Archive for the ‘News’ Category

“What Is God Asking Our Church To Be and Do Today?” An inspiring article, by Brian Abbott is featured in the May 2025 Christian Science Journal.

Sunday, June 1st, 2025

This thought-provoking article explores how Christian Science branch churches can rise above the challenges of shrinking membership, outdated structures, and spiritual stagnation—not by looking backward, but by asking forward-looking questions grounded in prayer: What is God asking our church to be and do today?

Brian Abbott shares powerful insights from his work with The Mother Church’s Church Activities Department, including a vivid example—even in our own church’s journey—highlighting how honest self-examination, collective prayer, and a willingness to adapt can lead to real renewal, growth, and relevance in the community.

Just as the early Christians scattered and sowed the seeds of faith throughout the Roman Empire, modern branch churches can discern “Christ anew” and find fresh ways to express the structure of Truth and Love.

“The sincere willingness to ‘discern Christ anew’ and leave the old for the new… always opens thought to Love’s ‘adaptation and bestowals.”
Brian Abbott

This article is a must-read for any Christian Scientist seeking inspiration on how church can evolve while staying rooted in its divine foundation.

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?”
Isaiah 43:19

👉 Read the full article on JSH-Online.com

Listen here

Or it is also posted below to read

You’re also warmly invited to join us for our Sunday service at 10:00 AM PT—either in person or on Zoom. After the service, we host a welcoming discussion about the Bible lesson, testimonies of healing, and insights on Christian Science.

🔗 To join on Zoom, click here, or email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com for the meeting link.


📍 Christian Science Reading Room Garden
912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
📞 (760) 753-4545

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

Stay Connected
To receive updates about upcoming events and services from the Christian Science Society of Encinitas, subscribe via our website. It’s free—and we promise not to flood your inbox!

 

What is God asking our church to be and do today?

From the May 2025 issue of The Christian Science Journal


The Book of Acts records that after the stoning of Stephen, who was one of the early Christians, a great persecution arose against the young Christian church in Jerusalem, and most believers scattered throughout the region, fleeing for their lives (see Acts 8:1).

Regardless of this crisis, Acts continues with accounts of these followers of Christ Jesus sharing their new faith, making new disciples, and sowing the seeds of new churches wherever they went. What in many ways must have felt like a daunting situation—fleeing the familiar and heading into the unknown—was, in fact, a step in an extraordinary expansion of the church that gave Christianity a foothold across the entire Roman Empire.

What can we learn today from these early Christians? Can modern-day challenges to Christian Science branch churches become catalysts for expansion?

In my six years of work for the Church Activities Department of The Mother Church, I have spoken with many members of branch churches whose work has been challenged by a slower-moving but equally consequential challenge to Church—specifically, a shrinking membership. Challenges include too few members with too much work to do, difficulty in meeting the requirements in the Manual of The Mother Church to be a church or society, and in many cases buildings that are oversized for the congregation and expensive for them to maintain.

There is no time, place, or culture where this institution of Church cannot minister to the spiritual and temporal needs that come into contact with it.

These conversations have been opportunities to think together about how Church as an eternal, spiritual idea is made tangible in the uninterrupted continuity of the human institution—an institution which, when rightly understood, is as invulnerable to decline as the spiritual idea that animates it.

This spiritual idea of Church is defined, in part, in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy as: “The structure of Truth and Love” (p. 583). This idea is, in turn, expressed in church organizations whose activities are permeated by Truth and Love, and that demonstrate their utility by elevating, rousing, and healing their members and community. This spiritual idea is infinite, so there is no time, place, or culture where this institution cannot minister to the spiritual and temporal needs that come into contact with it. This capacity to adapt flows from divine Love, for the Church idea, like divine Love itself, is “impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals” (Science and Health, p. 13).

The Scriptures offer many examples of the power of Love’s adaptation and bestowals to protect and guide church institutions (in any form) in times of need. The children of Israel, pursued by Egyptian armies, found the Red Sea parted before them; Elijah, hiding in a cave and thinking he was the last follower of God, heard God’s voice directing him to thousands of others; Jesus, facing opposition to his healing work, triumphed through his selfless love over the malice he faced; Peter was delivered from prison through the prayers of church members; and Paul, establishing churches throughout the Roman Empire, offered practical guidance in his letters that helped each meet the unique challenges they faced.

These narratives reveal something of the dual story of the Church idea and the church institution, and show how the complete, inviolable, and eternal nature of the divine idea protects each spiritual expression of the institution, guiding its adaptation to keep it an active, healing force in the community and protecting it from forces that would oppose it.

The adaptable nature of this dual unfoldment really crystallized for me through the light that Science and Health throws on the account of Jesus’ disciples seeing him after his resurrection, and, after a night of fishing with no results, suddenly finding their nets full of fish (see John 21:1–14). Science and Health explains: “Discerning Christ, Truth, anew on the shore of time, they were enabled to rise somewhat from mortal sensuousness, or the burial of mind in matter, into newness of life as Spirit” (p. 35).

I was familiar with the biblical account of the exceptional catch of fish and the quote from Science and Health. However, when I read this soon after starting my work with the Church Activities Department, the word anew really caught my attention. As I pondered the disciples’ experience, I saw how a fresh discernment of a spiritual idea will always lift human consciousness, and from the new vantage point, new views of Love’s adaptation and bestowals become visible in human experience.

Being open to such newness is a mindset I generally find among the members of branch churches who are successfully pushing back against the claims of decline. They are reaching for and finding new glimpses of the spiritual idea of Church; and at the same time, like the disciples in their boats, the inspiration they feel reveals something new about how to proceed with their work.

How the latter plays out is unique for each branch church and society, but in almost every case it comes down to members praying with some form of the question: What is God asking our church to do and be today?

Since the structure of Church is Love, a membership might examine how they are living out love.

This question demands prayer and puts on hold the human tendency to focus on the past or the future. It shifts effort from being outcome-focused to first seeking prayerful communion with God. It involves humbly drawing close to God, putting down fear and outlining, and carefully listening for His guidance.

Reaching this state of receptivity and obedience usually requires some conscious self-examination on a membership’s part. Since the structure of Church is Truth, branch church members might examine how they are living truthfulness. Are the bylaws and business processes right-sized for the present number of members, and not legacies from decades ago? Is the membership faithful about rotation in office, honest democratic processes, transparent financial reports, and church discussions that welcome each individual’s insights?

Since the structure of Church is also Love, a membership might examine how they are living out love. Are visitors’ impressions and needs prioritized over members’ habits and comfort, so visitors don’t feel like church is for insiders? One way to approach this is to think through the experience of visitors from start to finish. When visitors first think about attending, will they easily find the necessary information online or in local media? On arrival, will it be clear where to park and which is the entry door? During the service, is there ample guidance so visitors will know what’s going on and what’s happening next? After the service, if visitors are seeking an extended conversation, are members willing to change their plans and go out for a meal?

Working through these questions and being open to newness creates space for Love’s “adaptation and bestowals.” Church activities may end up looking different from what they used to, but this aligns with Bible experience and is the natural outcome of “discerning Christ anew on the shore of time”—showing the world our church’s contemporary relevance and not giving the suggestion of decline any platform.

Here’s an example. After fifty years of growth, a branch church in the United States then experienced two decades of precipitous decline. There were few people to hold office, and the great majority of seats in the church’s large auditorium were empty during services.

Then a new church member, grateful for recent healings of addiction and illness, which had brought him back to Christian Science and to church, was attending his first church business meeting. Surprised by the bickering and fighting between members, he pointed out the contradiction between their behavior and the teachings in the Bible and the Christian Science textbook.

Members agreed that something needed to change, and that they would start with prayer. They began to pray individually and to hold weekly meetings to pray collectively and talk about what their individual prayers were revealing. Through this process, members began to share honestly what their prayers had revealed about their church experiences—how they saw burdens rather than joy, routine rather than inspiration, and how at times they didn’t even want to be there.

As it became clear that their going-through-the-motions version of church organization was a counterfeit of genuine Church, two things happened. First, members were awakened to how a rote approach to church had misled them in their use of time and energy and had undermined their unity and harmony. Second, members became determined to recover the inspired sense of Church and to discover new, divinely guided means through which their church could retake its vital place in the community.

Anchored by their metaphysical meetings, the membership began taking practical steps to make some changes. They right-sized their building and organizational structure to fit the number of members, selling their big edifice, changing from a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, to a Christian Science society, and revising their bylaws to reflect the kind of church they wanted to be today, not what they had been years ago when the bylaws were written.

They rented a spot in the city’s central commercial district and used proceeds from the building sale to hire a forty-hour-per-week Reading Room librarian. The Reading Room’s work and products were welcomed in the community, and even the mayor of the city came to the Reading Room’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

When the owner sold the building a couple of years later, the membership began thinking about a permanent church home. With prayer and patience, they eventually constructed a combined church and Reading Room on their community’s busy main street. Conveniently, the property included a garden that was already in use by the community as a space for prayer and reflection. The services were adjusted to reflect the local culture by being quite informal, while still following the order of service in the Church Manual. The membership began participating in the community’s large street fairs and annual events, which brought and still bring many hundreds of children and adults into the Reading Room and church.

Over the ten succeeding years the membership has been watchful to protect its commitment to newness—to stay alert to the question of what their church should look like today, keeping it fresh and current so it will be recognizable to the community as a resource worthy of their interest and investigation. We are “ready to change and adapt at a moment’s notice,” one member noted. Through these efforts, a spirit of love, commitment, and unity permeates their activities. Their membership has grown and continues to stay ahead of the claims of decline.

Not all the examples I’ve encountered in my six years of work have followed the same map. Naturally, each branch’s experience is individual. The prayer: “What is God asking our church to do and be today?” has been answered in many different ways. But the sincere willingness to “discern Christ anew” and leave the old for the new—like the believers who fled Jerusalem so many centuries ago—always opens thought to Love’s “adaptation and bestowals,” which reveal the unbroken continuity of church and open a way forward.

Cyclovia Encinitas – Bike day tomorrow May 18th, 2025

Saturday, May 17th, 2025

If you you are joining us for church this Sunday May 18, 2025 be aware that it is Bike day downtown Encinitas from 10:00am until 2:00pm and the street downtown will be closed to automobile traffic.  So park outside of town and bike in, or there is limited parking behind the Reading Room.

We will be open by 9:00am, Church is at 10:00am and we will be open until 2:00.

We will be featuring a video during Cyclovia about a  trip on a tandem bike by a Christian Science couple across the USA.

Trust, Communication,
and Patience

Screenshot 2025 05 17 At 9.06.45 pmHear their incredible story  and insight from their trip

This is the poem I wrote and set to music with videos from our tandem bicycle trip across the country in the Summer of 2024 ~ we visited six different Summer Camps for Christian Scientists: Camp Bow-Isle in British Columbia, the A/U Ranches in Colorado, Cedars Camps in Missouri, Camps Leelanau/Kohahna in Northern Michigan, Screenshot 2025 05 17 At 9.07.22 pmCrystal Lake Camps in Pennsylvania, and Camps Newfound/Owatonna in Maine. The Campership Fund supports getting kids to ALL of these camps, and we wanted to raise awareness for them and for the people of Ukraine as we rode.

Karin Heath

You are also invited to join us for our Sunday church service at the Reading Room in person or on zoom Sunday morning at 10 am PT. To let us know you are coming, please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. After church we have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

If you would like to receive information from our Christian Science Society of Encinitas which includes notices about our events and services, please enter your email address to the right in the subscribe window.  It is free, and you will then be sent an email to confirm your subscription.

The good old days – BBQ this Thursday, May 15, 2025 for the 1st Encinitas Cruise Nights of the year! Reading Room open at 5…PLEASE join us if you’re available even for a short time

Monday, May 12th, 2025

Come join us for a free BBQ, fun and memories of days gone by at the:

Screenshot 2025 05 12 At 10.03.28 am

If you can, let us know you are coming.  There should be plenty of food and refreshments contact Bill at 541 753 6395 to RSVP and for more information

Also take a minute and read this thought provoking article by James Spencer in the Christian Science Journal where he discounts the idea that the “good old days” of Christian Science healing is a thing of the past.

Screen Shot 2023 05 17 At 2.03.04 Pm
The good old days
By James Spencer
From the December 2016 issue of The Christian Science Journal

A friend of mine told me, after a church service, that he had formerly been a member of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, in the Midwest. Everyone there knew of a woman who had come to a service painfully lame, leaning on a cane, and left the service completely well. He said she hadn’t known anything about Christian Science at the time. That was in the early days of the Christian Science movement, and my friend said with awe: “That’s the way it used to be. Those were the good old days!” Then he said sadly, “Those days are gone.”

“But they’re not gone,” I told him. “Christian Science, Divine Science, the Comforter, is no different today!” I quoted a familiar passage to him from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures—a passage that shelves forever the “good old days” syndrome, where its author, Mary Baker Eddy, writes: “It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good” (p. 494).

“Even in our everyday experience, we would never believe the principle of mathematics to be less viable or available today than in the “good old days.”……..


Screen Shot 2022 09 15 At 12.16.44 PmThat universal, divine power has its source in God, divine Principle. That power, so freely and fully demonstrated by Christ Jesus, is actually God’s timeless law of good that reforms and restores those in need of healing. The Master’s mission didn’t terminate with time, because God, infinite, eternal Love, doesn’t stop being Love. And spiritual law doesn’t stop being law. Even in our everyday experience, we would never believe the principle of mathematics to be less viable or available today than in the “good old days.” And that’s what I told my friend.

True, if a mathematician stops taking the study of math seriously, stops consistently applying the math he knows, decides not to go forward to pursue higher forms of mathematics, or is diverted from his study and application by a flood of activities, there probably won’t be much progress in his understanding of mathematical operations and the relationship between numbers and the principle of math. That, however, could not destroy, or even attenuate, the law of mathematics. But it would undoubtedly make a significant impact on the mathematician and his ability to serve those in need of the science of numbers.

Screen Shot 2022 09 15 At 12.18.51 PmMrs. Eddy draws an interesting comparison between Christ’s practical Christianity and mathematics when she writes, referring to relying on divine Principle, God: “If we work to become Christians as honestly and as directly upon a divine Principle, and adhere to the rule of this Principle as directly as we do to the rule of mathematics, we shall be Christian Scientists, and do more than we are now doing, and progress faster than we are now progressing” (Christian Healing, pp. 8–9).

The perfect, timeless law of good to which we need to apply ourselves is the law of the divine Principle, Love—the Science that governs God’s universe, maintaining the harmony and order of His infinite creation. The Psalmist said: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psalms 19:7).

Divine Science, the Holy Ghost, is ever operative and ever effective.
One reason the healings attributed to “the good old days” might seem a thing of the past is that there does appear to be increased resistance to the study and application of Christian Science, brought about partly by the antagonism of materialism to things of the Spirit, by ignorance of what Christian Science is, and by a misconception of its Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy. The basis of the resistance is the age-old belief in a power and presence apart from God. It has been given many names in the Bible: Lucifer, deceiver, antichrist, liar, adversary, serpent—to mention just a few. This impersonal, lawless antagonism changes its name and method from year to year, and from moment to moment. It claims to be something when it is actually nothing. But the subtlety of it is that its claim often tempts one to believe in its somethingness. It could be likened to darkness, which is only the absence of light, although the darkness may seem very real to one who has lost the path of light. Jesus was well aware of such temptation, and called it “a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). The liar even tried to tempt Jesus to believe that it was his own thinking (see Matthew 4:1–11).

Screen Shot 2022 09 15 At 12.18.33 PmDespite the remarkable success of Jesus’ mission, he still had to deal with the constant heaviness of the world’s resistance. It culminated in the final attempt to destroy him through the crucifixion. But hatred, envy—material mindedness—couldn’t terminate the effect of his God-mission. His disciples continued to do good works, though they also had to handle the resistance to Truth and Love. And so must we. The Master gave us this admonition: “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27).

The Christian Science textbook explains: “The real cross, which Jesus bore up the hill of grief, was the world’s hatred of Truth and Love” (p. 50). I have often felt that the same type of resistance aimed at the Christ, the power and presence of divine Love that Jesus so fully expressed, is the figurative cross we bear today. It often appears as a relentless, patient, silent, systematic, ongoing presentation of materialism, projected before individuals generally or to some individuals specifically. Not everyone picks up or is aware of the suggestions, but everyone is subjected to them. Persistent spiritual alertness, purity of thought, unselfed love, and an understanding of the actual allness of divine Mind, resists the suggestions, or enables one to be completely immune to them.

The opportunity is ever available to neutralize the aggressive arguments and resistance to Truth, to uncover and remove the diversions that would aggressively attempt to tamp down the practical progress of the Cause of Christian Science. The opportunity is right at hand to defeat the false sense that attempts to delay and reverse the advancement of spiritual good in the individual Christian Scientist. The success of both the beginner and the seasoned worker is assured as each becomes aware of the guidance and comforting love of divine Love, our Father-Mother God. No one can actually be separated or isolated from the comfort and care provided by the loving ministrations of divine Science, the Holy Comforter.

Science and Health explains: “The real man being linked by Science to his Maker, mortals need only turn from sin and lose sight of mortal selfhood to find Christ, the real man and his relation to God, and to recognize the divine sonship” (p. 316).

Screen Shot 2022 09 15 At 12.18.08 PmMortals are the direct contradiction, the counterfeit, the non–image and likeness, of Spirit, God. Christ, the real, ideal man, is the direct image and likeness, the self-expression, of divine Mind, the all-knowing God. I have found much inspiration in the realization that as mortals recognize, accept, and understand the real man that Jesus exemplified, this humble acceptance and understanding unfolds the Science of Christ to consciousness. This Christ Science operates as law, with the reliability of law, and heals all manner of sickness and sin today as it did in Jesus’ day.

The Science of being that demonstrates our eternal life in God, Life, is here for everyone. But it needs to be understood and practiced.

Here is how one individual turned to this Science when faced with a very pressing need. “In my country,” he related, “if you want to renew or update a prescription for your glasses, it’s mandatory that you see a medical doctor. I had just gone to one to have him give me an eye exam. He diagnosed a cataract in my left eye, and told me I needed to have a surgical operation right away, as the cataract was increasing. I didn’t have the surgery. I asked a Christian Science practitioner for treatment about it. After a short time, I felt free and discontinued treatment. Some time later, I returned to the doctor for the mandatory examination. His answer was that I would never need surgery, as the eye and vision were normal. The healing has been permanent.”

The practitioner prayed to see, or understand, the ideal man as the creative self-expression of God. It became evident to the practitioner that true vision is the outcome of clear spiritual understanding. Even in our everyday experience, when we don’t understand something, we might say, “I just can’t see it.” Then when the understanding comes we say, “Now I see it clearly.” Divine Mind perfectly knows, sees, understands, all, because it knows itself and its perfection. Therefore, for divine Mind to know is for divine Mind to see—and for man to know, because he reflects Mind, is for man to see, because he reflects Mind.

Screen Shot 2022 09 15 At 12.17.49 PmIt was clear to the practitioner that human vision is no more dependent on a material eye when we’re awake, than when we seem to see objects when we’re asleep. The practitioner had a clear perception that man is not mortal, but immortal, spiritual, perfect, and whole; that spiritual man, the ideal man, is eternally governed by divine law. Every law of divine Principle that governs the spiritual idea, man, is effective right here and now, as Jesus proved by healing all manner of sickness. The practitioner understood that a medical diagnosis couldn’t outline a course of development for the patient, that it had no authority to dominate, or to impose an outcome. Resistance to the timeless, healing Christ couldn’t delay or obviate the present operation of spiritual law. Divine Science, the Holy Ghost, is ever operative and ever effective.

The fact is, we actually live in the eternal now of God’s ever-presence. Therefore, this healing, and every Christian Science healing, teaches us not to look longingly to the past. This brings the assurance that the “good old days” are truly the “good present days,” and are a promise of all the days to come!

 

You are also invited to join us for our Sunday church service at the Reading Room in person or on zoom Sunday morning at 10 am PT. To let us know you are coming, please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. After church we have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science.  

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

If you would like to receive information from our Christian Science Society of Encinitas which includes notices about our events and services, please enter your email address to the right in the subscribe window.  It is free, and you will then be sent an email to confirm your subscription.

 

 

TMC Reading Room workshop for San Diego county May 17, 2025

Sunday, May 11th, 2025
There will be a Reading Room Gathering for anyone interested in thinking together about Reading Rooms – their purpose and how their healing mission can be effectively expressed in their community today. The Reading Room is one of the four Manual-based outreach activities of branches. You can register here by May 12.

Click here to register

This event is organized by The Mother Church and branches in San Diego County. It is open to anyone interested in exploring how to strengthen this vital activity. Please come ready to share your ideas and learn from each other.
This Reading Room Gathering will be held at the Downtown San Diego Church of Christ, Scientist, on Saturday, May 17 from 10:00am – 3:00 pm.
Directions
Please share this information with your whole church family.
Everyone’s ideas are so welcome!  Here are some of the specific discussions we will cover:
    •    What is the purpose and relevance of a Christian Science Reading Room in today’s world?
    •    How can a Reading Room be more active and vital in its community?
    •    How can we work together to ensure this activity remains strong?
    •    How do we reach the younger generations?
Your ideas are important to this discussion as we collectively think through these questions. The success of a Reading Room depends on the church’s love and support of its mission. For the community to value its Reading Room, the church must value it first. What you have to say and the prayer that supports it is vital to a Reading Room’s success. Your voice is needed in this discussion!
Please register individually here by May 12.  We need to get a sense of how many people will be coming since The Mother Church will be supplying lunch.
We look forward to seeing you on May 17!
Warmly,
Church Activities Department
Janet Sappenfield
Reading Room Ambassador
sappenfieldj@csps.com
Church Activities
The First Church of Christ, Scientist
617-450-2425

You’re also warmly invited to join us for our Sunday service at 10:00 AM PT—either in person or on Zoom. After the service, we host a welcoming discussion about the Bible lesson, testimonies of healing, and insights on Christian Science.

🔗 To join on Zoom, click here, or email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com for the meeting link.


📍 Christian Science Reading Room Garden
912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
📞 (760) 753-4545

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

Stay Connected
To receive updates about upcoming events and services from the Christian Science Society of Encinitas, subscribe via our website. It’s free—and we promise not to flood your inbox!

 

2025 May street fair in progress

Sunday, April 27th, 2025

Come down and join us today. We are here until about 4:00 today.

Check out our current instagram post

Street fair information

 

You’re warmly invited to join us for our Sunday service at 10:00 AM PT—either in person or on Zoom. After the service, we host a welcoming discussion about the Bible lesson, testimonies of healing, and insights on Christian Science.

🔗 To join on Zoom, click here, or email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com for the meeting link.


📍 Christian Science Reading Room Garden
912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
📞 (760) 753-4545

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

Stay Connected
To receive updates about upcoming events and services from the Christian Science Society of Encinitas, subscribe via our website. It’s free—and we promise not to flood your inbox!

 

Easter 2025

Sunday, April 20th, 2025

From The Daily Patriot regarding the Easter service at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Concord, N. H

May this glad Easter morn find the members of this dear church having a pure peace, a fresh joy, a clear vision of heaven here, heaven within us—and an awakened sense of the risen Christ. May long lines of light span the horizon of their hope, and brighten their faith with a dawn that knows no twilight, and no night. May those who discourse music to-day, sing, as the angels, Heaven’s symphonies that come to earth.

May the dear Sunday School children always be gathering Easter lilies of love, with happy hearts, and ripening goodness. To-day, may they find some sweet scents, and beautiful blossoms in Mother’s love, that she sends to them this glad morn in the flowers and the cross from Pleasant View, smiling on them. Tenderly, truly,

Mary Baker Eddy.
Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., March 30, 1902.

You’re warmly invited to join us for our Sunday service at 10:00 AM PT—either in person or on Zoom. After the service, we host a welcoming discussion about the Bible lesson, testimonies of healing, and insights on Christian Science.

🔗 To join on Zoom, click here, or email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com for the meeting link.


📍 Christian Science Reading Room Garden
912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
📞 (760) 753-4545

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

Stay Connected
To receive updates about upcoming events and services from the Christian Science Society of Encinitas, subscribe via our website. It’s free—and we promise not to flood your inbox!

 

Volunteers Needed! Encinitas Street Fair Sunday School event— Saturday, April 26 & Sunday, April 27 | 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM, 2025

Wednesday, April 9th, 2025

Screenshot 2025 04 09 At 2.48.59 pm

We’re gearing up for our big community event and would love your help!

During the Street Fair, we open the doors of our Reading Room and invite children and adults to participate in our much-loved “God’s Name Game.” Participants search for seven beautiful synonyms for God—Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, Love—placed throughout our garden. Those who complete the game get a prize and if they can recite all seven from memory win a T-shirt with one of these inspiring messages:
✨ “I am worthy of Love” or “Truth is Power”

Younger children are treated to something sweet, and everyone is welcome to enjoy our peaceful garden filled with whimsical animal figures, lush plants, a shady giant pine tree, and the soothing sounds of a nearby fountain. Live jazz music adds to the festive atmosphere, and we also feature a powerful video loop in our media room from the Christian Science Monitor—for example, the recent series, The Climate Generation: Born Into Crisis, Building Solutions.” And “The Soul of Civility

We usually welcome over 750 visitors, and this is a unique opportunity to introduce our Reading Room and share Christian Science in a gentle, meaningful way.

Whether you can help for an hour or a full day, we need volunteers!
Spread the word and let us know if you—or someone you know—would like to participate.

Please click here help us give out these great T-shirts prizes to the youth in our community who play the God’s Name Game during this Sunday school event.

Please note: We will not be holding our regular service during the event. Instead, we’ll rebroadcast the Sunday service from The Mother Church. However, you’re warmly invited to join us for our regular Sunday service at 10:00 AM PT—either in person or on Zoom. After the service, we host a welcoming discussion about the Bible lesson, testimonies of healing, and insights on Christian Science.

🔗 To join on Zoom, click here, or email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com for the meeting link.


📍 Christian Science Reading Room Garden
912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
📞 (760) 753-4545

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

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New instagram account

Monday, March 10th, 2025

Please follow our instagram account.
Here is our latest post

Oh, and if you’re in the area, consider joining the Encinitas Christian Science Society for Sunday service at 10 am PT, either in person or on Zoom. Want to be inspired? Stay afterwards where we share testimonies of healing that we have experienced with the study of the Bible and Science and Health.  Want to join us? Shoot us an email at christiansciencenote@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

📍 912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
📞 (760) 753-4545.          Instagram

 

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San Diego County Reading Room Group Kicks Off with a Bang!

Thursday, February 27th, 2025

Screenshot 2025 02 27 At 5.11.22 pmLast Tuesday, Feb. 25, we kicked off the first meeting of the San Diego County Reading Room Group—and what a night it was! About 25 folks from eight different churches gathered at the Encinitas Reading Room, ready to collaborate and energize our outreach.

Sabrina Stillwell, CSB, from the Escondido church got things rolling with an inspiring reading before explaining why we were all there. The Mother Church had reached out to see if San Diego County would be interested in a Reading Screenshot 2025 02 27 At 5.20.00 pmRoom workshop—led by them but shaped by us. Our mission? Identify our needs, brainstorm ideas, and form a steering committee with representatives from each participating church.

And brainstorm we did! The whiteboard filled up fast as ideas flew. A young member from Encinitas Society Screenshot 2025 02 27 At 5.13.38 pmeven gave us a quick lesson on leveraging Instagram to connect and share. After our lively discussion, we wrapped up the night with a delicious potluck—salmon and veggie burgers sizzling on the BBQ, courtesy of the Encinitas Society.Screenshot 2025 02 27 At 5.14.54 pm

The Mother Church was thrilled with our gathering and has set up a Google Group for our new steering committee. Encinitas Society will also manage a calendar and email group so we can coordinate and support each other’s outreach efforts. We’ve officially named ourselves the San Diego County Reading Room Group—exciting times ahead!

Next up? A meeting at the Escondido Reading Room (date TBD) to solidify our workshop goals. The Mother Church has asked us to plan for a Saturday in April or early May. Stay tuned!

Oh, and if you’re in the area, consider joining the Encinitas Christian Science Society for Sunday service at 10 am PT, either in person or on Zoom. Want to be inspired? Stay afterwards where we share testimonies of healing that we have experienced with the study of the Bible and Science and Health.  Want to join us? Shoot us an email at christiansciencenote@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

📍 912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024
📞 (760) 753-4545.          Instagram

 

Want updates on events and services? Subscribe to our newsletter—it’s free! Just enter your email in the subscribe window on our website.

Instagram night and San Diego Reading Rooms meeting – Tuesday Feb 25,2025 starts at 4:00 PM

Thursday, February 20th, 2025

We are having an initial Reading Room get-together for all of San Diego County in response to the TMC’s call out for a reading room work shop.  So we thought we would get the ball rolling with a little get together at the Encinitas Reading Room.

Start time

4:00 Introductions and discussion about TMC Reading Room workshop

4:30 Instagram

Fellowship 5:00 to 6:00. (Includes BBQ and refreshments)

Kendra our social media expert will start off with a 15 min introduction to Instagram and how we can connect with Gen Z and Gen X,  how you can connect with Encinitas Reading Room’s instagram and or how you can set your own Reading Room’s account.  Q&A to follow.

  • Bring your Smart phone and Kendra can give you some one on one time during fellowship.
  • Bring your Ideas of how we can support each others Reading Rooms and Church outreach.
  • Bring something to share with the BBQ if you like.
  • Every one is welcome and please RSVP to Bill Blok at Christiansciencenote@gmail.com or call his cell at 541 753 6395

You are invited to join us for our Sunday church service at the Reading Room in person or on zoom Sunday morning at 10 am PT. To let us know you are coming, please email us at christiansciencenote@gmail.com and we can send a link to our meeting. After church we have an open discussion about the week’s Bible lesson and/or testimonies of healing and comments and questions about Christian Science.

Phone (760) 753 4545

912 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

Driving Directions

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