David Miscavige--Charting the Course for Scientology Expansion

Each year in June, top Scientologists from around the world assemble aboard the Sea Org Motor Vessel Freewinds religious retreat for the “OT Summit.” It comprises a week of briefings, seminars and strategic planning sessions presided over by Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center, Mr. David Miscavige.

This year’s Summit marked the announcement and release of historic advances for the Scientology religion.

In this way, Mr. Miscavige keeps parishioners fully abreast of Church accomplishments, current planning and goals for the coming year and beyond. He provides them with the “big picture” of Scientology expansion and the future of the religion, including their part in the acquisition, renovation and staffing of new Churches, the utilization of new training courses and restored L. Ron Hubbard scriptural materials. He further provides updates on Church humanitarian and social betterment initiatives, including drug education, human rights, volunteer disaster relief, literacy and education.

To make the proceedings widely available, each event is recorded and subsequently broadcast to Scientologists from more than 8,000 Churches, Missions and groups world over.

This year’s Summit marked the announcement and release of historic advances for the Scientology religion.

Lectures from the Dawn of Scientology

Mr. Miscavige released a recovered and restored body of Scripture, the 1954-55 Golden Dawn: Phoenix Evening Lectures, L. Ron Hubbard’s first broad public lectures on Scientology. Lost from sight for 55 years, it was only through Mr. Miscavige’s research as part of the “Golden Age of Knowledge” that all of The Golden Dawn lectures and materials are now available as a full program including 26 CDs in 15 languages.

David Miscavige--Creating a New Era of Expansion

David Miscavige: At the Helm of Scientology's Explosive Growth

March 14, 2009: More than 6,000 Scientologists from over 50 nations filled the streets and sidewalks at the 200 block of Fort Harrison Avenue to witness Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center, Mr. David Miscavige, officiate at the ribbon cutting of the Clearwater landmark—the new Fort Harrison.

“Her bones were good, her breeding impeccable and her choice of residence couldn’t have been more fitting: Clearwater, Florida,” began Mr. Miscavige as he addressed the crowd. “When she originally opened in 1926, they called her ‘the aristocrat of southern Florida hotels’ and described her as a ‘picturesque edifice’ known all up and down the coast, as the toast of this city and an ever-bustling hub of wedding receptions, fashion shows, bridge teas and Rotary Club functions.

“She additionally saw no inconsiderable parade of luminaries. In the ’60s and ’70s the Phillies used to stay here during spring training and Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Buddy Rich all performed in our ballroom.”

The Crystal Ballroom (upper left) that in earlier decades hosted the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie now stands fully restored to its original gold-leaf splendor. The Flag Auditorium (lower left) is the site for international Scientology events and seminars, as well as benefits hosted by nonprofit community groups. The Fort Harrison Grand Lobby (right), long the crossroads for the Clearwater community, is now fully restored with an elegance that far exceeds her opening day in 1926.

Mr. Miscavige’s concluding remarks expressed both the spirit and significance of the occasion:

“The bottom line is the same bottom line for the last 80-plus years: this Fort Harrison is and will always remain a landmark and home for all of Clearwater.”

And with that, he cut the 2,000-foot-long red ribbon and so ushered in a new beginning for the “Grand Dame of the West Gulf Coast.”

A Monumental Restoration Project

The grand opening of the new Fort Harrison was the culmination of an 11-month, million-man-hour restoration overseen every step of the way by Mr. Miscavige. All 267,000 square feet of the 83-year-old structure were stripped down to bare beams and rebuilt from the inside out.

The 21st century infrastructure eased into her 1920s framework, with every one of the 200 guest rooms rebuilt from floor to ceiling—not to mention energy-efficient, low-emission electrical and mechanical systems throughout.

More than 350 local tradespeople worked on the project, ultimately laying 100,000 square feet of carpet, installing 300,000 feet of plumbing and stringing a full 100 miles of electrical wire.

Restoration of the building’s hallmark features began in the elegant Grand Lobby, from the original wrought-iron and brass balustrades to the signature checkerboard marble floor and gold-leafed Corinthian columns. And high atop the Fort Harrison, the legendary Crystal Ballroom also underwent complete restoration—taking it, too, well beyond its original beauty.

Community Hub

The Fort Harrison has served as a hub for this community since the 1920s and continues to serve so today. In addition to the Scientologists who avail themselves of the accommodations, restaurants and amenities while staying in Clearwater for religious services, the community at large enjoys the Fort Harrison as well. Since grand opening, hundreds from across Tampa Bay have gathered for Open House brunches and community events, such as the Sunscreen Film Festival Broadway and Beyond Concert, benefiting local artists. Couple that with the dozen or more who simply walk in every day for a tour—and it is clear the Fort Harrison is, as it has always been, a home for Clearwater.

The True Face of Scientology

• 8,071 Scientology Churches, Missions and groups in 165 nations, doubled since 2004
• Total assets and property holdings of the Church of Scientology doubled since 2004
• Church premises increased from 5.6 million square feet to more than 11 million square feet since 2004
• 70 buildings acquired by the Church in the world’s major population centers since 2004
• 401,003 square feet of construction of new premises completed in the first half of 2009
• 500,000 square feet of Church premises currently under construction in Brussels, Rome, Tel Aviv, Quebec, Mexico City, Las Vegas and Washington, DC
• Number of individuals completing Dianetics and Scientology counseling and courses doubled in the past two years
• Total number of counseling hours doubled in the past decade
• Total number of people newly introduced to Scientology and starting on training or counseling doubled in the past five years
• L. Ron Hubbard awarded three Guinness World Records in the past three years:
  • Most published works by a single author: 1,084
  • Most audiobook titles on earth: 185
  • Most translated author in the world: 71 languages
• 80 million L. Ron Hubbard books and lectures on Dianetics and Scientology distributed in the last decade, compared to 5.6 million in the prior decade
• 60 million books and lectures distributed in the past two years—more than the combined total in the first 50 years of Dianetics and Scientology
• The Church’s Bridge Publications in Los Angeles and New Era Publications in Copenhagen combined production capabilities increased 660 percent since 2007
• Bridge Publications and New Era Publications established as the world’s largest all-digital, on-demand publishers, with combined capacity of 500,000 books per week (26 million per year) and 925,000 CDs per week (48 million per year)
• 2.4 million L. Ron Hubbard Dianetics and Scientology books placed in 97,997 libraries in 155 countries since July 2007
• 12.4 million online visitors from 234 countries viewed more than 23 million videos on the Scientology website in the past year

More in Freedom Magazine: David Miscavige: at the Helm of Scientology's Explosive Growth)

The True Face of Scientology

• 8,071 Scientology Churches, Missions and groups in 165 nations, doubled since 2004
• Total assets and property holdings of the Church of Scientology doubled since 2004
• Church premises increased from 5.6 million square feet to more than 11 million square feet since 2004
• 70 buildings acquired by the Church in the world’s major population centers since 2004
• 401,003 square feet of construction of new premises completed in the first half of 2009
• 500,000 square feet of Church premises currently under construction in Brussels, Rome, Tel Aviv, Quebec, Mexico City, Las Vegas and Washington, DC
• Number of individuals completing Dianetics and Scientology counseling and courses doubled in the past two years
• Total number of counseling hours doubled in the past decade
• Total number of people newly introduced to Scientology and starting on training or counseling doubled in the past five years
• L. Ron Hubbard awarded three Guinness World Records in the past three years:
  • Most published works by a single author: 1,084
  • Most audiobook titles on earth: 185
  • Most translated author in the world: 71 languages
• 80 million L. Ron Hubbard books and lectures on Dianetics and Scientology distributed in the last decade, compared to 5.6 million in the prior decade
• 60 million books and lectures distributed in the past two years—more than the combined total in the first 50 years of Dianetics and Scientology
• The Church’s Bridge Publications in Los Angeles and New Era Publications in Copenhagen combined production capabilities increased 660 percent since 2007
• Bridge Publications and New Era Publications established as the world’s largest all-digital, on-demand publishers, with combined capacity of 500,000 books per week (26 million per year) and 925,000 CDs per week (48 million per year)
• 2.4 million L. Ron Hubbard Dianetics and Scientology books placed in 97,997 libraries in 155 countries since July 2007
• 12.4 million online visitors from 234 countries viewed more than 23 million videos on the Scientology website in the past year

More in Freedom Magazine: David Miscavige: at the Helm of Scientology's Explosive Growth)

A Renaissance for Scientology

David Miscavige Recovers Original L. Ron Hubbard
Scriptures and Embarks on the Most Expansive
Publishing Program in History

SCIENTOLOGY'S GOLDEN AGE OF KNOWLEDGE

What is now known throughout the world of Scientology as the "Golden Age of Knowledge" was inaugurated by Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center (RTC), Mr. David Miscavige, in March 2005. It is the single most embracive RTC program in history and reflects literally hundreds of thousands of hours of scriptural verification and restoration.

It follows from the fact that the knowledge of Dianetics and Scientology forms a chronological path of L. Ron Hubbard's research into the mind, spirit and life culminating in the development of the Scientology Bridge. But as only a portion of those materials were previously available, there remained no way for Scientologists to gain a complete understanding of the full wisdom that comprised Mr. Hubbard's religious legacy. To provide just that, Mr. Hubbard had long envisioned the day when his written and spoken materials could be made broadly available to all Scientologists.

That is what originally heralded the Golden Age of Knowledge, and that is what Mr. Miscavige announced with these words:

"So there you have the landmarks by which you can travel the L. Ron Hubbard track of research."

Released under a Golden Age of Knowledge banner, and to precisely that end, came the complete body of L. Ron Hubbard Congresses. Here were Mr. Hubbard's broad public forums wherein he announced the milestone discoveries of Dianetics and Scientology. In all, the Congresses comprise landmark L. Ron Hubbard lectures—and they had never before been made broadly available. Then again, like all else that would come to light within this Golden Age of Knowledge, these lectures were translated in 15 languages, thereby making Scientology accessible to half the world's population.

It was likewise in the name of a new Golden Age of Knowledge that Mr. Miscavige oversaw and directed the restoration of all basic L. Ron Hubbard books and lectures—universally known throughout Scientology as "The Basics" for the fact they represent the very foundation of the religion itself. The lectures had never been broadly accessible since their original recording 50 years earlier. All of that changed in June 2007 when Mr. Miscavige announced their full digital restoration and release on compact disc—again, in 15 languages.

In the last two years alone, more than 60 million copies of The Basics have been placed into the hands of people world over. (More from Freedom Magazine)