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Religion

Scientologist discusses faith with Tiger Bay Club

The visit is part of an ongoing effort by the church to foster relationships with the community.

By ROBERT FARLEY
Published May 11, 2005

FEATHER SOUND - The Suncoast Tiger Bay Club prides itself on asking tough questions.

Its members held true to form on Tuesday afternoon, peppering their guest speaker, Pat Harney, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in Clearwater.

Is Scientology a cult? Does the church stockpile weapons? Did L. Ron Hubbard create Scientology as a way to make himself wealthy?

Harney smiled and said she had expected them all.

The Church of Scientology has been a fixture in downtown Clearwater for 30 years, and yet many people know very little of what it's about, she said.

People describe the church as a cult to disparage a religion with which they don't agree, she said.

"It's nothing I haven't heard before," Harney said afterward. "It just makes you recognize the amount of work it's going to take to communicate who we truly are."

For the church, meeting with the Tiger Bay Club was the latest in an ongoing effort to build relationships with a community that has been skeptical, and at times hostile, to its growing presence.

Tiger Bay Club president Bob Fisher said the club approached the church to supply a guest speaker because, "I think Scientology is a controversial organization and has been for many years."

Harney began her presentation by noting that she has been a member of the Tiger Bay Club, which boasts that it has been "carving up a politician for lunch since 1978."

"It is more than high time that we got to meet each other formally," Harney said.

There are about 12,000 Scientologists living in the Tampa Bay area, including 1,400 staffers working at Flag, the church's international religious retreat in downtown Clearwater. At any given time, about 1,500 members are visiting the retreat from around the world, she said.

Harney scored points with many club members when she described the church's secular programs aimed at drug rehabilitation and literacy, as well as the church's volunteer ministers, who provided 20,000 hours of assistance to emergency workers after the hurricanes last year.

Locally, members participate in about 100 civic groups, and in 2004 provided 230,000 hours of volunteer service, she said.

The club's "Fang and Claw Award," given to the person who asks the toughest question, went to Jere Turner, a retired English professor and Clearwater native who asked why the church needed armed guards at its base in the Fort Harrison Hotel.

"I can tell you categorically and absolutely, there are no men with guns," Harney said, adding that the church does have security guards.

After the meeting, Beverly Mitlin, a past president of the club, walked up to Harney and grabbed her by the arm.

"I wanted to tell you you did a good job," Mitlin said. "You held your own."

[Last modified May 11, 2005, 00:45:11]