The Students' Associations, provided for by our Leader in her Church Manual, are very important factors in church organization, powerful levers for raising the thought and work of their membership.
To associate means to come together; to unite in purpose, aim, and object. The purpose, aim, and object of the Christian Science church, which includes the Students' Associations, is to acknowledge "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all," one Mind, one Love, one Principle, one process of purification—the denial of mortal selfhood through obedience to divine Love. Our aim as Christian Scientists is to demonstrate divine Principle by healing the sick and the sinful. Our object is to gain a higher and fuller understanding of divine Love, governing man and the universe. And it is our purpose to watch and pray faithfully in order that our aim may be accurate and our object attained. Necessarily, our standard is spiritual perfection, and we must keep it ever before us.
The wisdom and love manifested by members of Students' Associations often inspire others to claim the blessing of class instruction. Trust in God, however, and obedience to our Church Manual preclude the soliciting of pupils, directly or indirectly, by teachers or others. It is unwise either to procrastinate or to make undue haste in seeking instruction from an authorized teacher, for our Leader has provided this means for gaining a better understanding of the correct method of working out problems, individual and collective. As a general rule, people do not believe that in any branch of learning satisfactory progress can be made without tuition. The lawyer, the musician, the dressmaker do not defer tuition, expecting in some other way to become proficient; they early require instruction as well as earnest study, application, and practice.
