Background Annette “Anita” Townsend Lawrence was born into a socially prominent branch of the Lawrence family of Flushing, Long Island. During her adult years she resided at Willow Bank with her parents and her brother, Townsend Boune Lawrence (1871–1951). (See Houses and Estates.) Her upbringing placed her within the respectable New York social world of club life, charity events, and church associations.

The Centre of Divine Ministry In the early twentieth century, Anita Lawrence became involved in a religious healing movement known as the Centre (also called the Circle) of Divine Ministry. She had been a member for several years before ascending to its presidency in December 1908. She hired a young Englishwoman, Herminia M. M. Barnes (1873–1913), as her secretary; Barnes later served as both a teacher and a member of the Centre’s Advisory Board.

The Centre, headquartered at 36 West Twentieth Street, Manhattan, held daily afternoon religious meetings, while Anita conducted Wednesday morning services at her home. The group had existed for about a dozen years before Anita reorganized it in 1908. Its board included Miss Barnes; Mrs. Theodore Seymour; Miss Talbot; Mrs. John Brooks Leavitt; Mrs. J. Keene; and Mrs. Bertha Thompson, all of Manhattan. Its chief teachers were Mrs. Emma Curtis of Barrytown; Miss Barnes; Mrs. Smith Lee; Miss Lawrence; and Bradley Dresser, the last two being described as the most gifted healers.

Beliefs and Practices The movement’s core belief, as Anita explained to reporters, was that all men and women can live precisely as Christ lived and do whatever He did. The Centre taught that through “oneness with God,” individuals could attain spiritual and physical perfection. Teachers claimed to cure all ailments, “even cancer and tumors,” through faith-based healing. They stated that healers could treat illness even without the patient’s knowledge, including “absent treatments.” Instruction was unpaid, but healing services could cost up to $1 a day.

Anita emphasized that the Centre was undenominational and insisted: “We are distinct from Christian Scientists and similar organizations, in that we follow no leader save Christ. Our efforts are to return to the pure teachings of Christ, and we know that all mankind can attain to them.”

Public Exposure and Press Coverage (1909) The Centre attracted press attention in 1909, when a New York Times reporter attended a meeting. Surprised to discover that Miss Anita Lawrence, a well-known society figure and daughter of a prominent stockbroker, led the movement, the paper described her as “a dignified, white-haired, blue-eyed woman.” Approximately thirty attendees were present, “chiefly women with a scattering of men.”

One article noted that pamphlets and books were displayed prominently on a table—and that “the most conspicuous objects on the table were two Social Registers,” a detail suggesting both the social milieu of the membership and the press’s fascination with the involvement of established families.

Anita stated that the Centre had c. 150 followers. When a reporter asked if they were mostly women, a male associate (Rev. J. M. White—see below) responded, “No, they are not all women,” although the reporter observed fifteen women and one man at the service.

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Associates and Notable Connections An eclectic group surrounded Anita’s ministry:

• Mrs. James R. Keene – mother of Foxhall Keene, who married (and later divorced) Mary Lawrence (1860–1942), thereby linking the movement to another branch of the family. • Rev. J. M. White – an ex-Roman Catholic priest who had received papal permission to serve as private chaplain to financier Thomas Fortune Ryan. White later became an Episcopalian and acted as spiritual adviser to the Centre. • The involvement of socially prominent women, often club-connected, alarmed conservative commentators, who feared the Centre might resemble a cult.

Press tone ranged from fascination to skepticism, with one report describing it as a “cult of divine healers” whose leaders claimed that “there is no disease, organic or otherwise, and no trouble, financial or otherwise, which cannot be cured by faith in the power of God.”

Death Annette “Anita” Townsend Lawrence died in 1922.

Digression on the Centre for Divine Ministry

Overview The Centre of Divine Ministry was a small, undenominational religious healing society active in New York City in the early twentieth century. It originated in the 1890s and was reorganized in 1908 under the leadership of Annette “Anita” Townsend Lawrence, who served as its president. Its headquarters were at 36 West Twentieth Street, Manhattan, and it held daily afternoon meetings, with additional services conducted at Miss Lawrence’s home in Flushing.

Beliefs and Practices Although the Centre used Christian language and emphasized the teachings of Jesus, it was not affiliated with any denomination. Its teachings aligned with the New Thought and metaphysical healing movements of the era, which held that illness and misfortune could be overcome by spiritual understanding and bringing the mind into harmony with divine power. Members taught that all people could live as Christ lived and that the divine power demonstrated by Jesus was available to all. The Centre practiced “absent treatments,” believing that healing could occur without the patient’s presence or awareness. Teachers did not charge for instruction, but healers could receive a fee of one dollar per day for their services. The Centre distinguished itself from Christian Science by stating that it acknowledged no founder other than Christ.

Membership and Public Attention Public attention increased in 1909, not because of the Centre’s size, but because it attracted members of socially prominent families. Attendance at meetings was generally composed of women of society, and reporters noted that copies of the Social Register were displayed prominently at gatherings. The Advisory Board included Herminia M. M. Barnes, Mrs. Theodore Seymour, Miss Talbot, Mrs. John Brooks Leavitt, Mrs. J. Keene, and Mrs. Bertha Thompson, while the chief teachers were Mrs. Emma Curtis of Barrytown, Miss Barnes, Mrs. Smith Lee, Miss Lawrence, and Bradley Dresser. The Centre’s spiritual adviser for a time was Rev. J. M. White, formerly a Roman Catholic priest and briefly private chaplain to financier Thomas Fortune Ryan.

Later History and Context The Centre of Divine Ministry appears to have declined after 1912 and did not persist as an organization beyond the early twentieth century. It forms part of the wider landscape of American mind-cure, New Thought, and metaphysical Christian movements that flourished between the 1880s and the 1920s.