Scientologists gather at their local Scientology churches for marriages, funerals, christenings and ordinations of ministers to mark important points in their lives. Weekly Sunday Services are held at which a Scientology minister or other speaker addresses the congregation concerning some aspect of Scientology religious doctrine.

Churches of Scientology are open every day of the week, not only on Sundays. Members of the Scientology community around a church come and go at different times during the week, participating in religious services or community activities, or simply meeting friends.

The atmosphere in a Church of Scientology is unique, reflecting a place where people are on a path of discovery, attaining new heights of spiritual awareness and actively and successfully pursuing their goals. It is alive and cheerful, and this spirit imbues every activity, for, through the Church’s doors, one walks a road that can be walked nowhere else.

Thus, parishioners count on their local Church as a stable reference point in their lives. They know that when they need something, whether it is help with a personal problem, a family matter or how to expand one of Scientology’s many community programmes, their church will always be there to help.

Each Sunday, the chaplain conducts services open to anyone who shares the hope of a better and happier future for man. For the person new to Scientology, this is an opportunity to gain an introduction to the religion and to take the first steps toward improving his own spiritual awareness. For the Scientologist, it provides the chance to further his own progress, while gaining new insights into Scientology principles.

The chaplain also performs Scientology weddings, christenings and funerals for parishioners and their family members. Individual churches also regularly host tape plays of L. Ron Hubbard’s lectures, briefings on matters of parishioner concern, and open houses for interested public or members of the local community.

The church makes it possible for anyone in the community to find out for himself what Scientology has to offer, in accordance with Mr. Hubbard’s principle that, in Scientology, it is only what you find true for yourself that is true. Regular introductory lectures or public congresses are conducted on basic Scientology principles. Films are shown daily to introduce new people to Scientology practices and solutions. Visitors are always welcome and Church staff are more than happy to answer any questions.

Church services

Each church of Scientology provides numerous religious services and materials by which the individual Scientologist can pursue his own personal route to spiritual freedom, either at home or within his local church. This path is clearly delineated within the scripture of the Scientology religion, works encompassing more than 500,000 pages of written material, 3,000 recorded lectures and more than 100 films, all authored by the founder of the Scientology religion, L. Ron Hubbard.

It is from this great body of knowledge that the religious technology of Scientology is derived. By technology is meant the method of application of the principles of something, as opposed to mere knowledge of the thing itself. This is what is unique and new about Scientology — it comprises a spiritual technology anyone can learn and apply to better his own existence and condition and that of those around him.

And that brings us to the proven, workable technology that Mr. Hubbard developed to improve the functions of the mind and rehabilitate the potential of the spirit. This is auditing.