Church of Spiritual Technology

Timeline

1982

Creation of the Church of Spiritual Technology As part of LRH's estate planning, CST was founded in 1982 by Lyman Spurlock, *720 Meade Emory, Esq., Leon Misterek, Esq., and Sherman Lenske, Esq. CST was incorporated as a non-profit corporation under California law, and subsequently sought tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code.

CST's Articles of Incorporation describe the purpose of the organization as follows: "The corporation shall espouse, present, propagate, practice, ensure and maintain the purity and integrity of the religion of Scientology...." Article III, By-laws of Church of Spiritual Technology. 

One of CST's specific duties, unique among Scientology churches, is to create and maintain an archive of scriptures for future generations. It is important to Scientology that its scriptures be preserved for at least the next billion years, in order that future generations have available to them the words of LRH. 

The other stated purpose behind CST was to provide LRH, then still living, with a depository for the bulk of his testamentary estate, as explained above. CST's founders wanted to accomplish "the creation of an organization to which Mr. Hubbard would be willing to (and did) bequeath the bulk of his estate, and most importantly his copyrights and patents (which include copyrights to scriptures of the religion and patents on the E-Meter)." [FN20] (Court Cases)

1983

CST's operating funds thus far have come exclusively from other Scientology management churches. In 1983, CST received what was described as a "one-time start-up grant" of $17,959,745 from the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization. In addition, CST has received annual unrestricted grants from RTC ranging from $623,000 to $2.8 million. (Court Cases)

1993, 29.11.

On 29 November 1993, less than two months after the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) was granted tax exemption by IRS, Starkey transferred all the L. Ron Hubbard copyrights to CST, as is illustrated below. (NOTE: The "License Agreements" illustrated between Starkey and the Religious Technology Center (RTC) did not transfer actual ownership. (Veritas)

Special Directors

None of the founders of CST, with the exception of Mr. Spurlock, has any stated religious connection to Scientology. Messrs. Emory, Misterek and Lenske have served as counsel to other Scientology groups, but nothing in the record indicates that any of them has ever been a member of any Scientology organization. 

Mr. Lenske and two other non-Scientologists have the status of Special Directors of CST. The Articles of Incorporation require that CST have three such Special Directors, and further requires that they be lawyers in order to ensure that CST takes no action to jeopardize its tax-exempt status. (Court Cases)

General Directors

The General Directors and staff of CST are, however, closely linked to other Scientology organizations. The General Directors (the governing body) must be in good standing with the mother church. Staff members are required to be members of the Sea Org. Trustees of the organization are required to have been Scientologists for at least eight years, and must be highly trained in the teachings and technology of Scientology. CST trustees are also required to remain actively involved in giving and receiving Scientology services. They must also participate in at least twelve and one half hours of training per week. (Court Cases)

From Veritas Web Site

It is indisputable that the Church of Spiritual Technology, doing business as the L. Ron Hubbard Library, is the seat of power in Scientology. They own ALL the copyrights. (See "How CST Grabbed the Copyrights.") They have the right to seize control of ALL trademarks, and to seize control of ALL the "Advanced Technology" at any time, at their "sole discretion."  (See "What's Behind the L. Ron Hubbard Library?") 

But WHO are the shadowy figures in control of the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST)?  

If you take a look at the SECRET CHART OF POWER, you'll see that, whoever they are, they rule over all of Scientology. We've reproduced just a section of that chart at right to show the structure at the top of CST. The Trustees have the power to elect and remove the Directors, and the Directors have the power to elect and remove the Officers. 

CST is unique, in that it is the only Scientology corporation known to have "Special Directors." Their exact role is unknown, but they seem to wield quite a lot of power. 

So who ARE these secretive people in power? 

The short answer is: nobody knows--at least, nobody outside the small circle of those who are in control. 

The reason why nobody knows involves California corporate law and IRS Codes. In California, only MEMBERS of a religious corporation can have access to the corporate records that name the Trustees, Directors, Special Directors, and Officers. And the Church of Spiritual Technology was set up specifically to have NO MEMBERS. So it was the FOUNDERS of CST who made sure that the identities of the people running it would be forever protected. 

WHO SET IT UP TO BE SECRET? WHO ARE THE FOUNDERS? 

There are four co-founders:

Of the four, only Lyman Spurlock even claims to be a Scientologist. He is also a CPA. The other three are tax and probate attorneys. 

Although the four are named as co-founders in a 1992 United States Claims Court ruling, Sherman Lenske is named as "sole incorporator" in the Articles of Incorporation. 

WHY ARE THEY HIDING? 

Why would NONE of the founders of CST respond to simple questions about the current leadership of the corporation? Why did they set up CST so that members of the public couldn't find out who the leaders were? Why would they not return phone calls? We don't know. 

It's almost certain that the IRS knows who the current leaders are; they granted CST tax exemption, and the formerly-secret IRS Closing Agreement requires certain annual reports to be submitted to IRS on all Scientology-related entities. It is virtually certain that the leadership of CST is part of what must be reported. 

So why the super-secrecy? 

These men are supposedly religious leaders, pillars of society, who have set up a corporation organized strictly in the public interest for religious, charitable purposes--with the blessings of IRS. So what possible reason could they have for keeping the identities of the leadership of their church such a closely guarded secret? 

We don't know yet. The story is still unfolding. Is it because of the strange case of the Library of Congress records? (See "A New Slant on Fraud?") Is there something more behind Meade Emory's IRS connections, something hidden back in the years of 1975-1977? Is it all tied to L. Ron Hubbard's mysterious disappearance? 

Whatever the cause, the question will not go away, and sooner or later the answer must out. But for now the question rings and echoes: WHY the secrecy?