‘Call Me’ Billboard Takes Aim at ‘Scientology Disconnection’

Clearwater, FL — Motorists who travel along East Bay Drive may soon notice a billboard with a simple plea as its message: Call me.

The billboard, set to go up sometime next week, is being spearheaded by the same couple responsible for putting up a public plea in Los Angeles meant to raise awareness about the “Scientology disconnection.”

A fundraiser to pay for the Clearwater “Call Me” billboard is currently under way on GoFundMe. The aim is to raise $8,500 to cover the costs of the billboard for the first month, including printing, and additional money to cover the costs of keeping the sign up and visible in the home of Scientology's headquarters.

"After the great success with the billboard we put up in Los Angeles, we heard from many people in Clearwater, FL who had been affected by Scientology disconnection and would like to see one there,” Phil Jones wrote on GoFundMe.

Phil and Willie Jones are former Scientologists who left the religion in 2012, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Since then, the Joneses say two of their adult children, still in the religion, have cut off contact with them through a practice called “disconnection.”

“The practice of disconnection is so widely used by Scientology it has literally torn apart hundreds, if not thousands of families, friends, and colleagues,” Phil Jones’ StopScientologyDisconnection.com’s website explains about disconnection. The site was created to educate people about the practice and to help reconnect broken families and friendships, it says.

The billboard is scheduled to go up on East Bay Drive sometime next week, the Times reported. The couple’s children, Mike, 42, and Emily, 38, have refuted their parents’ claim of disconnection and say their parents broke off their relationship, not them. Even so, Phil Jones plans to continue his mission against disconnection.

“In the end, this is not just about my wife and I and our kids anymore,” the Times quoted him as say. “There’s literally thousands of people out there who have suffered from Scientology disconnection.”

Phil Jones’ fundraiser had earned $5,370 toward a goal of $8,500 as of Thursday morning. To find out more about the effort, visit GoFundMe online.

To read more about the couple’s story, visit the Tampa Bay Times online.

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