church of Scientology is a special place, quite different from the popular conception of a church. The church is not only open on Sundays. The Scientology community around a church come and go at different times during the week, and it is an integral part of their lives. It is where they come to study Scientology technology, receive auditing, coordinate community activities or simply to meet friends. Through its doors, they walk a road that can be walked nowhere else, a road to personal discovery, awareness and truth.
The atmosphere in a church of Scientology is what one would expect to find in a place where people are doing well, where they are learning about things, where they are actively pursuing their goals and succeeding. It is alive, cheerful and the hope of a better world seems to imbue every activity. The church is a friendly place and anyone is welcome.
Churches are staffed by dedicated Scientologists who leave their homes each morning knowing that when they return in the evening they will have spent the day helping their fellows become happier and freer. In a thoroughly materialistic and often cold world, there are not many who can say the same.
The church is open seven days a week. Delivery of service to church members usually begins at 9:00 a.m. and continues throughout the day. Many churches have two sets of staff, one for weekdays and another to service parishioners on evenings and on the weekends. The Day staff work from 9:00 to 6:00. The second staff (called the Foundation staff) take over from the Day staff at dinner time and keep the church open until 10:30 at night during the week and from 9:00 to 6:00 on weekends. When not working, both Day and Foundation staff tend to the rest of their lives which includes their families, other obligations and, of course, their own progress in Scientology.
The church is always there, literally as well as figuratively, and Scientologists count on it as a stable reference point in their lives. Scientologists tend to be very active in life and are, of course, not always at the church, but they know when they need something, someone will be there to help them.
