A Dwindling Family

On an overcast Sunday morning, the Rev. Mary King waits inside a worn gray building that once housed a real estate office. She watches as the few remaining members of her flock trickle in from the cold.

There is Ken, who shuffles in dressed in his best gray suit and bolo tie; Emily, a Germanophile who throws a knee-slapping Oktoberfest each fall; and Shirley, a steam engine who brainstorms about recruiting younger members.

If a worshiper is late, she waits. The last time that happened, a member who pays $60 for a round-trip taxi fare had broken her hip.

“There’s one guy who loses his balance all the time,” King says. “You just hold your breath when you see him walking.”

The Center of Truth in South Pasadena has only 17 members left. Many are nearing 90. Six have died, just this year. King, at 67, is one of the youngest.

The church, one of several dozen branches in California devoted to a religion known as New Thought, once had services so packed that the pews were warm even in winter. Some members recall Easter services with as many as 800 people.

“I’ve found it very, very sad to watch that church basically die,” said Kathi Nicol, a member of a New Thought congregation in Arcadia, whose parents have been going to the South Pasadena church for more than four decades.

In 1998, King’s dwindling flock moved from its towering brick building in Alhambra to a small office in South Pasadena. Members carried with them a few items--small reminders of the glory days.

A finely carved oak bench sits on bathroom tile, and a tall brass candelabra reaches toward the ceiling. Somehow, though, the electric candles just aren’t the same.

The church has even had to shorten its name from Sanctuary of Truth to Center of Truth to fit the new, smaller sign. The church is now squeezed between Open Escrow and Life Bank.

Back in 1952, the Alhambra Church of Religious Science, as it was known then, was at the forefront of the New Thought movement. Dating to the 1800s, the movement, which is usually regarded as a spiritual cousin to the better-known Christian Science Church, places a strong emphasis on positive thinking for healing and well-being, but also accepts a role for medical science.

Half a century ago, this kind of intuitive belief system was regarded as radical. Yet hundreds flocked to the Alhambra church to hear the words of its founder, Carmelita Trowbridge, a high-spirited Boston minister and one of the leaders who brought New Thought to the West Coast.

Even after her move here, the former socialite, who called everyone “dear” and “darling,” continued to style her storm cloud of gray hair, wear elbow-length gloves and flowing dresses. She evicted any member engaged in gossiping or ill words.

Trowbridge lost half her congregation in the late 1960s when she decided that Religious Science was too constricting and renamed the Alhambra church the Sanctuary of Truth.

“Carmelita used to say she didn’t care if it was 100, less than 100 or even 10. They’re here for spiritual growth,” said King, who took over in 1992 when Trowbridge died.

The church never recovered from losing so many members and went into its apparent death spiral when its youth minister decided to start her own church.

“We do have one young member,” said the Rev. Shirley Lawrence, 76, ever hopeful the church might attract more. Problem is, that 39-year-old youngster just won a local radio contest and has been showing up less and less often.

Those who remain say the smaller numbers have created a family-like closeness. For as long as 50 years, they’ve been there for births, deaths and other important moments.

“It has always made me feel at home,” said Anita Bates, 80, who started attending in 1956. “It’s the teaching and the people. I’ve never thought about leaving. . . . I guess [the end] is just inevitable.”

Bates’ daughter, Kathi Nicol, who left the Alhambra church to follow its departing youth minister, hears the sadness when her mother reminisces about the old days. “They’re almost like a second family for my parents,” Nicol said. “They were devastated when they lost the [Alhambra] church” and had to move to South Pasadena. “For most people, your church is the same as coming home.”

In five years, King will close the Center of Truth.

“Whoever is left will meet at my house,” King said. “I might not remember who they are, but they’ll come to the house if they remember where to come.”