Latest news with #Holzworth
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How sexual assault survivors are being supported
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — Blue is the power color of the day at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center on Denim Day as staff members show solidarity toward sexual assault victims. The idea of Denim Day dates back to a 1999 assault case in Italy. 'There was a rape victim whose assailant was exonerated because she wore tight jeans, and the argument was, she must have assisted in some way and the assailant went free while she was a victim, and she was, in fact, raped,' said Sentara Health Chief Nursing Officer Amber Price the assault was consensual, the judge threw out the case. The next day, women in the Italian parliament showed up to work wearing denim jeans. It's now become an international show of support for those victims. Forensic nurses at Sentara Williamsburg, where they have a sexual assault nurse examiner program, are trained to not only conduct an exam but also be there emotionally for victims.'It has to do with respect,' Price said. 'It has to do with making sure that people are believed, and collecting the evidence in such a way that we're not traumatizing the patient even further.'Sentara Health Forensic Nurse Betsy Holzworth is one of those collecting that evidence.'It's hard. The patient is either in disbelief, or they have such injuries they can't really speak,' Holzworth said. 'An exam can take [anywhere from] two hours up to eight hours depending on how much they're willing to give us at that point in time. We have to stop, we have to start. You know, everything is based on how they're feeling.'Only one of her 50 cases has gone to trial, and the assailant put behind bars.'It was rewarding,' Holzworth said. 'At the start of the case, all you want to do is cry. But you don't. You come in and you're there for them. They just need some support and that's what we're there to do.'New legislation taking effect this year aims at removing barriers to seek help after an assault. House Bill 2117 allows for the collection of evidence anonymously without contacting police — giving the victim time to decide if they want to press charges. It also removes the fear of arrest of the victim for minor offenses like drug possession when seeking help.'The most important thing for us is that we can immediately treat and care for a patient,' Price said. '[It] tends to be that the longer we wait, the worse it is for everybody. We want evidence to be collected as soon as we can get it, and the victim is allowing us to collect it.' They stress the sooner a victim reaches out for help, the more likely they are to avoid lifelong trauma.'We want patients to know they're not to blame, and that there's someone in their corner,' Price said. If you or someone you know has been a victim, there are resources out there to help. Click for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
17-03-2025
- Science
- The Independent
What goes on in a Christian Science reading room?
In nearly every major American city and in many small towns, Christian Science reading rooms are found mixed in with storefronts. Passersby may hardly notice them, but to those who stop to wonder what goes on inside, their purpose may seem inscrutable: a few shelves of books and some chairs and tables with pamphlets and other reading materials. It's like a waiting room without a doctor. Is it a church, and what does it have to do with science? Are they Scientologists? Christian Science reading rooms are not churches — although they are run by one — and they're not affiliated with Scientologists. They are a ministry of a homegrown American religious tradition, namely the Church of Christ, Scientist, founded in 1879 in Boston based on the thought of Mary Baker Eddy. Unlike other Christian denominations, their pastor is not a flesh-and-blood human. Instead, their pastor is two books that guide their faith: the Bible and 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,' essentially the church's textbook, authored by Eddy. It aims to provide an explanation of both the Bible and Christian Science theology, which has a special focus on healing through prayer and spirituality. 'The reading room is like a parsonage,' said Jasmine Holzworth, librarian of the Christian Science Reading Room at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, the tradition's first congregation, known as the Mother Church. 'We don't have a personal pastor — we have the books. People can come and sit and read. They're here for people to trust as a pastor and ask their questions.' ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ Operating a reading room, which also offers Christian Science literature for sale, is not an optional ministry for a Christian Science church. Some smaller churches may jointly operate one with another local church, or may only have one open for a few hours a week, but all must offer a reading room, Eddy wrote in her 'Manual of the Mother Church.' Conversely, reading rooms are always connected to a church. While they may not always be directly next to the church, they are all maintained by one, often in separate storefronts. Christian Scientists see this as a good thing, Holzworth said. 'Someone may not always want to walk into a church building — there's a hesitancy about religion today,' Holzworth said At a Christian Science Sunday service, there is no homily. Instead, it includes readings from the Bible and 'Science and Health,' tied to a particular subject that Eddy set for each week of the year. The 26 subjects that repeat twice a year range from topics like 'love' and 'sacrament,' to 'ancient and modern necromancy, alias mesmerism and hypnotism, denounced' and 'Is the universe, including man, evolved by atomic force?' ''Science and Health' is a book that continually turns us back to our Bible,' said Alex Griffin, who is the Deputy Committee on Publication for the state of Massachusetts. Eddy, who died in 1910, was concerned that people interested in Christian Science would not be able to find adequate or legitimate books about the faith at regular bookstores, leading to an emphasis on the reading rooms, Holzworth said. During Eddy's lifetime, New Thought leader Ursula Newell Gestefeld and others reused Eddy's writings in a non-Christian context, which Eddy saw as a problem that could cause confusion about the faith. And even today, Christian Science is confused by some with Scientology, hence the importance of the reading rooms as places where those interested in Christian Science can find literature authorized by the church. 'You have to have the heart driving it,' Holzworth said. 'What's driving it is that congregation's love for the teachings of Christian Science. When you're motivated by love, all things are possible.' Like many American religious groups, Christian Science churches have struggled in recent decades to maintain older buildings with dwindling numbers of practitioners and teachers. About 1,220 Christian Science churches are located throughout the world, and about half are in the United States. The denomination does not report its number of congregants in accordance with the Manual of the Mother Church, which states, 'According to the Scripture they shall turn away from personality and numbering the people.' Some Christian Science churches have sold their buildings and moved into the reading rooms. In other cases, the reading room has moved in with the church. The Christian Science church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, purchased its Harvard Square building during the Great Depression and now rents out parts of it. Other churches lease storefronts like any other commercial entities. While the churches sell religious books for children and adults to help cover costs, church sources declined to give further details about how storefront rents are funded. However, San Francisco International Airport has a reading room that, according to an SFGATE report, has its 'exorbitant' rent paid for, in part, by pledges from 10 area churches. And in Naples, Florida, a reading room lost its storefront to a gelato shop after its landlord decided not to continue its lease in 2017. The Naples reading room, which opened in the 1960s, had been paying $790 per month in an area where rents went as high as $3,000 per month for a similar-size space. The reading room had negotiated the rent with a former landlord and lost the space after the building was sold. While they see the reading rooms as a way to spread their faith, the church doesn't aggressively proselytize to newcomers. 'It's a gift to the community. You can come in and ask questions. Everyone's on their own spiritual path. We're meant to be welcoming to everyone,' Holzworth said. 'You're not going to find someone trying to sign you up for anything. We're doing this because we love God, but people don't need to love God to come in here.' The Mother Church's reading room is located next to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and Holzworth said it has hosted Berklee students of other denominations seeking a place to pray and read their Bibles. Students of no religion who just want a quiet space to be are also invited. But for those in the religion, reading the week's Bible lessons is an important part of the practice, she said. 'Christian Scientists use reading rooms as a place to study and dig in,' Holzworth said. The reading room of the Mother Church also hosts a weekly event where participants read The Christian Science Monitor and pray for those impacted by world events. 'It's not just a Sunday faith,' Holzworth said. 'It's meant to be applied to the whole week, and not just our own life, but the world around us.' At larger reading rooms, like the one operated by the Mother Church, staff are paid. At smaller churches, however, congregants volunteer. 'I figured I was going to be studying the Bible and Christian Science anyway, so I might as well be doing it in a way that serves the community,' said Teddy Crecelius, a tour guide at the Mother Church who has previously been involved in Christian Science branch churches. 'It's not a burden.'
Associated Press
17-03-2025
- Science
- Associated Press
What goes on in a Christian Science reading room?
In nearly every major American city and in many small towns, Christian Science reading rooms are found mixed in with storefronts. Passersby may hardly notice them, but to those who stop to wonder what goes on inside, their purpose may seem inscrutable: a few shelves of books and some chairs and tables with pamphlets and other reading materials. It's like a waiting room without a doctor. Is it a church, and what does it have to do with science? Are they Scientologists? Christian Science reading rooms are not churches — although they are run by one — and they're not affiliated with Scientologists. They are a ministry of a homegrown American religious tradition, namely the Church of Christ, Scientist, founded in 1879 in Boston based on the thought of Mary Baker Eddy. Unlike other Christian denominations, their pastor is not a flesh-and-blood human. Instead, their pastor is two books that guide their faith: the Bible and 'Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,' essentially the church's textbook, authored by Eddy. It aims to provide an explanation of both the Bible and Christian Science theology, which has a special focus on healing through prayer and spirituality. 'The reading room is like a parsonage,' said Jasmine Holzworth, librarian of the Christian Science Reading Room at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, the tradition's first congregation, known as the Mother Church. 'We don't have a personal pastor — we have the books. People can come and sit and read. They're here for people to trust as a pastor and ask their questions.' ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ Operating a reading room, which also offers Christian Science literature for sale, is not an optional ministry for a Christian Science church. Some smaller churches may jointly operate one with another local church, or may only have one open for a few hours a week, but all must offer a reading room, Eddy wrote in her 'Manual of the Mother Church.' Conversely, reading rooms are always connected to a church. While they may not always be directly next to the church, they are all maintained by one, often in separate storefronts. Christian Scientists see this as a good thing, Holzworth said. 'Someone may not always want to walk into a church building — there's a hesitancy about religion today,' Holzworth said At a Christian Science Sunday service, there is no homily. Instead, it includes readings from the Bible and 'Science and Health,' tied to a particular subject that Eddy set for each week of the year. The 26 subjects that repeat twice a year range from topics like 'love' and 'sacrament,' to 'ancient and modern necromancy, alias mesmerism and hypnotism, denounced' and 'Is the universe, including man, evolved by atomic force?' ''Science and Health' is a book that continually turns us back to our Bible,' said Alex Griffin, who is the Deputy Committee on Publication for the state of Massachusetts. Eddy, who died in 1910, was concerned that people interested in Christian Science would not be able to find adequate or legitimate books about the faith at regular bookstores, leading to an emphasis on the reading rooms, Holzworth said. During Eddy's lifetime, New Thought leader Ursula Newell Gestefeld and others reused Eddy's writings in a non-Christian context, which Eddy saw as a problem that could cause confusion about the faith. And even today, Christian Science is confused by some with Scientology, hence the importance of the reading rooms as places where those interested in Christian Science can find literature authorized by the church. 'You have to have the heart driving it,' Holzworth said. 'What's driving it is that congregation's love for the teachings of Christian Science. When you're motivated by love, all things are possible.' Like many American religious groups, Christian Science churches have struggled in recent decades to maintain older buildings with dwindling numbers of practitioners and teachers. About 1,220 Christian Science churches are located throughout the world, and about half are in the United States. The denomination does not report its number of congregants in accordance with the Manual of the Mother Church, which states, 'According to the Scripture they shall turn away from personality and numbering the people.' Some Christian Science churches have sold their buildings and moved into the reading rooms. In other cases, the reading room has moved in with the church. The Christian Science church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, purchased its Harvard Square building during the Great Depression and now rents out parts of it. Other churches lease storefronts like any other commercial entities. While the churches sell religious books for children and adults to help cover costs, church sources declined to give further details about how storefront rents are funded. However, San Francisco International Airport has a reading room that, according to an SFGATE report, has its 'exorbitant' rent paid for, in part, by pledges from 10 area churches. And in Naples, Florida, a reading room lost its storefront to a gelato shop after its landlord decided not to continue its lease in 2017. The Naples reading room, which opened in the 1960s, had been paying $790 per month in an area where rents went as high as $3,000 per month for a similar-size space. The reading room had negotiated the rent with a former landlord and lost the space after the building was sold. While they see the reading rooms as a way to spread their faith, the church doesn't aggressively proselytize to newcomers. 'It's a gift to the community. You can come in and ask questions. Everyone's on their own spiritual path. We're meant to be welcoming to everyone,' Holzworth said. 'You're not going to find someone trying to sign you up for anything. We're doing this because we love God, but people don't need to love God to come in here.' The Mother Church's reading room is located next to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and Holzworth said it has hosted Berklee students of other denominations seeking a place to pray and read their Bibles. Students of no religion who just want a quiet space to be are also invited. But for those in the religion, reading the week's Bible lessons is an important part of the practice, she said. 'Christian Scientists use reading rooms as a place to study and dig in,' Holzworth said. The reading room of the Mother Church also hosts a weekly event where participants read The Christian Science Monitor and pray for those impacted by world events. 'It's not just a Sunday faith,' Holzworth said. 'It's meant to be applied to the whole week, and not just our own life, but the world around us.' At larger reading rooms, like the one operated by the Mother Church, staff are paid. At smaller churches, however, congregants volunteer. 'I figured I was going to be studying the Bible and Christian Science anyway, so I might as well be doing it in a way that serves the community,' said Teddy Crecelius, a tour guide at the Mother Church who has previously been involved in Christian Science branch churches. 'It's not a burden.'
