***It’s hardly popular. It attracted a number of actors back in the 1960s and 1970s, a lot through the Beverly Hills Playhouse, where aspiring actors would be recommended for “Communications Classes.***
I wouldn’t doubt that this was all started as a Ponzi scheme to bring in more money to Hollywood with the early spokesman actors getting a cut of the profits.
There was definitely a concerted effort to attract people in the entertainment business as a way of promoting the church. But nobody ever got a cut. Such a concept would seem absurd to the true believers.