The Volunteer Minister program is a worldwide effort founded by the Church of Scientology International.
According to the Church: "It is a worldwide movement that has for more than
25 years worked across national, racial, political and religious boundaries in more than 150 countries to help people deal with upheavals and has helped them put their lives back together."
Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for the organization to send "teams" of "Volunteer Ministers" to the scenes of major, headline-grabbing disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts. (According to critics of Scientology, most of these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by L. Ron Hubbard entitled The Way To Happiness, and by engaging in a method of calming panicked or injured invividuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist.")
The Volunteer Minister program most heavily promoted by Scientology took place in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when approximately one thousand Scientologists were sent to New York City to participate in the relief efforts there. Scientologists wearing bright yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the logo "Scientology Volunteer Minister" became a common sight at the World Trade Center site during the cleanup efforts. Critics of Scientology accused the organization of attempting to take advantage of the disaster in order to promote Scientology to the grief-stricken populace in the area.
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