Church of Scientology Nashville Hosts Disaster Response Conference

Churches of Scientology Disaster Response teams from seven states converged at the Church of Scientology Nashville for an annual conference on disaster response.

The Church of Scientology Nashville hosted a Disaster Response Conference in early May for its national disaster response team. Led by Sue Taylor and Joava Good, Director and Deputy Director for the National Churches of Scientology Disaster Response, the conference was an all-weekend affair to update response teams from seven states on the latest in disaster response and cover all kinds of ground.

The conference was held in anticipation of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Conference, also held in Nashville this year. VOAD  is an “association of organizations that mitigate and alleviate the impact of disasters, provides a forum promoting cooperation, communication, coordination and collaboration; and fosters more effective delivery of services to communities affected by disaster,” according to its website. The National VOAD coalition includes more than 100 member organizations, which represent national members, State VOADs, Local/Regional VOADs and hundreds of other member organizations throughout the country.

The Churches of Scientology Disaster Response is part of National VOAD and its teams are comprised of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers.

Whether serving in their communities or on the other side of the world, the motto of the Scientology Volunteer Minister is “Something can be done about it.” The program, created in the mid 1970s by L. Ron Hubbard and sponsored by the Church of Scientology International as a religious social service, constitutes one of the world’s largest and most visible international independent relief forces.

The Volunteer Minister “helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”

A global network of Volunteer Ministers mobilizes in times of manmade and natural disasters, answering the call wherever needed. Collaborating with some 1,000 organizations and agencies, they have utilized their skill and experience in providing physical support and spiritual aid at hundreds of disaster sites. For more information, visit volunteerministers.org.