Derek Quinn: Giving Back to Others what He Gained in Scientology

Derek Quinn has three passions—his family, his garden and helping in times of need. But that was not always the case. Watch his video on Scientology.org, one in a series of “Meet a Scientologist” videos in which Scientologists talk about the application of Scientology to their lives.

In a video featured on the new Scientology Video Channel at www.scientology.org, Derek Quinn, a Scotsman who has made Sweden his home, tells of changing dramatically when he became a Scientologist.

Now working in personnel in a large company near Stockholm, Quinn has been married 20 years and dotes on his two young children. His passions are his family, his garden and his work as a Scientology Volunteer Minister.

Yet this doesn’t match his description of the way he used to be.

“I was quite a nasty person and did not trust people,” he says. “I was not interested in helping anyone.”

Nor was he particularly interested in Scientology. When he first heard about it he was more skeptical than curious, but he enrolled on a basic Scientology course, Personal Values and Integrity, and found it was just what he needed in his life.

“I started learning about ethics and how it is a personal thing. It is not something you have to do, it is something you decide for yourself.”

Using the information and practical exercises on the introductory course, Quinn examined his own life. He looked at his actions and choices of the past and determined for himself the degree to which they had been constructive or destructive.

“After that first course, I started to see I could change—I could use Scientology and change a little how I was as a person,” he recalls. “That made a big difference.”

To those who know him, he changed more than a little. It was dramatic. As his knowledge of people increased so did his respect for himself and others, and he wanted to help people with Scientology.

When the South Asian tsunami struck in 2004, Quinn joined the Scientology Disaster Response Team in Sumatra and worked tirelessly to help survivors of the tidal wave that killed hundreds of thousands. He returned to Indonesia in 2006 when the island of Java was devastated by an earthquake and volunteered his skills again, including giving Scientology “assists”—simple, powerful procedures to relieve shock and trauma.

“It was not only that we helped them,” he says. “They came back with their friends and family to learn assists and went out and helped other people, so that was fantastic.”

Quinn’s help is not limited to disasters. He says it’s just part of his life.

“I use Scientology every day, without thinking about it much. It has so many different tools that work—you use them to help your family, your children, your employees.”

“I can confront people,” says Quinn. “I can confront work. I see myself as a stable, honest person.”

And his wife and children, his company and the thousands he helps as a Scientology Volunteer Minister are the beneficiaries.

View the Derek Quinn video at Scientology.org.

The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total 150 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, which has now been viewed by millions of visitors.