“The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good.”
— Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 518
Who are we?
New CoCC Info Flyer
The Story of CoCC
CoCC FAQs
What a CoCC Does
Read our Newsletter
About Us
Who are we?
In 2018, the Christian Science Communities of Christian Caring (CoCC) was established as a Working Group of the Christian Science Nursing Collaborative. It began as a small group of individuals who had served the ministry of Christian Science nursing in various capacities for many years.
In 2023, the CoCC became a sponsored program of The Principle Foundation. We work closely with The Mother Church Christian Science Nursing Activities department, through the Christian Science Nursing Collaborative, to fill a needed role in supporting the caring, comforting, and healing needs of Christian Scientists throughout our movement.
The CoCC website was designed to help:
Church members who are already caring for a loved one
Church members who feel called to care for others in their church community and want to be better informed and prepared
Church Care Committees who would like more ideas on how to support their church community. Even though care-committee work is not considered a Church Manual-based activity, it has had a long tradition in many branches of The Mother Church for many years. Our role is to support that activity with a program that provides practical wisdom, education, awareness, and networking resources for the continuation of that work in church communities movement-wide.
The CoCC is not another organization to join. It is a resource for those who are already members of another organization - their church! Our “niche” is to help church members meet the simple needs of others in their church community, that don’t require the skills of a Christian Science nurse, and support healing.
Partner Organizations
New CoCC
Info Flyer
October 2025
Click image to review, download, or print out a copy of the flyer.
Christian Science Communities of Christian Caring (CoCC)
The Story of Christian Caring and CoCC
Press “play” to listen to the CoCC Story.
(22 mins)
Click on this image to download, share, or print out the document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click on the FAQ’S button for answers to these questions:
1. Is Communities of Christian Caring (CoCC) associated with The Mother Church?
2. How do CoCC educational activities relate to Christian Science nursing training?
3. How can I establish a CoCC group in my church community?
4. What is the difference between CoCC and “Caring for Christian Scientists?”
5. What is the difference between care committees, CoCC, and Christian Science nursing workshops?
What does a CoCC do?
Supports the natural Christian desire to care for one another
Supports healing! Anything from friendly visits, to tidying up, to fixing meals, to finding on-going care from a Christian Science nurse
Supplements the efforts of a church care committee, a Christian Science nursing facility, or a visiting CS nurse service if one is nearby
Identifies resources (local or beyond) which an individual or group might not be aware of to meet a specific need
Builds a web of sustainable relationships — not solo efforts or one-time events, but on-going partnerships within one’s CS community
Discovers unique ways to meet the needs of Christian Scientists in your own area
Reaches out to knowledgeable sources to build their own capacity to do all of these things — if at this time it is not happening for one reason or another
Hosts conversations, meetings and workshops (in person and online) to educate Christian Scientists in understanding and supporting the role of Christian Science nursing in our movement
Clarifies the practicalities (and the ethics) of helping someone in their home
Christian Scientists everywhere can create their own informal networks of carers — whether they are tied to a Christian Science nursing facility or a church . . . or they are more remote and doing things on their own.
If you want to explore what is possible in your own area, please contact us.
The Principle Foundation
The Principle Foundation promotes inspired benevolence in accordance with the teachings of Christian Science. The Communities of Christian Caring is one of their sponsored programs.
The Christian Science Nursing Collaborative
The CSN Collaborative is a network of organizations that include The Mother Church (TMC), the Christian Science Nursing Network (CSNN), the Association of Organizations for Christian Science Nursing (AOCSN), and the Philanthropy Forum for Christian Science Nursing. They oversee a number of working groups which they have established to focused on the specific needs of the Christian Science nursing field. The Communities of Christian Caring (CoCC) program began as one of these working groups.
Read more about our relationship with the Christian Science Nursing Collaborative in our December 2025 newsletter.
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Following a conference on Christian Science nursing at The Mother Church in February of 2014, a series of meetings of donors to Christian Science nursing took place. From 2015 through 2022, these donors have met at least once annually to consider how they might better support Christian Science nursing.
At the second conference in 2016, this group of donors named itself the Christian Science Nursing Philanthropy Forum, or Philanthropy Forum or PhilFo. The PhilFo Steering Committee was formed to give oversight. At the conference, the PhilFo agreed to support the idea of a national fund to support Christian Science nursing. After a period of research, a subgroup asked The Principle Foundation to launch such a fund. The National Fund for Christian Science Nursing opened in April 2017.
Also in 2017, the Association of Organizations for Christian Science Nursing (AOCSN) Executive Committee (EC) met with the PhilFo Steering Committee to see if collaboration might offer new ways to support Christian Science nursing. Shortly after, the Christian Science Nursing Network (CSNN) and the Nursing Activities department at The Mother Church joined these meetings. These four organizations and their members began referring to this collective effort as the Christian Science Nursing Collaborative or simply the Collaborative.
The Collaborative created the Collaborative Coordinating Committee (C3) to help organize and oversee its work. (info@csncollaborative.org)
From the beginning, the annual conferences of the PhilFo and the Collaborative focused on identifying issues that needed a collaborative approach to solve. With each problem identified, they formed a Working Group. For more information on these, go to www.csncollaborative.org.
In 2017, the Calling and Career Working Group commissioned a research project to determine what factors encouraged and what factors hindered individuals becoming Christian Science nurses. Several Working Groups formed to seek solutions for the factors identified in this research project.
In late 2017 and early 2018, four conferences on Christian Science nursing took place at The Mother Church, the first collaborative conference, the Philanthropy Forum and AOCSN. Each of these conferences identified a set of priorities for supporting Christian Science nursing. Five of these priorities were identified at all four conferences. Those priorities have been recently restated and updated by the C3.
Currently we have the following active initiatives focused on those five priorities:
Valuing CS nurses – Self-employed
Valuing CS nurses – Organizations
Continuing Education
Accessibility and Affordability of CSN Training
International Fund for Christian Science Nursing
Caring for Christian Scientists: RiperYears.org and the Call Center
Leadership and Management
Youth Action Committee
Communities of Christian Caring
Fundraising for Working Groups
by Bruce Jeffrey, March 28, 2022