The ever recurring season of preparation for the presentation, under the auspices of a branch church or society, of a free public lecture on Christian Science by a member of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church, brings with it the joyful opportunity for right thinking concerning the various problems incident to such preparation. Right thinking is not alone the duty of those to whom specific work may fall under the particular method adopted for the handling of the plans for the lecture, but rather it is the duty of every member of the church; for without unified right thinking, the spiritual or mental structure of Truth and Love cannot be manifested, or its healing and redemptive power be fully demonstrated.
Every church member should recognize clearly just what a Christian Science lecture is; for without this fundamental understanding, right thinking with respect to the problems incidental to it cannot be correctly directed. The purpose of the lectures is to give the world an opportunity to hear, in condensed form, some of the fundamental teachings of this Science, expressed in language that the average person will understand, and presented by one who himself has an accurate and demonstrable understanding of it. In her Message to The Mother Church for 1902 (p. 4) Mrs. Eddy congratulates the Board of Lectureship "on their adequacy and correct analysis of Christian Science," thereby indicating that "correct analysis of Christian Science is an outstanding purpose of the lectures. To this are added two specific duties imposed by the terms of the Manual of The Mother Church (p. 93), namely, "to include in each lecture a true and just reply to public topics condemning Christian Science, and to bear testimony to the facts pertaining to the life of the Pastor Emeritus."
With these observations in mind, let us approach some of the problems frequently accompanying the preparation for a lecture. For convenience, suppose we arrange them in the following order: financing, advertising, attendance, receptivity, fruitage.
