How big is Scientology in the United Kingdom? According to OSA boss Janet Laveau in a 2006 Evening Standard article there were “about 200,000 adherents” in the UK.. That number dropped significantly when another spokesperson told a reporter “we have 118,000 members in the UK, 2,000 in London” 11 years later.
However, census data tells us there were just 2,418 British Scientologists in 2011 and 1,854 in 2021 – a decrease of 23%, and far less than the number of followers the Church claims to have in London, let alone the whole country.
And yet, Scientology continues to promote itself as “the fastest growing religion on planet Earth”, and recent years has seen articles written by church-affiliated blogs claim “7,000 people” attend the annual gathering of their membership body, the International Association of Scientologists (IAS).
This year’s IAS event is set to take place this weekend at their UK headquarters on the grounds of Saint Hill Manor, a lavish country estate nestled in the Sussex countryside that was once home to founder L. Ron Hubbard. It’s a star-studded affair, with Tom Cruise spotted arriving by helicopter in 2023 and it’s certainly true that thousands of parishioners travel from across the world to attend. However, as we reported last year the illegal tent erected – often without planning permission – to host the event has a capacity of around 3,000.
It’s the only major event in the Scientology calendar hosted by reclusive leader David Miscavige that takes place outside of the United States, and is touted as “the greatest gathering of Scientologists”, though this year our inside sources told us Saint Hill are aiming to confirm just 2,000 attendees for the main event tomorrow.
Orgs in Europe typically provide coaches for its parishioners, who often find it difficult to book flights and accommodation due to the last-minute nature of the event. The date of this year’s gathering was announced on 11th October, just shy of three weeks before it is set to take place. Last week we reported that Orgs in Italy have teamed up to offer a 48-hour round-trip coach service that stops in Rome, Florence and Milan before arriving in East Grinstead in time for the event. This suggests there are not enough Scientologists in each city alone to fill a coach and though it makes sense to team up, it’s another sign of the church’s slow decline in popularity.
Last year, we spotted the coach arriving from London Org and it seemed to be about 75% full. With bus capacities ranging from 40 – 60, we would’ve expected the “fastest growing religion on planet Earth”, with “2,000” members in London to need several coaches in order to transport its followers down to East Grinstead. However according to a post shared earlier this week on social media, London Org has secured so many confirms for this year’s gala they’re considering arranging a second coach!
“If you require the London coach, please tell us ASAP as 1 x coach is already full up”, the post claims. In true Scientology style, it continues “in addition we need everyone on course, in-session or contributing in some way to London this week. So that we can show Management that LONDON really is the best org on the planet”
With less than a week to go before the “greatest gathering” of Scientologists, which is taking place just an hour outside of London, we would’ve expected more than one bus from “the best org on the planet”. Or maybe Scientology has been over-inflating its membership figures and the church faces it’s biggest challenge yet: a slow heat death.
