In nearly every major American city and in many small towns, Christian Science reading rooms are found mixed in with storefronts. Passersby may hardly notice them, but to those who stop to wonder what goes on inside, their purpose may seem inscrutable: a few shelves of books and some chairs and tables with pamphlets and other reading materials. It’s like a waiting room without a doctor.
Is it a church, and what does it have to do with science? Are they Scientologists?
Christian Science reading rooms are not churches — although they are run by one — and they’re not affiliated with Scientologists. They are a ministry of a homegrown American religious tradition, namely the Church of Christ, Scientist, founded in 1879 in Boston based on the thought of Mary Baker Eddy.
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