Volunteer Ministers at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Flea Market

Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers offered practical help to the people of Tennessee at the monthly flea market at the fairgrounds.

With so many people curious about Scientology, visitors came to the tent where volunteers offered simple technology to address situations in their lives.

One of the most popular services offered was Scientology assists—techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard based on his discoveries about the mental and spiritual aspects of a person’s physical difficulties. Visitors felt relief from tension, stress and unwanted aches and pains and would often come back with friends to share the experience with them. One visitor of the tent was someone who had worked alongside Scientology Volunteer Ministers to help the community in California recover after the wild fires last year.

It all happened at the flea market at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. The Nashville Flea Market at The Fairgrounds Nashville is considered one of the top ten flea markets in the country. Approximately 800 to 1200 dealers and vendors from 30 states offer their wares to the buying public every month. With an average of 2000 booths, The Tennessee Magazine and Busy Bee Trader continue to vote the Nashville Flea Market as the #1 flea market in Tennessee.

Volunteer Ministers Cavalcades and Goodwill Tours set up their bright yellow tents in cities, towns, and villages across the globe to make the spiritual technology of the Volunteer Ministers broadly available.

Best known for their work in times of disaster, where they provide relief while also supporting the work of first responders, Volunteer Ministers are always on call in their communities to help with any crisis, great or small.

In the mid-1970s, Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard launched the Scientology Volunteer Ministers as part of a broad humanitarian effort to address declining spiritual values and the consequent rise in drug use, crime and violence.

“If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society,” he wrote, “he can do something about it. He can become a Volunteer Minister and help civilize it, bring it conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance.”

The technology is freely available to people of any faith or belief or none. And the Continental Cavalcades set up their tents in prominent locations in major cities, welcoming thousands of visitors, and providing one-on-one help, seminars and training.

Church of Scientology Volunteer Minister program is a religious social service. Anyone of any culture or creed may train as a Volunteer Minister and use these tools to help their families and communities.

Watch the Scientology Tools for Life video on the Scientology Network.

Religion Communicators Council Marks 85 Years at Annual Convention

The Religion Communicators Council will hold its 85^th annual convention in 2014 in Nashville, TN from April 3-5^th.

Religion Communicators Council (RCC) members from across the US will be heading for Music City USA April 3^rd-5^th this year to celebrate communications of many faith traditions at their annual convention. Hosted by the Inn at Opryland, the event will offer exciting plenary speakers, challenging workshops and awards to secular and faith-based organizations for exceptional work communicating faith issues.

RCC will honor members who have created excellent work for their faith group at the DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards Ceremony. At a special dinner event, the Wilbur Awards will honor secular media that have excelled in sharing faith stories in multimedia platforms.

The convention is open to members and others involved in religious communication on a professional or academic level. A full schedule is on the RCC website at religioncommunicators.org/convention and a registration site is open for all who wish to register at rccnashville.org.

The planning for the 85^th convention is being led by Rev. Brian Fesler, Nashville chapter president and pastor of the Church of Scientology. Rev. Fesler says, “This year’s convention is shaping up to be one of the best yet.  We’ve got workshops on writing, accreditation, handling crises, social media.  Attendees will leave with new skills and connections.”

The opening session features Remziya Suleyman with American Center for Outreach, who will provide “A Muslim Perspective on Interrelation of Religions and the Role of Religious Communication in Public Advocacy.” Plenary sessions also feature speakers Rev. Larry Hollon of United Methodist Communications, Dr. Sybril Bennett of Belmont University in Nashville, Rev. Michael Waters of Joy Tabernacle AME Church in Dallas, and Sarah Wilke, Publisher of the Upper Room Ministries.

Workshops will feature three key tracks which are professional development, communication in a digital age, and interfaith communication. Some of these workshops include APR: Accreditation in Public Relations, How to Handle a Crisis in Your Congregation, Religion in the Mainstream Media, Turning a Negative Message into a Positive, and much more.

The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929, is an interfaith association of religion communicators at work in print and electronic communication, marketing and in public relations. Members of the RCC come from many different religions and backgrounds including Baptist, Jewish, Baha’i, Scientology, Muslim and Methodist among others.

For more information, visit religioncommunicators.org.

Church of Scientology Community News: A Pilgrimage for Jobs, Equity and Fairness

The Nashville Church of Scientology supports the good works of others. Today’s highlight: the upcoming pilgrimage being organized to promote jobs, equity and fairness.

The Pilgrimage for Jobs, Equity, and Fairness intends to bring attention to Nashville’s forgotten and disinherited communities. It is planned for July 21-23 and will be a 2 ½ day walk through distressed communities in Nashville. The pilgrimage is being modeled after Gandhi’s Salt March and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965.

According to the Facebook page for the event, “the Pilgrimage attempts to draw attention to unemployment and poverty, and the urgent need to do something about these crises.”

Organizers are asking that the Nashville Mayor and Metro Council adopt a county-wide program to require that large developers hire residents from low-income communities to work on publicly-funded projects. The Pilgrimage will highlight the concerns of public housing residents, residents with HIV/AIDS, immigrant workers, labor, youth and other groups.

Those planning to participate will walk 22 miles, documenting anti-poverty programs coordinated by community groups. Some participants will be permanent marchers who will walk the entire route through 12-14 neighborhoods and spend the night in those communities, while other participants are temporary marchers who will only walk part of the route.

Activities will be kicked off with a press conference at Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge in North Nashville on July 21 at 4pm and will end on July 23 at 4:30pm with another press conference, held at 1 Public Square.

The event is sponsored by the Economic & Equity Development Coalition, the Nonviolent Resistance Movement and Social Justice Committee, the Urban EpiCenter, and the Tennessee NAACP State Labor & Industry Committee.  For more information or to see daily updates of the pilgrimage, visit  movementmatters.com.

Church of Scientology Confronts Education Crisis

Following the March 2013 Faith Day on the Hill at the State Capitol in Tennessee, the Church of Scientology is challenging the community to resolve the problems surrounding education.

At Faith Day on the Hill in March 2013, the Tennessee State Capitol saw leaders from various faiths gather, discuss and make plans for resolving issues in public education, however, that was the last time that group convened. The final segment of Faith Day on the Hill was entitled “After the Benediction, What Then?” and the Church of Scientology has re-issued this as a challenge to other faith leaders.

“We named that segment very carefully,” says Rev. Brian Fesler of the Church of Scientology, a member of the original planning committee for Faith Day. “We wanted to draw attention to action - not just talk.” Fesler says the Church of Scientology is preparing to bring faith and community leaders together again so a solution can be implemented.

Nashville ranks 84th in education amongst the nation’s cities, according to parenting.com. Fesler says his church has a workable solution, and he’s opening the doors to leaders of all faith communities to put it into action. “Education issues cross faith borders—if your child is struggling in school, you’ve got to look where the answers are,” says Fesler.

As early as the 1950s, the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, recognized failings in the educational system. In answer to this crisis, he developed an actual “technology” of learning with which to master any subject. Known as “study technology,” Hubbard’s techniques have found broad application from pre-school through adult learning environments.

Hubbard said, “The end and goal of any society as it addresses the problem of education is to raise the ability, the initiative and the cultural level, and with all of these the survival level of that society.”

“We want to bring this technology to the students in Davidson County,” says Fesler. “I know that if every child in the city knew exactly how to study, they would be able to succeed in life. And our  education system would be the best in the country.”

For more information on study technology, visit www.scientology.org.

Church of Scientology Community News: Safe Haven Re-Opens Its Doors

The Nashville Church of Scientology supports the good works of others. Today’s highlight: the upcoming grand re-opening of the Safe Haven Family Shelter.

“Family homelessness: It’s not what you think,” are words that pop up, along with ads, on the website for Safe Haven, a shelter-to-housing program in South Nashville. With 28 years experience in changing the field of family homelessness with its proactive programs, Safe Haven will soon double its capacity and spread that help even further.

Safe Haven is planning a Grand Re-Opening for mid-Summer to celebrate the much anticipated expansion project of the shelter on 3^rd Avenue South.  Not even a year after the ground breaking ceremony on October 2, 2012, Safe Haven will be ready to open its recently renovated doors to residents before school is back in session.

“Expanding and renovating will help us keep more families together while ensuring their dignity and empowering them to achieve self-sufficiency,” said Executive Director Joyce Lavery.

Safe Haven houses an average of 38 families, including 57 children, each year. After the renovation, the shelter will be able to serve at least 100 families, including more than 150 children, annually. The program has demonstrated success for nearly three decades, with almost 85 percent of Safe Haven’s residents departing from the shelter with stable employment and secured housing.

Safe Haven is a unique shelter-to-housing program in Middle Tennessee that accepts the entire homeless family. The staff works to keep families together and provide comprehensive services that empower them to achieve lasting self-sufficiency. Safe Haven Family Shelter’s comprehensive approach is one of service and compassion. More information can be found at www.safehaven.org.