When I was elected Reader in a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, my first thought was, Now I'd better get ready for this important job!
It is important. Each Sunday the Readers conduct the service, reading the Bible Lesson. Referring to the need for Readers to devote sufficient time in preparing to read the Lesson-Sermon, Mrs. Eddy describes it in the Manual of The Mother Church as "a lesson on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends." Man., Art. Ill, Sect. 1.
Mrs. Eddy expected the members of her Church to be good students of the Bible and of her writings. She also stressed the importance of spiritual preparation. In an article titled "Readers in Church" she writes, "What our churches need is that devout, unselfed quality of thought which spiritualizes the congregation." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 249.
