When I think of what membership in The Mother Church means to me, what immediately comes to thought are stability and love. Through Church, I have felt the unshakable security that Mary Baker Eddy speaks of when she writes: “These two words in Scripture suggest the sweetest similes to be found in any language—rock and feathers: ‘Upon this rock I will build my church;’ ‘He shall cover thee with His feathers.’ How blessed it is to think of you as ‘beneath the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,’ safe in His strength, building on His foundation, and covered from the devourer by divine protection and affection” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 263).
This security enwrapped me as a child attending the Christian Science Sunday School, and I joined The Mother Church when I was 12 years old. But the “rock” and the “feathers” became tangible when I got involved in branch churches. As we nest on the branches of The Mother Church, we’re close to the nourishing trunk of the tree, part of and sheltered by something so much bigger than ourselves.
My branch church experiences became spiritual landmarks along my way. For instance, I remember:
