The Christian Science Board of Directors made the following announcement to employees of the Church
The annual election of officers of The Mother Church by the Christian Science Board of Directors, called for in the Church Manual, will take place this year on Monday, June 3, prior to the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church. We want to let you know in advance of our intent to elect new Readers, because such a significant change requires the support of a number of employees to complete details before these Readers begin their terms. Also, we want to ensure that information about this important activity be accurately communicated from the beginning. (See our brief notice in the June 17 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.)
It is with delight that we announce our intent to elect Judith (Judy) Hardy Olson, CSB, of Westport, Connecticut, and Norm Bleichman, CS, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, as First and Second Readers of The Mother Church respectively for the June 2013 to June 2016 readership term.
Judy is originally from Kansas City, Missouri. After graduating from college, where she majored in English, she worked in public/employee relations and then married and became a stay-at-home mom and lived in eight different cities. She did volunteer work as a hotline worker, as a counselor for runaway teens and pregnant teens, and at a men’s rehabilitation center. Judy taught art to inner-city children, and she served on the board of a men’s shelter. In 1982, Judy became listed as a practitioner in The Christian Science Journal, and in 1997 she became a Christian Science teacher. She was a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship for four years, and is a frequent contributor to the Christian Science periodicals.
After college, Norm served in the United States Navy, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. He then worked in Los Angeles as a writer for television and advertising. He and his family moved to New England in 1987 when he began serving The Mother Church as Managing Editor of World Monitor Magazine. Since then, he’s worked in communications and media production for several Church departments, including the Committee on Publication, the Clerk’s Office, and the Writings of Mary Baker Eddy (now called the Office of the Publisher’s Agent). He’s also been involved in producing The Mother Church Annual Meeting for many years. He became listed as a practitioner in the Journal in 2011 and has served on the Christian Science Board of Lectureship for three years.
We express much gratitude and deep appreciation for the current First and Second Readers of The Mother Church, Karl (Sandy) Sandberg and Marian English, as they complete their terms. Their consistent, dedicated contribution in sharing the message of Christian Science has blessed the congregation, community, and world. This verse from a loved hymn describes what they’ve so faithfully carried out:
Sweet hour of holy, thoughtful prayer,
Thy peace and calm may we improve,
And in God’s healing service share
The truths revealed by His dear love.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 322)
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Christian Science Board of Directors
