Dear Church Family,
After several years of much-appreciated, inspiring Church Alive Summit meetings on five continents and resulting fruitage shared through chats, blogs, and newsletters, The Mother Church will be turning its focus in other directions in its effort to support individuals and branches in enlivening their expression of church. It is seldom easy to decide to discontinue something that has been a blessing to many, but we need to make room for fresh spiritual urging coming to the forefront of thought.
As we expressed during this year’s Annual Meeting of The Mother Church, it is important for all of us to cherish the opportunity to devote our time and thought more exclusively to becoming consistent, effective healers. This requires spending significant time alone with our Pastor, the Bible and the Christian Science textbook. It requires consecrating our hours and our affections to proving that Truth and Love has lost none of its healing power, and that we are each individually capable of demonstrating this Christ-power for ourselves and others. It is our heartfelt conviction that in so doing not only will our individual lives become more fruitful and satisfying, but our church services, Reading Rooms, lectures, and Sunday Schools will be alive with actual healing experience, as will all of the activities within the wide channels of The Mother Church.
Consistent with the Annual Meeting theme—“a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing”*—we have already taken definite steps to support Journal-listed practitioners and those working toward the full-time practice to strengthen the connection between the public practice and invigorating branch churches, societies, and groups in their healing service to their communities. Our desire is to fold all of the energy and mutual inspiration of the Church Alive activities into the organs of the Church—the Journal, Sentinel, and Herald—knowing that all of the love, honesty, and joy that Church Alive has had will have a lasting healing impact. For these reasons, the Clerk is no longer calling members together for locally organized Church Alive Summits; and Mother Church sponsored Church Alive blogs, newsletters, and chats are being discontinued as of July 31, 2014. Church Alive videos will be available on christianscience.com until October 31, 2014. We are deeply grateful for all who've organized and participated in Church Alive activities!
Branch churches and societies that wish to host Christian Science Practitioner Roundtables for those considering the public practice, or for those who are already Journal-listed practitioners, should contact Connie Coddington, C.S.B., Manager of Christian Science Practitioner Activities, at csp.roundtables@csps.com.
Please stay tuned for additional information about ways that you can engage with the Annual Meeting theme, “A spiritual foundation of Christ-healing.”* In the meantime, if you have specific questions, please send an email to Clerk@christianscience.com or call 617-450-2000.
With deepest gratitude for your healing work,
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Robin Hoagland, Chair
Allison “Skip” Phinney
Scott Preller
Margaret Rogers
Lyle Young
* “Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing.” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 136)
