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Church of Scientology Brings Together Diverse Community for 7th Annual International Friendship Day Celebration

The Church of Scientology Nashville held its seventh annual Friendship Day open house with participation from the diverse population that makes up the ever-growing city.

International Day of Friendship was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011 in the belief that “friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.”

“We love bringing a diverse group of people together and demonstrating the power of friendship,” says Rev. Brian Fesler, pastor of the Church of Scientology Nashville. “Most of life’s problems come from our basic misunderstanding of each other—a misunderstanding of intentions. Getting along with one another starts with getting to know each other.”

From the podium, Rev. Fesler has those participating in the Friendship Day event at the Church find out more about each other to bridge differences and create more interfaith understanding. 

The Church of Scientology partners in this effort with The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee, which provides a community betterment program based on the book The Way to Happiness by L. Ron Hubbard. The initiative is predicated on the fact that one’s survival depends on the survival of others—and that without the survival of others, neither joy nor happiness is attainable. Several precepts in the book promote dialogue and friendship, among them “Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others,” “Be Worthy of Trust,” and “Try to Treat Others As You Would Want Them to Treat You.”

This year, the International Friendship Day theme was “sharing the human spirit through friendship,” and the Nashville event embodied this with dialogue between those of many different faith traditions, from Baptist and Catholic to Scientologist, Jew, and Latter-day Saint.

Rev. Enoch Fuzz, pastor of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church, sent his message for the day. “People need to come together and be friends,” he said. Illness prevented the pastor from attending this year’s friendship day but his congregation was there. Fuzz and Fesler have been working together on this annual event for the past seven years.

For more information on the Church of Scientology, its programs or upcoming events, visit Scientology-ccnashville.org.

The Scientology religion was founded by author and philosopher L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in Los Angeles in 1954 and the religion has expanded to more than 11,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 countries.

CONTACT:
Church of Scientology Media Relations
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