Exeter

In common with all Christian Science Churches our services do not contain personal preaching. We don’t have an ordained ministry. Instead our Pastor is two books – The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

This means our Pastor is always available – you can even take our Pastor on holiday with you – our members usually do!

Our Sunday Sermons are comprised of selections from our Pastor, and are read by Readers elected from the local membership. The same sermons are delivered in Christian Science Churches around the world and studied by Christian Scientists during the week before the Sunday service. They are available to study in a variety of formats – all sold in our Christian Science Reading Room – where they can also be studied free of charge on the premises.

Christian Science Sunday School is held weekly and lasts for an hour. Children and young people get to know the Bible and explore the power of prayer. Each class is taught by an experienced member of the Church. The Sunday School curriculum is centred on study of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

Younger classes are focused on getting to know the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sermon on the Mount, and Bible stories. Older students learn about prayer as a practical way to see and feel the presence of God in their lives. Students do not have to be Christian Scientists to attend Sunday School and can attend up to the age of 20.

These are less formal than Sunday services. Wednesday meetings include hymns and readings from the bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, but unlike the Sunday service, the scriptural selections are customised to the needs of the congregation and occasion. The readings are followed by an opportunity for anybody to share insights, experiences, and healings they’ve had as a result of their prayer and study of Christian Science.

Yes! Anyone can use the facilities in a Reading Room and they are free to all. The Reading Room is open to anyone searching for answers to life’s deepest questions as well as those just wanting something interesting to read while they have their lunch!

The Reading Room is provided as a service to the community by the Christian Science Church here in Exeter, which holds services in another part of the same building. A member of the Church serves as Librarian, and the Reading Room is attended by volunteers from the membership.

If you have questions about Christian Science, spirituality or healing, whether you are a questioning sceptic, an agnostic pondering life’s deeper meaning, a Bible student, a minister preparing a sermon, or just a curious passerby, the attendants are happy to try to answer them and to assist you in finding what you are looking for. You are also free to explore the resources of the Reading Room on your own and at your own pace.

Mary Baker Eddy (1821 – 1910) was a pioneer in exploring the relationship between spirituality and health. Chronically ill for much of her early life, she sought help from a range of conventional and alternative therapies without finding lasting relief. However, experimentation with homeopathic remedies and unmedicated pills (placebos) convinced her that the true basis of health must be mental rather than physical. At the same time, as an avid reader of the Bible – in an era when women were largely barred from religious leadership and theological discussion – she frequently pondered Christ Jesus’ promises that his followers should perform the same works of healing that he did, and she questioned why such healing had not continued beyond the first few centuries after his time.

Yes. Mary Baker Eddy was a lifelong student of the Bible. And she’d always wanted to find solutions to human suffering. When she was critically injured in 1866, she turned to God with her whole heart. While reading accounts of Jesus’ swift, powerful healings, she experienced a new sense of God. She saw that God, Spirit, is the only reality. And she was completely healed. She wanted to understand what happened, so she studied the Bible and found universal and dependable laws of God. These laws are the foundation of Christian Science.

Yes. Jesus’ words and actions naturally inspire us to rise up and follow him. In Christian Science, this is more than worship. His love was so powerful that it rouses us to love God supremely and to love others as ourselves. Learning from Jesus evokes a desire to obey him and emulate his works. This includes healing the sick by becoming so filled with the eternal Christ spirit that all fear and doubt vanish. Christ is that Word of God lived so abundantly by Jesus that we can discern it in all ages. Christ, the title given to Jesus, is the healing power that dissolves suffering in exchange for the profound feeling of being loved and being well. Mary Baker Eddy finds in Scriptures evidence that Jesus was human—among us—but he was the divinely appointed Messiah, or as he said himself, “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:16).

Yes. Good health is vital whether we’re talking about our bodies, relationships, finances, or environment. What can we do when we feel the need for healing in any area of our lives?

In the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these…” (John 14:12, NIV). By following his teachings and understanding the spiritual laws he practised, Christian Scientists are committed to spiritual healing that includes both physical cures of disease and dysfunction as well as the reformation and restoration of lives.

Mary Baker Eddy’s work Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures shows how the healings in the Bible were accomplished, and how we can claim that same healing for ourselves, our families, and our world.

By understanding the complete goodness of God and our inseparability from that goodness, inspired men and women can find answers to the wide spectrum of human needs as well as transformation of character and lives. Anyone can learn and apply these spiritually scientific ideas to the contemporary demands we face and find resolution that proves God’s goodness.

This unique approach to healing has proven effective for generations of Christian Scientists, many times after a medical diagnosis indicated a condition was incurable. Christian Science healing is not faith healing, positive thinking, or self-hypnosis. It calls for Christian faith in and understanding of God as unconditionally and dependably good, to whom nothing is impossible. Its practice is Christian—living according to Jesus’ teaching and example. And its practice is scientific—living according to the spiritual laws of God that can be learned, understood, and proven through healing and regeneration.

Christian Scientists are always free to choose for themselves and their families the kind of health care that meets their needs. However, by practising Christian Science, many have lived happy and healthy lives free of drugs and other systems of physical care.

Find out more about Christian Science healing HERE.

1. The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy can be purchased in our reading room and at the Online Reading Room.
2. Attendants at our Christian Science Reading Room are always happy to share information about Christian Science.
3. christianscience.com is the official website of the denomination.
4. JSH-Online is an online study resource for those wishing to read the Christian Science Sentinel, Journal, and the Herald of Christian Science.