In a southern town, where only a few Christian Scientists lived, a Christian Science practitioner and her husband came to settle. With everyone pulling together, the Christian Science Society, organized on and off for sixty years, soon became a Church of Christ, Scientist, and even moved to a bright new edifice.
But the newcomers could not simply survey the needs of the church without becoming very much interested in the needs of the community served by that church. When she first arrived, the practitioner gladly looked upon low domestic wages as an opportunity for saving on the budget. But before long she noticed that groceries cost more here than in other parts of the United States and she began to question how a maid could feed and clothe her family on five dollars a day. A passage from Jeremiah (34:12-17) in the Lesson-Sermon The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson. prompted her to double the salary of her own hired help. Since then she has noticed a general trend toward a more just wage for domestic help there.
As her prayers went out to the whole town, she found herself accepting an appointment on the Mayor's Commission on Human Relations, composed of eight blacks and seven whites. She has found it natural to invite her colleagues to church and to introduce them to Christian Science literature. The Urban Redevelopment Director, a black man, who was given a subscription to The Christian Science Monitor, asked the church for fifteen copies, which he placed in City Hall departments. The Human Relations Director, also a black, subscribed for himself and his staff.
