The observing worker in Christian Science who has noted with satisfaction the manner in which our churches were built in the earlier days of our movement may, we feel, well be concerned to note a tendency in some localities to-day to revert to methods in church building which seem undesirable and unscientific, such as circularizing the field for contributions of funds, for subscriptions to bond issues, and the like. In the past our giving has been for the most part voluntary, spontaneous, openhanded, without promiscuous solicitation and without undue urging. We believe it must be so continued if our churches are to stand before the world as noteworthy instances of man's whole-hearted reliance upon God's bountiful mercy, goodness, and love.
An attractive circular or an appealing letter sent broadcast to Christian Scientists everywhere may press upon the susceptibilities of many; but in Christian Science pressure can never take the place of prayer, and money that comes from promiscuous solicitation cannot measure in virtue or value with that which, like the widow's mite, flows into the treasury of the church responsive to an inward impulse which translates desire into action and grace into giving.
Where widespread solicitation is allowed to take the place of demonstration in raising funds for a church, there is something lacking that cannot be measured in terms of dollars and cents. The missing essential is the realization that infinite Mind is the source of inexhaustible supply and that its resources are not made available by the means and methods which the human mind commends.
