The Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, also known as Flag or FSO, is an American 501(c)(3)

non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been Incorporation (business), incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a ...

. Within the worldwide network of Scientology

corporations A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

and

entities An entity is something that exists as itself, as a subject or as an object, actually or potentially, concretely or abstractly, physically or not. It need not be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually ...

, the FSO is officially referred to as the " spiritual

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

" of the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

. The organization is located in Clearwater, Florida.Information from the official website of the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, retrieved on April 7th, 2008
"Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization 210 South Fort Harrison Ave. Clearwater, Florida 33756 USA 727-445-4387" According to the official website of the Church of Scientology, "the Flag Service Organization (FSO) is a religious retreat which serves as the spiritual headquarters for Scientologists from all over the world. It is the hub of the Scientology worldwide community, a dynamic, multilingual organization and is the largest single Church of Scientology in the world with well over 1,000 staff members." Additionally, the FSO "delivers Dianetics and Scientology services from the very bottom of

The Bridge The Bridge may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Art * ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US * Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists * ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...

to the top, as well as certain specialized

auditing An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

services only available here." In a memorandum provided to the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

, the Church of Scientology International explained the role and the functions of the FSO as follows:

"'Flag' in CSFSO's name originates from the Flag Service Organization's earliest ecclesiastical beginnings in 1967 aboard the Flag Ship Apollo and the name was maintained as tradition when the land-based organization was established. CSFSO ministers the highest levels of auditor training through Class XII and auditing through New OT VII. It serves as the spiritual headquarters for Scientologists from all over the world who travel there to participate in religious services. ..

In another 1993 memorandum by the Church of Scientology International, the following information was provided to the Internal Revenue Service with regards to FSO's personnel and its income:

" ..CSFSO ..ministers high levels of religious services to parishioners from around the world from facilities in Clearwater, Florida. This church has a staff of approximately 449 individuals and an annual budget of approximately $ 81.3 million, based on its annual disbursements for the most recent year for which financial statements are available. ..

Corporate information

The FSO was incorporated in Florida on May 19, 1981. On September 21, 1993, the following individuals held corporate positions at the organization: The

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

was composed of Sue Price, Pam Hubbert and Richard Reiss. The members of the

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

at that time were Catherine Probst, Allen Hubbert and Debbie Cook. The corporation's President was Alicia Danilovich, its Secretary and Treasurer Catherine Probst. As of April 28, 2009, FSO's corporative officers were Lena Lind (President), Harvey Jacques (Director), Peter Mansell (Director), Glen Stilo ( Secretary) and Barbara Meador (Treasurer & Director). FSO's registered agent is currently Robert V. Potter. On August 18, 1993, the FSO filed an application for tax exemption under section

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

of the

Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), formally the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, is the domestic portion of federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 26 ...

. The Internal Revenue Service granted FSO's request for exemption through an official recognition letter on October 1, 1993. The Religious Technology Center (RTC) holds the trademarks and

service marks A service mark or servicemark is a trademark used in the United States and several other countries to identify a service rather than a product. When a service mark is federally registered, the standard registration symbol ® or "Reg U.S. ...

of Scientology. As such, RTC entered an organizational covenant with the FSO on January 1, 1982, granting FSO the right to sell and deliver the "Advanced Technology" to its public members while guaranteeing weekly payments to the RTC of 6% of the monetary value of the "Advanced Technology"-services delivered by the FSO. The

Church of Scientology International The Church of Scientology International, Inc. (CSI) is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Letter by the Internal Revenue Service to Flemming Paludan, Regional Director, Danish Tax-Office, Washington, D.C., December 22, 1993 Within th ...

(CSI) presents itself as the mother church of the Church of Scientology worldwide. As such, it has the right to use and sub-license various Scientology trademarks and service marks. Consequently, CSI has entered a number of agreements with other subordinate organizations in the Scientology

hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

, such as the FSO: *"

License A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Agreement". This agreement from May 26, 1982, regulates the use of the service marks and trademarks by the FSO. *"

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