Church Alive

WHEN I WAS appointed to the role of Sunday School Superintendent for my church six years ago, I began to deeply study the origin of Sunday School. Through my research, I discovered that the Protestant Church in England would invite children who worked in workshops to receive a religious education in Sunday School.

CHURCH The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle. The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick.

A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS told my parents about Christian Science. They were looking for a church they could relate to, so we were going from church to church, and we ended up at the Jehovah's Witness church.

In Nigeria, a group of Christian Scientists drives more than three hours every month on sometimes flooded, bumpy dirt roads to translate Science and Health into the lgbo language. IN WEST AFRICA, religion seems to dominate every aspect of daily life.

FOR TEENS, GROWING UP in Fairbanks, Alaska, presents many of the same challenges as living in any small American city. But with the nearest city to Fairbanks over 300 miles away, there is the added challenge of feeling isolated; you see the same people everywhere you go, including at church.

CHURCH. The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle.

RECENTLY, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN approaching the Christian Science Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees with questions about conducting church services based on the order of service in the Church Manual but deviating from the traditional forms we are used to. Gratefully, none of us has to create standards for what it means to be a part of the Church of Christ, Scientist.

THE ROUTE WAS A-24 from Hamburg to Berlin. A comfortable trip on the autobahn with little traffic, past lots of fields and woods.

Begin with an inspiration, add a friend or two, be willing to reach out and give "a cup of cold water" ( Science and Health, p. 570 ), and the results can be amazing.

CHURCH. the structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle.