There is danger of running to the extreme of literalism. When we published the order of exercises of the services and meetings in the Mother Church, we did so simply as a guide for the branches, not as an order which they were bound to follow in every detail. The thought no doubt is to have the order substantially the same in all the churches and societies; but in places where there are no organs it is not necessary to have an "organ voluntary"; and where there is no choir "an anthem by the choir" may be omitted. As to the responsive reading of the Lesson-text, we suppose that is a matter of local choice.
Would it not be best for those local societies that desire to build churches to await the time when they can make their own demonstrations, rather than to solicit aid by means which can scarcely be said to be in accord with the spirit of Christian Science? Of course there can be no objection to voluntary contributions, but can those contributions which come from something in the line of the "progressive letter" system, be said to be voluntary?
