Wisconsin Elects Christian Scientist as Governor

February 9, 2001

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On February 9, 2001, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Wisconsin's first Christian Scientist governor, Gov. Scott McCallum. Christian Science is "a remarkably democratic religion -- one with local autonomy, no clergy and no formal doctrines...Few Wisconsin residents know much about the religion other than a vague sense that it emphasizes faith rather than medicine in healing...That might raise questions about the fact that one of McCallum's first policy initiatives was a proposal to make prescription drugs more widely available for senior citizens...That might raise questions about the fact that one of McCallum's first policy initiatives was a proposal to make prescription drugs more widely available for senior citizens. But people familiar with Christian Science say it would not require him to act any particular way on that issue...Christian Science does not recommend that people alternate conventional medicine with its biblical, prayer-based approach to healing," but it does not condemn members who do. "Within the faith, there are widely varying degrees of reliance on prayer...Christian Scientists believe in Jesus and in all the Gospel accounts of him. Services include music, public and private prayer, and readings by elected lay readers of the faith's fundamental books -- the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy. Her book "discusses a scientific application of the laws of God that were behind Jesus' healings." Wisconsin, where the first Christian Science church was built in 1886, now has 44 of them. "The Christian Science approach differs from faith healing in that there is no laying on of hands, chanting or rituals."