You can listen to the interview with Ms. Norma Smith here.

2009-04-28 First Church of Christ Scientist Ruskin
Start: 04/28/2009 16:00

204 2nd St NW
Ruskin, FL 33570
(813) 645-6102

Contact: Norma Smith

Book Recommendation: Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (Authorized, Study Edition) by Mary Baker Eddy

Religion: Christian

Denomination: Christian Scientist

Web Page: http://www.tfccs.com/index.jhtml

Visiting the Services

When I used to live in Ruskin, nearly every few days as I'd drive through town I'd see the little sign reading "Christian Science Reading Room." I'm not sure what I expected to actually be there. I think I envisioned a building with just a single room inside. I knew that likely wasn't it, but for some reason, the idea seemed cute to me.

My change to attend services, however, was a mix of both familiar and new. The building looks like nearly any other church you might encounter - white walls, windows, the usual. The only thing that might look difference is the small bookstore/library center that is set up to one side, staffed by members of the faith for those who are looking either for Christian Science literature (such as their magazines, archives of articles, copies of the Bible, or their important work "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy).

The inside of the chapel was again very familiar. Pews faced forward, where in the very front, written in gold lettering, were the words, "God is Love."

I later had the chance to learn that, in many ways, this simple statement forms the bedrock of the Christian Scientist beliefs.

When the service actually started, it was a fascinating mixture of liturgical worship services that I had been to, and what I would term conservative style. When I first came in, I was handed a program, which clearly laid out what readings from the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" would be taken.

There was an opening hymn sung by the congregation. A gentleman who lead the congregation then read from the Bible, and the congregation would respond to what he had read with versus from other parts of the bible. This was the part that was somewhat liturgical.

After this reading, the gentleman then read from the Lord's Prayer (the prayer that is used in the Bible, describing how Jesus instructed people to pray). As the congregation said each line from the Lord's Prayer, the gentleman would then read the spiritual interpretation as given to them by their founder.

The actual service was a series of readings from verses in the Bible, followed by readings from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures". One thing that I should mention was the emphasis on health, on using the teachings from the Bible for healing. Not just healing of the body - Christian Scientists, from what I was able to gather, include all forms of healing: mental, emotional, relationship, financial - as one article in their magazine that I perused mentioned, even technological.

After the main service was over, there was a period of time for the collections of offerings from the members.

It was a fascinating service - again, that interesting mix of old and new. And I rather liked the idea that in every service across the world, thousands of people were sharing in the same services at the same time.