“New African Century” Heralded at Opening of New Home for Church of Scientology

Saturday, November 2, 2003, the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg opened the doors of its new headquarters in Kensington, the hub of Scientology activity in South Africa. More then 1,400 guests and well-wishers — government and religious leaders, human rights champions, celebrities and professionals, church members and friends — came from all over Africa and from many countries to celebrate the landmark dedication.

Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Centre, capped the lineup of honored guest speakers, each of whom recognized South Africa’s Scientologists for their indomitable spirit and historical achievements.

Master of ceremonies Ryan Hogarth, President of the Church of Scientology Johannesburg, welcomed the guests with a personal message that he comes from three generations of staff in the Johannesburg church.

The ceremony began as the sun began to set. The cloudy skies parted over Kensington and a man in aboriginal dress signaled the start of an historical event with ceremonial kissing, then hearty blowing of his African cow horn. Then drummers appeared in native dress, racing down the aisles and up onto the stage, joined by six women dancing to the African rhythm in native gamboots.

Then came the diva of African song, Vicki Sampson, and a stirring rendition of her signature “Afrikan Dream.”

New era of security, prosperity begins

Inside the new Church of Scientology Johannesburg.

The new church celebrates African landscape and culture through its use of rich native woods and materials. The more than 20 different fabrics and textiles used in the furnishings reflect the character of its home nation: diverse, colorful, spirited.

The site, formerly the Kensington golf club, is 7,748 square meters and encompasses the church’s main service center, expanded with a second story to 2,715 square meters, and three newly constructed buildings, one of which houses the chapel.

But most meaningful for South Africans is what this church’s expanded presence means to the attainment of Scientology’s aims — a world without insanity, without criminals and without war — and the new era of security and prosperity that attainment portends.

Ward Councilwoman for Kensington Carol Milner spoke of her delight when she heard the Church of Scientology was moving to her district. Having already worked with church members on their Drug-Free Marshals anti-drug program, she told the audience, “I was very impressed by their simple, effective and relentless drive to bring about change by preventing drug use and dealing, through education and peer pressure.”

Dr. Ben Ngubane (gesturing), South Africa’s Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, with Church of Scientology International President Heber C. Jentzsch.

Taken by the aesthetics of the new church’s new home, she said, “If one is best known and judged by actions, then I can safely say that your neighbors and this district as a whole are lucky to have you.”

Johannesburg Area Police Commissioner Oswald Reddy, a 20-year veteran and leader of South African law enforcement, followed with a recounting of his first contact with Scientologists. At his first meeting with a group of Church members, they told him of a simple procedure called a “Touch Assist” that could help alleviate the stress virtually every police officer goes through.

Wanting firsthand experience, he requested and received his first touch assist. “I switched off my cell phone, something I probably haven’t done since I bought it,” he explained. “I told my staff to hold all calls and they nearly fainted. Ten minutes later I felt relaxed.”

The Commissioner soon notified all Station Commissioners in Joburg of the techniques in The Scientology Handbook, urging them to avail themselves of assists to enjoy the same relief from stress he had experienced.

He then recognized Criminon, a program used inside prisons, based on L. Ron Hubbard’s discoveries in the field of criminal reform. Said Reddy, “...one of the policeman’s greatest frustrations is to capture a criminal, ensure that he goes to jail and in a very short time he is back on the streets, an even more hardened criminal than before.”

Compare this with the dramatic effects Criminon is having on South Africa, he told his audience: “Not one of the prisoners who have done the Criminon program has since returned to prison.”

Visitors tour the new church to learn about the Scientology religion.

She acknowledged the Church’s many programs to advance South Africa’s culture through the arts and its youth programs that teach respect for human dignity, personal integrity and tolerance through publications that have enlightened thousands of students and are now being incorporated into the curriculum.

“You are indeed setting a powerful and wonderful example for all,” she said in closing. “May the new Church of Scientology in Johannesburg stand forever as a symbol of Africa’s new-found hope and confidence. Together we can experience the national rebirth that we aspire to. Together we will enjoy your Church as a spiritual symbol of what you will bring to this African century.”

The nation’s Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology followed. Dr. Ben Ngubane first acknowledged the work that began in the 1970s of South African Scientologists who had investigated and exposed to the world the hidden psychiatric slave camps where tens of thousands of Blacks had suffered oppressive conditions and abuse for decades. He then recognized the new church’s vital role in creating an “African renaissance,” saying members could be counted upon to transform the nation in three ways, the first of which is through its programs addressing the barriers to learning.

“I saw the transformation of gang leaders and members who had been illiterate and involved in crime and drugs. Here they were studying and learning to read and write, becoming productive members of society, free of drugs. Younger children were teaching their elders, while gang leaders became tutors.”

He said the study methods, also discovered and developed by L. Ron Hubbard, “represent a revolution in comprehension and the speed with which education and assimilation of knowledge can be accomplished — necessary assets for building our country, or any country.”

He applauded Scientologists for their “work and perseverance through the difficult years of the past,” (alluding to the mid-1970s Freedom exposes of the psychiatric slave camps, which let to the apartheid regime’s since-lifted ban of this publication.)

“You never wavered from what was right. You never faltered in your mission to uplift the spirit of man. These qualities are important in realizing our dream of a new South Africa,” he said.

The event was capped by the appearance of senior Scientology executive Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of Religious Technology Center, custodian of the religious scriptures of Scientology.

Mr. David Miscavige’s presence to dedicate and open the new church was significant, both for him, personally, as a first-time visitor to the country, as well as for the parishioners of the 45-year-old Johannesburg church. “It is my honor to address you, to walk in a land where L. Ron Hubbard laid so many milestones, and on this, your milestone day,” he stated.

L. Ron Hubbard overlooking an African township where his educational tools would eventually mean so much.

The Chairman of the Board traced the history of L. Ron Hubbard’s experience in South Africa, where, in characteristic style, he observed life by rubbing elbows with many Africans of all stations, befriending government ministers, entering the townships, attending tribal celebrations and seeing life as it really was in apartheid South Africa.

Beneath apartheid’s suppression “of virtually every indigenous people, perpetrated by the same psychiatric ideologies that laid six million to rest under the banner of eugenics during the second world war,” L. Ron Hubbard found “an unbroken tradition of spiritualism extending back to the very dawn of man,” and “an indomitable human spirit that, although suppressed, no one could extinguish,” said Mr. David Miscavige.

He spoke, as well, of L. Ron Hubbard’s certainty that indeed Africa was “ ‘the cradle of civilization’, possessing a spirit that, if sparked, could burn forth throughout the world,” echoing L. Ron Hubbard’s prediction, “From South Africa will spring the next great civilization on this planet.”

He warmly acknowledged the work of South African Scientologists over the past 45 years, singling out the results of their dedication, accomplishments that for decades have set the example for social betterment efforts by Scientologists the world over: their exposure of psychiatric labor camps and their relentless efforts until basic human rights were restored under the law to those Black citizens; their empowerment of the next generation through their educational programs; and their success in calming full-scale riots through their wide distribution of a moral code to whole districts.

1961: Black South African women (photograph by L. Ron Hubbard)

And of the South Africa of today, Mr. David Miscavige pointed out that its problems of unemployment and crime, the inevitable result of a half-century of social strife, are “evidence of the fact that ‘freedom from’ is no freedom at all without the means to achieve that ‘higher goal.’”

Thus, he said, it falls within the tradition of Scientologists here to rekindle the spirit of the African continent by providing workable solutions to those areas of social decline that so grip our land — immorality, illiteracy, drug addiction and criminality, in particular.

Mr. David Miscavige recounted that, on September 11, “when the curtain came down, exposing the fragile state of the world,” Scientologists everywhere heard their “wake-up call.” The urgency of the mission became even clearer and the efforts and dedication have intensified since. That intensity led ultimately to the opening in the last two years to three new international headquarters for their social betterment organizations, as well as the expansion of churches worldwide.

The final step of that wake-up call, he said, was the creation of this new type of church, which we celebrate not just as a magnificent structure, but all that it represents in the building of a new Africa, and the realization of the dreams of L. Ron Hubbard, reflected in Mr. David Miscavige’s closing remarks:

Sunday Service in the new Church of Scientology.

“You don’t just represent the hopes and dreams of a continent, you represent the hopes and dreams of all civilization. And, if South Africa dreams of a Rainbow Nation, then, Africa, here is your church — a church where, regardless of color, regardless of creed, regardless of social standing, you are welcome.

“Because,” he concluded, “we are not white. We are not black. We are all one to another brothers of humankind.”

And with that, Mr. David Miscavige — assisted by Councilwoman Milner, Commissioner Reddy, Ms. Mashabele, Minister Ngubane, and the Johannesburg Church’s top executives — cut the ribbon and welcomed all to tour the main facility, the chapel and other buildings of the new Church of Scientology of Johannesburg.

The Church is open seven days a week and visitors are always welcome. For more information, visit www.scientology.org.za or call (011) 607-2100 or email cofsjohannesburg@global.co.za