Claim: Anonymous protested an organization.

The Church of Scientology is a multinational network and hierarchy of numerous ostensibly independent but interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice , administration and dissemination of Scientology , a new religious movement . The Church of Scientology International -LRB- CSI -RRB- is officially the Church of Scientology 's parent organization , and is responsible for guiding local Scientology churches . At a local level , every church is a separate corporate entity set up as a licensed franchise and has its own board of directors and executives . The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden , New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard . Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base , in an unincorporated area of Riverside County , California . The location at Gilman Hotsprings is kept secret from most Scientologists . Scientology Missions International is under CSI and overseers Scientology missions , which are local Scientology organizations smaller than churches . The Church of Spiritual Technology -LRB- CST -RRB- is the organization which owns all the copyrights of the estate of L. Ron Hubbard .   The highest authority in the Church of Scientology is the Religious Technology Center -LRB- RTC -RRB- . The RTC claims to only be the `` holder of Scientology and Dianetics trademarks '' , but is in fact the main Scientology executive organization . RTC chairman David Miscavige is widely seen as the effective head of Scientology .   All Scientology management organizations are controlled exclusively by members of the Sea Org , which is a legally nonexistent paramilitary organization for the `` elite , innermost dedicated core of Scientologists '' . David Miscavige is the highest-ranking Sea Org officer , holding the rank of captain .   Although in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religion , the movement has been the subject of a number of controversies , and has been accused by critics of being both a cult and a commercial enterprise .