As defined by the dictionaries the word reader in its specific sense means one appointed or authorized to read the lessons or prayers in places of worship. In a Christian Science church no work is of greater value than the work of those who have been thus appointed or authorized to read in the Sunday services and the Wednesday evening meetings.
The apostle Paul, when writing to the Ephesians regarding Christian ministry, said that we, "speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." In these few simple words the apostle of the Gentiles has clearly stated a correct rule whereby readers in churches may be guided at all times to read clearly and satisfactorily through holding thought steadfastly to the facts of spiritual existence and "speaking the truth in love," or expressing naturally the loving quality of thought which recognizes no reality but Mind and Mind's perfect idea. To reach this summit of true spiritual attainment one must rise constantly above the false beliefs of the carnal mind. The fallacy that the material sense of reading, subject to mortal inefficiency and disability, is real, must be scientifically denied. By spiritually worshiping and acknowledging God, and by knowing that man is forever indissolubly united to infinite Mind, the perfect standard of reading is firmly established.
As a proof that the office of reader comes to the individual worker in order to enable him to benefit others as well as himself, our Leader, pointing out the necessity for consistent and continuous growth, has this to say by way of safeguarding the necessity of rightly performing this particular duty: "If a Reader in The Mother Church be found at any time inadequate or unworthy, he or she shall be removed from office by a majority vote of the Board of Directors and the consent of the Pastor Emeritus, and the vacancy supplied"(Manual, Art. II, Sect. 3). When divine Mind is allowed to govern the human mind even in the reading in churches, such virtues as clear enunciation, faultless pronunciation, and correct voice placement are unmistakably in evidence. Such reading, which may readily become a practical possibility in every Christian Science church throughout the world, is wonderfully health-giving and strengthening in its healing quality, since it leads human thought into the realization of the allness of God, and of man's relationship to Him as idea, image, likeness, and reflection.
