The Church of Scientology is expanding in Nashville, opening what the religion calls a "celebrity centre" at the historic Fall School Business Center on 8th Avenue South and Chestnut Street.
Renovations are under way at the 36,000 square-foot building, with an opening expected before summer, said Gaetane Asselin and Wendy Beccaccini, who are overseeing the project. The current location at 1204 16th Ave. S. will close when the new one opens.
With hundreds of members locally, it was time to expand, said Beccaccini, a spokeswoman who has been a member for over two decades. The church has been in Nashville since the 1980s but not that visible, she said.
"We are better established," Beccaccini said. "We have a few hundred members. We needed a bigger presence."
The church's trust purchased the former elementary school building along with two adjacent properties for $6 million in June last year. The school, which is on the National Registry of Historical Places, was built in 1898.
Scientology has millions of members, with celebrities including Tom Cruise and John Travolta giving the church most of its fame.
But Scientology has faced criticism for some of its practices, including disapproving psychiatric and drug treatment and its expensive costs for members.
Scientology, which is a relatively new religion created by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, has 7,500 churches and buildings worldwide. Scientology's headquarters are in Clearwater, Fla.
During its expansion in Clearwater in the late 1970s and 1980s, the church battled with a local newspaper and with the city to receive its religious tax exemption. The church also came under fire for treatment of its members, with lawsuits and countersuits.
Todd Lake, Belmont University's vice president of spiritual development, said he's concerned with the expansion in Nashville. Lake said he grew up around Scientologists in Los Angeles and later in Munich, Germany. (2 of 2)
"It's called a celebrity centre and that tells you the socio-economic class they are looking at," he said. "In both places where I lived, there was always concern about them. It was often a very expensive proposition and occasionally a dangerous one." Advertisement
Church is moneymaker
Lake, who works for a Christian university, said the new building is just not a new church, but will be a moneymaker for the institution.
"I don't want people to be fooled," he said. "It's not like entering your local Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist or Presbyterian Church. It's something very different. The concerns we should be expressing is whether this is a cult."
Asselin said many churches survive with what members donate. Asselin said the criticism is unfair because people pass away and bequeath large sums to churches. But if it's Scientology, it gets a bad rap.
"It's not worse because it's Scientology, or better because it's Christian," she said. "Who is to say who is better or who's not? The point with the money is what is being done with it. We reinvest in our community."
Beccaccini and Asselin said Scientology is about practicality and creating the proper environment for people.
Group helps community
They've reached out to the community with success.
Brenda Morrow, director of the Edgehill Family Resource Center, cooperated with the Church of Scientology on an anti-drug workshop for the resource center's youth leadership advisory council. Morrow said the drug-free message resonated through the public service announcement video displayed by the organization at the meeting.
"It was really interactive," Morrow said. "I can't think of any negative from having a partnership with the Church of Scientology or the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. At this rate, it will take all of us to help young people realize drugs are not the way to go."
"It's called a celebrity centre and that tells you the socio-economic class they are looking at," he said. "In both places where I lived, there was always concern about them. It was often a very expensive proposition and occasionally a dangerous one."
Church is moneymaker
Lake, who works for a Christian university, said the new building is just not a new church, but will be a moneymaker for the institution.
"I don't want people to be fooled," he said. "It's not like entering your local Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist or Presbyterian Church. It's something very different. The concerns we should be expressing is whether this is a cult."
Asselin said many churches survive with what members donate. Asselin said the criticism is unfair because people pass away and bequeath large sums to churches. But if it's Scientology, it gets a bad rap.
"It's not worse because it's Scientology, or better because it's Christian," she said. "Who is to say who is better or who's not? The point with the money is what is being done with it. We reinvest in our community."
Beccaccini and Asselin said Scientology is about practicality and creating the proper environment for people.
Group helps community
They've reached out to the community with success.
Brenda Morrow, director of the Edgehill Family Resource Center, cooperated with the Church of Scientology on an anti-drug workshop for the resource center's youth leadership advisory council. Morrow said the drug-free message resonated through the public service announcement video displayed by the organization at the meeting.
"It was really interactive," Morrow said. "I can't think of any negative from having a partnership with the Church of Scientology or the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. At this rate, it will take all of us to help young people realize drugs are not the way to go."
