Regi Wooten ‘The Teacher’ Jams with Musicians at Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville is proud to announce that Regi Wooten will return for part two of his “My Approach to Music” seminar and jam session this August.

The Church of Scientology recently hosted the oldest of the Wooten Brothers, Regi, for a seminar about his approach to delivering a great performance. It has now been confirmed that Regi will deliver part two of the seminar on August 9^th with another follow-up jam session.  

“Our church has a special interest to uplift musicians and other artists as they will lead the culture forward,” says Corinne Sullivan, President of the Nashville Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre, “Regi’s seminar was so popular, as he really helped musicians feel comfortable playing in an entirely different setting than they are used to – it took them out of their comfort zone and into a new level of certainty in their craft.”

Regi Wooten’s signature guitar style of chording, slapping, tapping and frenzied strumming has earned him world-wide notoriety and comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Chuck Berry, according to jeffcenter.org. He is known worldwide as “The Teacher,” and currently teaches music in Nashville, TN.  He was teaching his little brothers Joseph and Victor when he was only 9 years old. 

Regi has played alongside his brothers since they were young, and for over four decades the Wooten Brothers have been recognized as some of the most innovative musicians in existence. The brothers have been a musical tour-de-force redefining the limits of jazz, funk, soul, R&B, rock and bluegrass. Their early years were spent living in different states including Hawaii, California, and Virginia where they shared stages with Curtis Mayfield, The Temptations, Ramsey Lewis, Stephanie Mills, War and other artists. In the mid 1980s, the brothers released an album as The Wootens for Clive Davis’ Arista Records. 

His seminar provided inspiration to many Nashville artists. One attendee, Elle Boone, said, “The one thing he said that really hit home for me was, ‘You can't create your own identity without putting in the time.’ That really resonated with me.”

Due to popular demand, Wooten is now scheduled for part two of the “My Approach to Music” seminar, scheduled for August 9^th.

Wooten says, “The key is to have fun. So keep your music fun-key.” 

For more information about upcoming seminars for musicians at the Church of Scientology, call 615-687-4600.  

Finding The Way to Happiness in Sweetwater, Tennessee

Kyker Funeral Home has been distributing booklets called The Way to Happiness for five years to help the people of Sweetwater, Tennessee.

R. Neil Kyker is the President of Kyker Funeral Home in Sweetwater, TN, and has been part of the firm since 1980. In 2009, Kyker decided to spread a message of hope to all who come through his doors by distributing copies of The Way to Happiness. He says, “I was trying to figure out a way to help these people. When I saw The Way to Happiness, I saw truth and values that, as a society, we have gotten away from. This seemed the best way to instill basic values again.”

The Way to Happiness was written in the early 1980s by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, after seeing the society’s moral values on a decline. The book offers twenty-one precepts to better survival, some as simple as Take Care of Yourself and Love and Help Children. It is because of the universality of the book and its ease of reading that it has been made available for broad distribution in neighborhoods and communities the world over.

Kyker showed The Way to Happiness book on film to his staff, who all agreed it had a good message and ought to be spread to others. That’s when the office began offering the booklet to those coming in.

When asked what type of reaction Kyker has seen, he said, “It’s all been very positive… customers have come back in for more copies for their families. One lady wanted her grandchildren to have copies.”

Kyker hopes that by spreading this message to others that more responsibility and order will be present in the society. He says he wants more people to take care of the environment, “I can’t help but think of littering because it’s pretty prevalent. You get guys throwing beer cans in the back of the truck and then they blow out because the driver isn't responsible for it.” The booklet has a chapter called Safeguard and Improve Your Environment which discourages littering.

For more information, visit thewaytohappiness.org.

Nashville Way to Happiness Chapter Distributes Booklets to Sudekum Neighborhood

The Nashville chapter of The Way to Happiness Foundation distributed booklets to the community of Sudekum this week.

“I think many people share a purpose to help others find happiness,” says Rev. Brian Fesler who serves as regional coordinator for The Way to Happiness Foundation’s Nashville Chapter. “What we do is distribute a booklet with simple guidelines on how to be happy. It is easy to follow and puts a person on the right path.”

The Way to Happiness Foundation was formed around the book of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard. The Way To Happiness is comprised of 21 precepts, each one predicated on the fact that one’s survival depends on the survival of others—and that without the survival of others, neither joy nor happiness are attainable.

According to thewaytohappiness.org, “This code of conduct can be followed by anyone, of any race, color or creed and works to restore the bonds that unite humankind.” The Way to Happiness aims at giving people back a sense of what is right and wrong in a way that is easy to understand. In the two decades since it was authored, some 80 million copies of the book passed hand to hand.

The Nashville Chapter launched a campaign to distribute copies of the booklet in 2009. Since that time, the group has volunteered in local health fairs, festivals and community gatherings. Thousands of booklets have been distributed.  This past week the chapter participated in a community event in the neighborhood of Sudekum where they distributed booklets to residents.

Fesler says, “We want to help people everywhere. This booklet was made for everyone so we are taking it to the people. Our goal is a crime-free, healthy, happy community.”

For more information, visit thewaytohappiness.org.

Church of Scientology Celebrates 5th Anniversary in the Fall School Building

The Church of Scientology is preparing to celebrate its 5^th Anniversary at the Fall School building, and its 29^th year in Nashville, TN.  

A church anniversary signifies a spiritual renewal or uplifting. Rev. Brian Fesler, pastor of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville, says, “We’ve been in Nashville for 29 years and five in this historic building. We are celebrating the spirit of Nashville and looking to the future.” The church will hold a private celebration in May.

On a global scale, the Church of Scientology has expanded to more than 8,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups in 165 nations. Current demand for Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s books and lectures on Dianetics and Scientology has outstripped the last five decades combined.  All the while the Church’s ever growing humanitarian programs in the fields of drug education, human rights, morals education and disaster relief have positively impacted hundreds of millions of lives.

In Nashville, the Church has seen thousands of people entering its doors for the first time over the last five years. On a humanitarian mission, the Church has participated in numerous human rights awareness events and helped create such events as Human Rights Day and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. march and convocation.  Church members, volunteering in the area of drug education, have delivered more than 230 seminars in schools in Tennessee and have distributed more than 50,000 booklets on the Truth About Drugs. 

“Tennessee is such a vibrant and beautiful place, and the people here deserve real help. We are prepared to deliver that help and have plans for major expansion over the next five years,” says Fesler.  

To learn more about the Church of Scientology, its programs and courses, visit www.scientology.org or call the Nashville church, 615-687-4600. 

Drug-Free South Delivers Seminars to Students in Smith County

The Truth About Drugs materials provide teachers, law enforcement and community groups with effective drug education tools.

Drug-Free South (DFS) has just returned from delivering three seminars to students at Forks River Elementary School in Smith County.  This is all part of DFS’ continued efforts to create drug-free zones across Tennessee.  DFS works with youth, educators, parents, community leaders and law enforcement officers to provide drug education to children and teens by working together with the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. DFS uses a series of drug education resources that work—a multimedia program that speaks to the youth of today, informing them of the truth about drugs and empowering them to make their own decisions to live drug-free.

The cornerstone of the program is a series of booklets that provide the facts about the most commonly abused drugs: marijuana, alcohol, ecstasy, cocaine, crack cocaine, crystal meth, inhalants, heroin, LSD, prescription drugs, painkillers, and Ritalin.

Next is a series of 16 award-winning “They Said, They Lied” public service announcements. They are contemporary, high-impact communications aimed directly at youth.

Finally, the core of the Truth About Drugs educational program is a 100-minute documentary, The Truth About Drugs: Real People, Real Stories. The film is a hard-hitting, no-holds-barred presentation told by former users who themselves survived life-shattering addiction.

Drug-Free South has big plans this year. “We have done a lot over the past few years for Tennessee but this year we are taking it to the next level,” says Rev. Brian Fesler who coordinates Drug-Free South. To date, Drug-Free South has visited over 30 counties, delivered over 230 seminars on the program, and distributed more than 50,000 booklets to those in need, but Fesler is still not satisfied. “We need to reach every student in Tennessee –all 95 counties.”

Drug-Free South is dedicated to handling the drug problem in Tennessee, and wants to encourage all educators to visit drugfreesouth.org to schedule a drug education seminar in their school. “2014 is the year to reverse the demand for drugs in Tennessee,” says Fesler.

Parents and teachers can order Truth About Drugs booklets and DVDs free of charge from the website or download the free Truth About Drugs Education Application onto their iPads or iPhones. For more information on the Truth About Drugs program, or to order materials, visit drugfreesouth.org.

Hubbard Dianetics Seminar Holds Answers to Unreasonable Fears and Insecurities

The Hubbard Dianetics Foundation offers a weekly seminar to help people resolve problems, discover the source of unreasonable fears and insecurities, and overcome barriers in life.

When one opens up the newspaper each morning, one thing is constant – horror stories – from murder to drug abuse to theft and assault. It happens so much we can become numb and feel these are “part of life” or “normal” occurrences. Are they? Or better yet, do they have to be? What makes people sink so low to commit inhumane actions such as these? What makes them violate their wedding vows and drink themselves to oblivion? And what is the source of all our fears, nightmares and stress?

Since 2009, people from Nashville and surrounding areas have found answers to these questions and more. And what’s better, they have been trained in highly effective techniques to resolve those conditions. It’s all happened at the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation, a department within the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville.

Dianetics is defined as “what the soul is doing to the body through the mind,” and the subject explains how the mind contains a hidden influence that will cause individuals to perform the most insane acts. The techniques of Dianetics were developed by L. Ron Hubbard in the early part of the last century and presented to the world in 1950 in the bestselling self-help book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.

While Dianetics is over sixty years old, this Dianetics seminar is still new. It is based on the book and a video series, How to Use Dianetics, consisting of 18 short films which illustrate specific Dianetics principles and techniques. With these films, people new to the subject can easily learn what to expect from a Dianetics session and how to help another using this technology. “The seminar not only helps people become aware of the cause of their problems, but also the ability to handle it,” says Rick Dewitt, who directs the seminars.

Following the presentation of the first of these films, those attending the seminar immediately put the materials to use, working with other attendees to apply the techniques right there on the spot.  Supervised by trained Dianetics specialists, the seminar participants gain first-hand experience with just how easy it is to resolve the difficulties and pain that life leaves in its wake. Church pastor Rev. Brian Fesler says, “Many people have finished this seminar, and I want everyone to experience the benefits of Dianetics.  It’s not just for members of my church—anyone can benefit from this.”

The two-day Dianetics seminar is offered every weekend at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville at 1130 8th Avenue South. For more information, visit www.dianetics.org or call the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation at 615-687-4600.

First Aquapol Device in the Americas Installed at Nashville Church of Scientology

Aquapol is a new, eco-friendly system that eradicates damp rising problems and dries out buildings. This innovative system has just arrived in the Americas with its first installation at the Nashville Church of Scientology.

A pioneering firm has just introduced an innovative, eco-friendly system to the Americas which can successfully dry out old and historical buildings. Aqaupol’s work began in 1985, but until recently, has focused on installations across Europe. The Aquapol system involves no chemicals, no drilling, no maintenance, and no batteries or electricity of any kind.

The historic Fall School Building in Nashville, currently home for the Church of Scientology, was the site of the first installation in all of the Americas. Pastor of the Church Rev. Brian Fesler said, “We recognize our building is a Nashville treasure, and we are doing everything we can to preserve it for the community to enjoy.” The Church of Scientology received a Historical Preservation Award from the Metro Nashville Historical Commission in 2010.

In recent years, the achievements of Aquapol and its inventor, Wilhelm Mohorn, have received several national and international awards: the Honorary Award from the Austrian Ministry of Science, the Kaplan Medal, which is bestowed to inventors, and the Architecture Award of the City of Prague, are among them.

Sandra Read, managing director of Aquapol USA, said, “There are many beautiful and important old buildings in the United States, Canada, and Central and South America. We feel it is our responsibility to play a part in preserving them so they may be enjoyed by many future generations.”

For more information on the Aquapol system, visit the website aquapol-usa.com. For more information or to schedule a tour at the Nashville Church of Scientology, go online at scientology-ccnashville.org.

Citizens Commission on Human Rights Launches Petition for Congressional Investigation Into Psychiatric Drugs Behind Military Suicides and Sudden Deaths

As the American Psychiatric Association commenced its annual convention on May 3 in Manhattan, featuring over 65 sessions on psychiatric diagnosis and treatment of military personnel, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) launched a petition requesting the U.S. House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee to investigate with public hearings the role of psychiatric drugs in veteran suicides, sudden deaths and recent shootings at Fort Hood and the Washington Navy Yard.

The petition was released at the opening of an exhibit set up to expose the connection of psychiatric drugs to an alarming number of suicides and sudden deaths of service members and veterans.  The exhibit centers around The Hidden Enemy: Inside Psychiatry’s Covert Agenda, a documentary which covers psychiatric drug abuse in the military and includes interviews with veterans brought to the brink of suicide after being prescribed cocktails of psychiatric drugs documented to cause violent and suicidal behavior.  According to a New York Times article, "War on Drugs," of April 6, 2013, between 2005 and 2011 the military increased its prescriptions of psychoactive drugs (antipsychotics, sedatives, stimulants and mood stabilizers) by almost 700 percent. 

Speaking at the exhibit opening where the petition was launched, former sergeant Hannis Latham, who served in the U.S. Army in the 1960s as a Green Beret on an “A” Team with the 10th Special Forces Group, stated: “Psychiatric drugs are that one thing that makes our modern warfare so much more deadly for our returning soldiers than any past war… Instead of creating recovery programs for returning vets where they are recognized as normal people who have been through a very abnormal experience, our vets are often prescribed antipsychotics, tranquilizers, and antidepressants and told to suck it up and pull it together.”

Retired Colonel John A. Henke, a clinical psychologist and highly decorated Air Force pilot who worked with the Pentagon, assigned to the Assistant Secretary of Defense Combat Readiness Study until his retirement in January 1982, echoed Latham’s remarks, stating: “Instead of helping veterans recover from war, their pain has been masked with potent drugs. These, including opioid painkillers and mind-altering psychiatric drugs, are feeding addictions and contributing to the fatal overdose rate among VA patients that is nearly double the national average.” Both Latham and Henke currently work with veterans to help them find better healthcare and other support.

CCHR International submitted a thorough report, “A Review of How Prescribed Psychiatric Medications could be Driving Members of the Armed Forces and Vets to Acts of Violence & Suicide” to a Senate VA Committee hearing into overmedication held April 30. The report is available at http://www.veterans.senate.gov/hearings/overmedication-problems-and-solutions. 

CITIZENS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS is a nonprofit mental health watchdog established by the Church of Scientology and the late Dr. Thomas Szasz, professor emeritus of psychiatry at SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse to investigate psychiatric human rights abuses.

Church of Scientology Hosts Sunday Tea for Mother’s Day

The Nashville Church of Scientology will be hosting a special Sunday Tea in honor of Mother’s Day.

The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville announced in February a new activity for both parishioners and guests on Sunday afternoons – tea time with a twist.  Guests will be able to relax and chat with one another, but will also be able to learn something to help them in life.

The next Tea Time is set for Mother’s Day on May 11^th.

“Scientology means ‘knowing how to know,’” according to the church’s website, “Scientology is all about learning to do things to improve conditions in your own life and in particular in the lives of others.  An active Scientologist is not only considered to be someone who attends a Scientology church or studies Scientology, but rather someone who actively uses the insights and knowledge that Scientology gives them to make a real, positive difference in the lives of others.”

Thus when the church began offering a tea time, it not only would provide tea, but tools.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote a precept in his book The Way to Happiness titled “Honor and Help Your Parents” wherein he encouraged youth and adults alike to have good relationships with, respect and help one’s parents. It is with this in mind that the Church hosts this special Mother’s Day Tea.

“Our Sunday Teas have been a great success,” says President of the Church, Corinne Sullivan, “our church is all about sharing knowledge and that is exactly what we are doing.”

“I like to talk about tools for life, and the Church of Scientology is the perfect place for that,” says parishioner Betsy Brubaker who took part in organizing the series of Sunday Teas at the Church. 

For more information about Scientology, visit the website, scientology.org. For more information about events and happenings, call the church at 615-687-4600.   

Church of Scientology Hosts Series of Musical Jams

The Church of Scientology has begun hosting a series of musical jams for Nashville performers.

Earlier in April this year, the Church of Scientology hosted a musical seminar by the oldest of the Wooten Brothers, Regi, who led musicians in attendance in a jam session. One attendee described it as, “…being in a room with so many other artists of different backgrounds, cultures, and ages, most complete strangers to one another, yet remarkably familiar once the music began.”   

The jam session was so much fun that the Church opened its doors to another one this past week led by Russell Jackson of the Russell Jackson Band. Jackson who was born in Memphis, has toured with the B.B. King Orchestra and played at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry and Smithsonian Institute.

“We open our doors to musicians and artists of all kinds,” says President of the Church, Corinne Sullivan, “Our founder L. Ron Hubbard highly respected artists. That is why, as a Celebrity Centre, we take care of those who entertain, fashion and take care of the world.”

More jam sessions will be held in the future. For more information about upcoming events, seminars or jam sessions, call the Church at 615-687-4600.