The following is an edited excerpt of the Christian Science Associations Workshop held June 4, 2017, the day before Annual Meeting, in the Extension of The Mother Church.
To open the workshop, Allison (Skip) Phinney, a member of the Christian Science Board of Directors, introduced himself and Robin Hoagland, also a member of the Board of Directors. The congregation then sang Hymn No. 227 from the Christian Science Hymnal. Opening comments from Skip and Robin followed.
Skip Phinney: To our knowledge, this is the first meeting of this kind on associations that we’ve ever had during the Annual Meeting weekend. We felt that it was time to pay attention to one of the largest sections of our movement, and to think about what Mary Baker Eddy had to say about it. Mrs. Eddy saw these associations as a force for good in the world, and we’re going to be talking about that throughout this afternoon.
