Crisis in the Christian Science Church

Beals, Ann. Crisis in the Christian Science Church. Pasadena: Self, 1978.

Beals writes, “This book is a factual account of my experiences with the Kerry Letters from 1975 through 1977 when I was in Boston helping his one-man crusade to revive the Christian Science Church” (v). Reginald Kerry, trusted by Church officials, was asked to help work out a security system for the new Church Center. In the course of his work, he had come to know many Christian Scientists working at the Center and had access to the Administration Building and its files. He and Beals had both felt loyal and eager to support the success of Christian Science; but independently of each other, they became disturbed “over conditions at head-quarters” (2). His primary concerns were the state of the Church finances, its authoritarian style of government, and immorality (usually identified as homosexuality). Giving up on trying to persuade from within headquarters, he decided to communicate with the global membership through a distribution of letters. Beals also felt wronged by the Church’s policy of forbidding the publication or circulation of ‘unauthorized literature,’ including her own pamphlets. She edited and distributed Kerry’s ‘Letters’ to the Field, which became well-known to Church members and ultimately caused either anger, defensiveness, reflection, or some correction.

ISBN-10: ‎ 0930227085
ISBN-13 (Softcover): 978-0930227081

This reference is written by an ‘independent’ Christian Scientist and is included in the bibliography because of its historical value. For further explanation, click here.