Applicants for membership in a Christian Science branch church or society are responding to divine impulsion, to the call of the Christ. Committees charged with examining applicants in order to make sure they are prepared for this step should conduct all interviews in the loving and compassionate spirit of the Christ. The present achievement of applicants may be of less significance than the direction in which they have set their faces and the spiritual progress they are making. As our Leader reminds the Concord church (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 148), "Bear in mind always that Christianity is not alone a gift, but that it is a growth Christward."
Executive boards of branches of The Mother Church may find it helpful to know something of the work of the Committee which interviews local applicants for membership in The Mother Church. This Committee is responsible for meeting with applicants living within The Mother Church's local area who are not members of a branch church within this area.
The Committee makes every effort to conduct its examinations on a friendly and informal level. It avoids raising deep and involved metaphysical issues. It keeps its questions simple, such as should be easily answered by one who has been studying Christian Science for not less than a year. It aims principally to determine these points: the sincerity of the applicant; the extent to which he believes in Christian Science; how long he has studied the Lesson-Sermons, outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly, and attended church; whether he relies wholly on Christian Science for healing; and whether he is free from the use of medicine, tobacco, and alcohol. If there are situations which need special attention, the Committee handles these with love and understanding. Care is taken in every instance not to make it difficult for the applicant to follow through in his response to the Christ and to become a working, practicing member of The Mother Church.
