For mission director Cyndy Wright, it's the completion of a years-long dream to open a center that will offer courses for people new to Scientology.
"We have tools to help you handle life," she said. "People don't know where to get those tools. That's why we wanted to establish [a mission]."
The city already has a Church of Scientology at 1931 S. 1100 East. It is for those more advanced in the church's teachings.
About 100 people attended the ribbon cutting at 353 E. 400 South, including Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka. Anderson acknowledged the strange pairing - he's a liberal and she a conservative - saying he wanted photos taken of the two of them together.
Quoting from Hubbard and then from her church president, LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley, on the importance of family, Ruzicka praised the Scientologists. She has worked with some at the Legislature against state intervention in family affairs. "What a great blessing this will be for the city of Salt Lake to have you here," she said.
Anderson welcomed the mission as a "beacon of spirituality" and "beacon of health and nurturing."
The mission includes a library of Hubbard writings, a room for lectures on parenting, handling stress, improving business, communication and relationships, according to the staff. Part of the teachings involve purification, and the mission includes a sauna and treadmill for that process.
"Life can be good," said Lora Mengucci, a spokeswoman for the local church, of the purifications. "When [toxins are] gone, it's even better."
Those at the opening were invited to test their stress levels with an "e-meter."
It's part of the church's teachings of Dianetics, which the church defines as a way to alleviate "unwanted sensations and emotions, irrational fears and psychosomatic illnesses," according to the church Web site.
The site also says Dianetics eliminates the "reactive mind - the hidden part of your mind that stores all painful experiences and then uses them against you."
The Scientology classes cost money. Introductory ones range between $15 and $60, though the price tag can jump substantially.
"It's certainly not any more than a college education or buying a car," said Diane Gagon, an executive of two Scientology churches in Seattle and who was in town for the mission opening.
She became a Scientologist more than 30 years ago. "I became much happier. It was the thing that opened the door for me."
There are between 200 and 300 active Church of Scientology members in Utah.
hmay@sltrib.com
