A Spiritual Home for Las Vegas's Artists
The Church of Scientology & Celebrity Centre Las Vegas sits on Emerson Avenue on the east side of the city, just south of the Las Vegas Strip. Opened as a parish in 1968 and rededicated in a new home in 2010, it operates as both a regular Church of Scientology and a Celebrity Centre, the small number of Scientology organizations whose special purpose is to serve the artists, performers, fashion professionals and entertainment-industry figures of their city. Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard - himself an accomplished artist - put the rationale simply: "A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists." The Las Vegas church takes that vision as its daily brief, combining standard Scientology congregational life with programming designed for the people whose craft shapes the entertainment capital.
From 1968 to a 2010 Grand Opening
Scientologists have been gathering in Las Vegas since 1968, when the first parish was established. In the decades that followed, the local congregation grew alongside the city's emergence as a global entertainment hub. By the early 2010s the Las Vegas organization had outgrown its original quarters, and a new purpose-built facility on Emerson Avenue was completed. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center and ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, presided at the dedication ceremony on February 6, 2010, welcoming Scientologists and guests to what the religion calls an Ideal Organization - a Church designed both for Scientologists' spiritual advancement and as a gathering place for the wider community.
Inside, the design carries the Church's signature touches: a lobby that opens onto a Public Information Center filled with several hundred informational films, a chapel large enough for Sunday services and weddings, a President's Lounge for artists and community leaders, a Hubbard Guidance Center devoted to one-on-one spiritual counseling, a multi-room Academy for training, a Purification Center, an Office of L. Ron Hubbard, and a café and central courtyard.
Inside the Church on Emerson Avenue
The Public Information Center anchors the front of the building. It offers roughly 500 films that introduce every major aspect of Dianetics and Scientology - the religion's beliefs and practices, a biographical film on the life and legacy of Founder L. Ron Hubbard, and an overview of the humanitarian and community-outreach programs the Church sponsors. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the displays at their own pace, stay as long as they like, and return again. Tours are open to all religions and beliefs, and refreshments are available.
The Chapel is the heart of congregational life. It hosts Sunday Services, weddings, and Naming Ceremonies, and is also the venue for weekly Church graduations, entertainment-industry workshops, seminars led by local and national artists, and community performances and events. With its seating and acoustics, it doubles as a cultural meeting space for the city.
The President's Lounge and adjoining President's Patio are designed with the Celebrity Centre mission in mind. They serve as a meeting place for artists, community leaders and guests - whether engaged in Scientology services or simply visiting the Church - and they give the building the feel of both a sanctuary and a salon.
The Hubbard Guidance Center is where Scientologists receive auditing, the religion's form of one-on-one spiritual counseling. Across the hall, the Academy comprises multiple course rooms, each devoted to a different aspect of training Scientologists to become auditors themselves. The Purification Center, meanwhile, delivers the Purification Program developed by L. Ron Hubbard to free individuals from the mental and spiritual damage caused by drugs and toxins through a regimen of exercise, sauna and nutrition. The Purification Center's mural pays homage to Red Rock Canyon and the Nevada desert on which Las Vegas was built. The Café and central courtyard are provided for the convenience of parishioners on breaks from study courses and auditing sessions, and visitors touring the Church or attending scheduled events are equally welcome.
Sunday Service and the Week's Rhythm
Sunday belongs to the Scientology Sunday Service, held each week at 11:00 a.m. in the Chapel. The service is described as non-denominational and open to all, with the invitation to "repair the ravages of the week." Reservations can be made in advance. In addition to the Sunday gathering, Scientology recognizes weddings and Naming Ceremonies as religious ceremonies performed in the Chapel.
The rest of the week fills with Introductory Services - courses and seminars designed to introduce the practical tools of Dianetics and Scientology to anyone, regardless of faith. The Personal Efficiency Course, billed as the first course in Scientology, runs daily at 1:00 p.m., with an additional 6:00 p.m. session offered on weekdays. It covers improving job security and working relationships, handling exhaustion, and similar work-life skills. The Hubbard Dianetics Seminar meets each Saturday at 9:00 a.m. as a two-day weekend event that includes demonstrations, a viewing of the How to Use Dianetics film, and hands-on experience of Dianetic procedures. Other recurring events include the Story of Dianetics film showing, free tours of the Public Information Center, and the free Oxford Capacity Analysis personality test, each available throughout the Church's open hours.
The Personal Efficiency and Dianetics Seminars
The Personal Efficiency Course is built around L. Ron Hubbard's book The Problems of Work. Enrollment includes a paperback copy of the book, the personality test, and a portfolio of course materials. The seminar donation is $50, paid on arrival. Sessions are scheduled in half-hour blocks between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, and between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on weekends.
The Hubbard Dianetics Seminar runs Saturday at 9:00 a.m., with a follow-up second day on Sunday morning. The seminar donation is $500 per person, or $750 for two. The weekend includes the How to Use Dianetics film, supervised practice, and the chance both to receive Dianetics and to apply it to another person. Trained Dianetics specialists are on hand to assist throughout. The course is framed as a path to greater confidence and self-respect and to freedom from the "previously unknown source of unreasonable fears, upsets and insecurities" that Dianetics identifies.
Twenty Life Improvement Courses
Alongside the Personal Efficiency Course and the Dianetics Seminar, the Las Vegas church offers the full library of twenty Scientology Life Improvement Courses, drawn from L. Ron Hubbard's writings. The courses are grouped under five headings: Ethics and Survival, Goals and Purposes, Survival and Prosperity, Marriage, and Children. Together they cover overcoming the ups and downs of life, personal values and integrity, improving relationships, knowing who you can trust, achieving self-confidence, getting motivated, organizing for success, time management, setting and achieving goals, leadership, financial stress and prosperity, building and maintaining a marriage, having a happy baby, raising children successfully, and parenting tweens and teens. The Success Through Communication Course - a long-running introductory course on the underlying skill for success in both professional and social relationships - rounds out the curriculum. Each course is offered at the Church during open hours, with reservations available online.
Auditing, Training and the Purification Center
At the core of the Scientology religion are auditing and training. Auditing is one-on-one spiritual counseling conducted in the Hubbard Guidance Center by trained ministers. It uses a precise questioning procedure, sometimes assisted by an electropsychometer (a device that the religion uses to help locate areas of spiritual concern), to help a person confront past experiences and rise up "The Bridge to Total Freedom." The Academy trains Scientologists to become auditors themselves; the Las Vegas Academy occupies multiple course rooms in the Church.
The Purification Program is offered to anyone who wishes to address the lingering mental and spiritual effects of drugs and toxins. Participants follow a regimen of exercise, sauna and nutrition under supervision in the Purification Center. The program is sometimes the first step a person takes toward further Scientology services, and is also made available to the wider community.
The Creed and the Core Tenets
Scientology is presented by the Church as "a religion in its highest meaning, as it helps bring Man to total freedom and truth." The essential tenets, drawn from the Creed of the Church of Scientology, are these:
- You are an immortal spiritual being.
- Your experience extends well beyond a single lifetime.
- Your capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized.
- Man is basically good, is seeking to survive, and his survival depends upon himself and his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.
The religion identifies eight "dynamics," or drives, that make up existence, with the Eighth Dynamic - the urge toward existence as infinity - identified as the Supreme Being. Unlike religions with Judeo-Christian origins, Scientology does not impose a fixed dogma about God; rather, the religion teaches that a person comes to a personal understanding of the Eighth Dynamic as their spiritual awareness increases through auditing and training.
The Church is explicit that Scientology is not dogmatic: "One is not asked to accept anything on faith alone. On the contrary, one discovers for oneself that the principles of Scientology are true by applying its principles and observing or experiencing the results." The stated ultimate goal is "true spiritual enlightenment and freedom for all."
How We Help: Global Humanitarian Programs
The Las Vegas church's "How We Help" section lists the major social-betterment and humanitarian programs supported by the Church of Scientology worldwide. Each is described as a secular initiative, open to all, that takes its tools from L. Ron Hubbard's writings and is sustained by Scientologists and the wider community. The headline programs are:
- The Truth About Drugs. The largest nongovernmental drug-information and prevention campaign, with materials used in 180 countries and adopted by more than a thousand governmental, law-enforcement and community organizations. The educational package includes 13 booklets, 16 "They Said, They Lied" public-service announcements, and the 100-minute documentary "Real People, Real Stories," focusing on the eleven most commonly abused substances.
- United for Human Rights and Youth for Human Rights. Materials drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the "30 Rights, 30 Ads" public-service announcements, the Story of Human Rights film, and educator's packages distributed to schools, colleges, and community organizations. The program reports reaching some 100 million people annually across 190 nations.
- The Way to Happiness Foundation. Distributes a non-religious moral code written by L. Ron Hubbard, organized as 21 precepts. The booklet is produced in 109 languages and has been adapted by schools, sports teams, law-enforcement agencies and governments for mass distribution.
- Applied Scholastics. Promotes L. Ron Hubbard's Study Technology through more than 1,100 schools and tutoring groups in 72 nations, training nearly 135,000 educators and reaching 38 million students.
- Narconon. A global network of some fifty drug-rehabilitation facilities spanning five continents.
- Criminon. A program working with inmates and at-risk youth to address the roots of criminal behavior.
- Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Founded in 1969 by Scientologists as a watchdog group investigating and exposing psychiatric violations of human rights. CCHR reports helping to enact more than 150 laws protecting individuals from coercive psychiatric practices.
- Scientology Volunteer Ministers. A worldwide corps of trained volunteers offering physical and spiritual aid in disaster zones and everyday life.
Volunteer Ministers and Disaster Response
The Volunteer Ministers program, created by L. Ron Hubbard in the mid-1970s, defines 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." The textbook for the program is The Scientology Handbook, a compilation of L. Ron Hubbard's writings covering nineteen bodies of technology - from communication and study to marriage and the raising of children - that any volunteer can use to assist others.
Volunteer Ministers have served at more than 200 disaster sites worldwide, including the World Trade Center response after September 11, 2001 (where more than 800 volunteers contributed 130,000 hours at Ground Zero), the 2004 Asian tsunamis, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2010 Pakistan floods, and the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. The program also runs volunteer cavalcades and goodwill tours that bring Scientology tools for life to major cities and remote communities around the world. A permanent Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Team stands ready to mobilize alongside community leaders, government officials and relief organizations in times of crisis.
In Las Vegas, Scientology Volunteer Ministers make the same tools available locally through the Church on Emerson Avenue, as well as online through free Scientology Online Courses drawn from the Scientology Handbook. Visitors can stop in for one-on-one help, watch any of the Tools for Life films, or sign up for courses on communication, handling conflicts, study and learning, stress and anxiety, marriage and family, difficulties on the job, and relationships with others.
Visiting the Church
The Church of Scientology & Celebrity Centre Las Vegas is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The main number is (702) 731-1500, with a fax line at (702) 684-8972. The address is 2761 Emerson Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89121. Visitors who want a structured introduction can book a free tour of the Public Information Center through the Church's online reservation form; those who want to explore further can take the free Oxford Capacity Analysis personality test on site or online, or sign up for the daily Personal Efficiency Course.
The Sunday Service at 11:00 a.m. is the regular weekly gathering of the congregation. The Hubbard Dianetics Seminar on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. and the daily Introductory Services are the other anchors of the public week. Refreshments are available during the free tour, and the Café and central courtyard are open to anyone attending the Church's many scheduled events.
For Scientologists, the Church provides Sunday Services, weddings, Naming Ceremonies, auditing, training at the Academy, the Purification Program, weekly Church graduations and a full calendar of in-house and community events. For performers and artists drawn to Las Vegas, the President's Lounge and Patio, the Chapel's cultural programming, and the Church's role as a Celebrity Centre make it a working home as well as a place of worship. Its doors are open, and its help is offered to anyone who walks in.