“Whether it was food, water, equipment, or your own unique spiritual help,” said Stephen Hittmann, in a letter to the president of NYC’s Celebrity Centre Church of Scientology, “you were there working alongside people of many faiths to provide whatever was wanted or needed by the members of the Fire Department and the other rescue forces.”

Hittman is the executive director of Fire & Life Safety of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Referring to L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the religion of Scientology, who considered his work only as valuable as it was a help to others, Hittmann wrote: “Your volunteer ministers exemplified that philosophy at Ground Zero and continue to do so in their help to firefighters throughout New York. The assistance you provided was vital, and I commend your members [from] here in New York, and from across the United States, who came to help when help was needed most.”

Scientologists believe that “Something can be done about it.” These words express the spirit behind the movement and capture its sense of urgency about changing a society where individual men and women are increasingly beset by economic, political, and social forces that seem more and more out of control.

Scientology ministers volunteer because they understand that something needs to be done about the world, and they wants to do what they can to change it by helping those around them.

By training as volunteer ministers, they learn basic tools to use to alleviate the troubles of those they know or meet. Enough people doing this will change the world because, Scientologists believe, the larger problems of mankind are a composite of the problems of individual men and women.

Volunteer minister services are commonly known as “assists.” An assist is neither healing, nor treatment. It is, in the words of the church, helping an individual “to heal himself or be healed by another agency by removing his reasons for precipitating and prolonging his condition and lessening his predisposition to further injure himself or remain in an intolerable condition.”

For example, one local volunteer minister assisted a friend who had severe back pains and mental trauma after falling down a flight of stairs. The minister discovered that her friend was experiencing a lot of stress at work. She applied a “nerve assist” (one of the many assists available for use by volunteer ministers) to help her friend deal with her work situation. As the friend realized the source of her concerns, the emotional trauma eased, her back pains subsided, and she was able to move about freely. She was soon able to make decisions that resolved her situation, and she became herself again—bright, happy, and successful at work and life.

More success stories, more information on volunteer ministers and assists, and assistance from ministers are all available at the 1159 Fort Street Mall Church of Scientology. The church is all-denominational, so everyone can benefit from and learn these techniques. People of all faiths and walks of life are encouraged to participate.

Call 545-5804. All it takes is a need for help or a desire to help others.