Church Alive

A FEW YEARS AGO, a visitor to our branch church commented that when he had attended a service, no one had spoken to him. We had heard this from visitors before.

A few years ago , as musicians at our Christian Science branch church, my wife and I invited a friend of ours with a beautiful, trained voice to do the solo one Sunday. She asked if she could sing a solo that her husband had composed, and if he could play the accompaniment himself.

As a student  of Christian Science for some 50 years now, I wish to express my gratitude for all of the ongoing prayerful work that goes into shoring up the timeliness and relevance of this religion in the 21st century. Many contemporary examples of this work can be found in the current Christian Science periodicals.

Throughout my childhood up until my first two years of college, I faithfully attended Sunday School. Although I loved my classmates and enjoyed my teachers, I often took these classes for granted, and I didn’t think much about what it would mean to leave Sunday School when I turned twenty.

The transition from Sunday School to church can seem like a big step. One Sunday, you’re discussing the Christian Science Bible Lesson with your Sunday School teacher, and the next, you’re listening to it with the congregation in church.

Dear Fellow Members and Friends, We'd like to tell you about CHURCH ALIVE, the theme we have decided to focus on in the upcoming year. Church is an idea that has been defined in many ways over the centuries within the Christian tradition.

IN SPRING 2008 , our congregation moved its Reading Room into the church building. At our location in Syracuse, New York, the church is set back quite a distance from the road.

FOR AT LEAST A DECADE, the Christian Science church in Joinville, Brazil, suffered from severe stagnation. At times, only one person attended the Sunday service.

The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle. The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick.

LIFE IS FULL OF NOTABLE EVENTS: A friend's silver wedding anniversary, a grandson's high-school graduation, and, for some, even a long-awaited spring is worth celebrating. Recently, I have been reflecting on a notable event of my own.