THE SMALL, COLORFUL SIGN greeted members and visitors to the opening of our Christian Science Society's new location: "Welcome to the structure of Truth and Love! Free food!"
That was two years ago. But the real story of our society began some 12 years back, when a few Christian Scientists in San Juan Capistrano, California, shared a desire to take a fresh look at Church.
As an informal group, they started by holding weekly discussions. One of the original members of the group, Alan Hess, recalls, "We went to the simple framework outlined in the Manual of The Mother Church and to what Christianity means to us from our understanding of it in the Bible." As those in the group listened to one another's views, some common themes arose. "We wanted a church without walls," Mr. Hess explains, "one like the early Christians had that would make a difference in our own community."
