Daystar Foundation and Library(43)
- Jonathan Elmore
- Aug 18
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 28
OKLAHOMA CITY
I began this museum journey with my mind open wide. Why wouldn't I? Every day you and I have the chance to be better, to grow and learn. When I saw the opportunity to learn about a church that I knew very little about, I jumped at the chance. I made an appointment to see The Daystar Foundation and Library. It's one of only three archives in the world for the Church of Christ, Scientist and it's right here in Oklahoma City. With no preconceived notion of what I was going to see, I anticipated...well, a library. It's right there in the name! What I got was so much more. I was given a tour by the wonderful couple Troy and Betony who are the archivist and librarian respectively. And, by the way, I've come to call this trip my Gilligan's Island tour because it was a Three Hour Tour. HA! They kept asking if I was okay to keep going and I was more than happy to see everything because at each turn there was something interesting and historically significant to both their church and society at large.
In college, I took a world religion class and learned a great deal about the major religions and nearly all of the sects and denominations that have branched off from them. That's what spurred my interest in the who, what, where, when, why, and how people worship or have sacred space. Since my college class had been so many years ago, I asked Troy and Betony to just begin at the beginning so I wouldn't assume I knew what their church was about. They were happy to relay the history and practices that the Church of Christ, Scientist have been doing since the late 1800's. It all began with a woman named Mary Baker Eddy. I won't give you the entire history of her and the church, but I'll hit the high points so you can get a good glimpse of her life's work. Mary Baker Eddy was chronically ill growing up so she missed a lot of school. Usually that would be detrimental to someone's education, but luckily she had an older brother that was going to Dartmouth College at the time. He would bring her the books that he was reading and she soaked in all the information and became quite an educated woman, not particularly common at the time. Later in her life, after an accident where she slipped on an icy sidewalk, she was bedridden and told that she was going to die from her injuries. She began to read her King James Version Bible and focused on the passages that mentioned someone healing or being healed. She had a revelation that healing wasn't just something to read about, it was something that was possible in her own life and the lives of others. With this change of outlook and her unwavering devotion, Mrs. Eddy got out of bed and was cured of not only her injuries from the fall, but also the chronic ailments she had been suffering from all her life. And then she did exactly what I would have done, she wrote a book about it.
Her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" was first published in 1875 while she was busy healing other people through prayer work. And she developed quite a following because it worked. This book and her teachings have become the foundation of the Church of Christ, Scientist. They use it as a textbook along side the KJV Bible where they correlate it to Biblical passages. They've developed the idea that they are practicing, in their words, Primitive Christianity. That means the Christianity that was practiced in the first few centuries after Jesus' ministry. You and I both know how so many aspects of life have been politicized over the years and religion is one of them. The Christian Scientists have gone back to a purer form of Christianity that eliminates the need for dramatic stories, rock bands, and pyrotechnics to get the word of God to you. Simply reading the textbook and Bible can achieve what fire and brimstone sermons can't, a healthy mind and body through prayer alone. When all is said and done, healing is the outcome.
My tour through the Daystar Library was enjoyable because I was learning about a new-to-me denomination of Christianity as well as seeing how the church positively impacts the people involved in it. I had the chance to see some incredible editions of books, very old Bibles, and even the books that made up Mary Baker Eddy's own library growing up. (Not the actual books, but copies of those books that were on her shelf.) They had many different denominational writings in multiple languages from Arabic to Yiddish, books referencing the Church, and one of the greatest things I saw, bound copies of The Christian Science Monitor from it's first printing in 1908. If you're unfamiliar with the CSM, it's a publication that gives news as it should be, just the facts. For decades it was a daily printed newspaper. Now it can be accessed online at https://www.csmonitor.com.
The last part of the tour involved some things that are fairly new to The Daystar Foundation. Through what I would call divine intervention, they acquired the archives from the architects Faulkner & Faulkner from Chicago. That company designed and built a great number of the Church's branches all over the world. You can see some of the photos from that collection in their new wing. The diverse array of buildings was fascinating and it was impressive that it came from one firm. Beyond the architecture displays, is their collection of extra books that they have received from donations. These books are already represented in the library itself, so they are kept and given out for free to those that need a copy and can't afford it. They just ask that you pay for shipping. Pretty awesome! There were too many stories to put into one article so you should go see the Daystar Foundation & Library. You have to set up an appointment to read some of their publications or to get a tour, but they would be happy to talk with you. I appreciated the hospitality from everyone that I met at Daystar. It was truly a great experience.
3015 United Founders Blvd, OKC
405-848-2238
Entry Fee: Free by Appointment
