Join us on Sunday mornings! Meet us in the Sunday School building for the time being ~ at 10:00. Sunday School classes will be held also for children and young people up to the age of 20.
And we would also love for you to join us – in person or on the phone – for our Wednesday evening testimony meetings! Please call in a bit before 7:30 to 425-436-6387. Access code 823992#. No need to announce your name when you enter the “room.” The Reader will usually mute all callers. When you want to give a testimony, un-mute by pressing *6 and then *6 again to mute after finishing your testimony.
Please contact our church secretary @ (510) 848-2047 or secondcsberkeley@gmail.com if you have questions.
Our Reading Room is open now on Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays) from 12:00 – 2:00. You’ll find us in a meeting room in the building between the church and the Sunday School. Come say hello!
** online services are available from The Mother Church in Boston at christianscience.com under the “publications and activities” drop-down menu**
Worship on Sundays is an hour long. Conducted by lay members of the congregation, the sermon is comprised of citations from the Bible and a companion text, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. Services are visitor-friendly. Come dressed as you feel comfortable.
The order of service on Sunday morning is as follows:
Piano prelude
Hymn
Scriptural Reading
Silent Prayer followed by congregation praying aloud The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn
Announcements
Solo
Announcement of Lesson Sermon subject and reading of its scriptural Golden Text and Responsive Reading with congregation participation
Lesson Sermon
Music/Collection
Hymn
Closing citations and benediction
Piano postlude
.Sunday School
Sunday School is open to everyone from the age of 3 or 4, depending on the child’s readiness, up to the age of 20. It meets at the same hour as the Sunday service. The youngest classes include introductions to Bible characters & stories through drawing, reading and games. Older classes focus on the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Christ Jesus in conjunction with passages from the the Bible Lesson Sermon for the current week to help students learn universal, spiritual truths that enable them to face life’s challenges and lead happy and productive lives. Students and teachers sing a hymn together at the beginning and the end of the hour. Childcare is lovingly provided for those too young to participate in classes. We meet year round. Students are welcome to enroll at any time during the year and visiting students are always welcome.
The mid-week testimony meeting is an informal gathering where we sing, pray, and listen to readings on a variety of relevant topics. A major part of the meeting includes time for those in attendance to share healings and inspiration from their spiritual study and practice of Christian Science. We meet Wednesdays at 7:30 pm.
Wednesday’s Testimony Meeting format follows this outline:
Hymn
Readings from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
Silent Prayer followed by congregation praying aloud The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn
Announcements
Congregation sharing – testimonies of Christian Science healing
Hymn
.
In November of 1913, Second Church of Christ, Scientist Berkeley was founded in order to meet the needs of the rapidly growing population of active Christian Scientists in Berkeley. As attendance at First Church of Christ, Scientist Berkeley (now also referred to as the Christian Science Society, Berkeley) had exceeded the building’s capacity, members there voted to charter a second church in the North Berkeley area. Thus the first membership roll of Second Church was comprised of former members of First Church of Christ Scientist, Berkeley.
The first church service of Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley was held in January of 1914 in a temporary location in North Berkeley. The congregation continued to grow, and services continued uninterrupted, through a number of similar situations and location changes, including the loss of their own commissioned building to the 1923 fire, having been only just completed in 1922. The current edifice, in use today, was built with proceeds from the sale of the original plot of land, acquired by the University of California, Berkeley, and was completed in 1926. It houses the same organ which survived the 1923 fire from the original building constructed in 1922.
Again in response to a flourishing membership, the need arose for the construction of an additional building to house the Sunday School, which was completed in 1949. The dividing up of surrounding homes into apartments in the ensuing years also led to the need for a parking lot, the land for which was purchased in 1969.
1521 Spruce St, Berkeley, CA