The Christian Science Church in the twenty-first century

ABSTRACT

The history of Christian Science is characterized by rapid growth and subsequent decline. Almost two decades ago, Rodney Stark concluded that the movement was a ‘dismal failure’ and might not even survive another generation. Richard Singelenberg drew attention to the importance of including consideration of the role of the Church’s doctrinal and financial controversies as possible determinants of the movement’s present and future development. Indeed, after these controversies in the 1990s, the Mother Church has attempted to move on and stabilize itself. Today, Christian Science continues to decline overall, in terms of the number of churches, societies, and practitioners, but the Church is still in existence and likely will be for the foreseeable future. Two main reasons for this are addressed—increased financial capital and some growth in some countries of the global south, which has slowed the general decline. This research note briefly explores these developments and some recent activities of the Church to provide an overview of the movement in the twenty-first century.

KEYWORDS:

• Christian Science
• Christianity
• spirituality
• healing
• alternative medicine

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Estimates of the point when Christian Science reached its peak vary. While Stark believed that membership began declining some time in the 1940s, based on the beginning decline in practitioners (Stark 1998, 192), an article in the Christian Science Sentinel mentions that “the number of applications for membership peaked in 1931, and […] membership as a whole reached its highest point in the 1950s” (Bolon and Sims 2008, 14).

2. According to the Christian Science Monitor, a settlement was reached that the Church would receive 53% of the bequest and Stanford University and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art each would receive 23.5% (“Christian Science Church Reaches Trusts Settlement”, Christian Science Monitor, 14 October 1993; “Christian Science Church Moves Closer to Receiving Bequest”, Christian Science Monitor, 10 July 1995).

3. The US Postal Service requires circulation to be reported for the class of mail the Christian Science Sentinel falls into. This estimate seems reasonable given that the circulation of the Christian Science Sentinel was around 15,000 in 2015.

4. It was mentioned at the Annual Meeting in 2016 that the Mother Church complex received around 60,000–70,000 visitors a year (“Church: ‘Healing and Saving the World’”, The Christian Science Journal, September 2016, 10) and there was a reference at the Annual Meeting in 2017 to 80,000. An article on the tenth anniversary of the Mary Baker Eddy Library reported that, since its opening, it had received 615,000 visitors, 65,000 people who had attended programs organized by the library, and 14,700 who had used the Research Room (Shippey 2012, 22).

5. Whorton writes that “Cooperation with the medical establishment […] was not entirely a matter of public relations. In many instances, Christian Scientists found they were unable to cope with disease otherwise.” (Whorton 2002, 232–233) Mary Baker Eddy herself made various concessions for mainstream healthcare. At the same time, nowhere in Christian Science documents does it say that individuals have to make use of these concessions. While the Church insists that the choice of medical treatment is always left to the individual, Christian Science healing is viewed as superior and Christian Science treatment and conventional medical treatment are not to be used at the same time. (See also Schoepflin 2003 for a detailed look of Christian Science and its relationship with the medical establishment throughout the Church’s history.)

6. Most notably is Gillian Gill’s biography of Mary Baker Eddy (Gill 1998). In contrast, the Church received much scrutiny as a result of Caroline Fraser’s God’s Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church (Fraser 1999) and memoirs by others such as Barbara Wilson (1997) and, more recently, Lucia Greenhouse (2011). For a closer look at some of the debate surrounding the works by Gill and Fraser, see “Mrs. Eddy’s Voices” by Gill and the reply to this by Fraser in The New York Review of Books, 29 June 2000 (www.nybooks.com/articles/2000/06/29/mrs-eddys-voices, accessed 5 August 2017).

7. Minorities of members make up various groups, although “The Mailing Fund” ceased in 2003. In 2005, there were several meetings in the US with the board of directors to give members a platform. Some of the discussions involved the “Matters of Conscience” complaint regarding perceived Manual violations on the part of the Mother Church as well as alleged blacklisting to stifle dissent. Some more ‘traditional’ followers have objected to the way marriage and funeral ceremonies are conducted, the more recent hymnal supplements, and the use of translations of the Bible other than the King James Version. Some individuals were against the opening of the Mary Baker Eddy Library for financial reasons but also as a violation of the bylaw against the publication of the founder’s personal correspondence. Others have been upset about the lowering of standards for directory-listed practitioners as well as for membership more generally (e.g. admittance of individuals who use tobacco, alcohol or mainstream medicine). The author(s) of a document from 2013 (“Where has All the Resistance Gone?”, see www.sheepmailings.org/sites/sheepmailings/uploads/documents/alerts/Sheep_Alert_2_1_13.pdf, accessed 5 August 2017) lamented that any open resistance had virtually ceased as individuals apparently came to feel they could better serve the cause of Christian Science from within (this sentiment is similar to that noted by Singelenberg 1999).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elise Wolff

Elise Wolff holds a Master of Arts degree in sociology from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Her research interests within the sociology of religion include American religious traditions, evangelicalism, and theory.