“‘You are Brave but You are a Woman in the Eyes of Men’: Augusta E. Stetson’s Rise and Fall in the Church of Christ, Scientist”

Swensen, Rolf. “‘You are Brave but You are a Woman in the Eyes of Men’: Augusta E. Stetson’s Rise and Fall in the Church of Christ, Scientist.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion  24, no. 1 (2008): 75–89.

Augusta Stetson was the controversial founder and leader of the largest Christian Science church in the world—completed in 1903, a magnificent 1.2-million-dollar sanctuary located in New York City. She was one of many women at the turn of the 20^th century who, in turning to Christian Science, found religious, social and financial independence, and agency as healers, teachers and leaders. Swensen explores “new views into the modi operandi of Stetson and Eddy” (75). He examines Stetson’s accomplishments as well as liabilities, illustrating that though women were (and still are) the mainstay of Christian Science (70% women), some of them, like Augusta Stetson, possessed powerful and charismatic personalities too “irrepressible” (76) to coexist with Mary Baker Eddy’s principal place in the movement. Eddy had a painful and exasperating history with Stetson mixing declarations of love and support with repeated warnings against overweening pride, manipulative self-promotion, materialism and divisive competitiveness— “the most troublesome student I call loyal” (82, Eddy). Stetson was ultimately excommunicated from the Church. The irony is that Mary Baker Eddy’s experience with Stetson prompted her to place the governance of her Church into the more socially acceptable hands of “trusted, steady” men (82, 87) “who rapidly evolved into authoritarian officials” (88).

Note: This article is included in Swensen’s book: “And O’er Earth’s Troubled, Angry Sea”: The History of Christian Science in the United States, Routledge, May 21, 2025.

ISSN: 8755-4178
Print ISSN: 1553-3913

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“Augusta E. Stetson” by Rolf Swensen