 Posted Tuesday, October 06, 2009 10:11 AM
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Hi, folks:
The first Christian Science Sentinel printed each October must contain a "Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation" because of its class of postage. For the latest one-year period, the CS Sentinel suffered a whopping 22.7% plunge in circulation (average total paid circulation for the previous 12 months), a considerable drop over last year's 3.51% decline. The decline since the most recent high point in 1999 is a staggering 54.7%.
The numbers for the past 14 years:
1996 -- 52,599
1997 -- 44,995
1998 -- 50,868
1999 -- 53,290
2000 -- 46,342
2001 -- 48,899
2002 -- 48,260
2003 -- 45,047
2004 -- 37,778
2005 -- 36,384
2006 -- 34,773
2007 -- 32,341
2008 -- 31,205
2009 -- 24,130
More worrisome for TMC: Total paid circulation for the most recent Sentinel issue was only 22,979.
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Posted Tuesday, October 06, 2009 5:22 PM
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| Would that the world could know how many of those tens of thousands not subscribing to the periodicals any more are dead unnecessarily or who died suffering. I myself know of three. Square Peg
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Posted Tuesday, October 06, 2009 6:55 PM
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I would be curious to know the reason for the steep decline. Is it decline in membership, a combination of this with something else, etc etc? Thoughts from those better knowledgeable??
(I personally do not believe there are more than 30,000 CS left. I've visited a few of these churches and the membership is so low in each. Just my estimate, though.)
Helping One Out
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Posted Tuesday, October 06, 2009 7:40 PM
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| Square Peg, I know of three people who died of the measles during my four years at Principia College in the mid-1980s -- two students and a child of a staff member. Plus there's Prof Jerry Collester, who was "struggling with something" (CSers normally won't say what the problem was, so I'd guess perhaps prostate cancer) and Prof William Conner, who died of a heart attack. And there was Jeff Williams, who died a couple years back, but I've never heard why. He worked in the alumni office. He wasn't that old -- early to mid-40s. Very sad.
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Posted Wednesday, October 07, 2009 7:14 AM
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I personally do not believe there are more than 30,000 CS left. I've visited a few of these churches and the membership is so low in each. Just my estimate, though.)
I'm curious as to what attendance is like at the Mother Church services anymore. I heard a few years ago that someone went and the place was half full (or half empty), Has anyone visited there lately?
I have taken a tour of TMC, but never attended services.
John
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Posted Wednesday, October 07, 2009 11:44 AM
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I went to both a Wed and a Sunday service last Oct.
Sitting in the Mother church at that service was the moment I finally decided that CS was lunacy.
My mother was sitting there next to me suffering in unecessary pain and I knew after 36 years that I was done.Completely.
Anyway,the Sunday servive was about a third full if that much and the Wed service is now held in the original church because attendance has fallen.
CS is dying,that god.
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Posted Wednesday, October 07, 2009 2:25 PM
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| I though I read in "Gods Perfect Child" that membership to The Mother Church required you to subscribe to their periodicals. Does any one know if this is true? If it is true, the latest Sentinel circulation speaks volumes of the churches membership.
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Posted Wednesday, October 07, 2009 2:28 PM
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Anonymous (10/7/2009)
I went to both a Wed and a Sunday service last Oct.
Sitting in the Mother church at that service was the moment I finally decided that CS was lunacy.
My mother was sitting there next to me suffering in unecessary pain and I knew after 36 years that I was done.Completely.
Anyway,the Sunday servive was about a third full if that much and the Wed service is now held in the original church because attendance has fallen.
CS is dying,that god.
What does the Mother church seat? What about the orginal church?
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Posted Wednesday, October 07, 2009 3:13 PM
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Anonymous October 7, 2009 @ 5:28:06 PM,
What does the Mother church seat? What about the orginal church?
My recollection could be off, however, I think the Mother Church Extension seats about 5,000 and the Original Edifice about 1,000.
Back in the day, Annual Meetings were attended by thousands. Seats in the Extension and Original Edifice were at a premium. Overflow in the nearby Hynes auditorium and Symphony Hall was required. Hotel space was tough to get. Seemed only the higher echelons stayed within walking distance.
A few years ago, I just happened to have a business meeting in the Prudential Center next to the church center on the first Monday of June (Annual Meeting day). I was able to book a room at the Marriott at the last minute with no problem. My room overlooked the church plaza with a post card view. In the old days, people stood in line for tickets and filled the church plaza. On the day of my business meeting, the only evidence of Annual Meeting were the signs on the Extension doors noting tours were suspended that day for Annual Meeting. You could have driven a truck through there without anyone noticing.
Do Go Be Man
<><
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Posted Wednesday, October 07, 2009 7:27 PM
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Anonymous (10/7/2009)
I though I read in "Gods Perfect Child" that membership to The Mother Church required you to subscribe to their periodicals. Does any one know if this is true? If it is true, the latest Sentinel circulation speaks volumes of the churches membership.True. The Church Manual, Article VIII, Section 14 states: It shall be the privilege and duty of every member, who can afford it, to subscribe for the periodicals which are the organs of this Church; Either a lot of the members can't afford the subscriptions, or there aren't a whole lot of members. Or maybe the Bylaws are not that important to today's Christian Scientists. I've actually had some members of my former branch church tell me in all seriousness that Mary Baker Eddy wrote those rules over 100 years ago, and some of them have become outdated....times have changed. The numbers are the result of a combination of factors, but I think it is mostly due to the declining membership.
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