Team up with others!

To practise Christian Science healing, you don't have to be a member of a Christian Science church or attend church services. But if along your spiritual path you feel that you'd like to:

• meet others who are traveling the way of Christian Science
• worship in a congregation
• contribute to the progress of the Christian Science movement

the worldwide Christian Science church organization—The Mother Church and its branches—is there for you.

There are many benefits and challenges in joining and working actively in a church!

What Mary Baker Eddy discovered was Christian Science. The church she founded in 1879 to take Christian Science to the world was The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Mrs. Eddy wrote that the purpose of her church was, "to reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing."

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, is the Mother Church of the worldwide Christian Science movement. The Mother Church's resources, which are open to all, include worship services, Sunday School, public talks, workshops and classes. It also publishes a variety of books, magazines, Web sites, radio programs, and the award-winning Christian Science Monitor.

An ongoing emphasis of the Church of Christ Scientist is to inspire its members and other seekers around the globe to live Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan and help their neighbours find healing. Millions of people today are urgently searching for spiritual answers. And for many, the message of Christian Science in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is bringing the hope, freedom and healing they desire.

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At present there are 2000 Christian Science churches and societies around the globe. Each is a branch of The Mother Church in Boston, and is democratic in its government. Church executives are elected from the membership.

Every month, The Christian Science Journal publishes a directory of the locations of all branch churches and societies worldwide. The directory can be accessed here.

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Sunday church services are held in Christian Science churches and societies around the world. The meetings are one hour long and include congregational prayer, hymns, and readings from the Bible and Science and Health.

In Christian Science churches, two lay "readers" conduct the services—reflecting the non-clerical nature of the early Christian Church which had no ordained clergy. Readers are elected by the congregation, usually for three year terms.

Mary Baker Eddy ordained the Bible and Science and Health as the "dual and impersonal" pastor of her church. Therefore the portion of the Sunday service that in other churches would be filled with a clerical sermon is filled with the reading of the Weekly Lesson-Sermon —selections from the Bible and Science and Health which practicing Christian Scientists have studied all week.

Listen to last Sunday's Lesson-Sermon read from The Mother Church—The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston. The online audio is available from 1 pm Sunday to noon Monday EST.

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Sunday School in Christian Science churches is held concurrently with the Sunday services. It is a place where children and youth up to the age of twenty learn about their relationship to a loving God and the basics of practical healing based on the Bible and Science and Health.

A nursery is usually provided for children too young to attend Sunday School.

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Every week, Wednesday evening "testimony meetings" are held at Christian Science churches and societies around the world. These meetings are one hour in length and include congregational prayer, hymns, and readings from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The readings address a currently significant topic selected by the Reader.

During the last half of the Wednesday meetings, attendees share spiritual insights and accounts of healing they've experienced through the practice of Christian Science.

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To Search for worldwide locations and times of the items below, click this link,then scroll down to the 'CHURCHES AND SOCIETIES" link, under 'OTHER DIRECTORIES'

• Sunday church services
• Sunday School services
• Wednesday night testimony meetings

You are warmly invited to make a stop on your spiritual travels to learn more about this remarkable church!

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© 2004 Christian Science in Ontario, Canada