Christian Science Reading Room

Christian Science is a mysterious denomination, in its own way, yet paradoxically it’s one of the most public. Christian Science Reading Rooms are usually warm little bookstores, albeit with ancient tomes.
The Napa Christian Science Reading Room is tucked away in an old building, oddly, beside an apothecary’s shop promising New Age treatments. The building has an air of history. In a sense, it’s haunted. The Reading Room is itself a cramped little space. The lady, who sees few visitors, is very solicitous and welcoming. One can sift through aged pamphlets, copies of the Christian Science Monitor, old microfilm, and cassette tapes. The window display shows off the week’s reading.
Christian Science is an all-​American take on Protestant Christianity. Bicknell Young, who was sent to England to spread Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy, was Brigham Young’s nephew. This Christian Science Reading Room is in the same valley as Elmshaven, where Ellen G. White, who founded Seventh-​Day Adventism, passed away. While White propounded conventional medicine to the point of building a sanitarium outside St. Helena, Eddy taught purely spiritual healing.
The Christian Science Reading Room of Napa is an education in this all-​American religion.