The Church of Scientology Mission of Milwaukee serves Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the surrounding area as a local center of Scientology religious practice and community outreach. Located on the city's west side, the Mission provides introductory Scientology courses, hosts sessions of the Oxford Capacity Analysis personality test, and connects parishioners and visitors to the global network of Scientology-supported humanitarian programs. It is one of more than ten thousand Scientology Churches, Missions, and affiliated groups worldwide, all working from the writings and lectures of founder L. Ron Hubbard.
The Core Beliefs of Scientology
Scientology is presented as a religion that helps a person reach total freedom and truth. According to the Mission, the essential tenets are these:
- You are an immortal spiritual being.
- Your experience extends well beyond a single lifetime, and your capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized.
- Man is basically good. He is seeking to survive, and his survival depends upon himself, his fellows, and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.
These statements, which open the Mission's introduction to Scientology, point toward the religion's central practice of auditing, a one-on-one spiritual counseling session with a trained auditor. Auditing uses a device called an E-Meter to help a person locate and confront areas of spiritual distress. The Mission also draws on the closely related subject of Dianetics, which Hubbard described as the modern science of mental health and the first book of which was published in 1950.
Visitors to the Mission are invited to learn the basic principles of Scientology through a series of introductory films and booklets, including segments on the Eight Dynamics (the urge toward survival spanning self, family, group, humanity, life forms, the physical universe, the spiritual universe, and infinity), the Emotional Tone Scale, the ARC triangle of Affinity, Reality, and Communication, and the parts of man: body, mind, and spirit.
Mission Hours and Courses
The Mission posts regular hours when staff are available to welcome visitors, give tours, and deliver courses. The schedule is:
- Tuesday and Wednesday, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
- Friday, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
- Saturday, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
- Sunday, 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Visitors are asked to schedule an appointment in advance. The Mission provides four main introductory offerings that fit within these hours.
The Hubbard Dianetics Seminar introduces the principles of Dianetics and the relationship between the reactive mind and the analytical mind. It is built around L. Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and is offered as a starting point for anyone new to Scientology.
The Personal Efficiency Course is built from materials in The Scientology Handbook. It addresses everyday obstacles to productivity and is open to anyone wanting to handle barriers in study, work, or life in general.
Scientology Life Improvement Courses cover a range of topics drawn from the 19 chapters of the Handbook, from communication and the Emotional Tone Scale to Assists for Illnesses and Injuries, integrity, marriage, and raising children. Each course is delivered with step-by-step procedures the student can apply directly.
Success Through Communication is a practical course designed to improve communication in relationships, on the job, and in any situation where misunderstandings arise.
A free Oxford Capacity Analysis personality test, which consists of 200 questions, is also available at the Mission as a first step for many newcomers. The test is administered on a tablet and is followed by a private review of the results with a staff member.
What Scientologists in Milwaukee Say About Scientology
The Mission maintains a "Meet a Scientologist" feature with short films of parishioners describing how the subject has affected their work and family life. A typical example is Ken, a registered nurse, who explains: "Scientology has helped me as a professional, because some of the skills I've learned I can directly apply to patient care. I think the greatest aspect of being a nurse is when you know you've done something for a person." Other profiles include teachers, parents, sculptors, athletes, chiropractors, business owners, students, and publicists from around the world. The series is grouped into categories: Sports, Arts, Education, Family, Professional, Healthcare, Business, and Management.
The Founder: L. Ron Hubbard
Scientology traces its origin to the research and writings of Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (1911-1986), who is described in the Mission's materials as a humanitarian, educator, administrator, philosopher, and artist. The L. Ron Hubbard Series, a multi-volume compendium of his life and discoveries, is highlighted as the only complete chronological overview of his work. Visitors to the Mission can browse biographies, study his books and audiobooks, and watch a brief chronology film on his life. His trademarks, including the Scientology symbol, the Dianetics symbol, and the L. Ron Hubbard signature, are held by the Religious Technology Center in Los Angeles and licensed to the Church of Scientology International and its affiliated organizations.
Volunteer Ministers on Call 24 Hours
The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program was created by L. Ron Hubbard in the mid-1970s. He defined a Volunteer Minister as "a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others." Since then, hundreds of thousands have been trained in the program's techniques, all of which draw on Scientology fundamentals. The program's central motto is "Something can be done about it."
The Milwaukee Mission is connected to the global Volunteer Ministers network, and any of its parishioners or members of the public can be trained in the 19 Scientology Handbook courses that form the heart of the program. The subjects include:
- The Technology of Study
- The Dynamics of Existence
- The Components of Understanding
- The Emotional Tone Scale
- Communication
- Assists for Illnesses and Injuries
- Answers to Drugs
- How to Resolve Conflicts
- Integrity and Honesty
- Ethics and Conditions
- The Cause of Suppression
- Solutions for a Dangerous Environment
- Marriage
- Children
- Tools for the Workplace
- Basics of Organizing
- Targets and Goals
- Investigations
- Fundamentals of Public Relations
All 19 courses are available as Scientology Tools for Life films, an award-winning documentary series that has been placed in lending libraries worldwide. A separate Scientology Handbook Films program accompanies each course online, free of charge, in 15 languages, with lessons reviewed and answered by a trained Volunteer Minister who provides personalized direction to students.
Disaster Response Around the World
The Volunteer Ministers program's most visible activity is the international Disaster Response Team, which mobilizes wherever a major natural or man-made disaster strikes. The team is on call 24 hours a day and works alongside the International Red Cross, FEMA, police and fire departments, and national offices of government and private aid groups.
The Mission's records note that Volunteer Ministers have served at every major disaster site since 2001. The first deployment of the permanent Disaster Response Team was to the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, where more than 800 Volunteer Ministers contributed over 130,000 hours at Ground Zero alongside rescue workers. The team received the New York Fire Department's Medal of Valor.
Other major responses have included the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunamis, where 600 Volunteer Ministers from 28 nations aided more than 300,000 individuals; Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, where more than 1,000 volunteers helped operate shelters in Louisiana and Texas; the 2010 Haiti earthquake, where 350 volunteers from 22 nations delivered 260,000 pounds of supplies and directly assisted 600,000 Haitians; the 2010 floods in Pakistan, where 1,000 Pakistani Volunteer Disaster Relief members answered the call; and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, where more than 1,500 community leaders received Volunteer Minister training. Today, Volunteer Ministers are reported to be working in 120 nations, having served at more than 200 disaster sites and traversed 15 million miles across five continents.
In everyday community life, Volunteer Ministers staff distinctive yellow tents at fairs, sporting events, and city streets. They provide one-on-one assistance to anyone who walks in, address family conflicts, workplace challenges, learning difficulties, and offer seminars to local groups. The Trans-Siberian Goodwill Tour, a four-year Volunteer Minister effort across the Russian Federation, reached an estimated 6 million people in 16 cities.
The Way to Happiness
The Way to Happiness is a nonreligious moral code written by L. Ron Hubbard and distributed by the Way to Happiness Foundation International, headquartered in Glendale, California. The booklet contains 21 precepts, beginning with "Take Care of Yourself," "Be Temperate," "Don't Be Promiscuous," "Love and Help Children," "Honor and Help Your Parents," and "Set a Good Example," and continuing through precepts on honesty, the environment, family, work, and the Golden Rule.
Booklets are produced in 109 languages and have been distributed to more than 12 million students across 12,000 schools. Twenty-one public service announcements, one for each precept, have aired on hundreds of television stations worldwide and are seen by more than 20 million viewers each year. The booklet is also widely used by law enforcement; the program reports partnerships with 300 law enforcement, government, and community organizations, and has reached 1,500 correctional facilities in 38 countries.
The Way to Happiness Foundation maintains an interactive online resource center at thewaytohappiness.org and offers a free DVD with the introduction, the 21 PSAs, and a preview of The Way to Happiness film. The Mission distributes the booklet locally and supports educators, parents, and youth groups using the materials.
The Truth About Drugs
The Truth About Drugs is one of the largest nongovernmental drug information and prevention initiatives in the world. It is sponsored by the Church of Scientology and distributed by the secular nonprofit Foundation for a Drug-Free World, founded in 2006. The cornerstone of the program is a series of 13 fact-filled booklets covering marijuana, alcohol, Ecstasy, cocaine, crack cocaine, crystal meth, inhalants, heroin, LSD, prescription drugs, painkillers, and Ritalin, plus an overview booklet. The booklets have been translated into 17 languages and distributed across 188 countries.
The program also includes the award-winning documentary The Truth About Drugs: Real People, Real Stories, a 100-minute film in which former users tell their stories, and 16 public service announcements titled "They Said, They Lied." The PSAs have aired on more than 500 television stations in some 100 countries and have won Telly, Addy, and Aurora awards. The complete education package, available free to teachers and prevention specialists, includes an Educator's Guide with a full semester of lesson plans, the 13 booklets, the 16 PSAs, posters, and the documentary. More than 1,200 government and law enforcement agencies use the program.
Through the Milwaukee Mission, anyone can order the free Truth About Drugs information kit, watch the film, and download booklets. The Mission's volunteers distribute the booklets at community events, schools, and partner agencies throughout the Milwaukee area.
Applied Scholastics
Applied Scholastics International makes L. Ron Hubbard's educational method, called Study Technology, available to schools and tutoring centers. The method is built around the idea that any learning barrier can be identified and removed. From its teacher-training campus near St. Louis, Applied Scholastics has implemented Study Technology through more than 1,100 schools and tutoring groups in 72 nations, with nearly 135,000 educators trained and 38 million students reached.
Affiliated schools include the Delphi Program, a private school model with its flagship Delphian School in Sheridan, Oregon, and six other U.S. schools; Greenfields School in Sussex, England, a day and boarding school established in 1981; government-funded schools in Denmark; and a network of 30 Study Technology centers in Italy. The Applied Scholastics Online Academy delivers home school instruction from preschool through high school. The World Literacy Crusade, an inner-city grass-roots literacy movement founded in Los Angeles in 1992, has been credited with helping 87 percent of teens involved in gangs and drug use give up that lifestyle after completing the program.
The Mission's connection to Applied Scholastics means that Milwaukee-area parents and students can access Study Technology tutoring and a free copy of the Barriers to Study booklet.
United for Human Rights
United for Human Rights and its youth counterpart, Youth for Human Rights International, are educational programs that make the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights available to the public. The programs produce 30 educational public service announcements titled "30 Rights, 30 Ads," available in 17 languages, and a 10-minute documentary, The Story of Human Rights, that takes viewers through the history of human rights and the signing of the Universal Declaration at the United Nations in 1948.
The PSAs have aired on CNN International, Sky News, the National Geographic Channel, and in malls, theaters, sports stadiums, train stations, and airports in more than 100 countries. The Story of Human Rights has received Telly, Aurora, and Clearwater Film Festival awards. The Mission helps distribute the materials locally and provides free DVDs and information kits to educators.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) was established by the Church of Scientology in 1969 as a watchdog group to expose psychiatric violations of human rights. CCHR is now an international mental health watchdog with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, and some 200 chapters across 34 nations. CCHR has contributed to the passage of more than 160 laws protecting individuals from coercive psychiatric practices, including laws against involuntary commitment, the electroshocking of children, and the enforced drugging of patients.
CCHR played a role in ending abusive practices in psychiatric hospitals in New Zealand, securing compensation for 900 former patients of the Lake Alice Adolescent Psychiatric Care Unit, and contributing to 286 warnings on psychiatric drugs. CCHR also maintains a museum in Los Angeles called Psychiatry: An Industry of Death and produces documentary films used in its outreach. Legislators, government officials, medical and legal professionals, and human rights activists can request a free CCHR information kit.
Books, Audiobooks, Films, and Lectures
The Mission maintains a bookstore of beginning books, audiobooks, classic lectures by L. Ron Hubbard, and films. The Dianetics & Scientology Catalog, available free on request, lists hundreds of titles covering the full scope of Hubbard's writings. Films include the documentary features on the Scientology religion and the documentary series The Scientology Handbook: Tools for Life, which introduces the 19 chapters of the Handbook.
A free Volunteer Minister Information Kit, a free Truth About Drugs kit, a free Way to Happiness booklet, and a free Citizen Commission on Human Rights DVD are available to anyone who contacts the Mission.
Online Courses Anyone Can Take
Beyond the in-person courses at the Mission, the full set of Scientology Tools for Life courses is available online, free of charge. They cover:
- The Technology of Study
- The Dynamics of Existence
- The Components of Understanding
- The Emotional Tone Scale
- Communication
- Assists for Illnesses and Injuries
- Answers to Drugs
- How to Resolve Conflicts
- Integrity and Honesty
- Ethics and Conditions
- The Cause of Suppression
- Solutions for a Dangerous Environment
- Marriage
- Children
- Tools for the Workplace
- Basics of Organizing
- Targets and Goals
- Investigations
- Fundamentals of Public Relations
More than 100,000 lessons are submitted each year through volunteerministers.org. The Mission can also arrange on-site training for organizations in any one or all of the 19 courses.
Inside the Church of Scientology
The Mission shares the broader Church of Scientology's self-description of its services and Sunday gatherings. Churches of Scientology worldwide are built around five principal divisions: a chapel for Sunday services, weddings, and funerals; counseling rooms for auditing; classrooms for training; an organization to handle the church's affairs; and public areas to welcome newcomers. Services include Sunday religious services open to all denominations, naming ceremonies for newborn Scientologists, weddings, and funeral services. Scientology Missions serve as smaller local centers, offering introductory courses and connecting newcomers to larger Churches for the full program of spiritual counseling.
Church of Scientology International and the Religious Technology Center
All Scientology churches and missions, including the Mission in Milwaukee, are affiliated with the Church of Scientology International, which is the mother church of the Scientology religion. The Religious Technology Center (RTC), based in Los Angeles, holds the trademarks to the Scientology name and symbol, the E-Meter, Dianetics, and the L. Ron Hubbard signature, and licenses their use to the Church of Scientology International and its affiliated organizations. RTC ensures that the religion is practiced in accordance with L. Ron Hubbard's writings and that Scientology services are delivered uniformly throughout the world.
A Word About Scientology in the Milwaukee Area
The Mission welcomes visitors interested in learning about Scientology and Dianetics. Courses are offered at the posted hours, the Oxford Capacity Analysis personality test is available free, and the Mission's staff are available to answer questions about the religion, the church's humanitarian programs, and how to begin study. The Mission is part of the worldwide Scientology network that includes large Ideal Organizations in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., London, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney, and Toronto, and serves Milwaukee as a starting point for anyone wishing to study the religion and apply its principles.