As Christian Scientists we often feel that we are walking on holy ground when we pause in humility to view the wisdom and Christly foresight our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, had in providing the Manual of The Mother Church to guide us in our human affairs. As church members we constantly look to the Manual for guidance in church government. We find that strict adherence to its Rules and By-Laws brings needed inspiration at all times, including the months immediately preceding church dedication.
Christian Scientists recognize that The Mother Church and its branches are the outward evidence of the Church Universal and Triumphant, which is purely spiritual. Until they reach the complete spiritual consciousness of Church, however, they gratefully follow the directions given in the Manual (Art. XXIII, Sects. 6, 7) relative to organizing branch churches. After the first step, that of organization, is completed and a church is seeking a homesite, it sometimes pays for a portion of the real estate and places a mortgage on the remainder. The members who continue to work for growth and unfoldment finally come to the point where they are eager to dedicate the church.
We today can thrill to the call our Leader made on those first church members to which they so gladly responded—that of dedicating The Mother Church free from debt when the building was completed. How grateful we as branch church members are for the custom following this example that Christian Science churches are not dedicated until they are paid for in full. In Prose Works by Mrs. Eddy we have ample record of what the pulpit and press at the time of the dedication of The Mother Church thought of this example. Should we not, then, today eagerly and joyously accept the challenge of church dedication and consecrate ourselves to the task of gaining a clearer sense of true substance, which constitutes man's real estate, in order that we may follow the example of The Mother Church and keep our churches free from debt?
