A Practical approach to the problem of church building is always needed, but this does not mean a materialistic approach. Realism in Christian Science is spiritual, and a practical understanding of church building is one which follows the injunction of Jesus (Matt. 6:33), "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
The Bible is full of illustrations of accomplishments which were achieved in the face of apparently impossible odds. Moses, for example, in leading the Israelites out of Egypt, did so with an unarmed band, defying the armies of Pharaoh. In two cases Jesus fed several thousand people with a very small quantity of bread and fish. And in our time the building of The Mother Church, as recorded in "The Mother Church" by Joseph Armstrong, proved that the power of God is available to overcome every obstacle.
These illustrations should not be considered authority for rushing into a program of church building by a group not completely prepared for it. Readers of the Bible are familiar with the account of Jesus walking on the water and of Peter wishing to do so and able to until he realized that the wind was boisterous (see Matt. 14:25-31). Then he began to sink. Peter was attempting to duplicate Jesus' demonstration, but without the needed spiritual fidelity, which turns steadfastly to the Christ and away from the evidence of the material senses. In like manner, to imitate the procedure of building The Mother Church without adequate spiritual understanding might be to invite defeat. No church building can be accomplished without some understanding of our Leader's definition of "Church" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 583), which reads:
