About Julie Ward

One of my  earliest  childhood memories was watching my mother,  my  grandmother,  and my  great  aunt sitting around the kitchen  table reading aloud from the Bible and the textbook  of Christian Science, Science and Health with  Key  to the Scriptures, by Mary  Baker  Eddy. Their eyes sparkled with the joy  of discovery,  and they  would exclaim,  “Isn’t that  wonderful! Don’t you  just  love Christian Science?”

Even  as a very  little girl,  I knew that  it was wonderful and that  someday  I would love it as they  did. Soon I began  to  attend the Christian  Science Sunday  School, and I saw  in my  teachers the very  same love for God and for mankind that  I had  witnessed in my  family. My  grandmother  gave me two little red books  –  a Bible and a copy  of Science and Health. I still  have them  today. I’ve found healing and hope in  them  for many years,  and each  time I open  them, I know there will  be a fresh  sense of inspiration and joy.

I loved the Christian Science Sunday School, where I learned the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount,  and many  stories of healing from  both  the Old and New  Testaments. Best of all, through  study  of Science and Health  with  Key  to  the Scriptures, I began  to understand how Christian  Science heals. As a teen-ager, I had several significant healings. When I  graduated from Sunday  School, I was invited to start teaching Sunday School. Since then, I’ve taught — and learned from — every class, from the littlest ones to college students.

During my  college years I had  a great desire to  learn  even more about how Christian  Science actually works, and learned that I could apply  for Primary  Class Instruction in  Christian  Science,  a twelve day  course in  the fundamentals of Christian  Science healing. Those twelve days were  a turning point in my  life. I realized that I yearned to  heal  and to help  mankind.

After college, I worked in a local dance company, performing, doing choreography, and teaching. There were many  opportunities to  pray  for other  dancers, friends and family members. Gradually I realized that the qualities I expressed in dance – discipline, commitment, unselfishness – had actually been leading me to the public practice of Christian Science. I became a Journal-listed practitioner in 1986. In 2006, I became a teacher of Christian Science, and  served on  the Christian  Science Board of Lectureship from 2010-2016.

I cannot imagine a more deeply satisfying lifework. When I sit  around the table with  my  students, I know just  how my  dear mother,  grandmother,  and aunt  felt when they  said, “Isn’t that  wonderful! Don’t you  just  love Christian Science?”