“Why join The Mother Church?” is a question I often used to ask in Sunday School. It was my usual response to teachers who suggested that I might join. It didn’t seem to me that there was anything in it for me, or even for The Mother Church! I thought, I can help the Church and it can help me, so why bother with the paperwork? It wasn’t as though I could get Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy at a discount by being a member!
During my last couple of years in Sunday School, I became more and more certain that Christian Science is the truth. That however bad I might be at practicing it, it is right. And I used to talk to others, at school for example, from this basis. If people asked which religion I belonged to, I’d say, “I’m a Christian Scientist,” not, “Well, at the moment I’m rather interested in Christian Science … .” And when an application form asked me to state my religion, I’d automatically put “Christian Science.” I was that sure.
So it was then that I started asking myself, “Why don’t I join The Mother Church?” I was calling myself a Christian Scientist in name; I was grateful for what The Mother Church does in promoting and supporting Christian Science, and I knew it was right—but I wasn’t giving the Church the support of my commitment. Why would I tell the people whom I talked to that I was a Christian Scientist, but I wasn’t prepared to tell The Mother Church? It was silly.
The Mother Church is strengthened by everyone who says, “Christian Science! I’m right with you!”—and that’s what joining The Mother Church means. It’s giving support. It’s a way of communicating. Like marriage, it’s not the piece of paper you sign to join that matters most—it’s the concrete “I do” that the piece of paper stands for. It isn’t just the annual “per capita tax” payment a member gives that The Mother Church truly thrives on. It’s also, and especially, the reaffirmation of each individual’s continuing spiritual support that strengthens the Church. And the affirmation of the truth about each person’s place in Church, “the structure of Truth and Love” (Science and Health, p. 583) is a powerful prayer.
Well, when I saw it that way, I didn’t hang about. I joined! And I’m really glad I did. It was like moving from sand to rock, and an important step forward in my own growth in Christian Science. When you’re really sure Christian Science is right for you, then I reckon you’ll agree: There’s no need to sit on the fence, when you know which side you want to come down on.
I shared the ideas above in a talk I gave to a Christian Science youth meeting in the UK, a couple of years after I joined The Mother Church. Four decades later I feel just the same—and my membership continues to support and encourage my spiritual growth. So affirming one’s place in Church is something I can wholeheartedly recommend.
