For decades, ever since Mary Baker Eddy asked her secretary to begin holding Christian Science services at a local jail in Concord, New Hampshire, Christian Science chaplains and others on institutional committees around the world (approximately 517 today in the United States alone) have been volunteering countless hours in local jails, prisons, and mental health facilities. They are the unsung heroes among church workers—those whose unselfish care for their neighbor often goes unnoticed or underappreciated among other “church work.” With the support of branch churches, many of which supply Bibles and Christian Science literature to the facilities they serve, these volunteers bring the comforting and healing message of the Christ to people in great need. These workers’ efforts to include the men and women they minister to in the larger church community truly exemplify the spirit of a “church unconfined.” To honor their service, make it more widely known, and help prosper it, the Journal will continue to publish regular reports on institutional work around the globe.
I think everything we do in our life is part of our branch church work—nothing is segregated from it. That’s especially true for the work Christian Scientists do in institutions.
Before getting into Christian Science, I’d always been active in youth organizations and helping youth in trouble. In about 1992, shortly after I began studying Science, I joined a local branch church and began visiting prisons and other facilities. I felt this Science had to be shared, and I’ve been visiting men and women who are incarcerated for about 20 years now.
