Still trying to sound friendly and unconcerned, I smiled and said, “You KNOW that? You know its not for sale? Did you just find this out too, or did you know it at the fundraiser?”
“Yes, I knew it.”
“You knew it?”
“Yes, you see, we’ve learned that unless we put an actual building up there at one of these events, no one will give us any money.”
More shock. ( But hey, my TRs were in :))
‘You’re right! I understand now! Makes total sense! Thanks, Jack!”
“Sure”, he said, casually, giving my shoulder a pat and turning away.
The next week was spent with processing THIS.
They lied, baldly, hugely, right to my face. They lied to ALL OF US at that fundraiser. What a whopper! What a series of little whoppers comprising one huge whopper!
Now, if they were lying about that – so well, so smoothly, so calculatingly, so- so all planned out in advance – if they were lying about THAT, what ELSE are they lying about? To me; to others? They lied to get money from us. People I trusted to always tell me the truth. It was shocking to me at the time.
My first wake up call.
I got very alert after that. And I still wasn’t reading the blogs. At the time, I didn’t even know how to do a Google search.
Thanks for reading this response to your question that ended up being way longer than I first intended.
Aqua, your story is another case of scientology lies, must lie, can’t not lie — even when the truth would be in their best interests, short and long term. SOME people are really ‘techy’ about knowing they’ve been lied-to. And when the lies serve no other purpose than to put one over on the poor sheeple, it’s particularly egregious.
It’s such a shame that Ron was such a control freak that he forbad scientology from EVER changing to meet the actual conditions at the time. For him, nothing ever changed from what he first thought he perceived through his unshakeable preconceptions
Aquamarine – This is a fascinating first hand account of how things went south after DM took over. No doubt there were some financial scams going on in my time but I was out of Scn in 1982 long before donations and fundraising became the norm. Thanks for relating the story.
In my case the story was much simpler. When the second round of monthly price increases started around 1981 I decided the organization was more interested in making money than anything else and I split. I didn’t have a problem with The Tek at the time but whatever great mysteries they were offering on the hidden OT levels, they could keep it – buh-bye
That was an enjoyable read! Tell us about the other wake up calls you had!!!
That was an enjoyable read! Tell us about the other wake up calls you had!!!
Thank you for sharing that, Aqua. Thank God you had the means to find all this out through your connections and knowledge. What was your second wake up call? I ask because I love reading your well thought out and well articulated stories.
Sounds exactly like St Louis!
Assuming there are fewer Scientologists, doesn’t that mean there is less money coming in? We’ve seen evidence of fewer members; what will be the signs that revenue is also on the decline?
That’s the issue. Revenue is coming in by way of massive fundraising campaigns leveled at those few members who remain in the organization. They are pressured to hand over fistfulls of cash while being told it will help them achieve eternity.
Scientology’s strategy in recent decades seems to have been to get more money out of the members that remain. Between squeezing rank and file members for a third or even half of their income – including stripping assets like home equity, savings, and inheritances – and then cultivating “whales” who can give millions, they’ve apparently done relatively well at keeping things going financially.
As with almost everything related to the CofS, we lack good information about what is really going on internally with regards to finances, membership, etc. I’m still waiting for some defector the come forward who has relatively recent, specific information – but those may be the people who Miscavige does the most to silence and buy off, because their revelations would be so damning.
Any organization getting the benefit of tax exemption, ought to provide some transparency and accountability – most non-profits are required to, and there is no good reason for nominally “religious” ones to be completely exempt,
Looking at the artist’s rendition of the Philly Idle Morg: U-G-G-L-Y, and i doubt do-able. Philly’s blocks just aren’t shaped that way.
Jere, I’m not quite sure what you’re getting it. They’re just renovating an existing historic building in Philadelphia – unusual for being a very tall building on a small lot, which is probably why they got it relatively cheap – and from the looks of the rendering, restoring the original street-level facade. There’s a bit more, and a couple of photos of the existing condition that Scientology has allowed it to deteriorate into, which has been part of various problems they’ve had with the city over the years, at:
https://www.mikerindersblog.org/philly-ideal-org/
It is a very odd building for a org, with the space spread across so many small floors – something like 15 stories. But then again, given that the orgs are mostly empty anyway, they can use just the first couple of floors, and turn off the utilities to the rest.
Is it just me or is the Salt Lake City, Utah, org in the middle of tornado alley!? With their OT powers that have gotten away from mormons but gotten smack dab in the middle of twister alley!
It is just you Joel, wrong wrong part of the country for Tornado alley
The inventor movie … is it in theaters or Redbox? I wonder how long Misscavage thinks he can continue this lie ? It seems the wheels are coming off the Scientology train…. or in Davys c ass his tricycle
DECISIONS DECISIONS DESCISIONS….
Should I STAY or Should I GO……….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZSwZPnCHY
Thank you for this very clear picture of Scientology’s shrinking presence. Once we finally convince the IRS to revoke Sci’s tax-exempt status and the cult goes defunct, then these buildings may finally do some good. They can be turned into homeless shelters, libraries, health clinics, anything to actually serve the public.
So that’s what OT9 & 10 is all about… I’ll be damned, such an incredible vastness of nothing, like wow… Hubbard’s come back as promised must have been delayed, there’s plenty of space for him now hey? He’s such a big being you know. He caught the wrong Venus train apparently. So, don’t worry, he’s on his way and all will be well. Everything Scientology has to offer is there for those that wait… and wait & then wait some more.
Destination Freedom, as promised is right there – what? You can’t see it? The regges will show you.
I can’t wait for OT IX and X! They should be good for a real laugh!
I was on that Venus Train. He was babbling at the time but that’s because he was pissed off because. Normally he hangs out at the Venus Center with the gals with 3 breasts. When he’s really hammered, he says all kinds of shit. Especially about Miscavige! He hates that sucker more than anyone else in the universe.
Geezse Dude – how’d you get past security? Hang on… you’ve been wearing that Guy Fawkes mask again, haven’t you?
Can’t tell ya how disappointed I was watching this Cult/Tax free Corporation opening there ORG in Detroit. Not only is it a waste of money, it’s the place it’s located. Sitting in a direct site of a Iconic park Hart Plaza. But what’s so ignorant is when they had there big opening event they built a wooden fence all around outside ? Who has a grand opening and doesn’t invite the public? That alone should be a red flag for people. From the list of City’s they just bought buildings in City’s with some cheap real estate, struggling inter City’s ,Detroit has been threw it many times but this so called church is nothing but a eye sore. Detroit and the surrounding metro are not going to give there hard working dollars for some science fiction double talk. It just saddeneds me that all that money could be helping people is being hoarded by a sick dictator right here in America. Abusing people mentality, physically and spiritually. Getting away tax free. When so many go hungry in there own church. #takeawayscienctologytaxstatis
Your articles make fantastic reading mike,such a shame that so much money is generated and used for evil instead of good.
If their claims were ACTUALLY true we would all want be a part of it.
A few weeks ago as i grabbed a shopping cart at Wal-Mart i noticed a piece of paper left..
It concerned Scientology with a local phone # urging me to call get Scn info…
Several days later i was driving down a main Street in the same city. ..i glanced over noticed a Scntology sign on a building …not prominently placed..my feeling was they wanted to remain hidden. Not exactly a growing Religion in my book
And it’s not being helped by this recent headline in GLOBE magazine:
SCIENTOLOGY TEACHES THAT TOM CRUISE IS A GOD!
That oughta draw in the crowds!
I think they have quietly dropped the “fastest growing religion” propaganda claim in recent years – I’m guessing because it’s now too easy for the media to fact check, and for them to be exposed as pathological liars. “Expansion” and “new churches” are amorphous enough to get away with, even if they have no more basis in reality or truth.
This piece does put it all in perspective. Plus, they’re now down to so few missions left, that their website put orgs and missions mixed together in one list in order to hide the shrinkage, when they always used to list them separately. And some of the missions they still list, are ones that once had storefront or commercial district walk-up spaces, that are now reduced to a token presence in the long-time mission holder’s residence – probably only about a dozen really have a public-facing presence of their own anymore.
So it looks like construction has finally started in Austin, after about a year of delay since the org moved into temporary space. But the new third story is much less attractive than what their fundraising rendering showed.
The rendering for Albuquerque shows significant exterior improvements to an ugly brutalist building, like the one they bought in Venture. It doesn’t even have windows on its sides, though it appears that they are just planning to camouflage that, if they even do what is shown; I tried to find a larger rendering to examine, but Albuquerque is one of the small and failing orgs (SFOs) that doesn’t even seem to have a Facebook presence.
And one of the smallest and most failing orgs of all, Long Island, still doesn’t even have a prospective new facility. It’s also telling that in the vast New York metropolitan area with 20 million inhabitants, Scientology has that org plus the one in Times Square, and a Celebrity Center and the Community Center in Harlem, none of which we ever hear much out of, along with one mission in an old house in New Jersey.
In the whole Northeast megalopolis with a population of 50 million, the only other orgs they have are the struggling ones in Boston, Philadelphia, and New Haven, all of which have now owned derelict old buildings for projected “new” facilities for more than a decade; and the “Founding Church” in D.C., which has a lavish building but apparently little business. They don’t even have any missions left in the entire region, except that one in New Jersey.
The “Founding Church” and if you call it that most don’t even know what your talking about is not that “Ideal” First of all the interior while nice is a mess with folders and files everywhere. The floor in the entire building feels like it is going to fall through. Staff. I don’t know the exact number but my guess is 25 to 30. The course room usually has about 2 students max at a time. The DED is a twat. They whole place is “out ethics”. It’s a damn joke. I have been to this Org many times and have never once seen more that 1 public anywhere. Most of the staff is SO from Latin countries like Puerto Rico.
I’ve lived in New Jersey practically all of my life (about as long as the Sea Org has existed) and I have yet to meet anyone identifying as a Scientologist. I think they’re clearing the planet of themselves.
in the whole Northeast Megalopolis there are probably only about 1,000 active scientologists remaining among a population of 50 million, so it would be easy to go a lifetime without ever meeting one, except perhaps for the “body routers” working Times Square. In places like LA and the Tampa Bay area where they’re concentrated, their proportion of the population is larger, but even in Clearwater it appears that there are only about 1,000 public members in a population of 115,000 – along with perhaps 1,500 Sea Org staff who are kept behind guarded doors, and security fences.
Scientology has always gotten an inordinate amount of attention for its actual size, both because of its publicity-seeking through celebrities, but also because it is so abusive.
I enjoy your posts here, PeaceMaker. I would think that many Scientologists, especially old-timers, regardless of their insulated life structure, must wonder where the hell all their fellow Scientologists are. They must see the same faces, and almost no new ones, all the time.
What do you think about the wiki leaks exposing the Scientology email conversations?
Mike can you explain to your blog readers (which includes the still in scientology silent lurkers hello all) why on the one the “us and them” mentality within the cult exists wherein so called outsiders (non-scientologists dubbed “wogs”) are disdained, dissed, looked down upon etc — but at the same time it is these *very people* that the cult desperately wants to lure in (body route in) and ensnare in order to initiate the parasitic draining of their financial resources?
This also begs the question of why the doors aren’t thrown open to the public by Miscavige The Toxic Midget for the “grand openings” of the new Ideal Orgs (a.k.a. Surreal Morgues) to invite them to join in the celebration and perhaps be so overwhelmed by the Burst of Energy that they might be swept up into it all and decide to join the “church”.
By the way, if you’re new this blog and reading it’s posts and followers comments, you’ll *have* to watch this “celebration of Ron’s birthday” — led by a painfully and embarrassingly off key singer — if you want to start getting a tiny idea of how *totally* unhinged these cult members are.
“hip, hip, fucking hooooooray”
See: https://youtu.be/ZOXq9iwiOFo
If there ever was a city for Scientology to flourish, it would have to be in Clearwater Fl. Yet the Clearwater Mission failed and finally closed.
Good point. The failure of the mission in Clearwater – established, I believe, in the 1980s, and once fair-sized – shows that while some people doing advanced services at Flag may be moving there, they haven’t established a real viable community.
If Scientology was really expanding, or even truly growing in Clearwater, there’d be one or more actual local orgs in the area, just as there are surrounding the advanced orgs in LA. My impression is that it is functioning almost more like a sort of retirement community, with lots of older adults but not so many families and children.
And as Mike’s new piece shows, they can’t even get 500 public members to show up for a project in Clearwater.
And there is zero mention of Missions…these are of no interest to the so called leader as they do not ‘produce’ donations, collections, money baby, money!
The expansion is as insignificant as his leader.
I am glad to see that the Org or Mission that was in Pittsburgh, PA area is gone. From what I googled a couple of years ago, there was a store front on the South Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Then it moved to the outskirts of Pittsburgh, into another county, if I remember right. Now it is gone! Hooray!
Pam, as far as I can tell, the “city office” outside of Pittsburgh in Carnegie, which replaced the mission on Carson St., is actually still open, technically as a satellite of the Cincinnati org. I suspect that like many of the remaining missions, they are nominally open because another business actually operates out of the premises, in an old house where people may even live upstairs.
But Scientology is indeed effectively dead in Pittsburgh, which once had at least one very active mission the area. As in other areas, in spite of a regional population in the millions and a thriving economy, Scientology is only still there at all because of a long-established toehold that they keep up, probably because someone is effectively subsidizing it.
Come on out, Dave. Meet me at the corner of Cleveland and Ft. Harrison.
Ha!
To: George M. White
From: David Miscavige COB RTC
Re: Meeting you at the corner of Clearwater and Fort Harrison
I’m not even going to bother since you’ll probably wimp out and not even bother to show! Why someone as insignificant as you thinks he can take on the Most Ethical Being On The Planet is beyond me!
ML
Dave
I’m surprised there isn’t anything in New Jersey because it’s New York’s neighbor. Glad to hear it!
Jeanne, there’s a mission in New Jersey, or the remnants of one, as I detailed elsewhere. And it’s the only mission left in the whole Northeast Megalopolis extending all the way to Boston; taking into account all of the Northeast there is one in Maine that is apparently in the aging mission holder’s home, and a mission near Albany reduced to an out-of-the-way little office with no regular hours, plus of course the Buffalo org.
New Jersey was important in Hubbard’s very early days, so Scientology may be trying to keep a presence there even if it has to be subsidized. It’s probably no accident that the mission is in Elizabeth, where the original Dianetics Research Foundation was established, probably because key supporters lived in the proximity.
Thanks. I’m going to look that up.
Gotta spend all that cash on something. I guess big empty buildings are a better choice than actually helping people…because helping people isnt something you can actually show people, while buildings are. How else can they pretend they are growing.
Kat
Does that mean that David Miscavige is downstat?
So what happened to the Philadelphia PA org?
“The following states still don’t have a single scientology “church”
Please don’t give them any ideas!
Actually, I wonder how thin their personnel butter can spread. How difficult would it be for them to physically try to have even empty Orgs open in every state? They have the money, sure, but do they have the staff, even for skeleton crews? Would they have to repurpose people out of management and such?
Back before they opened the SP building (Super Power) building which they re-named “The Flag Building” because they didn’t want people demanding to see what the super powers are that they were producing, but for 15 or more years that building was “under construction” and never opened, I remember asking a recruiter why hasn’t it opened in 15 to 20 years. He attacked me to shut me up with his retort, “Because we don’t have enough staff to man that building. So if you want to see it open, you need to do your part and sign a SO contract.” This usually shut up the public Scns because they all felt withholdy about not joining staff. That one line would introvert them and get their attention diverted from the SP building’s opening. We know the truth now: that they purposefully kept it from opening for 20 years so that they could continue to use it to reg money from people, such as making Luis Garcia pay for the cross on it, as well as many other people, and telling each they were the only ones who paid for the cross. The only reason the SP building ever opened was that Mike exposed it on his blog, so DM figured the gig was up and he’d better open the building fast so as to avoid even more negative press. Good thing for all those oiliness table users that DM reads Mike’s site!
I would be stunned if any of these smaller Midwest states could or would support them. They are traditionally very frugal with their money and already pretty committed to various Christian religions. And also pretty skeptical of “new” ideas. Thank goodness.
Scientology is failing badly across the Midwest, and all of the heartland into Canada – plus the Northeast, as I pointed out earlier. The orgs only get by because of virtually free labor, and sometimes even donations from members to pay for utilities. There is no way for them to even establish actual new missions now, unless someone heavily subsidizes the operations.
I checked a 1979 list of orgs and missions, from around the time of Scientology’s peak, and the only states on the list above where Scientology even once had missions were Nebraska, North Carolina and Virginia. Scientology has always been mostly a California phenomenon, centered on the LA area which has about a third of all the orgs in the US; and that’s an area that has long been fertile ground for strange groups, religious movements and cults of all sorts.
Joshua, I think they are facing being down to skeleton crews in the orgs they have now within a few years, and possibly using Sea Org missionaries to keep some open, so I don’t think they could open a bunch of new ones. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if they established one or two new ones, such as in the huge metropolis of Houston (5th biggest in the US) where they have only a mission, just to put a brave face on their decline, though.
Miscavige recently talked about opening more missions. But I think they’re facing the same problems, and while they might open a couple of new ones – and sell some mission starter packages that won’t result in much of anything – worse yet older missions are closing constantly.
New Jersey used to have an org. In Teaneck. It closed when the EDs moved to run the renovated CC in NY.
I can’t find any sign that there was anything in Teaneck other than the Church of Scientology Mission of New Jersey. It could have been a larger mission at one time, even org-sized by today’s standards as some once were, but having shrunk and then had its most experienced staff poached by an org.
The mission in a house in Elizabeth carries on that name. It appears that over time there were 3 or 4 missions in New Jersey:
http://www.xenu-directory.net/documents/corporate/entities.php?groupby=jurisdiction#j-14
Additionally they combined LA Day and LA Foundation thus contracting to one org instead of 2. And did they do this with ASHO as well?
I wonder about ASHO too. They did away completely with the BC which is mostly what the Fdn did, as well as the day. So my guess is that ASHO Fdn and Day were combined into one org which has no BC.
I think the next REGRADED BEING should be between a couple talking about ALL THE NEW OPENINGS & RIBBON YANKING …..BUT……my oh my…..WHERE IS Shelly Miscavige….???
Shouldn’t Shelly Miscavige be standing NEXT TO or even SLIGHTLY BEHIND her “loving adoring husband(?) David as he YANKS a red ribbon to signify the opening of another location of a ….a…umm,. hmm, uuhh…Church(?)
Well, let’s see now……t he scenario could go something like this:
The couple is sitting in the car after just leaving yet another donation requirement & another “building opening”…..
Wife: brings up. “Gee honey, wouldn’t you THINK that David Miscavige’s WIFE SHELLY would be seen there, at least ONCE? I wonder where she is or what happened to her…people are saying she hasn’t been seen in 10, ….no 12 years or more?
Husband: Honey, ssshhh….NEVER talk about “her”…..that will get to an instant K.R.
Wife: Don’t you think it’s strange that the COB’S WIFE hasn’t been seen in years? No one has mentioned a word about her, it’s like they’re all scared to talk about her vanishing without a trace!
Husband: Shhh, honey PLEASE….I don’t want to get a K.R. on you or myself…you know what that means, we could get declared.
Wife: Damn it all….If I were to suddenly disappear & “go missing” seriously, I mean WTF?
Husband: Husband sits in dead silence.
Good one! And also ask “where’s Mary Sue?” when she was alive. N o one ever questioned why he never mentioned her and she was never seen after she got out of prison.
I’ve been meaning to take a pic on L Ron Hubbard Way. There are always more Sea Org on the street that public. It’s a ghost town down there.
Except for 1,000 – 2,000 Die hard members and probably 2,000 staff in the USA, the Church of Scamology is DEAD.
Hey, Winsky! When will the burial be? I’d like to be there.
as long as they have a bunch of rich people handing them boatloads of cash, it will never be dead.