A Christian Science Testimony Meeting

This last Wednesday night I stopped in at the local First Church of Christ, Scientist, for their weekly testimony meeting. It was my first visit to a Christian Science Church and I brought with me only my knowledge of the basics, Mary Baker Eddy, the unreality of matter, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and a demographic over representation among the who’s who of 1930's Hollywood.

The service was begun with an introduction, followed by a hymn, then extensive readings from both the Holy Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Like the LDS Church and Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Christian Scientists operate largely with a lay clergy, at least at the congregational level. The women conducting the evenings service was probably British, though maybe she had one over those overly formal Boston accents, which would make sense as the "Mother Church" is based there. Anyway she had what I might call a ‘book on tape’ voice, which worked during the readings, but later on her combination‘weakest link’/NPR speaking style did get a little tiresome.

The readings were followed by a few minutes of silent prayer, then a vocal recitation of ‘The Lords Prayer’, which was given so slowly I kept vocally tripping on myself. Then the time was open for members testimony’s. It took a while for someone to raise their hand, after which an usher brought a microphone around (ala Quaker services, which a congregation member pointed out to me later). Several others offered to bear their testimonies afterwards, most of which focused on things brought up in the meetings, and how the various speakers had been ‘healed’(a key word in the faiths parlance) of aliments, be they physical, spiritual, or other (all of which according to the theology are illusional in nature) .

I found several parallels to Mormon belief and practice, though arguably superficial ones, in the lay congregational structure, veneration of the Church founder (which arguably they do even more then the LDS), bearing of member testimony’s as a regular part of worship, and even a little bit in chapel design (both Mormons and Christian Scientists have distinctive styles of rostrum). I did find the ‘now on sale at the reading room’ section of the service (between the Lords Prayer and testimony’s) to be rather odd though, I’m uncomfortable with even vaguely commercial announcements in a church setting. On the whole I’m glade I went, I enjoyed the experience, though more on an intellectual then spiritual level.