A 50,000-Square-Foot Church on U.S. 101
The Church of Scientology of Silicon Valley stands on Linda Vista Avenue in Mountain View, just minutes from the city center and a dozen global tech headquarters, including the Googleplex and Microsoft's Valley campus. Set between the Santa Cruz Mountains and San Francisco Bay, the 50,000-square-foot building rises right along U.S. 101, bringing what the Church describes as a new dimension to the Bay Area. The structure is what Scientology calls an Ideal Organization, or Ideal Org, a realization of founder L. Ron Hubbard's vision that Churches of Scientology provide both ideal facilities for parishioners on their spiritual ascent and a meeting ground for the entire community.
The Church has served a growing congregation since 1990. It welcomes anyone wishing to obtain an introduction to Dianetics and Scientology, with the doors open seven days a week, morning to night. Visitors can walk in, take a free self-guided tour of the multimedia Public Information Center, sit down for a free personality test, attend a course or seminar, drop in for a Sunday Service, or simply have coffee in the Bayshore Café.
The Building, Room by Room
The Mountain View church is laid out around a series of distinctive departments, each with its own purpose.
Reception. Open seven days a week, morning to night, the Reception desk welcomes anyone curious about Dianetics and Scientology. Staff answer questions and direct visitors to the next step, whether that is a tour, a film, a personality test or a course.
Public Information Center. The Public Information Center offers some 500 films, providing a complete introduction to every aspect of Dianetics and Scientology. It includes a presentation on the beliefs and practices of the religion, a biographical film on the life and legacy of founder L. Ron Hubbard, and an overview of the many humanitarian initiatives and community outreach programs the Church supports. Self-guided tours of the displays are free and open to all beliefs and religions.
Introductory Services. The Introductory Services department delivers the full array of Scientology Life Improvement Courses and a wide range of seminars on Dianetics and Scientology fundamentals, offered evenings and weekends so working people can attend.
Dianetics and Scientology Bookstore. The bookstore makes available L. Ron Hubbard's works on Dianetics and Scientology. Mr. Hubbard's legacy includes tens of millions of published words in dozens of books and thousands of recorded lectures. Materials are available in 50 languages.
Purification Center. The Purification Center delivers the Purification Program developed by Mr. Hubbard, a regimen of exercise, sauna and nutrition intended to free individuals from the mental and spiritual damage caused by drugs and toxins.
Hubbard Guidance Center. The Hubbard Guidance Center is where Scientologists receive one-on-one spiritual counseling, known as auditing. Just beyond the waiting room are dozens of auditing rooms, each ideally appointed to offer the calm, distraction-free setting considered requisite to achieving spiritual enlightenment.
The Academy. The Academy is where Scientologists train to become auditors (spiritual counselors), capable of applying the technology of auditing to help others attain spiritual freedom. The Silicon Valley Academy comprises multiple course rooms, each devoted to a different aspect of training.
Bayshore Café. The Bayshore Café welcomes visitors touring the Church and serves as a gathering place for those attending the many scheduled events. It is also accessible to parishioners during breaks in their Scientology services.
The Chapel. Lined with the Codes and Creed of the Church of Scientology, the Chapel is used for congregational ceremonies and services, including Sunday Services, weddings and naming ceremonies. It also serves as a venue for workshops, banquets and community collaboration events.
Office of L. Ron Hubbard. As is tradition in all Churches of Scientology, the Office of L. Ron Hubbard stands in honor of the religion's founder and symbolizes the Church's fidelity to his writings and ideals.
Sunday Service and a Weekly Rhythm
On Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m., the Church holds Scientology Sunday Service in the Chapel. The service is described as non-denominational, and all are welcome. Reservations can be made online, and the Sunday Service is intended to "repair the ravages of the week."
Around Sunday Service, a regular weekly rhythm shapes the week at the church:
- Personal Efficiency Course. Held daily at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (and at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays), this is described as the first course in Scientology. It addresses work, the area of life the Church calls 70 percent of one's existence, with tools for improving job security, working relationships and handling exhaustion. Seminar donation: $50, which includes a paperback copy of The Problems of Work by L. Ron Hubbard, personality testing and a seminar portfolio with all course materials.
- Hubbard Dianetics Seminar. Held Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and running two days, the seminar addresses depression, self-doubt and insecurity. Attendees learn how to get rid of what Dianetics describes as the previously unknown source of unreasonable fears, upsets and insecurities. Seminar donation: $100.
- Story of Dianetics Film Showing. Shown daily, this introductory film tells the story of how Dianetics began.
- Free Tour of the Public Information Center. Open all day Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Refreshments are available.
- Free Personality Test. The Oxford Capacity Analysis, available all day Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Results are given in person with no obligation.
Church hours overall are 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 Church can be reached at (650) 969-5262.
Beginning Services and the Life Improvement Courses
Beyond the introductory Personal Efficiency Course and the Hubbard Dianetics Seminar, the Church delivers an array of Beginning Services aimed at helping people apply Scientology principles to specific aspects of daily life. Twenty Scientology Life Improvement Courses are offered across five broad subjects.
Ethics and Survival covers overcoming ups and downs in life, personal values and integrity, improving relationships with others, knowing who you can trust, and how to achieve self-confidence.
Goals and Purposes covers how to get motivated, formulas for living, organizing for success, effective time management, setting and achieving goals, and tools for effective leadership.
Survival and Prosperity covers overcoming financial stress, financial security, and principles of prosperity.
Marriage covers creating a successful marriage, maintaining a happy marriage and salvaging a marriage.
Children covers having a happy baby, successfully raising children, and successfully parenting tweens and teens.
A separate Success Through Communication Course is also offered. All of these courses are delivered at the Church of Scientology of Silicon Valley on Linda Vista Avenue.
The Oxford Capacity Analysis and a Free Personality Test
For those who want to begin with a free step, the Church offers the Oxford Capacity Analysis (OCA), described as the most accurate and reliable personality test available. The OCA and the complimentary results consultation are free with no obligation.
The test is intended to find problem areas and discover one's level of happiness, self-confidence, stability and more. It also shows how personality determines the ability to handle relationships and helps identify strengths so they can be increased. The Church emphasizes that participants' information will only be used to administer the test and evaluation, with an opt-in for further information on Scientology, and that information will never be sold or given to a third party.
Beliefs and the Creed
The Church describes Scientology as a religion in its highest meaning, one that helps bring man to total freedom and truth. The essential tenets stated on the Church's materials are these:
- Man is an immortal spiritual being.
- His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime.
- His 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.
The Church holds that Scientology is not a dogmatic religion in which one is asked to accept anything on faith alone. Rather, one discovers for oneself that the principles are true by applying them and observing the results.
The Church's concept of God is expressed as the Eighth Dynamic, the urge toward existence as infinity, also identified as the Supreme Being. Unlike religions with Judeo-Christian origins, the Church of Scientology has no set dogma about God that it imposes on members. Scientology addresses the spirit, not the body or mind, and believes that man is far more than a product of his environment or his genes. The ultimate goal of Scientology is true spiritual enlightenment and freedom for all.
The Practice of Scientology
The Church teaches that while the principles of Scientology are learned in a Scientology church or mission, the actual practice of Scientology takes place in society. Scientology is about learning to do things to improve conditions in one's own life and, in particular, in the lives of others. An active Scientologist is not only considered to be someone who attends a Scientology church or studies Scientology, but also someone who actively uses the insights and knowledge Scientology gives them to make a real, positive difference in the lives of others.
The religion is built around exact, precise methods Mr. Hubbard developed to increase man's spiritual awareness and capabilities. Auditing, the central practice, is a form of one-on-one spiritual counseling delivered in the Hubbard Guidance Center. Ministers provide guidance and support to those in need, whether parishioners or community members, easing current suffering and helping people advance up what Scientology calls The Bridge to total freedom.
How We Help: Programs Supported by the Church
The Church of Scientology of Silicon Valley is part of a global network supporting social betterment and humanitarian programs initiated by L. Ron Hubbard and carried forward by Scientologists worldwide. These programs reach into the local community through the Mountain View church and are open to anyone regardless of belief.
The Way to Happiness. A non-religious moral code written by L. Ron Hubbard, comprising 21 precepts covering honesty, trust, self-respect and the basic skills of living. The Way to Happiness Foundation International, headquartered in Glendale, California, produces booklets in 109 languages and works with schools, businesses, governments and law enforcement agencies to distribute them. Activities have reached 12 million students across 12,000 schools.
Applied Scholastics. Applied Scholastics provides tools based on Mr. Hubbard's Study Technology to defeat illiteracy and raise education standards. From its teacher-training campus near St. Louis, Missouri, Applied Scholastics has implemented Study Technology through more than 1,100 schools and tutoring groups in 72 nations. Nearly 135,000 educators have brought Study Technology to 38 million students worldwide.
Truth About Drugs. Foundation for a Drug-Free World runs what the Church describes as the largest non-governmental drug information and prevention campaign in the world, educating youth in 180 countries. More than 50 million drug prevention booklets have been distributed, and 16 public service announcements titled "They Said, They Lied" have aired on more than 500 television stations in some 100 countries. The 100-minute documentary The Truth About Drugs: Real People, Real Stories has won Telly, Aurora, Communicator and other awards.
Narconon. An international drug rehabilitation program with some 50 facilities spanning five continents, focused on saving lives from addiction.
Criminon. A program aimed at reducing crime and moral decay, working with inmates and at-risk populations.
United for Human Rights and Youth for Human Rights. Education programs teaching the importance of human rights to 100 million people annually across some 190 nations. Their award-winning "30 Rights, 30 Ads" public service announcements illustrate each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and have aired in more than 100 countries on CNN International, Sky News and National Geographic Channel.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Established in 1969, CCHR investigates and exposes psychiatric violations of human rights and has helped enact more than 150 laws protecting individuals from abusive or coercive practices in the field of mental health.
Volunteer Ministers. A global corps of trained volunteers who bring effective physical and spiritual assistance to anyone, anywhere. The Volunteer Minister program was created in the mid-1970s by L. Ron Hubbard. The Church maintains a permanent Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Team, with members having served at more than 200 disaster sites worldwide, including Ground Zero after 9/11, the 2004 Asian tsunamis, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Haiti earthquake, Pakistan floods and the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. Volunteer Minister Cavalcades travel to cities and remote communities in distinctive yellow tents, training citizens in 19 bodies of technology from The Scientology Handbook.
Freedom Magazine. A voice for human rights that publishes investigative reporting.
Languages and International Reach
While the Mountain View church operates in English, its materials reflect the global nature of Scientology. The Dianetics and Scientology bookstore makes Mr. Hubbard's works available in 50 languages. The Way to Happiness booklets are produced in 109 languages. The "30 Rights, 30 Ads" human rights PSAs are available in 17 languages. Volunteer Minister teams have provided assistance in 17 languages to more than 18 million individuals across 15 million miles on five continents.
The international hub for producing these educational materials is the Church of Scientology International Dissemination and Distribution Center in Los Angeles, a 185,000-square-foot printing and production facility opened in 2010.
Visiting the Church
The Church of Scientology of Silicon Valley sits at 1080 Linda Vista Avenue in Mountain View, with parking available on site. Visitors can walk in any day of the week for a free self-guided tour of the Public Information Center, take a free personality test, view a film on Dianetics, or attend one of the regularly scheduled courses or seminars. Those who want a deeper introduction can reserve a seat at the Hubbard Dianetics Seminar or the Personal Efficiency Course online. Sunday Service is at 10:00 a.m. in the Chapel.
Refreshments are available throughout the day in the Bayshore Café, and the Church's reception staff direct visitors to whichever service, tour or course best fits their interest. The address, hours and phone number are listed on the Church's directions page, with a clickable link to driving directions from any starting point.
For those who want to begin at home, the Church offers online courses through the Scientology Online Courses program, drawing on the same materials used in the Life Improvement Courses at the Church. Free copies of A Description of Scientology, the Dianetics and Scientology catalog, and information kits for the various humanitarian programs can be ordered online.
The Faith at a Glance
For the Church of Scientology of Silicon Valley, the practical and the spiritual are intertwined. A visitor walking through the doors on Linda Vista Avenue can take a personality test in the morning, tour the Public Information Center, attend a course on relationships or prosperity in the afternoon, and end the day in the Bayshore Café. A Scientologist pursuing the religion's full path can move from those introductory steps into the Hubbard Guidance Center for auditing, then into the Academy for the training that prepares them to deliver auditing to others, all under one roof. The Chapel, lined with the Codes and Creed of the Church of Scientology, hosts Sunday Services, weddings, naming ceremonies and community gatherings.
Since 1990, this Ideal Org on U.S. 101 has worked to extend its help to communities across Silicon Valley. The Church's own framing of that mission is captured in a line from L. Ron Hubbard that appears throughout Scientology materials: a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights. The Mountain Valley church, in its own words, sees itself as a home for that work in Silicon Valley and an open door to anyone who walks in.