Mark McCurties

Speaker: Mark McCurties, CS — One of the central themes of Christ Jesus’ ministry was to teach and show that the power of God’s love can help us to overcome the various injustices that we face in the world. In fact, Jesus fully proved the power of God’s might. He healed all kinds of disease, transformed the worst types of behavior, he stopped violent acts from occurring, and he forgave his enemies in order to save them, proving hatred to be powerless in the face of divine Love. Ultimately, Jesus showed that the power of God’s love doesn’t just help us to cope with the ills of the world; it helps us to conquer them.

Yet, for all the remarkable healing work that Jesus did, he never once took the credit. Instead he always gave the glory and honor to God, our Father in heaven. So sincere was Jesus in his expression of humility that he even said, “I can of my own self do nothing” (John 5:30). In other words, Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who overcame all the ugliness that the world could throw at him, said (in essence), the good that I do isn’t personal to me; it’s the Father working through me.

Mary Baker Eddy, the woman who founded the Christian Science church, perceived the powerful impact that Jesus’ humility had on his healing and saving mission. She wrote, “Great charity and humility is necessary in this work of healing. The loving patience of Jesus, we must strive to emulate.” (Miscellaneous Writings 7:7-9)

In this lecture, we will discuss how learning to follow the example of Christ Jesus, particularly his profound display of humility, can empower each one of us to heal and to overcome the hard problems that we face. We will discuss what true humility is, how it links us to God, and by extension, how it connects us with God’s healing and saving laws. There is great need for healing in the world today, and Christ-like humility can help us to meet that demand.

Michelle Nanouche, CSB, of Paris, France

Speaker: Michelle Nanouche

— Through honest talk about the questions skeptics ask, this one hour-lecture tackles the essentials of Christian Science – its theology, its Christianity and its role in healing – giving an insider’s look at Christian Science treatment through prayer for physical cure.              
For those who have resisted a serious consideration of Christian Science, this lecture gives a clear, logical and compelling response to the following questions:

– Why is it that genuine healing involves more than purely physical factors based on a patient’s biology and genetic make-up?

– How is Christian Science prayer treatment on the cutting edge of healthcare?

– What does Christian Science offer beyond positive thinking or faith healing?

– How is Christian Science both spiritual and scientific?

This lecture also presents the life of Mary Baker Eddy and her path of discovery, bringing out events in her early medical practice and some of her first healings through prayer that led up to discovering the eternal laws of Christ-healing practiced by Bible patriarchs, prophets, Christ Jesus, early Christians and many today.

Patricia Cohan Woodard, of Dallas, TX

Speaker: Patricia Woodard, CS

— The little bird in my hand was free to fly away. We’d banded him as part of an Audubon Society effort and the time had come for his release. But even when I opened my hand to let him go, he didn’t budge. What did he need? He just needed a little lift. When I gave him even the tiniest nudge upward, off he flew. Free!

What is it that gives this kind of lift to our lives? Good news, for one thing. And what better news than the promise that health and freedom can be ours today. Yes, today!

My lecture traces the origins of this good news to Christ Jesus’ ministry, and then explores how the discovery of a 19th-century woman named Mary Baker Eddy—who found freedom from chronic illness and other struggles in her own life—shows the provable relevance of Jesus’ ministry in our lives today. What she discovered through this study she called Christian Science—a view of God and the universe that uplifts our thoughts, changes our perspective to a spiritual viewpoint, and heals.

And it lifts all of us, and can heal all of us. I’ll share the way Christian Science has brought healing to my own life, rescuing me from a troubling situation with my teenage daughter, and freeing me from the effects of an accident, as well as examples of how it has helped others from different walks of life. The common thread through these experiences is the way a clearer view of the reality of our God-given wholeness also releases us from burdens in our lives and causes us to soar. Free!

Mary Alice Rose, CSB

Speaker: Mary Alice Rose

— Ever since I was a little girl, I have appreciated the scientific nature of Christianity through my study of Christian Science. The Founder of the Christian Science movement, Mary Baker Eddy, described in her seminal work Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures her discovery of Christian Science — a discovery (not an invention!) — of the divine laws Jesus and his disciples relied on in their healing ministries, and which are still here and operating today. As I was growing up, I endeavored to learn and apply these laws in my own life on a regular basis.

When I studied the scientific method of research in public school, I realized I was already familiar with the concept. The words used to describe this method — research, hypotheses, experimentation, analysis, conclusions, publishing — were all words Mrs. Eddy had used in talking about her discovery. And I saw for the first time that the discovery of Christian Science was rooted in this centuries-old scientific method. I enjoy sharing and exploring this point with audiences in this lecture.

I so loved this logical approach to problem-solving that I majored in meteorology and computer science in college and worked for 20 years in different areas of applied physical science. This lecture points out the similarities and the differences between my study of physical science and my study of Christian Science.

The lecture also explores one of the laws of God that is ever-present and ever-operating: “God is Love.” That law comes from the book of First John in the Bible. The lecture includes several examples of healing which illustrate how the law of God as Love is relevant and practical today.

Melanie Wahlberg

Speaker: Melanie Wahlberg, CS  – It’s easy to feel alone or unsupported in our efforts to overcome difficult circumstances.  It would be so reassuring to know how to get through it all!  In this talk, I discuss what I’ve found helpful in my practice of Christian Science healing: that God loves us deeply, providing fresh ideas about our spiritual nature that wipe away fear and reveal inspired solutions.
By turning to God for help, we open up to divine ideas and feel the presence of God in tangible ways, ways that change our lives and our health for the better.  I call this healing.

During the lecture, I explore God as Spirit, Love, and Mind, rather than as a man-like figure making arbitrary decisions about our lives.  This divine Mind is the one source of all good and true ideas.  So God’s thoughts remind us of our spiritual identity, guide us to express more love, and show us our divine intelligence.

I talk about Christ Jesus’ teachings in the Bible as being the best example of how to heal by listening to these ideas.  And I delve into Mary Baker Eddy’s book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, as the explanation of Christian Science healing based on Christ Jesus’ life.  I give examples of how this healing approach has transformed lives, including a mother and her infant daughter who experienced physical healing.  The mother said, “It felt like the ideas themselves did the work.”

Phillip Hockley, CS

Speaker: Phillip Hockley

— When most people think about life-changing moments, they may not think of a lecture on Christian Science. That wasn’t why I attended a lecture for the first time; I didn’t expect to walk out a new person. But I found something in that lecture that was indeed life-transforming. Christian Science gave me a new view of God that I’d not had before: a view of God as Love itself, divine Love that loved me fully. I also discovered that this loving God was not the source of my troubles (which were many) but the solution to them. My life began to improve quickly after that and I became a healthy man after many years of suffering.

There’s no question that I was jubilant about the way my life was being transformed. But what impressed me the most was finding out that these kinds of breakthroughs aren’t one-time, personal miracles. God’s love is available to everyone, and there’s even a textbook on Christian Science healing that explains the power of God’s love in our lives: Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

What I’ve gone on to learn, and what I’ll share in my lecture, is that the perspective of God and reality that Christian Science opens up is one that offers freedom from whatever in our lives seems painful, debilitating, or limiting. I’ll talk about a 19th-century woman, Mary Baker Eddy, who after a life-threatening injury, discovered this new view of God for herself and went on to explain her discovery and its Bible-based principles in her book Science and Health. And I’ll share how that discovery is still relevant to our lives today because of what it reveals about God’s great love for each of us and its powerful, life-transforming effects.

Mark McCurties

Speaker: Mark McCurties, CS — One of the central themes of Christ Jesus’ ministry was to teach and show that the power of God’s love can help us to overcome the various injustices that we face in the world. In fact, Jesus fully proved the power of God’s might. He healed all kinds of disease, transformed the worst types of behavior, he stopped violent acts from occurring, and he forgave his enemies in order to save them, proving hatred to be powerless in the face of divine Love. Ultimately, Jesus showed that the power of God’s love doesn’t just help us to cope with the ills of the world; it helps us to conquer them.

Yet, for all the remarkable healing work that Jesus did, he never once took the credit. Instead he always gave the glory and honor to God, our Father in heaven. So sincere was Jesus in his expression of humility that he even said, “I can of my own self do nothing” (John 5:30). In other words, Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who overcame all the ugliness that the world could throw at him, said (in essence), the good that I do isn’t personal to me; it’s the Father working through me.

Mary Baker Eddy, the woman who founded the Christian Science church, perceived the powerful impact that Jesus’ humility had on his healing and saving mission. She wrote, “Great charity and humility is necessary in this work of healing. The loving patience of Jesus, we must strive to emulate.” (Miscellaneous Writings 7:7-9)

In this lecture, we will discuss how learning to follow the example of Christ Jesus, particularly his profound display of humility, can empower each one of us to heal and to overcome the hard problems that we face. We will discuss what true humility is, how it links us to God, and by extension, how it connects us with God’s healing and saving laws. There is great need for healing in the world today, and Christ-like humility can help us to meet that demand.

Mark McCurties

Speaker: Mark McCurties, CS — One of the central themes of Christ Jesus’ ministry was to teach and show that the power of God’s love can help us to overcome the various injustices that we face in the world. In fact, Jesus fully proved the power of God’s might. He healed all kinds of disease, transformed the worst types of behavior, he stopped violent acts from occurring, and he forgave his enemies in order to save them, proving hatred to be powerless in the face of divine Love. Ultimately, Jesus showed that the power of God’s love doesn’t just help us to cope with the ills of the world; it helps us to conquer them.

Yet, for all the remarkable healing work that Jesus did, he never once took the credit. Instead he always gave the glory and honor to God, our Father in heaven. So sincere was Jesus in his expression of humility that he even said, “I can of my own self do nothing” (John 5:30). In other words, Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who overcame all the ugliness that the world could throw at him, said (in essence), the good that I do isn’t personal to me; it’s the Father working through me.

Mary Baker Eddy, the woman who founded the Christian Science church, perceived the powerful impact that Jesus’ humility had on his healing and saving mission. She wrote, “Great charity and humility is necessary in this work of healing. The loving patience of Jesus, we must strive to emulate.” (Miscellaneous Writings 7:7-9)

In this lecture, we will discuss how learning to follow the example of Christ Jesus, particularly his profound display of humility, can empower each one of us to heal and to overcome the hard problems that we face. We will discuss what true humility is, how it links us to God, and by extension, how it connects us with God’s healing and saving laws. There is great need for healing in the world today, and Christ-like humility can help us to meet that demand.

José de Dios Mata

Speaker:  José de Dios Mata, CSB

–This lecture is about the power of God as divine Love and the direct influence for good it can have on lives individually and collectively when spiritually understood. It explores the Biblical basis of God as divine Love whose law Christ Jesus taught and practiced in his healing and teaching ministry. It brings out the relevance of his command “to love your neighbor as yourself” and the worldwide healing impact this can have.

The ideas in this lecture make clear the importance of loving from the standpoint of God, Love, as our source and each of us as God’s tenderly cared for children. Praying from this standpoint heals disease, saves us from wrong thinking and acting, and awakens us to the reality that our lives are safe in the law of Love. How powerful divine Love is to answer every problem we might be facing. This lecture includes experiences of healing that resulted from prayer and a deeper understanding of God as divine Love based on the teachings of Christian Science.

About the Lecturer: José de Dios is originally from Spain, but has been living in the United States for a number of years. As a teenager, he felt a special interest in music and decided to study guitar, with an emphasis on flamenco. This led him to form his own group and perform in various venues.

Later, he worked for the government for a decade, the last five years of which were spent as a special agent in the Intelligence Services. In his personal life, he faced an enormous challenge in early 1979. A relative’s sudden illness, for which the doctors could find no cure, as well as his own almost complete loss of hearing due to a congenital lesion, which he was told would require immediate surgery or result in total deafness — and he could not continue in his position at work until he had surgery — forced him to seek a solution to these difficulties. He chose not to have surgery. After trying a series of different alternatives, in December of that year José de Dios was introduced to Christian Science by a doctor, his guitar student, who knew of his reluctance towards conventional medicine and encouraged him to explore this system of spiritual healing. Both situations were quickly and completely healed solely through reading the textbook of this religion, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

He soon realized that the spiritual understanding he had just achieved enabled him to heal others. After several years of proving the practical effect of these teachings in the healing of illness and other inharmonious situations of day-to-day life, he gave up his career in 1986 and decided to move to the United States to enter the public practice of Christian Science as his only profession.

His desire to teach others how to practice spiritual healing led him to take Christian Science Normal Class in 2009, in Boston, in order to become an authorized Christian Science teacher in Spain. His hobbies include music, technology, the study of different cultures and the arts, and he has also developed a special interest in architecture.

José de Dios and his wife, Elizabeth, divide their time between Spain and the United States.

Patricia Woodard

Speaker: Patricia Woodard, CS

Topic: Never Too Late to Experience Freedom — The little bird in my hand was free to fly away. We’d banded him as part of an Audubon Society effort and the time had come for his release. But even when I opened my hand to let him go, he didn’t budge. What did he need? He just needed a little lift. When I gave him even the tiniest nudge upward, off he flew. Free!

What is it that gives this kind of lift to our lives? Good news, for one thing. And what better news than the promise that health and freedom can be ours today. Yes, today!

My lecture traces the origins of this good news to Christ Jesus’ ministry, and then explores how the discovery of a 19th-century woman named Mary Baker Eddy—who found freedom from chronic illness and other struggles in her own life—shows the provable relevance of Jesus’ ministry in our lives today. What she discovered through this study she called Christian Science—a view of God and the universe that uplifts our thoughts, changes our perspective to a spiritual viewpoint, and heals.

And it lifts all of us, and can heal all of us. I’ll share the way Christian Science has brought healing to my own life, rescuing me from a troubling situation with my teenage daughter, and freeing me from the effects of an accident, as well as examples of how it has helped others from different walks of life. The common thread through these experiences is the way a clearer view of the reality of our God-given wholeness also releases us from burdens in our lives and causes us to soar. Free!

About the Speaker: Patricia Woodard discovered Christian Science as an adolescent and soon thereafter experienced the complete healing of a broken arm through Christian Science treatment, to the amazement of her mother, a registered nurse.

After working in New York City in the fashion business, she realized she wanted to help children learn how to learn. So she returned to school and got a Masters of Arts in Teaching. This desire to help others and her love of Christian Science impelled her to set time aside to pray for others. While a mother of two children, she became a full-time Christian Science practitioner, and has pursued a lifelong career of learning about God, sharing Truth, and witnessing God’s love for mankind.

She’s lived in six states in the U.S. and twice in São Paulo, Brazil, where she became fluent in Portuguese. “Each new culture and environment has taught me more about God, universal Love, and how God’s goodness is reflected by all people. These new views have opened up wonderful opportunities to interact with people from a wide variety of cultural and economic backgrounds, faiths, and age groups. In Brazil, I helped start up an award winning social program that taught mothers living in a favela (slum) how to make beautiful handmade quilts for resale, the income from which put shoes on their childrens’ feet and gave these women a new sense of self-worth.

“Underlying all my experiences is the desire to bring healing to mankind, to show each individual their God-given freedom, their real heritage, their right to happiness and health, and their inherent ability to feel God’s love.”

Today, she resides in Dallas, Texas, where she continues her healing practice as well as prison ministry. While serving on the Board of Lectureship, she has given lectures at food pantries, museums, libraries, community centers, churches, as well as at local, state, and federal prisons.

Video excerpt of talk