The celebration marking Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s hundredth birthday (March 13, 1911) began Saturday evening, March 12, with a momentous Centennial Event including a two-hour biographical presentation of the Founder’s life. It was attended by more than 6,000 in Clearwater, Florida.
The following day, Sunday, March 13, thousands of Scientologists next gathered for a Grand Opening ceremony to dedicate the Church of Scientology of Tampa in its new home, the landmark Ybor Square. The new Tampa Church was made necessary by a fourfold growth in Tampa’s Scientology congregation over the past decade.
Wade Henry—Juggler Extraordinaire Delights and Uplifts the Crowd
Scientologist Wade Henry’s jovial nature and love of people inspired his unique career. His profile is one of 200 "Meet a Scientologist" videos on the Scientology website at www.Scientology.org.
Wade Henry may look like an ordinary guy, but appearances can be deceiving. True, he’s up early for a quick bite to eat and off to work like the rest of us. But "work" is juggling chain saws or eating fire while riding a 12-foot unicycle.
In his "Meet a Scientologist" video at www.Scientology.org, Henry demonstrates some of the tools of his trade.
Fresh out of college with a business degree in 1995, Henry, now 38, decided to tour the world before settling down. He certainly toured, but chances are he’ll never settle down.
Halfway around the planet from his native Toronto when he ran out of money in Sydney, Australia, he created an act he could perform on the streets for tips. But natural entertainer that he is, he enjoyed the "work" so much, he has made it his lifelong career.
It was also in Sydney that Henry found Scientology, picking up and reading a copy of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.
"I had questions about our spiritual nature," says Henry. "Reading books by L. Ron Hubbard, it was clear he not only had answers but also a practical technology that works."
Returning home to Toronto, Henry continued with his Scientology studies. At the Church of Scientology of Toronto, he met and married wife Helen, a single mother of five, and instantly became the patriarch of a large and happy family that has grown to include a son-in-law and two grandchildren.
Now living in Clearwater, Florida, the couple manage his business, The Wade Henry Show. They have used administrative technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard to evolve it from street entertainment to a thriving career with Henry performing nearly 600 shows a year, mostly at festivals and fairs with the occasional corporate event.
"As a performer, Scientology has helped me communicate and develop rapport with my audiences," Henry says.
It has also helped him concentrate.
"I cannot be juggling a chain saw in front of hundreds of people and have my mind wandering into problems that I have back at home or things that happened last week," he says. "I need to be in the here and now and Scientology has helped me do that."
Henry loves entertaining, and the best part of it is the people.
"What I like about being a performing artist is going into communities and uplifting people," Henry says. "I get them away from the television sets and extricated from the virtual world and I deliver shows that bring them up and make them feel more alive."
And being alive is what it’s all about.
"Being a Scientologist is an adventure," says Henry, "and I'm an adventurer. So I love being a Scientologist."
The popular "Meet a Scientologist" profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.
A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, which has now been viewed by millions of visitors.
Meet a Scientologist: What is the Value of a Single Life?
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA • January 25, 2011
Melissa Wattman lives a life of miracles—those she experienced herself and those she creates in the lives of others. Her profile is one of 200 “Meet a Scientologist” videos available on the Scientology website at www.Scientology.org.
Melissa Wattman was not expected to see her ninth birthday. Diagnosed with leukemia, she regained the will to live through Scientology, and recovered.
Having experienced such a miracle herself, it is not surprising that when Melissa turned 16 she decided to become a Scientology auditor. An auditor is a Scientology spiritual counselor, from Latin audire, “to hear or listen.”
“When I looked at how much help I’d received and how much it bettered my life, I wanted to give back,” says Wattman. “People suffer. They experience the death of someone they love, or someone betrays them or they fail. Without Dianetics and Scientology auditing these personal tragedies continue to affect them the rest of their lives and if the pain is less acute, it is only because they have become numb. As a Scientology auditor I can restore joy and happiness to their lives.”
In becoming a Scientology auditor in 1992, Wattman, 34, followed in the tradition of her mother Abby who established and directs a counseling group in Clearwater, Florida. Over the past 19 years, Melissa has helped more than 100 people with the auditing skills she has learned.
“I have salvaged marriages and helped people overcome drug addiction. And as a Scientology auditor, I know that whether I help them right away or it takes a little while, it always works,” she says.
One woman came to Wattman devastated. Her brother had been kidnapped and murdered by terrorists, and the woman only learned of it when she saw it on TV news.
“After just a half-hour session, she was calm, looked years younger, and experienced enormous relief. Nothing can bring her brother back,” says Wattman, “but the trauma and shock are gone. She can cherish his memory without suffering, and has been able to move on.”
“Auditing others gets you in tune with people,” she says. “When you make one person happy it causes a ripple effect—that person reaches out to help others. I see auditing as a personal expression of a love of mankind.”
