Christian Science in the Greater Philadelphia Area

"The Science of God and its power to heal us" - Nikki O'Hagan, C.S.
2025-09-27 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | First Church of Christ, Scientist, Newark, DE, 48 W Park Pl, Newark, DE, 19711
About this talk:
Misconceptions about ourselves and the world we live in are often corrected by advances in science which bring paradigm shifts to our ways of thinking and understanding existence — like discovering that the earth revolves around the sun, rather than the other way around.
The current matter-based scientific model leaves many questions unanswered and has some thinkers and scientists questioning if it is still the right model. It is interesting to consider if the time has now come for another major paradigm shift in science – a shift that would include God as the center and circumference of all existence. This paradigm shift in thought begins with the questions – how does science relate to God and is there a science that explains God?
Nikki O’Hagan, Christian Science lecturer and practitioner, will address these questions in her talk and show how the Science of God explains Jesus’ healings, and teachings, makes God knowable and understandable, and provides humanity with a safe and reliable means for caring for ourselves and each other.
Nikki will also share some of her own experiences of the transforming, healing power of God gained through understanding this Science of God, or Christian Science. She will explain how this healing happens, and what role consciousness plays in the process.
Childcare will be provided at the lecture.
Click here to learn more about the branch church sponsoring important event.

About our Speaker Nikki O’Hagan, CS:Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
Nikki grew up in South Africa where she gained a love for being outdoors and enjoying the beauty and promise of nature. From a young age she had a strong desire to not just experience life, but to understand it. She used to exasperate her dad by following up every explanation he gave her by asking “but, Why?” While Nikki did grow up attending Christian Science Sunday School, as a teen she decided that this would not be the way for her to gain the understanding of life that she was seeking, and she headed off in another direction.
Several years followed in which she desperately tried to find happiness and to understand the Why of life. She looked everywhere and tried everything (even jumping out of an airplane!) but nothing brought answers, happiness or lasting peace. Rather than finding an understanding of life, it all seemed to just get darker and make less and less sense.
And then a transformational healing brought her back to Christian Science, where she found comfort, peace, mercy, happiness, harmony, health, and home in the arms of divine Love. Nikki then discovered that she loved the infallible logic of the Science of Christianity, and found in it all the answers to her Whys. Life and God finally began to make sense and became full of joy, light, and love. Her gratitude for this pivotal healing, and the salvation it brought her by setting her on the path of Christian Science, was–and still is–unbounded. Since that time all she has wanted to do is love and serve God, and love and serve others.
Through her study and practice of Christian Science, Nikki has experienced and witnessed so many healings over the years. Her earnest desire is for all to know the transformational healing power of divine Love. Becoming a Christian Science practitioner was a natural step in fulfilling this desire.
Nikki looks forward to sharing with others, through the lecturing work, the subjects most precious and dear to her heart: God and Christian Science.

EL CAMINO A LA CURACIÓN CRISTIANA
2025-10-04 09:00 - 09:20

"What Really Matters" - A Talk sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, West Chester, PA
2025-11-02 14:30 - 15:30 | First Church of Christ, Scientist West Chester, PA, 227 N. High St, West Chester, 19380, United States
About this talk:
When finding solutions seems difficult, it’s often because we are having trouble knowing what matters. But the right kind of vision (hint: it’s spiritual) allows us to discern what is actually important. Christian Science reveals what is essential, brings solutions, and enables us to live God-impelled lives that bless our families and communities.
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About our Speaker Nicole Virgil, CS:Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
Nicole’s father was a free-lance church organist, and her parents attended services at many different Christian churches in New England. Her mom had been on a years-long search to find out how to practice Christian healing just as Jesus did, and when she started attending Christian Science church services, she found what she was looking for. As a result, Nicole was raised in Christian Science, and developed a deep desire for an intimate relationship with God.
Nicole studied Christian Science with her mom and music with her dad, and found that each discipline complemented the other. Christian Science healed performance anxiety, while learning music honed the skills she needed for spiritual practice — skills such as intuition, listening, patience and diligence. Throughout her life, Christian Science and music have always overlapped: after studying opera at music school, she took her one-woman opera review program (That Can’t Be Opera!) on the road, educating audiences about opera by singing Mozart, Puccini, and Menotti. Christian Science guided her through this entrepreneurial endeavor, just as it led her to start soloing in churches as a teenager (which is something she still loves to do!) — Nicole eventually married, started a family with her husband, and entered the public practice of Christian Science.
Today Nicole enjoys raising children, gardening, soloing in church, and witnessing the healing effect of Christian Science.

"Effective prayer: Finding healing and wholeness in divine Love" - A Talk sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berwyn, PA
2025-11-16 14:00 - 15:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berwyn, PA, 81 Cassatt Ave., Berwyn, Berwyn, PA, United States
About this talk:
In this lecture, explore practical and transformative prayer, as taught in Christian Science. Through compelling personal stories, Christian Science practitioner and lecturer Bobby Lewis illustrates how the spiritual laws of divine Love operate– and how prayer brings us into alignment with these laws. Whether you’re feeling lost or struggling with illness, effective prayer can restore clarity, peace and wholeness in every area of life.
Click here to learn more about the branch church sponsoring important event.

About our Speaker Bobby Lewis, CS:Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
Bobby grew up in the mountains of Colorado in the US and has found inspiration in wild places all of his life. During some tough teen-age years, his mother (a Christian Science Practitioner), helped him begin to see himself as spiritually whole and loved by God right in the midst of those challenges. It made all the difference and that dark time was left behind.
The care he received, and those early lessons of the value of seeking spiritually and listening deeply to God, set him on a trajectory of wanting to give back to others by supporting their growth. Over the years that took shape in work as a camp counselor, experiential educator, and chaplain for service organizations.
After studying religion in college and graduate school with a focus on learning more about how to put the teachings of the Bible into day-to-day practice, Bobby began work as a Christian Science practitioner, reaching out to others with healing focused prayer.
Being “moved with compassion,” as Christ Jesus modeled, and connecting people with God’s healing love is at the heart of Bobby’s ministry and life.
Bobby still lives in Colorado with his family and animals on a little ranch along the river, where he loves to write poetry, walk, listen, and stand in awe of Spirit’s infinite creation.

"Giving Freely of Ourselves - And what we all gain" - A Talk sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, DE
2026-04-25 11:00 - 12:00 | First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, 103 Brandywine Blvd., Wilmington, DE, 19803, United States
About this talk:
“Giving freely of ourselves and what we all gain,” a talk by practitioner of Christian Science healing and international speaker, Melanie Wahlberg. The talk will focus on universal healing precepts found in the Holy Bible, especially in Christ Jesus’ life and teachings, showing how they are available for anyone to understand and experience through the lens of Christian Science. The talk is free, open to the community, and sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, DE.
“When we feel overwhelmed by life’s problems, we may want to try to get more from the world,” says Ms. Wahlberg. “But when we do the opposite–give more of ourselves or focus on the God-given qualities we already have to express or contribute, we find that we end up not lacking anything. Really, we gain the unexpected good of joy, health, and strength that move our lives and the world forward.”
Sharing examples of healing from her own life and professional practice of Christian Science, Ms. Wahlberg will explain why Christian Science is both Christian and scientific, meaning that people can prove its effectiveness for themselves, as fully described in the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, written by the founder of the Christian Science movement, Mary Baker Eddy.
Ms. Wahlberg will also touch on the life of Mary Baker Eddy, and how she came to understand, confirm, and teach what she felt was original Christian healing. Eddy herself said she was especially inspired by Jesus’ demand, “He that believes on me, the works that I do will he do also; and greater works than these will he do, because I go unto my Father” (found in the Gospel of John 14:12 in the Bible).
For over 150 years, people around the world have worked to follow Christ Jesus in this practice of Christianity and continue to do so today, with healings of physical ills and personal difficulties.
Click here to learn more about the branch church sponsoring important event.

About our Speaker Melanie Wahlberg, CS:
Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
Two influences that Melanie will never forget were the Christian Science Sunday School and a mom who turned to prayer and encouraged her to do the same. These influences showed her something of the reliability of God and spiritual inspiration, and trusting this helped her find her way growing up. Significant healing experiences with relationship and food issues, and violence in the community, were also unforgettable. From this, Melanie got an idea of the many ways that Christian Science can transform lives.
After finishing a doctorate in mathematics, Melanie became a college professor and truly enjoyed teaching. She found that teaching was less about telling students something than facilitating the students’ discoveries of new concepts. There was nothing better than witnessing a reluctant student realize that a previously mystifying concept was actually within reach to anyone.
But the higher promise of Christian Science beckoned her to help people redeem and uplift their lives in a fuller way. When students came to her office for help with calculus, Melanie and her students often found themselves talking about the joy and excitement of growing spirituality. After just two years at the college, Melanie resigned from her position and began accepting calls as a Christian Science practitioner. She wrote articles for the Christian Science periodicals, was a frequent guest on Sentinel radio, and began advertising her practice in The Christian Science Journal in 2004. She and her husband also started a family.
Melanie loves working from her home office in the Los Angeles area. She likes to see lives transformed by the healing ideas of Christian Science, where we ourselves are helped and, at the same time, find we can help others. Her life as a mom has a lot of the same focus. And whether the spiritual ideas apply to health issues, school, social lives, or sports, her three kids push her to “keep it real.”

Annual Meeting of The Mother Church :: Church services (10 a.m. & 5 p.m.) and hymn sing
2026-06-07 10:00 - 12:00
Sunday, June 7—Church services (10 a.m. & 5 p.m.) and hymn sing*
*Activities will not be offered Friday or Saturday this year.
Note: The FIFA World Cup will take place in Boston beginning June 11, 2026. FIFA organizers tell us that this event will impact domestic and international travel, hotel availability, and local public transportation. We recommend planning your travel with this in mind.

Annual Meeting of The Mother Church in Boston (online and in-person)
2026-06-08 13:00 - 16:00 | Free Online Talk
Annual Meeting of The Mother Church
Monday, June 8, 2028
We can’t wait to be together with you.
This year’s Annual Meeting will be held on Monday, June 8, at 1:00 p.m. ET (Boston time) in The Mother Church Extension.
Each year, Annual Meeting brings Mother Church members together from around the world to hear reports from The Mother Church and updates from the Field (you!). The entire weekend is a meaningful way to connect with your Mother Church and feel the embrace of your global Christian Science family.
We hope you’ll join us, either in person or online, in discovering how deeply relevant this gathering can be to bringing healing to the world. Please watch this page for updates.
Note: The FIFA World Cup will take place in Boston beginning June 11, 2026. FIFA organizers tell us that this event will impact domestic and international travel, hotel availability, and local public transportation. We recommend planning your travel with this in mind.
Register and learn more by clicking here.
