What is the Sea Organization?
The Sea Organization or "Sea Org" is a religious order whose
members sign a pledge of eternal service to Scientology and its goals. The members of this religious order
thus form the dedicated core of the religion. It is a fraternal religious group, not an organization or
corporation; each of its members is responsible to the individual Church corporation that employs him or
her.
The Sea Organization derives its name from its beginnings in 1967 when Mr. Hubbard, having retired from his position as Executive Director International, set out to sea with a handful of veteran Scientologists to continue his research into the upper levels of spiritual awareness and ability. These original crew members formulated a 1-billion-year contract in recognition of their personal dedication to the religion as immortal spiritual beings. Today all new Sea Org members sign such a contract to continue this tradition.
Although today the majority of Sea Organization members are based on land, in keeping with the tradition of the order’s inception, they still wear maritime-style uniforms and have ranks and ratings.
Sea Org members, having devoted their lives to their religion, work long hours and live communally with housing, meals, uniforms, medical and dental care provided by the Church. They participate in Scientology training and auditing during a portion of each day, but otherwise dedicate themselves to furthering the objectives of Scientology through their particular functions.
Today, more than 5,000 members of this religious order occupy staff positions in upper level Scientology church organizations around the world.
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