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Template:ScientologySeries The Volunteer Minister program is a worldwide effort founded by the Church of Scientology International.

According to the Church: "It is a worldwide movement that has for more than 25 years worked across national, racial, political and religious boundaries in more than 150 countries to help people deal with upheavals and has helped them put their lives back together." Its motto is "Something can be done about it."

The Volunteer Minister program originates in L. Ron Hubbard's Church policies on casualty contact. Hubbard outlined these in several places, most notably in Professional Auditor's Bulletin 28th February 1956 and HCO Bulletin 15th September 1959:

The essence of "Casualty Contact" is good filing and good personal appearance. One takes every daily paper he can get his hands on and cuts from it every story whereby he might have a preclear. He should represent himself to the person or the person's family as a minister whose compassion was compelled by the newspaper story concerning the person. Some small percentage of the persons visited or their families will turn up in his group. Thus he will build a group and naturally from that group he will get a great many individual preclears. (PAB 28 Feb 1956)

Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for the organization to send "teams" of "Volunteer Ministers" to the scenes of major, headline-grabbing disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics of Scientology, most of these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by L. Ron Hubbard entitled The Way To Happiness, and by engaging in a method of calming panicked or injured invividuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist."

The Volunteer Minister program most heavily promoted by Scientology took place in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when approximately one thousand Scientologists were sent to New York City to participate in the relief efforts there. Scientologists wearing bright yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the logo "Scientology Volunteer Minister" became a common sight at the World Trade Center site during the cleanup efforts. The Church claimed they were later commended by the New York Fire Department for their efforts.

Critics of Scientology accused the organization of attempting to take advantage of the disaster in order to promote Scientology to the grief-stricken populace in the area. One documented email from a Lieutenant in the Sea Org appears to brag about the success of their efforts to disrupt rescue counselors from treating the victims of the disaster:

Due to some brilliant maneuvering by some simply genius Sea Org Members we tied up the majority of the psychs who were attempting to get to families yesterday in Q&A, bullbait and wrangling.

Volunteer Ministers have been sent to the site of relief efforts in Southeast Asia in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami, to London Underground stations that were attacked in the 7 July 2005 London bombings, and to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

References

• United States - New York - September 11 (Scientology.org)
• Tsunami - India - January 2005 (Washington Post article)
• Casualty Contact (Chris Owen)
• Scientology at Ground Zero (Operation Clambake)

External links

• Official Scientology Volunteer Ministers site
• Scientology Goodwill Tours
• Critical view of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program

• Scientology organizations