A new view of God
and its effect on wellbeing
A talk given by Phillip Hockley
Phillip is a Christian Science Practitioner and a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
All Are Welcome
Christian Scientists in the UK Cotswolds welcome all to our meetings, reading room, and website.
If you have any questions or want to contact us, please go to the foot of this page and enter your request – we will get back to you.
Our Reading Room is open on Monday, Thursday and Saturday from 10.30 – 2pm.
We are a branch church of The First Church of Christ, Scientist founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States by Mary Baker Eddy.
Sunday Service
Join us Sunday mornings at 10.30 am for the reading of the Christian Science Bible Lesson, hymns, prayer, and fellowship
Wednesday Testimony Meeting
All are welcome to take part in our mid-week testimony meetings in our Church at 6.00 pm.
Sunday School
Young people up to the age of 20 are invited to take part in our interactive Sunday School classes at 10.30 am, where they will learn the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, stories from the old and new testaments of the Bible, and the principles of Christian Science.
Our Sunday School is a place of warmth and respect. Students likely never forget this experience – taking a clear message of God’s Love with them throughout their lives.
From very young play up to older student’s discussion – our Sunday School is certainly relevant!
Reading Room
Our reading room is open to the public from 10.30 till 2.00pm on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Here you will receive a warm and friendly welcome and our volunteers will help with any questions you may have.
Our Purpose
… a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.”
Manual of The Mother Church, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 17:8
… we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.”
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 497:3
The central fact of the Bible is the superiority of spiritual over physical power.”
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 131:10
Frequently Asked Questions
Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, based our religion on the Bible’s message of God’s love for man – and on the life and teachings of Christ Jesus and his followers. Christian Scientists consider Christ Jesus to be the way-shower to a clearer understanding of God.
Scientific things are provable. Christian Science is not ‘faith healing’. The law of God that Christ Jesus practiced and taught to others was and is demonstrable. God is knowable, and Christianity must be practical and demonstrable in everyday life. Science takes away the ‘miraculous’ element – spiritual healing isn’t miraculous, but demonstrates scientifically the divine Principle that is God.
No. Christian Science is around 155 years old and is a Christian denomination based on the Bible. It respects Mrs. Eddy for discovering the scientific truths demonstrated by Jesus and explaining them in her written works.
No. Christian Science recognises God as divine Mind, as the power in our human life. The human mind, mind over matter or positive thinking is not a component in scientific spiritual healing. Christian Scientists do not accept that God produces illness or suffering.
No. Mrs. Eddy founded Christian Science. She was a prolific author, started a weekly magazine (The Sentinel), a monthly magazine (The Journal) and an international newspaper – all of which are still being published almost 150 years later. Out of this respect and appreciation for her spiritual understanding, we often refer to her as ‘our Leader’.
Christian Science is natural, simple and practical. It discloses a beauty in nature rarely seen, and especially evidenced in the lives of the early Christians in healing. The teachings of Christian Science explain that healing follows naturally from the action of a divine Principle in human experience. This action is a consequence, not of a blind prayer, but of faith and understanding that all things are possible to God. Thereby bringing this natural action into one’s individual experience. Human health and wellbeing and seen to have a more divine basis, in the goodness of God.
In a word love. You will find this quality expressed by every Christian Science church. We endeavour to make you feel part of our church family, not just a welcome guest. But we do not proselytise. We are a small church, and members put a lot into caring for one another’s needs and providing the best possible service to the community. Our Reading room is open every day for this purpose.
2 Lansdown
Stroud
GL5 1BB
Sunday Services and Sunday School: 10:30am
Wednesday Testimony Meetings: 6pm
Reading Room: 10.30am – 2.00pm on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays