WHAT WE BELIEVE: An occasional series looking at different faiths.

On any Sunday morning, as a light salty breeze drifts in from the Pacific under a bright cloudless sky, a crossing guard stands in the middle of Lake Drive in Encinitas waving traffic into the Seaside parking lot. The sign at the street still reads Seaside Church of Religious Science, but a new one has been ordered. Soon it will read Seaside Center for Spiritual Living.

The name has been changed, at least in part, so it no longer will be confused with the Churches of Scientology or Christian Science. "In February at our annual gathering, it was decided to change the name," said the Rev. Dr. Rev. Christina Tillotson, one of the ministers at the center.

She said that people have often asked her whether the churchgoers were Scientologists or Christian Scientists. "We are still the United Church of Religious Science legally, but we are now doing business as the United Centers for Spiritual Living."

And they're doing a good business. Hundreds of shiny sedans park in straight lines for the 9 and 11 o'clock services. Parking for first-time visitors remains empty near the front of the building, which looks more like a warehouse than a church. Greeters stand by the open doors, extending their hands and their smiles.

Inside the large auditorium, called the sanctuary, rows of forest-green conference chairs placed before the stage fill quickly. There are no crosses or images of Jesus in the room, though the Seaside ministers say the congregation consider itself loosely to be Christian.

"We say it's inclusively Christian, and that the words of Jesus are universal spiritual principles that live in each individual," said Dr. Christian Sorensen, Seaside's spiritual leader. "We are a non-judgmental faith -- a spiritual nexus, inspiring people to live their divinity and reach out globally."

Instead of the word "amen," the phrase "and so it is" is used during the service. There are no pews, no Bibles or prayer books, no mention of sin. No recitation of the Lord's Prayer.

A jazz band plays and a guest performer, Mary Dolan, who has collaborated with Bernie Taupin and other big names, strums her guitar and sings spirituals in a rich, soulful voice. The entire room stands to sing, clasping hands and swaying back and forth. "Last Sunday, we had over 400 people here," said Sorensen. "It's fun. I talk about joy. It is a joyful place where we feel the presence of God. And there is lots of music by the best jazz band."

Sorensen says he loves performing artists; his father was an actor and he was a model and actor for a time as well.

On this Sunday, Sorensen speaks about forgiveness, making the analogy between the beach pebbles his young son likes to pick up and stuff into his pockets and the wrongs people do us in our lives.

"Dr. Christian is so dynamic when he speaks, it just flows through him," said Tillotson. "People just love to stand up and clap after he talks."

Sorensen started his ministry in Solana Beach with 25 people nearly 15 years ago. Now the congregation has more than 800 active members. The church also just acquired over an acre of new land and there are four-year plans and six-year plans to build new structures. Last year, members raised more than a million dollars.

"We can offer more opportunities, with our growth," he said. "What is exciting is that we continue to provide spiritual nourishment. It's not about the business, but that it delivers nourishment."

Last year, Seaside opened a new private elementary school on the grounds, offering kindergarten and first grade. "Last year, we started out with 12 children," said Tillotson. "This year we have a new amazing teacher whom we managed to spirit away from one of the elementary school districts around here. We plan to offer a new grade level every year."

The center has recently started a masters program, accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council, in consciousness studies. A distance-learning program, it started five years ago and takes at least three years to complete. "We are the only small seminary in the world that is accredited," said Tillotson, who serves as the programs dean. "Right now, it is a masters and a ministerial license, but we are working on a program for lay people."

Coursework includes classes in philosophy, psychology, science and spirtuality as well as on many of the world's religions.

Sorensen said he was "born into this" as both his mother and father were followers of Religious Science from the early days of the movement that began in Los Angeles under the leadership of Dr. Ernest Holmes.

Though he was born and raised in New England, Holmes discovered his spiritual philosophy and his following in Southern California. First working as a purchasing agent for the city of Venice in Los Angeles, he began lecturing at libraries and later at the Ambassador Hotel and the Wiltern Theatre on Sunday mornings about philosophy, religion and metaphysics. Then, with the publication of his successful book, "The Science of Mind" in 1926, even more people came to his speaking engagements.

After a few years, Holmes and his followers incorporated as a nonprofit religious and educational organization called the Institute of Religious Science and the School of Philosophy. Later the institute launched a popular monthly magazine called Science of Mind Magazine which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary and has a worldwide circulation.

But before Holmes' death in 1960, a schism within the church occurred over adoption of a new constitution that would involve increased centralization of power in a national body. At the time, 46 churches chose to accept the constitution, forming what is known today at the United Centers for Spiritual Living, based in Burbank.

The other branch of 19 churches formed Religious Science International which is based in Spokane, Wash. According to the Rev. Kathryn McDowell, an ordained Religious Science minister based in Arizona, the United Church of Religious Science has 40,000 members worldwide in 160 churches and 106 study groups, with smaller branches and churches retaining a great deal of autonomy.

Using the views expressed in Holmes' "The Science of Mind," the Religious Science movement is said to endorse all sorts of meditation from creative visualization to more traditional techniques as a way to commune with a state of God. It also endorses all forms of prayer and teaching a form of prayer called Spiritual Mind Treatment, a sort of affirmation or statement about a particular goal.

Religious Science believes that heaven and hell are states of mind, that sins are transgressions of spiritual perfection and that there is no devil per se. As for the concept of life after death, it also teaches the eternality of life, though it neither endorses nor rejects the idea of reincarnation.

"We like to say we are teaching a spiritual philosophy, a broad perspective and religion as dogma," said Sorensen. "We don't make other religions wrong and recognize there are many paths to enlightenment. We welcome everyone."

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com.