Category Archives: Outreach

Burning Man by the Numbers

2014 Burning Man, Camp, Christian Science Lectures, Foot Washing, News, Outreach, Prayer
http://www.scottlondon.com/photography/burningman/
Photo credit: http://www.scottlondon.com/photography/burningman/

We invite you to join us on the playa in spirit through your prayerful and financial help. Here’s a quick breakdown of Burning Man 2014 by the (approximate) numbers:

  • 8 days  – August 25 to September 1
  • 68,000 people
  • 120 miles north of Reno, Nevada, USA
  • 7 square miles of playa (fine-powdered alkaline desert; about equivalent in size to downtown San Francisco; BLM land that transforms from barren desert to “Black Rock City” and back once a year)
  • 1,000+ Porta-Potties
  • 1 Center Camp where you can purchase ice, coffee and hot cocoa; ice is also available at two other locations; no other commerce is allowed, period.
  • 1,000s of theme camps – from Aloha Camp (island vibes, Aloha spirit and Hawaiian culture) to ZAP! (a giant lightning bolt striking the playa).
  • 1 foot washing camp* – ours! “HEALING FOOT WASH: Life, Truth, Love”Healing Foot Wash banner
    • 15+ on-playa participants
      • 15+ pairs of goggles and dust masks
      • 15+ bicycles
      • 1 gallon of water per person per day for drinking + food
    • 1 playa kitchen organized by our fabulous kitchen team and staffed by each participant in turn
    • 1 evapotron shower system
      • 497 baby wipes 😉
    • 10+ foot washing stations
      • 2000 feet washed (goal, up from 400 feet last year)
      • 1/2 C water + vinegar per foot wash
    • 3 lectures by John Tyler, CSB, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship
    • as-yet uncounted number of used Bibles, Science and Healths, MyBibleLessons, Quarterlies, Sentinels, etc., for gifting
    • ++ Prayer Watch volunteers – PLEASE PRAY WITH US! <–sign up for a watch
    • 1/2 of needed funds have been raised – every donation counts! Our participants have purchased their own $380 tickets, and paid for travel and food. However,  we have lecture**, truck rental and a some miscellaneous expense to cover.

Thank you for joining us in spirit through your prayers and donations. It is never too late, nor too little. This camp belongs to everyone who wants to share their love of Christian Science with the world. We appreciate your support and promise to share our experiences with you when we return!

*according to a search for the terms “foot” and “feet” in the theme camp list
**lecture expenses include tickets, travel and food for our lecturer and spouse

Anna Lisa’s article about last year’s Burning Man experience is live on ChristianScience.com

2013 Burning Man, Christian Science, Foot Washing, Inspiration, Outreach
Burning Man hands
Photo by Anna Lisa Kronman

Anna Lisa contributed a lovely write-up of her experiences as a camp participant at the 2013 Burning Man festival that has now been published on ChristianScience.com.

We prayed thoughtfully and earnestly for ourselves and all those who would be coming, but we arrived with few outlined outcomes. We planned to gently embrace this city of lively seekers by seeing their spiritual worthiness as we washed dust from their feet. What a surprise that in doing so, we discovered we were in the middle of church! Being in this very unique environment led me to some new thinking on what constitutes Church. Here are a few ideas that came to me in that windswept space about Church pared down to its core essence.

Click here to read the entire article.

June 2014 Letter to our Church Friends

2014 Burning Man, Christian Science, Christian Science Lectures, Foot Washing, News, Outreach

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Greetings friends!  This is the postcard and letter we sent out to many churches and friends recently.  If you know anyone who might appreciate seeing this, please feel free to share this with them!  There are less than 2 months until Burning Man happens and things are really starting to to come together!  Thanks again to everyone on the team who has been contributing so that everything get done that needs to get done!

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June, 2014

Dear Church friends,

We all love to share “a cup of cold water”, the profoundly good news of Christian Science, with receptive hearts. The purpose of this letter is to acquaint you with how a group of us has been doing that at an unusual venue, and invite your prayerful and financial support as we continue this year. We appreciate your sharing this letter as widely as you can, posting it if possible, along with the card.

The event is Burning Man 2014, a temporary city of over 60,000 who meet for a week in the Nevada desert to share art, music, a gift-based economy, and free thinking. For a number of years, a few students of Christian Science have been a part of this community, sharing the good news of Christian Science healing. This blossomed into a somewhat larger group giving Christian Science lectures in 2012 and again in 2013 to some wide-open listeners.

Our informal group of Christian Scientists will be bringing John Tyler, CSB, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship, to interested and hungering hearts this year. In addition to supporting the lectures, the group will be washing feet again (a very well-received gift offered last year), giving away copies of the Bible and Science and Health, and offering prayer or Christian Science treatment to any who request it.

Though the group participating in the desert is not large, the positive impact of sharing the Comforter is huge! Support by all who love the good it can accomplish is invaluable, and we invite you to join us in this. Here are three specific areas we welcome your participation:

  • Please join us in prayer in support of our time there from August 24 – September 1 2014: prayer that sees man as whole, pure, good, including all coming to Burning Man. We would appreciate prayer now as well, as we prepare.
  • Send us books to give away! We’re looking for loved, used copies of Science
    and Health     and the Bible to give away as gifts at our camp. Written in or underlined is OK. Books may be sent to Christian Science at Burning Man, Care of First Church of Christ, Scientist, 795 West Peckham Ln., Reno, NV 89509.
  • Give financial support. Lecture fees, vehicle rentals, gas, and food are some of
    the expenses that will be covered by donations from individuals and churches. Thank you in advance! Checks may be made payable to “Cal Berkeley CSO” with a memo line of “Burning Man”, sent to Christian Science Organization, 2601 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704. Any amount is appreciated.

You can find more information, videos of the Burning Man lectures, pictures, links to articles, and may donate online via PayPal here: https://spiritualplaya.org/donate/.

Thank you for your interest, prayers and support!

Lovingly,
The Christian Science at Burning Man team

Download PDF: 2014 Letter to churches

Fujiko Signs 2013 full Burning Man Christian Science Lecture “Love without limit, Life without fear”

2013 Burning Man, Christian Science, Christian Science Lectures, News, Outreach, Talks, Videos

Video not showing? Click here to view on YouTube.

Fujiko Signs, C.S.B. gave a 50 minute Christian Science lecture at the 2013 Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nevada titled “Love without limit, Life without fear”. The talk was delivered at the Red Lightning Camp main stage.

What do you think?  Leave a comment below!

You’re invited to hear our experiences in person on Dec 14, 2013 4:30pm at the U.C. Berkeley CSO

2013 Burning Man, Christian Science, Christian Science Lectures, Foot Washing, Outreach, Talks

Come hear the life-changing experiences of the participants who were part of the 2013 Christian Science camp at Burning Man at the U.C. Berkeley CSO on Saturday, December 14 at 4:30pm.   There will be a photo slideshow, video footage, stories and more.  Refreshments will be served.

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Download PDF: Burning ManSharing Invite (8.7 MB PDF)

Michael’s Church Alive post

2013 Burning Man, Articles, Christian Science, Outreach

Michael Morgan

Growing up in the Church of Christ, Scientist my whole life, I’ve always wondered why so much action is expected to happen inside the building. What about outside of the building in the broader community? Over the years I developed a type of spiritual boldness through “trial and prayer.” I learned that the worst thing people can say to me if I offer prayer or inspirational literature is “No.” The best thing that can happen is that someone’s life is transformed forever.

After a successful experience of bringing a Christian Science lecture to the Burning Man Art Festival last year (see this Sentinel article about it), our team of Christian Scientists from the West Coast wanted to explore new ways of really serving the population of Black Rock City, Nevada where there are approximately 70,000 people and zero buildings!

Read entire post here

Surprise! Church at Burning Man

2013 Burning Man, Christian Science, Foot Washing, Ideas & Concepts, Outreach

By Anna Lisa Kronman – Full story here

Burning Man 2013 hands sculpture

What would inspire folks to shelve their iPhones and computers for a week, wait (with extraordinary patience!) for long hours in line to camp out in a severe desert environment, pack in all food and water, and pack out all trash, enduring dirty fingernails and dusty feet?  An annual event called Burning Man with these elements, and more, brought over 60,000 such folks together this year in a remote Nevada desert.  The rules for the community are basic (and can be see in their entirety here: http://www.burningman.com/).  In my reading of them, they are essentially a pragmatic statement of the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you.)  A unique element of Burning Man is its gift-based, rather than consumer-based economy.  The only things for sale are ice and coffee, and the proceeds go to a charitable organization.  Everyone that comes is expected to give something.  Also part of this culture: extraordinary creativity, art, loud music, a markedly friendly and open/permissive atmosphere, and whimsical clothing (or sometimes none.)

A group of people who love Christian Science felt there was a good reason to be a presence in this city.  We came to wash feet.

Click here to read the entire story

“Dear friends” – Fujiko’s write-up of her experience lecturing at Burning Man 2013

2013 Burning Man, Christian Science, Christian Science Lectures, Outreach

Fujiko Signs, C.S.BDear friends,

What a privilege to be invited to speak at Burning Man!!

If someone asks me what it is like to lecture in Black Rock City, I would first identify this City as one of the most inclusive places. Burning Man attracts many seekers, thinkers, and movers.  And these seekers and movers are from all over the world.

From meeting people just around our camp, I realized I would be speaking to an international audience. I met people from Israel, Ireland, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, China, and Russia. I am pretty sure every State was represented from the U.S.A.

I gave two presentations that introduced 1) Science and Health 2) Mrs. Eddy, 3) Qualities of real man and spirituality, 4) Christ Jesus as the teacher and healer, and 5) the examples of healing through prayer (Christ/shift in consciousness) that I have witnessed.

More nationalities were represented at the talk (lecture) I presented in the Center Stage for the Speaker’s series and more people were listening in, surrounding the stage.

The eagerness to learn what I had to say about healing and spirituality was felt and there was no room for shortcuts or covering up with “words.”
Many who attended my lectures were thinkers and regular viewers of TED talks as well, so the level of expectation to present something completely new or radical was also high.

At the end of two talks, I felt every lecturer should speak here and feel the energy and intelligence, childlike receptivity and generosity of true seekers and thinkers.

Thank you for your contribution to add strength to our Movement!

With much love and blessing to you!!
Fujiko Signs, C.S.B.

September 20, 2013