Professor RENNIE SCHOEPFLIN (La Sierra University): What one thinks is what is. If one thinks that sin, sickness, and disease exist, then they will. The crucial element, therefore, of the healing process is to come to a clear understanding that we aren't sick.

DAVIS: Anything can be healed, according to Christian Science -- from physical illness to marital problems and financial crises. The job of practitioners like Cheryl Peterson is to help others achieve their own healing -- called a "demonstration" -- through a deeper understanding of God.

Ms. PETERSEN: A Christian Science practitioner is like a scientist. It's working through rules that you follow. And it's not just having faith in, that goodwill happens. It's an honest conviction that I really actively need to be thinking properly and acting according to that thought and to be able to practice what I know -- the end result of which is healing.

DAVIS: Virginia Harris is chair of the Church's governing body, the Board of Directors.

VIRGINIA HARRIS (Chair, Board of Directors): If it's a physical illness, one is free to use a doctor or free to use Christian Science treatment. I think you'll find that most Christian Scientists will first go to a Christian Science practitioner if their own prayers don't work for them. Christian Science is really about self-care.

DAVIS: Every Sunday, Christian Scientists around the world read the same passages selected from SCIENCE AND HEALTH and the Bible. They don't have ministers or priests. Instead, members refer to the two texts as their "pastor."

Many people become familiar with Christian Science through its reading rooms. Every church around the world has a reading room. There are 2,000 worldwide. Each church has a Christian Science reading room.

The Church's approximately 1,500 full-time practitioners get most of their clients, who pay them, through listings in the journal. Recently, in a document called "Matters of Conscience," two practitioners charged Church leaders with a decade's worth of alleged abuses. The authors' names were removed from the journal and they were stripped of their teaching authority, prompting an outcry from Kidder and others.

Ms. KIDDER: This particular administration in our Church seems intent to silence criticism or just questioning of policies and presentations of Christian Science. The manual of the Mother Church allows for complaining, formal complaints. And "Matters of Conscience" is merely that.

DAVIS: Jones says the Church has listened, but the critics have not followed the manual.

Mr. JONES: A few individuals here have gone way beyond the bounds of that Church document and, in effect, have abandoned the processes provided for by Mrs. Eddy.

Prof. SIMURDA: The Church is correct when it says there's only a small number of people behind this effort. However, what it doesn't reflect accurately is that there are a large number of people who are very sympathetic with the message that the "Matter of Conscience" group is putting forth.

Ms. KIDDER: I'm willing to speak out because I teach a Sunday School class of 10-year-olds, and I look into those little faces and I'm not willing to give them a counterfeit. And I think what's being presented as Christian Science right now is not our true theology.

DAVIS: All sides in the Christian Science debate want their church to be dynamic, forward-looking, and faithful to the founder's intentions. The question is exactly how to do that.

Mr. JONES: The Church is moving forward with what it's always stood for. We're responding to this increased demand for spirituality.

Ms. KIDDER: This is a juncture for us. Will there be a schism and a reform movement? Or will we be able to get together intelligently and discuss this and make reformation?

DAVIS: Schism would be a hard blow for a church which, according to observers, has already experienced significant decline.

In Boston, I'm Deryl Davis reporting.