On the Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site there is a description of how the program was first begun:
In 1973, L. Ron Hubbard went to New York to conduct a sociological study. He found a city and a society dramatically changed from the one he remembered from years before—one which had drastically worsened.
At that time, he predicted exactly where our materially-oriented society was headed: rampant immorality, violence as sport, and ultimately, politics by terrorism. But he did more than merely predict a dire future—he developed the solution to reverse this descent into a technological barbarism—THE SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTER PROGRAM.
Nearly three decades later, what he foresaw has come to pass. A society, materially advanced but spiritually bereft, is crumbling while the people, lacking answers, can only watch and fear.
But real tools, answers to the problems of living, can easily be put into people's hands so they can causatively build their lives and the future.
There are a number of booklets that can tech anyone the different tools the Scientology Volunteer Ministers use to help others. You can find a list of the booklets on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers site.
