It is interesting in the midst of the many different church organizations to recall that the Master neither established an organization nor appointed any officers in the modern sense of the word. "Jesus established his church," our Leader writes, "and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing. He taught his followers that his religion had a divine Principle, which would cast out error and heal both the sick and the sinning" (Science and Health, p. 136). The only officers appointed by the Master, if they may be so termed, were the twelve and the seventy whom he sent out severally yet unitedly to demonstrate this divine Principle to a suffering and needy world. For this mighty undertaking the great Teacher instructed them how to heal the sick through Mind without resort to matter. Furthermore, he distinctly stated that all others who should accept the truth he taught would be thereby elected to this supreme office of demonstrating the Christ, Truth, to humanity.
The existence today of such an organization as the Christian Science church, which offers as its reason for being its unequivocal determination to demonstrate divine Principle, Love, is proof of the immortality of the spiritual ideal of church as presented by the Master. Further, it witnesses to the recognition, by the Founder of this movement, of present human requirements. Our complex civilization seems to demand organization in order effectually to promulgate any cause. Mrs. Eddy saw this human need with respect to spreading the spiritual idea of Christ healing, and devised through inspiration a form of church organization and government designed fully to satisfy every legitimate demand so long as organization shall be needed. Among the many who ally themselves with the cause of Christian Science, those most help to promote its benign influence in human affairs who best bear in mind that "church" in its true sense is a spiritual ideal which must be established primarily to operate within the individual consciousness.
For the purpose of cumulative demonstration, organization binds together innumerable individuals, whose perception and reflection of the spiritual idea gain thereby an otherwise impossible momentum. The government of such a church obviously rests in the recognition of one Mind. On this fundamental point Christian Scientists are agreed. Therefore the annual church election is one point in the year's circle when the members should meet with special unity in thanksgiving to God for the spiritual government of the spiritual idea, the church. This season is rightly recorded as the happy time of legitimate expectation, and should never be clouded with petty dissension over non essentials, for this would betray an imperfect sense of the application of the divine Principle of spiritual government.
