|
|
 |
|
|
About Church Services
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What to expect at a Christian Science service
Sunday Services
The Sunday service begins
at 10AM and lasts about an hour. The format is a bit different from what you might be familiar with. Instead of an ordained
clergy person conducting the service, there are two lay “readers” who deliver a sermon consisting of selected
passages from the Bible and from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,
the Christian Science textbook.
Science and Health probes the Bible texts for their
spiritual meaning and helps address the whole range of human needs. (You can find out more about Science and Health here.)
Other components of the
service include hymns, a musical solo and scriptural selections.
Here’s the order
of the Sunday service:
-
Hymn
-
Reading selection from the Bible
-
Silent Prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)
-
Hymn
-
Notices
-
Solo
-
Reading this week’s scriptural selections from the
Christian Science Quarterly*
-
Reading this week’s Sermon
-
Collection
-
Hymn
-
Reading the Scientific Statement of Being from the Christian
Science Textbook, and its correlative text from I John 3:1-3
-
Benediction
Order of service differs slightly on Thanksgiving and Communion
Sunday (First Sunday in January and July).
* The Christian Science
Quarterly - This publication contains "lessons" consisting of passages from the KJV Bible and Science and Health with Key
to the Scriptures arranged as 26 lessons. Each lesson is appointed for a particular week and repeated twice in a year. Though
the topics remain the same, the selections differ each time. The Quarterly is available in several editions and may be purchased
in our Reading Room.
Wednesday Testimony Meetings
Hear how people just like you
are applying Christian Science in their daily lives. These spontaneous offerings illustrate how the study and practice of
Christian Science can bring insight and inspiration to the whole gamut of human affairs, big and small. Many testimonies are
accounts of physical healing, many are about relationships, finances, career and so on. Most people tell of how they receive
a greater sense of their own spirituality through Christian Science. Spiritual seekers of all ages and backgrounds can find
these meetings helpful in gaining an understanding of Christian Science and its impact on individual lives.
The format of these meetings
is quite simple. A reader prepares a short “lesson” that consists of selected passages from the Bible and from
the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health. Most of the rest of the one-hour
meeting is devoted to testimonies. There are also hymns and silent prayer.
Sunday School
This generation has been
called (by the Gallup polling organization) “the most spiritual generation in history.” The
Christian Science Sunday school is designed to engage with the spirituality that is natural to young people up to the age
of twenty. Even before the students step into the room, our teachers have prepared themselves to see each person from the
point of view of their Creator — in other words, as already perfect. The purpose of our educational program is to allow
each student to see and accept this inherent goodness and to express it in every aspect of their lives. Classes are adapted
to meet the needs and learning styles of each grade level. The textbooks used for instruction are the Bible as explained by
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
Child Care Room
On Sundays, young children
who are not ready for Sunday school will be placed in our nursery, where attendants maintain a spiritually positive atmosphere
even as they entertain, comfort and otherwise tend to each child. The nursery is also available during the Wednesday evening
meetings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
