Scientologist Tim Bowles at the 2008 inauguration of the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

A trip to Africa in 2005 changed Tim Bowles’ life.

“When I arrived in Ghana, it was like coming home,” he says. “I knew I had to do something to help.”

Bowles, an attorney specializing in constitutional law, was in Africa to assist with the Youth for Human Rights International World Tour. Decades of gruesome civil wars have decimated wide regions of sub-Sahara Africa. Of the worst 20 countries in the 2004 Human Development Index, 19 are in Africa.

The wars dismantled the infrastructure, displaced entire villages, and destroyed livelihoods. The result: Widespread poverty and disease.

Bowles was so taken with the youth he met in Africa, and so moved by what they had been through, that he decided to take on the challenge personally.

Dedicated to making a real difference, Bowles returned to the continent the following year to launch a unique initiative. In coordination with a corps of young human rights activists he met there in 2005, each eager to bring about reform in his or her country, he developed the African Human Rights Leadership Campaign, under the banner of Youth for Human Rights. The Campaign has grown to provide young African men and women the training and experience they need to play key roles in creating and sustaining just and prosperous societies over the coming crucial decades.

In friendly competition with each other, teams of high school students generate and conduct public awareness campaigns on human rights abuses they select, based on the articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including human trafficking, access to justice and government corruption. They first learn leadership, organizational and communication skills—including public speaking and videography—to present their points of view effectively. In the course of conducting their campaigns through contact with media, a broad range of public and private sector leaders and the general public, the program enables students to become meaningful participants in their respective nation’s social, political and cultural advancement.

“The many remarkably bright young people with whom I have worked since 2005 are determined not to fall into the patterns of hatred to which many of their elders succumbed,” says Bowles.

Over the past six years, Bowles and his team of Youth for Human Rights program directors in Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone—and more recently Togo and Ethiopia—have trained nearly 700 youth in more than 150 schools, formed over 300 local human rights groups, and educated some 15,000 high school and junior high school students on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their own responsibility in seeing that these rights are honored.

Bowles’ original decision to enter law followed a trip to India in 1973 where he first confronted the plight of the millions who live in poverty, deprived of human rights. He studied and practiced constitutional law to ensure the rights of others, including his church, were protected.

“I saw law as a helping profession,” says Bowles, “one that would provide knowledge and skills to help improve social conditions and advance worthy causes.”

The African Human Rights Leadership Campaign brings him full circle with this original purpose, as it is a means to improve the lives of millions. By empowering this and future generations with an understanding of their rights and responsibilities, the Campaign seeks to bring peace and prosperity in regions torn by hatred.

In the video From the Ruins: African Human Rights Leadership, Boersen Hinneh, Youth for Human Rights program director for Liberia, expresses the core concept of the program: “It’s about teaching young people about their basic human rights and responsibilities. And that is the key issue—responsibility. When young people have been exposed to so much violence I think there is a need that they learn their basic rights and responsibilities so that when they get older they will know how to treat their fellow citizens, their fellow man, equally.”

A Scientologist since 1975, Bowles says Scientology has enabled him to envision and pursue this purpose.

“I have gained the ability and willingness to confront and deal effectively with enormous challenges,” he says. “It has helped me conceive of doing seemingly impossible things and actually do them. Scientology, by its philosophical foundations, its tools, and the examples it sets through members’ actions, is an inspiration, a support and a means to my achieving my role in civilization’s advance.”

To learn more about what Scientologists are doing to create a better world, watch “Meet a Scientologist” videos at www.Scientology.org.

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The popular “Meet a Scientologist“ profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total more than 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own YouTube Video Channel. The Official Scientology YouTube Channel has now been viewed by millions of visitors.

Though that was more than two decades ago, the spirit of those groups is still very much alive in St. Petersburg, where residents attended a Hubbard Dianetics Seminar-many for the first time.

Held on a regular basis, the seminar includes viewing of the How to Use Dianetics film.

The film provides not only a visual guide to the human mind, but comprises the principles and procedures of Dianetics as developed by author and humanitarian, L. Ron Hubbard. Each section is detailed in a step-by-step manner so that attendees understand how to apply Dianetics to one another.

Yet while the theory of L. Ron Hubbard’s discoveries was heavily covered, the majority of the seminar was devoted to practical exercises. Shortly after lunch, attendees were paired up and began auditing one another on Dianetics. Trained Dianetics consultants were on hand to assist and answer any questions as needed.

After receiving Dianetics auditing, several attendees commented that they were able to overcome their anxieties and fears and gained new hope for their future. Others stated that headaches and other bodily discomforts vanished.

“It’s a miracle,” said Tatiana, an attendee. “I got these feelings that I have never had before. I am now so well and feel good in my soul-I just started to re-live! I found out the reason for my discomfort in life. Now it is no longer there.”

By the end of the seminar, participants not only learned how to use Dianetics procedures in an auditing session, but also how these principles can be used in their daily lives. In addition, many of those attendees have now decided to co-audit all the way to achieve the State of Clear.

At this time of year, media often ask how Scientologists observe the holiday season. To answer that question, the Church of Scientology International provides the following:

How do Scientologists celebrate the holiday season?

Observances of the holidays are as diverse as Scientologists are.

Because the Scientology religion is practiced in 165 countries and territories, Scientologists come from a wide variety of faiths and cultural traditions.

But no matter what their background, they, like most people, gather with loved ones to enjoy the warmth of friends and family and celebrate the joy of the season.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard honored the great religious leaders of the past for the wisdom they brought to the world, writing that Scientology shares “the goals set for Man by Christ, which are wisdom, good health and  immortality.” It is in this spirit that Scientologists celebrate the holiday season, whether Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or any other religious or cultural tradition.

Scientologists live by a code which includes: “To use the best I know of Scientology to the best of my ability to help my family, friends, groups and the world.” During the holiday season, Scientologists are especially active in this respect, volunteering in a wide range of endeavors to improve the lives of individuals and the community and bring joy to those who may need assistance.

What do Churches of Scientology do during the holiday season?

In addition to regular Scientology religious services, Churches of Scientology provide many special holiday activities for Scientologists and open houses and tours for members of the community.

Scientology Churches and their parishioners also organize and support numerous charitable events during the holidays, such as toy drives, food and clothing collections, and parties for underprivileged children. Scientologists visit nursing homes, orphanages, hospitals and homeless shelters, bringing holiday cheer through gifts and entertainment.

Christmas Stories

The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Hollywood produces  Christmas Stories, an annual holiday benefit performance presented in the style of a 1930s radio show with traditional and original stories, songs and skits. (http://www.scientology.cc) This year’s cast included Anne Archer, Jennifer Aspen, Eric Balfour, Erika Christensen, Jason Dohring, Jenna Elfman, Juliette Lewis, Marisol Nichols and Ethan Suplee.

For nearly two decades, proceeds have benefited the Hollywood Police Activities League’s annual Christmas party for underprivileged children and PAL’s year-round inner city programs for at-risk youth.

Winter Wonderland

In an annual tradition beginning in 1983 when Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard provided a 60-foot Christmas tree as a gift to the people of Hollywood, Winter Wonderland holiday village is erected each year on Hollywood Boulevard as a service to the community. The opening of the village on the Sunday after Thanksgiving signals the start of the holiday season, when Santa arrives in his sleigh—always the final float in the famed Hollywood Christmas Parade—and lights the tree and village. Made possible by the Friends of L. Ron Hubbard Foundation, Winter Wonderland, attracts more than 40,000 Los Angeles residents and tourists to daily live performances by community vocal and instrumental groups and snow banks imported for the season.

Winter Wonderland is also presented for three weeks each December in Clearwater, Florida, as a service to the community and to benefit needy children. The Church of Scientology and parishioners organize and sponsor the Christmas village, with ten of thousands of residents and tourists enjoying Santa, Mrs. Claus’s cookie decorating kitchen, live entertainment by local school, church and professional performing groups, a petting zoo and pony rides.  (http://www.clearwatercommunityvolunteers.org/winterwonderland.html)

Anderson Cooper - Mark Rathbun special

Route 66 goes through eight states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Route 66 symbolized the renewed spirit of optimism that pervaded the country after economic catastrophe and global war. Often called, “The Main Street of America”, it linked a remote and under-populated region with two vital 20th century cities – Chicago and Los Angeles.

Since 1979 John has completed hundreds of ultra marathons, covering a distance of more then 30,000 miles. He has run the famous Western States 100 mile trail race, he is the 3 time Arizona 6 Day Run winner in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 1999 John ran from Athens, Greece to Hamburg, Germany, for Human Rights. John has raised over $100,000 for various charities through his running efforts.

628,200 acts of violence per year. 17% of combatants carrying deadly weapons.. War zones? Inner-city gangs? Or organized crime? No. It’s our nation’s schools. Today’s children will become tomorrow’s civilization. The way to happiness has on its route the loving and the helping of children from babyhood to the brink of adult life. John’s motivation is to help and supports with his running the non-profit organization The Way to Happiness.

The Way to Happiness International
The Way to Happiness Foundation International was established in 1984 with the mission of reversing the moral decay in society by restoring trust and honesty in the world through the publication and widespread distribution of The Way to Happiness booklet. Today the booklet is published in 94 languages. The Way to Happiness foundation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation with international headquarters in Glendale, CA, and offices throughout the world.

Based wholly on common sense, the moral code was first published in 1981 and has as
its purpose to help arrest the current moral decline in society and restore integrity and trust to man. Written by L. Ron Hubbard, the book fills the moral vacuum in an increasingly materialistic society. This code of conduct contains 21 basic principles that guide one to a better quality of life. Entirely nonreligious, it can be followed by anyone, of any race, color or creed and works to restore the bonds that unite humankind.

The Foundation coordinates public awareness campaigns worldwide. The centerpiece of the campaign is the award-winning series of 21 public service announcements, each depicting one of the principles from The Way to Happiness. These PSAs have been seen on television all over the world.

But the real power of the booklet is realized when it is distributed to others, hand to hand. In this way, one helps others survive better and lead happier lives. They, in turn, pass copies of the book to those whose lives they influence, encouraging others to treat their fellows with kindness, compassion and respect.

The Purpose of The Trans USA Run
The purpose is to fundraise for The Way to Happiness’ campaigns (www.twth.org) and distribute as many booklets and PSA DVDs as possible and create a major impact. Media and other organizations will be contacted along John’s course when he passes by. We can thereby support youth to make the right choices through trust, honesty and restoring common sense values, which all cultures and creeds agree with. Kids are our future and this being a worthy purpose, with crime, drugs, intolerance all rampant in our society, this concerns us all.

The Way to Happiness has precepts such as:

● Love and help children
● Try not to do things to others that you would not like them to do to you
● Safeguard and improve your environment
● Don’t do anything illegal

Success from Youth
“My school reports contained ‘As’, but only in the word ‘absent’. My parents left a copy of The Way to Happiness on my bed one day, and I sat down and read it. The book contained many ideas and concepts that I had always wanted to live up to, but had failed at, even some real simple ones that I thought weren’t a problem for me, such as ‘Be worthy of trust’, but in fact had failed at, too. Something happened to me when I stared that cold hard fact in the face, and realized I was not worthy of trust. I decided to change.”

Contributions
Donations
As with almost any activity in life, we require financial energy to make the Trans USA run. Your support is essential to our success. Remember that all contributions are tax deductible. Please add the code “JR” to your donation if done via phone.

Donate by Internet
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=945094

Donate by Phone
Call The Way to Happiness International at (818) 254-0600.
U.S. residents can call toll free at (800) 255-7906.

Volunteers/Fundraisers
We need volunteers for events coordination, organizational tasks and fundraiser over a period of about 3-4 months. You can choose the amount of time you would like to dedicate per week. Contact: Richard Ettricks, cell 323 377 5409 or Patricia O’Brien, email: thetransusarun@gmail.com.

To get in touch with John Radidch in person, please contact: jrultrarun@yahoo.com.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers from Russia complete journey across 10 time zones helping thousands along the length of the Trans-Siberian Railway

A team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers from Russia have completed a 19,000-mile journey across 10 time zones—a journey that began in Moscow four years ago.  Since August 2006 these volunteers have traveled the length of the Trans-Siberian Railway giving lectures, seminars and courses to some 8,000 individuals on communication skills, study technology, conflict resolution, salvaging marriages, raising happy children and 14 other subjects contained in the Scientology Handbook. In each location they trained Volunteer Ministers and established groups to continue to help their communities.

On August 1, 2006, a 20-member Scientology Volunteer Ministers team boarded the Trans-Siberian Railroad at the first station on the line—the Yaroslavsky station in Moscow—and began a trek across 5,800 miles and 10 time zones to the Pacific Ocean seaport of Vladivostok.  In the summer months they set up their signature yellow tent—a 3,400-square-foot pavilion with lecture rooms, classrooms, and a display describing the Volunteer Ministers program.  In winter months, when temperatures never rose above zero for months on end, they provided their services in rented halls.

Trans-Siberian Goodwill Tour leader Sergey Nikitin said, “We are here to provide effective help—that is our purpose.  Our motto is ‘Something can be done about it,’ and that means not only in times of major disasters and emergencies but in everyday life.”

The Volunteer Ministers delivered lectures and seminars and provided classes and one-on-one help in Perm, Ekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Zheleznogorsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, in hospitals, orphanages, government offices, fire station, invalid centers,  veteran associations, businesses, clubs or women’s groups.

To ensure the courses and assistance would continue to be available with neighbor helping neighbor, in each city the Volunteer Ministers trained local residents as Volunteer Ministers and helped them establish groups to sustain the assistance after the tour moved on.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard created the Volunteer Minister program in answer to escalating crime and violence in the later 1960s and early 1970s, to provide practical tools for engendering understanding and compassion. The program has expanded to 203,000 Volunteer Ministers worldwide who have served at 185 disaster sites, including Ground Zero after 9/11, the Southeast Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Haiti.
For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, visit their website at www.volunteerministers.org.

Madrid—With the recognition of Scientology by the National Court of Spain in October 2007, the Ministry of Justice in December 2007 and the Ministry of Economy and Taxes in December 2009, the Foundation for Pluralism (Fundación Pluralismo y Convivencia) of the Spanish Ministry of Justice has added the birth date of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard to its calendar of religious holidays.

Each year, the Pluralism Foundation publishes a calendar of religious holidays in Spain, including those of Christians, Jews, members of Orthodox Churches, Hindus and Baha’is.  This year, the Foundation included the birth date of L. Ron Hubbard, March 13, with the following description: “Born Lafayette Ronald Hubbard in Tilden, Nebraska, USA, he is the philosopher and humanitarian who founded the Scientology religion in 1952. Every year, Scientologists celebrate the birthday of Mr. Hubbard with an annual summary of the impact, positive change and social betterment caused by the discoveries of Mr. Hubbard.”

On March 13, in Clearwater, Florida, thousands of Scientologists and their guests celebrated the legacy of L. Ron Hubbard at an annual gala celebration.  In Spain the rebroadcast event is Saturday, March 20, at the Church’s national headquarters in Madrid.

Scientology Churches are part of a hierarchical structure and arranged in a pattern which matches the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart of Scientology, the step by step route to higher states of awareness. In other words, at the lower level of this hierarchy individuals and Church organizations minister beginning-level auditing and training; and, at the upper level, Church organizations minister the highest levels of auditing and training. It is a logical sequence of organization, one that reflects the spiritual progress of Scientology parishioners up the Bridge.

This ecclesiastical hierarchy is paralleled by a corporate structure, as is the case in many religions. Each Church corporation is organized on a nonprofit basis with its own board of directors and executives responsible for its activities. These Churches together form the stable building blocks of an international network which spans the globe.

An integral part of this international structure are Church corporations that house the staff who form international management. These corporations are International Hubbard Ecclesiastical League of Pastors, the mother Church for all Scientology field auditors; Scientology Missions International, the mother Church for all Scientology Missions; and above them all, Church of Scientology International, which serves as the mother Church for the Scientology religion.

The Church corporations at this level of the Scientology ecclesiastical hierarchy formulate broad planning which, when implemented, results in the stability and expansion of the religion worldwide. Below international management is a network of continental or zonal management organizations, each of which provides ecclesiastical support to individual Churches within its sphere of influence.

It is these three Churches that actually unite the rest of the Churches in the Scientology ecclesiastical hierarchy to accomplish their common purpose.

The Church of Scientology International

In a tumultuous year in which most religious groups scraped by or tried to hold their own, the Church of Scientology reported its biggest expansion in history in 2009.

Scientology Today:
Church of Scientology Announces Biggest Expansion in Scientology History

Led by Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center and the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, Scientologists are celebrating a renaissance of their faith.

Today, the Church of Scientology has expanded to more than 8,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups in 165 nations—doubling the number in the last five years.  This year alone, the Church completed a $40 million restoration of one of its oldest landmark buildings and inaugurated five major new Church buildings in Malmo, Dallas, Nashville, Rome and Washington, DC. Current demand for L. Ron Hubbard’s books and lectures on Dianetics and Scientology has outstripped the last five decades combined, approaching 70 million distributed in the last two years.  All the while the Church’s ever growing humanitarian programs in the fields of anti-drug, human rights, morals education and disaster relief have positively impacted hundreds of millions of lives.

As the decade comes to a close, Scientologists world over are celebrating their religion’s most expansive year to date.  2009 marked the 25th Anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists, the official membership organization of Scientology. In addressing the more than 7,000 Scientologists and guests in attendance at the anniversary event on October 16th in England, Mr. David Miscavige praised members for their dedication and contribution to the tremendous accomplishments of the Church to date and expressed his optimism for the future of Scientology:

“Our battles of yesterday were to stay alive. Our battles of tomorrow are to overcome the obstacles to eternity itself. Because we have never taken our eye off the ultimate prize, we stand where we are today. Twenty-five years of magnificent accomplishment and a future more glorious than we could have ever imagined.”

The scriptures of Dianetics and Scientology are comprised of over 500,000 pages and over 3,000 recorded lectures by Founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Since July 2007, over 67 million copies of L. Ron Hubbard’s basic books and lectures on Dianetics and Scientology have been distributed.  (During the Church’s first 50 years a total of 39 million copies of L. Ron Hubbard’s works on Dianetics and Scientology were in circulation.) With all of these materials available in 15 languages, and the nine basic books now available in 50 languages, the total number of Dianetics and Scientology translations over the last decade is 10 times the previous five decades combined. In recognition of this fact, the Guinness World Records acknowledged L. Ron Hubbard as the world’s most translated author.

In-house digital publishing facilities can print over 500,000 books and 925,000 recorded lectures on CD per week

The demand for L. Ron Hubbard’s materials has grown exponentially in the last year with the numbers of new people coming into Churches and Missions to find out about Scientology growing in the same fashion. Indeed, the Scientology religion is now enjoying its greatest era of expansion in history, with public demand for L. Ron Hubbard books and lectures escalating across more than 165 countries.

To keep pace with the demand, the Church operates two state-of-the-art digital printing and CD manufacturing facilities in Los Angeles and Copenhagen.

In 2009, the Church’s publication arm, Bridge Publications, Inc. in Los Angeles, opened a 274,000-square-foot digital in-house printing and manufacturing facility, thereby increasing its publishing capacity to 500,000 books and 925,000 CDs per week, an increase of 660% over 2007.

State-of-the-art film and audio studios with the most advanced digital recording and editing equipment in the world

In June 2009 the Church celebrated the 21st Anniversary of the Maiden Voyage of the Freewinds religious retreat and annual religious convocation for advanced Scientologists. During this week-long series of events and seminars, Mr. Miscavige announced “the single most momentous advance in Dianetics technology” since the original publication of Dianetics on May 9, 1950.  The project, four years in the making and personally directed by Mr. Miscavige, resulted in 32 films totaling 4 ½ hours.  The films have been translated into 15 languages.  They put Dianetics fully into visual form, making the subject universally accessible to everyone.

June also saw the release of educational films to support Church-sponsored social betterment and humanitarian programs. The first of these was the new, full-length Truth About Drugs documentary giving addicts and at-risk youth the chance to find out from those who have lived it, exactly how addiction shatters lives. The second was The Story of Human Rights, an educational film which provides a short, concise and powerful lesson in the history and necessity of human rights and the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

October marked the completion and release of the feature-length film, The Way to Happiness. This 2-hour film presents this nonreligious common sense guide to moral living by L. Ron Hubbard.

Church-sponsored humanitarian programs touch the lives of hundreds of millions in 2009.

The Church-sponsored humanitarian programs using the latter three films reached hundreds of millions of people in 2009 and billions since their inception.

The Church-sponsored anti-drug education initiative (“Say No to Drugs, Say Yes to Life”) is the largest nongovernmental anti-drug campaign in the world and, through the airing of public service announcements, distribution of free drug education booklets and events promoting a drug-free life, it has reached over 853 million people since its inception.

The Church-sponsored human rights education program (“United for Human Rights”) is the largest in the world and based entirely on raising awareness of the 30 articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Through the airing of public service announcements, human rights symposiums and events and distribution of human rights educational materials, the campaign has reached over 943 million people since it commenced.

The Church-sponsored morals program based on the common-sense guide to living, The Way to Happiness, has now reached nearly 800 million people through its public service announcements, educational materials and Set a Good Example contests.

The Church of Scientology’s Volunteer Ministers, over 200,000 strong, have helped over 1.4 million people in times of disaster in 2009 alone.  The motto of Scientology’s Volunteer Ministers is “Something Can Be Done About It.”

Mr. Miscavige is driving a movement now spanning the world with new Ideal Churches of Scientology.

Mr. Miscavige’s vision sets the direction for the acquisition, design and planning of new Churches-quite literally from inception to ribbon cutting.  For the past five years, the Church has dedicated itself to a program to locate, renovate and open new Scientology Churches to service its parishioners and their communities around the world. Since the launch of this program five years ago, over 70 new buildings have been acquired internationally. Real estate holdings have increased from 5.6 million square feet in 2004 to over 11 million in 2009, with over 600,000 square feet of renovations completed in just 2009.

14 March 2009: At the Church’s spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, the Fort Harrison Hotel opened in March 2009 after a $40 million renovation and restoration. The building was stripped virtually bare and rebuilt from its core, including the installation of new state-of-the-art systems. This landmark still bears its hallmark historical touches, however, including replication of the lobby’s original black wrought iron work and gold leaf moldings. The resurfacing of the entire exterior with added architectural detailing makes this religious retreat even more beautiful than at its legendary beginning in 1926, when she was known as “the Aristocrat of Southern Florida Hotels.”

4 April 2009: Three weeks after the inauguration of the new Fort Harrison, a new Church of Scientology in the Swedish seacoast city of Malmö was formally opened by Mr. Miscavige. European dignitaries and guests from 32 nations gathered to celebrate a historic day: dedication of the 72,000-square-foot landmark Church of Scientology, acquired, designed, renovated and opened in less than six months.

11 April 2009: One week later, in Dallas, Texas, a 41,000-square-foot Church opened its doors. With Mr. Miscavige officiating, the Church of Scientology Dallas was formally welcomed to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex by City of Irving Mayor Herbert Gears.

25 April 2009: The month of April ended with the grand opening of the new 36,000 square-foot Church of Scientology and Celebrity Centre Nashville.  The opening of the new Church building in Music City USA, an historical landmark, was again led by Mr. Miscavige and joined by scores of local dignitaries, residents and visiting artists totaling over 3,000 guests.

24 October 2009: In October, more than 6,000 people gathered in Rome’s Casalotti de Boccea district to celebrate the grand opening of the new Church of Scientology Rome. The 69,000-square-foot Church, situated on 28 acres of parkland, marks the largest expansion to date for Scientology in its 30-year history in Italy. Mr. David Miscavige welcomed parishioners to their new home. The new Church will serve parishioners of Central Italy and other regions of the Mediterranean.

31 October 2009: One week later, the Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, DC, originally established in 1955 by Scientology Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, opened its new premises six blocks from the White House and minutes from the Capitol Mall.  Attended by nearly 3,000 Scientologists and guests, the celebration was presided over by Mr. David Miscavige. The newly acquired and fully restored 49,000-square-foot historical building now represents the largest Scientology presence in DC in Church history.  Its grand opening now brings the Church of Scientology’s presence in the nation’s capital to three very important properties:  The new Embassy Building providing all Church services for parishioners of Washington DC; the original Founding Church premises where L. Ron Hubbard personally worked, now fully restored and open to the public as a heritage property of the Church’s history; and the Church’s well-known Fraser Mansion at DuPont Circle which will now become the Church’s National Affairs Office.

The Church of Scientology looks to 2010 for further unprecedented growth, with greater expansion and success in ministering to its parishioners and their communities than ever in its history.

This year has marked the greatest expansion in Scientology’s history. The Church looks to 2010 for even greater success with scores of new Churches and Advanced Organizations on the horizon.  New Churches are scheduled to open in Pasadena, California; Inglewood, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Seattle, Washington; Harlem, New York; Portland, Oregon; Twin Cities, Minnesota; Boston, Massachusetts; Cincinnati, Ohio; Quebec, Canada; Mexico City, Mexico; Tel Aviv, Israel; Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Additionally and most significantly, the doors will open to the newly constructed 375,000-square-foot Church serving as spiritual headquarters for the religion, located in Clearwater, Florida.

Most importantly, 2010 will bring the completion of a decades-long project to restore and make available the complete library of Mr. Hubbard’s works, including hundreds of his over 3,000 recorded lectures never heard beyond his original audience.