THE office of Reader in a Church of Christ, Scientist, is a sacred trust and requires consecration, unselfed love, wisdom, and, above all, an understanding of the words of Christ Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John (8:28): "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." As a servant of God and under His orders, the Reader should aim first of all to please Him; then to bring out the words of Truth so clearly and joyfully that the message rather than the one giving the message stands out to the thought of the listener.
The appointment or election of a member to the position of Reader will not be the result of personal popularity when the church members are loyal to the Cause of Christian Science and to its Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy.
Early in the unfoldment of this religion the custom, as in regular orthodox churches, was to have a sermon preached on the subject in hand. It was found, however, that many of the sermons which were being preached on Christian Science by its followers were often indoctrinated with other popular beliefs. Praying for further guidance to protect her discovery in its purity, Mrs. Eddy was led to establish the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," of which she is the author, as our only preachers (see the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy, Art. XIV, Sect. 1).
