Early in my study of Christian Science I was challenged by a remark that shocked me into serious thinking about the Lesson-Sermon—the Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly that is the basis of all Christian Science Sunday services. During a dinner table conversation in a college dormitory, a faculty member turned to me suddenly and said, "I don't see how Christian Science can ever succeed without personal preaching!" My reply was brief, but in the quiet of my own room afterward, I mentally dug my heels into the ground in defense of my impersonal pastor. The intervening years have given me good reason to justify that stand and to feel profoundly grateful for this God-inspired method of preaching.
When Mary Baker Eddy, in 1895, ordained the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, pastor over her Church, she took a tremendous step forward.
The very word "pastor," derived from the Latin pascere, "to pasture, or to feed," is rich in meaning.
