On March 18 Scientology held its annual birthday party for founder L. Ron Hubbard, who was born on March 13, 1911.
This year, the event was held in the auditorium of the Fort Harrison Hotel in Scientology’s “Flag Land Base,” its spiritual mecca in Clearwater, Florida. That’s a smaller space than the city’s Ruth Eckerd Hall (capacity: 2,180), where church leader David Miscavige traditionally held the event each year before the pandemic.
But even if the venue was a bit smaller, Miscavige had good reason to hold the event on Scientology property. For years he’s been dodging process servers in litigation filed against the church, and in particular a 2022 labor trafficking lawsuit that had been filed in nearby Tampa.
On February 14, the Tampa federal district court ruled that Miscavige was intentionally evading service of the trafficking case and named him an official defendant. But he had his attorneys file an objection to that ruling, and as the birthday party event was being held, his position was that he still had not been served properly. That charade finally ended on March 31 when District Judge Thomas Barber upheld the ruling that found Miscavige had been evading service. (Unfortunately for the plaintiffs suing Miscavige and Scientology, Judge Barber also ruled in favor of the church’s motions for arbitration, and derailed the case itself.)
Anyway, we bring this up because in new photographs of the birthday event recently released by the Church of Scientology, Dave is looking a bit like all that running and hiding has taken a bit of a toll on the diminutive ecclesiastical church leader, who turns 63 years old a week from today.
We thought you’d like to see some of the images that the church released, and here they are with Scientology’s own captions…
SCIENTOLOGISTS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD traveled to the religion’s spiritual headquarters to celebrate the one name, the one man who brings hope, help and heightened ability to millions: L. Ron Hubbard.
AS MR. DAVID MISCAVIGE, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, steps to the stage, the crowd jumps to its feet with an ovation going on … and on … and on.
“TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT we celebrate L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday,” began Mr. Miscavige. “It’s a night we traditionally shower him with the gift he most wished for on his birthday in return for his legacy—the legacy of tech. So, you want to know why tonight is going to be an epic celebration? It’s because tonight the clouds of heaven itself are going to part with a deafening thunderclap, and the gifts of EXPANSION are going to rain down like a torrential hundred-year storm!”
What followed were the usual rah-rah reports about how Scientology is undergoing the greatest expansion ever (it isn’t), and a list of the Birthday Game winners for the past three years as the church catches up after the pandemic. (For a more detailed report on this, see our previous description from an eyewitness.)
In a press release, Scientology listed the year’s big recognitions for Hubbard that Miscavige outlined at the event…
From the State of Washington, a proclamation and flag flown over the capitol building commemorating 100 years since Mr. Hubbard launched his Boy Scout career in Tacoma;
From the Los Angeles Police Museum, a special tribute honoring the 75th anniversary of Mr. Hubbard taking the oath as an LAPD Special Officer, a crucial step on LRH’s Dianetics research path;
A recognition from the United States Congress, marking 50 years since LRH developed the Scientology Volunteer Minister Program and praising the global force that now stands 2.5 million strong;
From the mayor of Bay Head, New Jersey, where LRH authored Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, the key to the city in recognition of his “Legacy to Mankind”;
From representatives of the historic theater in Phoenix, Arizona, where LRH delivered the landmark Congress unifying Dianetics and Scientology, a proclamation lauding LRH’s global impact;
From the US Department of the Interior in Washington, DC, where the Founding Church of Scientology is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. With that, every LRH Landmark Site in the US is listed and officially recognized as a site of significance in US history;
And from city governments, law enforcement, national ministries, ambassadors, legislators, senators and prime ministers—more than 800 new recognitions honoring Mr. Hubbard since the beginning of this decade.
Then Dave turned to his latest tech initiative, the Golden Age of Administration, which our experts have told us is about as desperate as it gets as Miscavige tries to convince his followers that a revolution in L. Ron Hubbard’s business administration policies will somehow reverse the organization’s steady decline.
To show that the Golden Age of Administration is really the hot ticket, these images were released. Again, we’re posting them with Scientology’s own captions…
A NEW GOLDEN AGE
Top executives from Churches of Scientology around the world fill multiple course rooms as they progress through the Golden Age of Administration Executive Training Program.
THE MOST IMPORTANT TRAINING PROGRAM IN SCIENTOLOGY HISTORY
Hip, hip, hooray! Scientology will have this planet Cleared in no time.
Oh, and here’s another good shot of Miscavige. Note, of course, the wedding ring.
So what do you think? Is it just us or does Dave look like running and hiding has taken its toll on him?
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
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"A recognition from the United States Congress, marking 50 years since LRH developed the Scientology Volunteer Minister Program..." I can't find any Congressional 'recognition' for Lroon's VMs. Just a paid for 'press release' about a small party of VMs in NYC. Could Miscavige be lying? I find it to be an unacceptable untruth.
https://kdvr.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/625738746/celebrating-the-scientology-volunteer-ministers-movement-on-its-50th-anniversary/
“A recognition from the United States Congress, marking 50 years since LRH developed the Scientology Volunteer Minister Program and praising the global force that now stands 2.5 million strong;”
I think they’re off by about five zeros.