c. 2006 Religion News Service

CLEARWATER, Fla. _ Scientology is perhaps best-known for its most famous practitioner, Tom Cruise. But here in this beachy suburb of Tampa, Scientologists are neighbors, business owners, real estate investors _ and a growing force that makes some uncomfortable.

The Church of Scientology, despite its official status as a tax-exempt religious organization, is nonetheless the largest taxpayer in downtown Clearwater, home to its worldwide spiritual headquarters. The church and its members have flourished here, opening or refurbishing dozens of hotels, condos, office buildings and more, paying some $750,000 a year in taxes on revenue-generating properties, according to Mayor Frank Hibbard.

Today Scientologists own much of downtown Clearwater. They have given new life to a waterfront district that was ailing when they moved here in 1975. They draw tourists and celebrities such as Cruise and John Travolta, and they serve in a host of civic organizations. In one study commissioned by the church, Scientologists’ direct spending in the community in 1999 was estimated at $119 million.

But not everyone is pleased. Many residents complain the church, its controversial history and unique beliefs alienate residents from a downtown that, despite the development and prime location minutes from the beach, remains sleepy even during lunch and rush hours. Many storefronts are vacant. Staffers, dressed in church-issued uniforms of button-down shirts and slacks, cluster on the streets.

Downtown may look better, they say, but unless you’re a Scientologist there’s little reason to go there.

It’s a unique quandary for city leaders, said Darryl Paulson, professor of government at the University of South Florida campus in neighboring St. Petersburg.

“There aren’t many politicians who are opposed to real estate development and expanding tax bases,” he said. “In general it’s a situation that any city council member or city manager would like to have. The community is redeveloping, and the tax base is expanding. … They’ve certainly been part of the development process in Clearwater.”

The 4,000-member Calvary Baptist Church left downtown last year after nearly a century there, but not directly because of Scientology, said the Rev. William Rice.

“It’s just an unusual feel to it,” he said. “When you drive down there, there are people in uniforms and they are walking hurriedly from here to there. It is not a normal feel to a downtown city, where you have a variety of people. … Downtown Clearwater has a dead feel to it.”

The ambivalence in Clearwater hasn’t discouraged Scientologists from making ambitious plans to develop other sites across Florida, part of a worldwide expansion. During a recent interview in an ornate conference room of a renovated downtown bank, church spokesman Ben Shaw talked of affluent Sarasota to the south and Gainesville up north as possible new locations. He proudly showed glossy photographic renderings of how refurbished properties the church has already bought worldwide might eventually look.

The church boasts up to 10 million followers worldwide, he said, a number based on those involved in congregations and those who’ve bought the writings of founder L. Ron Hubbard, for example. That’s roughly the same size as the United Methodist Church worldwide, the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination.

In recent years the church has invested $200 million in purchasing new property around the world, Shaw said, drawing on wealth it accumulates through high-level, fee-based training offered to parishioners and the Hubbard estate, among other sources.

“To the degree the church is growing worldwide, the church will grow here,” Shaw said.

Scientologists believe humans are immortal spiritual beings. Practitioners work to peel away layers of negativity that inhibit their spiritual beings, for some through a counseling process called auditing.

The church’s management headquarters is in Los Angeles, but according to the church, up to 12,000 followers visit its spiritual center in Clearwater annually for spiritual training including auditing, which at the highest levels can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

The church, founded on a fleet of boats, was drawn to Clearwater for its waterfront location. The city is home to more than 1,500 staffers who live in church-owned hotels and condos, where visiting Scientologists stay while undergoing training. In addition to uniforms, the church provides meals, medical care and a $75 weekly allowance for personal items such as books, movie tickets and haircuts.

When Scientologists bought the Fort Harrison Hotel in 1975, a downtown landmark where the Rolling Stones wrote “Satisfaction,” without identifying themselves, it immediately engendered mistrust, said J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and an expert on new religious movements.

Other controversies, including the 1995 death of a woman under church staffers’ care, added to the strain. Criminal charges against the church over the woman’s death eventually were dropped.

The relationship thawed after the church was recognized as a religious organization by the Internal Revenue Service in 1993. Shaw said church leaders feel responsible for improving downtown on behalf of their international visitors. Hibbard, the mayor, said the city’s downtown is indeed diverse with a variety of businesses, a new library and a refurbishment project under way on the main thoroughfare.

“We are not just a Scientology city,” he said. “We are a diverse city.”

It is hard to gauge whether all the expansion reflects growing strength and popularity on the part of the church, Melton said. He said it’s possible that the church exaggerates the number of followers and its portfolio, but either way, scholars don’t see the church losing followers. The church obviously has discretionary cash.

“It’s a very successful outside group,” he said, “but it’s still very much outside the religious establishment.”

Perhaps Clearwater residents ought to brace for more. Paulson, from the University of Florida, believes Scientologists’ influence will probably grow. While local politicians tend to distance themselves from the church, he believes Scientologists’ involvement in civic organizations _ from development boards to the Girl Scouts _ “may be a precursor to something that will follow.”

“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if after that they go on and get involved in the political process, much more actively and much more openly involved to the point they will be running candidates,” he said. “They have a substantial potential to influence.”

KRE/PH END GREEN

Editors: To obtain photos of two Scientology buildings in Clearwater, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

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