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THE HISTORY OF SCIENTOLOGY’S EXPANSION
The Move to Saint Hill
To establish a central training, management and dissemination point, Mr. Hubbard and his family moved to Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, Sussex, England. Here, in July 1959, the Hubbard Communications Office Worldwide was established. In keeping with his advice from two years earlier, one of the first departments to be established was a shipping office for books – and orders poured in so quickly that they could not be filled fast enough. To help staff members cope with the demand for books and services, 1959 saw such administrative policy letters as “How to Handle Work” and “How to Get Approval of Actions and Projects.”
“Hubbard Communications Office is now safely and securely established at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex,” Mr. Hubbard wrote in the autumn of 1959, and by early 1960 the half-hundred acres at Saint Hill were the scene of much activity. Cables and telegrams arrived at all hours of the day and night with requests for more books, advice and reports of expansion in 11 different countries.
To ensure orderly growth, Mr. Hubbard continued his study of administrative procedure, codifying the basic principles and drafting appropriate policy letters. Meanwhile, the call went out for staff to help with everything from delivering messages and typing, to training and auditing, to executive functions.
With the firm establishment of these worldwide organizational basics at Saint Hill the previous summer, Scientology entered into an accelerated period of expansion through 1960. After yet more lectures at his home, Mr. Hubbard set off to South Africa in September. There, he standardized the administration of a steadily building organization before moving on to Washington for another series of lectures. Returning to Saint Hill in early January 1961, he found letters from such frontiers as Cuba, where a resident doctor was attempting to organize a correspondence course; Thailand, where pioneer Scientologists offered an introductory Scientology course to the monks of a Bangkok monastery; and Israel, where a number of teachers were reading Dianetics. There were also letters from Bombay where educators were utilizing Scientology principles, and more orders for books from Peoria, Illinois, to Auckland, New Zealand.
More statistical facts about Scientology
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