Not One Case of COVID-19 at the Church of Scientology in L.A.



Church of Scientology in Los Angeles
By adopting strict preventive measures early on, hundreds of Scientologists avoided coronavirus infection.
"While some places of worship are suing the state to allow them to hold services," says the teaser for the article on Los Angeleno's Facebook page, "this local church quickly shifted gears, stopped holding large gatherings in their buildings, used online means to reach their parishioners, and even created a music video to boost the spirits of their members."

Tony Pierce spoke to Bari Berger from the Church's public relations department to find out about their approach to this public health crisis. Here are some of the highlights:

What safety measures have you implemented for the people who work at the church there and the living quarters?

We're adhering to the safer-at-home order and applying, and exceeding, all regulations because the well-being of our staff, parishioners and community is our priority. One of the first steps we took was to identify the most powerful decontaminant and put this into use to disinfect our churches and staff living quarters from top to bottom every day, multiple times per day, including with special fogging equipment to reach all surfaces.


We suspended congregational gatherings in early March, implemented social distancing protocols and took the temperatures of each parishioner with a no-contact thermometer before they entered our church. Staff have their temperatures taken daily and all are wearing masks when outside.

Concurrently, we collected reliable information on effective prevention measures and published this in the form of booklets, which we provided to our staff and parishioners, including How to Keep Yourself & Others Well, How to Protect Yourself with a Mask & Gloves and How to Prevent the Spread of Illness with Isolation. We created an online How to Stay Well Prevention Resource Center to make these tools available to all, in 20 languages.

Each of the booklets can be downloaded on the website, along with signs on prevention protocols. You can also watch a number of videos there, for example, one on how bacteria and viruses are spread—the kind of thing you need to understand in order to grasp the importance of the preventive measures we're all being encouraged to take right now.

From what I understand, you hold classes at your building on Sunset Boulevard and L. Ron Hubbard Way. Have you limited the class sizes or done anything else differently due to the coronavirus?

You're right, our church has numerous course rooms where parishioners study Scientology scriptures. In the "Scientology Network Launch Special," cameras take you inside our Los Angeles church so you can see what those spaces are like—the best way to do so while everyone is at home.

Before safer-at-home orders went into effect, all of our course rooms were adjusted to accommodate social distancing guidelines. This involved physically spacing out chairs and tables and will enable us to be prepared for when we reopen our doors.

As for right now, the primary way Scientologists are currently progressing on their religious services is through extension courses. These courses can be done online and involve studying one of many books written by L. Ron Hubbard and listening to Mr. Hubbard's recorded lectures on the subject of those books, allowing Scientologists today to learn the principles of Scientology from its founder himself—just as Scientologists who originally attended those lectures did—and from the safety of their own homes.

Why was it important to the Church to react so early and swiftly in response to the coronavirus before similar measures were adopted elsewhere?

Because an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure, which is why from the get-go, the goal of our ecclesiastical leader, Mr. David Miscavige, has been a ton of prevention so as not to require an ounce of cure. He has been the driving force behind the Church's response to this crisis.

In terms of fast action, while this pandemic is unlike anything we have ever experienced in our lifetimes, it is, at its core, a public emergency and the Church has a long history in the field of emergency and disaster response.

Our Volunteer Ministers have been in virtually every major disaster worldwide since 9/11, and we are often among the first to arrive. In 2018, for example, Volunteer Ministers were on site within 24 hours of the Woolsey Fire breaking out, with a total of 500 Volunteer Ministers providing disaster relief services across Agoura Hills, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. So we have never been ones to wait for instructions to do what needs to be done. We act fast and that can make all the difference.

Does the Church have a message that it has sent to its members about the pandemic like "It's going to be OK," "This will make you stronger" or anything like that? Or does the Church not say things like that?

Our Church's message to its members is: An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Set a good example, employ all possible precautions and take care of your neighbors, families and friends. Even though we are all keeping our distance, we are all in this together.

see more>>> https://christiangospeltv..com/2020/05/not-one-case-of-covid-19-at-church-of.html

By fruits shall we measure, lol.