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for Institutional Service in Massachusetts
About Us
We're a collection of Christian Science branch churches across the Commonwealth that provide Christian Science activities to people confined inside government-sponsored institutions such as prisons, mental hospitals and juvenile facilities. These activities may include church services, chaplain visits, provision of Christian Science literature, including the textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, and The Christian Science Monitor Weekly news magazine.
The Joint Committee is run administratively by an Executive Committee, currently a group of four volunteers. The Executive Committee, or EC, acts as a resource to help fund Christian Science lectures inside institutions, to organize an annual statewide conference for institutional workers, to facilitate communication between Christian Science branch churches, and to provide any logistical and/or prayerful support for issues that might arise in the course of institutional work.
The History of Prison Reform
as Part of the Christian Science Movement
The Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, took an interest in those confined to institutions as her movement grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mrs. Eddy's first interaction with prisons came through her family connections to the Pilsburys. The head of that family, Captain Moses Pilsbury, was warden of New Hampshire State Prison in 1818-1826 and 1837-1840. He and his sons implemented prison reforms throughout New England and New York through activities like encouraging literacy, reading the Bible to inmates and building workshops where inmates could learn trade skills they could use upon release. In one such workshop, men at the New Hampshire State Prison built Mrs. Eddy a white wicker rocking chair with her signature cross and crown woven into the back.
Mrs. Eddy's religious movement incorporated institutional service as early as 1891, when The Christian Science Journal noted that Christian Science literature was being distributed in prisons. From 1900 to 1906, at Mrs. Eddy's urging, Irving Tomlinson conducted church services inside the Merrimac County jail. In her writings, Mrs. Eddy notes several instances of working with the institutionalized, including the man imprisoned in Washington, D.C. for assassinating President Garfield.
Christian Science church members across the country have carried on this healing ministry throughout the years. The Christian Science Joint Committee for Institutional Service in Massachusetts started up in the early 1970's, and over the decades, individuals have continued sending literature, conducting church services and running Bible study classes inside Commonwealth institutions.
(Information sourced from the Mary Baker Eddy Library, https://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/).
Chair built by NH state prisoners for Mary Baker Eddy
Executive Committee members are:
- Chair -- Cara Cusack-Theodule
- Secretary/Treasurer -- Virginia Hughes
- Committee Members -- Netty Hoagland, Don Wesley
Communications Coordinator -- Diane Fabrizio Brault
Christian Science Society, Andover
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Attleboro
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Belmont
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Beverly
Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston (in Roxbury)
Christian Science Society, Brewster-Orleans (in Brewster)
Christian Science Society, Brockton-Bridgewater
Christian Science Society, Buzzards Bay
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Cambridge
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Concord
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Duxbury
Christian Science Society, Great Barrington
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Harwich-Chatham
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Hyannis
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Ipswich
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Lexington
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Lowell
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Lynn-Swampscott
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Marblehead
Christian Science Society, Martha's Vineyard
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Natick
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Needham
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Newburyport
Christian Science Society, Northampton
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Norwood
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Plymouth
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Quincy
Christian Science Society, Rockport
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Sharon
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wellesley
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Winchester
Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Worcester
Where We Serve and Literature Distribution
Currently the Joint Committee has volunteers serving in seven institutional facilities and sends Christian Science literature to thirteen institutional facilities.
Click the little white box in the upper left of each map to see a complete list of the different locations. Server locations (red pins) and literature distribution (purple pins).
Want to get involved?
Would you like to make a difference? We welcome your support!
Volunteer individually, or as part of team, to bring Christian Science services to institutions.
Serve as a Branch Representative by being appointed by one of the Member Churches and act as a liaison between the Member Church and the Joint Committee, providing metaphysical support, if requested.
Apply to the Executive Committee to be considered for appointment as a Volunteer Chaplain or as an Executive Committee member.