The Christian Science Church, often called the Church of Christ, Science, was founded in 1879 by a woman named Mary Baker Eddy. Founded in Massachusetts, the Church focuses on physical healing through prayer, and does not recognize the presence of illness as a permanent or unresolvable issue.

Mary Baker Eddy was an invalid who learned from Phineas Quimby about the possibility of curing illness via natural means, or without medicine at all. In 1966, Eddy was severely injured following a nasty fall on ice, and during her recovery, she read the Bible. When she realized that healing came not from man, but from spiritual enlightenment, she was instantly cured of her injury and illnesses.

That was enough to convince Eddy to focus on healing and religion, and in 1875, she released the first edition of her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Soon she had a nice following, and in 1879, the Christian Science Church was incorporated in Massachusetts. Eddy was named the head pastor of the Mother Church, and wrote the Manual of the Mother Church in order to outline how it should be governed.

Today, the church boasts over 2500 congregations in over 70 countries, with up to 400,000 followers. They believe in the teachings of the Bible, and that the death of Jesus on the cross was to atone for the sins of man. They call God the Father-Mother, thus eliminating any thoughts of gender. One of the main tenants of the church is that sickness does not really exist; we just think it does. With the healing power of prayer, anything is possible.

Though each meeting of the church is not led by a particular pastor, there are certain traditions followed, and the following text is one of those. This is to be read at every meeting as a reminder of the purpose of the church:

There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter.
All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.
Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error.
Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.
Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness.
Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.

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