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Church Has Few Members in State
By Pat Gilliland
Sunday Oklahoman
September 27, 1992
TULSA - Rick Hull is accustomed to people raising their eyebrows or asking questions when they learn he is a Scientologist.
"It's basically a lack of knowledge or understanding of what it is," said Hull, 46, one of only about 300 Scientologists in Oklahoma.
"However, once I sit down and explain it ... there doesn't seem to be a problem."Hull said that after he lost his job with a radio station in Dallas in 1966, a Scientologist who worked at the station encouraged him to attend a lecture.
"Once I heard some of the things they were saying, it made sense to me," Hull said.
He said he has been involved in Scientology courses and programs since that time.
"Obviously, I wouldn't have stayed with something that long if it had not worked for me," Hull said.
Hull, who said he started his own radio and television production company after retiring from CNN, said Scientology courses taught him principles that he has applied successfully to his life and business.
Hull said he has followed with interest Oklahoma news coverage of Narconon Chilocco New Life Center, a drug treatment facility near Newkirk that receives financial support from Scientologists and uses principles developed by the church's founder.
He asked: "How would you feel if you woke up one morning and the newspaper was lambasting" a program that helped you through a difficult time?
He said he assumed the writers of negative articles are "either uninformed or on somebody's payroll. "Hull said he was raised in the Church of Christ and finds Scientology parallels some of Jesus' teachings, but in a way that makes more sense to him.
Since no churches of Scientology are located in Oklahoma, Hull said he goes to Dallas or the church's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Fla., for courses and programs.
He said he would like to see a Church of Scientology in Oklahoma. Hull and his wife, Sherene, who also is a Scientologist, have lived in Oklahoma since 1984.