THE MANAGEMENT OF SCIENTOLOGY                                           Home Page
 

Scientology churches are part of a hierarchical structure and arranged in a pattern which matches the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart of Scientology. 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 volunteer ministers and 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 INTERNATIONAL HUBBARD ECCLESIASTICAL LEAGUE OF PASTORS
The International Hubbard Ecclesiastical League of Pastors (I HELP) was created to provide auditors who minister religious services outside organized churches with the guidance they need to operate successfully.

Field auditors and volunteer ministers receive much needed assistance and guidance through I HELP, the support organization within the Scientology ecclesiastical hierarchy that was formed specifically for that purpose.

The international headquarters for I HELP, located in Los Angeles, California, provides planning, consultation and direction by creating and executing broad campaigns designed to increase the popularity of field auditing and I HELP membership. It keeps the membership informed by distributing newsletters and promotional materials to I HELP continental churches for their use. I HELP International also consults with these churches to assist them to become able to better service I HELP members in the field.

I HELP continental offices, in turn, hold local events, conventions and seminars where I HELP members attend special workshops that help them to improve their skills. I HELP offices also offer assistance with any administrative or technical difficulties members may encounter by providing training materials, publications and consultation services. Most importantly, I HELP ensures field auditors and groups maintain high standards of application and discipline as they are most often bringing Scientology to those who need to benefit immediately from standardly applied technology.

Local churches of Scientology also support these individuals in the field by establishing and supervising Auditors Associations and actively encouraging individual field auditors to become members of these groups. These local churches provide field auditors with support services to assist their ministry and, in turn, field auditors and groups direct new parishioners to their local churches for further religious services.

For anyone ministering Dianetics and Scientology services outside of organized churches and missions, I HELP provides guidance and assistance to enable them to be effective and successful in their communities.

SCIENTOLOGY MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL
Overseeing the Mission Network
As is the case with field auditors, those who operate the Scientology churches that are called missions are likewise supported by an ecclesiastical structure which provides guidance and assistance.

Scientology Missions International (SMI) is the mother church for all missions and comprises the level above field auditors in Scientology’s ecclesiastical hierarchy. SMI’s international offices provide guidance, help and direction for existing missions through a global network of continental offices.

SMI International provides overall planning and technical direction for the mission network. This includes not only direction which enables missions to continue to minister their growing congregations, but overall guidance on all legal, financial and corporate matters.

SMI continental offices help new missions in their area get off to a running start. They provide the new mission with the materials and training manuals it will need to function. SMI also arranges for the staff of the new mission to apprentice in a successful mission operated by veteran, proven mission staff. SMI monitors this training to ensure that when the doors of the new mission open, the staff will be confident in their ability to minister to the needs of their community.

Continental offices also distribute the magazines, newsletters and other materials which keep the vast mission network briefed on interesting activities and other current developments, and they inform the public whenever a new mission is established in the country. They also provide a variety of dissemination materials missions can use to introduce the Scientology religion to others, and encourage Scientologists to open missions of their own.

SMI continental offices also arrange regular conferences for mission holders, so that members of the missions in a particular region can meet, introduce themselves to one another and work together on coordinated plans for supporting their ministries.

As missions grow, they can eventually become large enough to reorganize as a Scientology church. Many have done so.

Scientology missions are far more numerous than are Scientology churches, and each mission reaches out into society and brings Dianetics and Scientology to mankind through basic services.

THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
At the top of the ecclesiastical structure is the Church of Scientology International (CSI), the mother church for all Scientology. Located in Los Angeles, CSI provides overall direction, planning and guidance for the network of churches, missions, field auditors and volunteer ministers which comprise the Scientology hierarchy it spans, and ensures these various organizations are all working effectively together.

Every church has one common and primary goal – to help its parishioners achieve spiritual freedom. Such a goal, however, is attained on a gradient, one step at a time, and this is reflected in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Scientology.

CSI broadly plans and coordinates Scientology expansion. This planning is then carried out by the individual networks of organizations which comprise ecclesiastical management at the continental echelon.

Through CSI’s ecclesiastical management activities, Scientology churches receive guidance in applying the scriptures both technically and administratively.

In addition to providing planning, direction and general support to the churches in the hierarchy, CSI also provides specialized programs for staff on Scientology administrative technology. This training is conducted at the International Training Organization at CSI’s headquarters in Los Angeles, California.

CSI has a network of continental offices responsible for carrying out its activities on regional and local levels. These offices serve to support the actions of local churches in their respective areas and also serve as a coordinating and rallying point for all Scientology activities associated with those local churches. They also see to the well-being of these organizations and groups. In this way, the activities of missions, churches, field auditors and other related groups integrate and ultimately result in spiritual advancement for all Scientologists in their continent or region.

The headquarters of the Church of Scientology management in Los Angeles, California
In addition to guiding the growing Scientology hierarchy, CSI sees to the publication of Scientology scripture, both in written and audiovisual form, including some three thousand of Mr. Hubbard’s tape-recorded lectures. A division within CSI, Golden Era Productions, is responsible for producing these recordings as well as E-Meters, religious training films, slide shows and videos of Scientology. It supports the religion worldwide by publishing informational brochures and posters, and parishioner magazines in many languages. Golden Era also compiles, designs and translates new books and other religious materials based on Mr. Hubbard’s researches and writings into more than 60 languages.

Two Church-affiliated publishing houses provide L. Ron Hubbard’s works on Dianetics and Scientology to Scientology churches worldwide. They also provide Scientology books, tapes and videos to retail bookstores as part of the Church’s effort to make Mr. Hubbard’s works widely known.

Bridge Publications is located in Los Angeles, California, and publishes Mr. Hubbard’s works for the Western Hemisphere. New Era Publications International, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, covers the rest of the world – including Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and throughout Asia. More than 150 million of L. Ron Hubbard’s books are in circulation today in over sixty languages.

Through its actions worldwide, CSI ultimately assures that Scientologists can progress to the highest levels of spiritual freedom through the thousands of churches, missions and groups which comprise the Scientology religion.

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