The following is a short interview we had recently with Herb Huebsch, Supervisor of the Sunday School Section of the Department of Branches and Practitioners.
How can we encourage more of our young people to join church after they finish Sunday School?
By recognizing and appreciating their present spiritual progress and capability. And, of course, the time to start is before they complete Sunday School. All the youth in our Sunday Schools need to feel that they are a part of the church family. Church is for all, regardless of age, but the young people sometimes feel unsure of their welcome.
In what ways can we include them?
Many branches now are using members of the Sunday School on their church committees—inviting them to usher on Wednesday evenings, to help with literature distribution, to assist after school and on weekends in the Reading Room. There are all sorts of helpful, responsible things these young people can do. Of course it might involve changing the branch church bylaws to make such a step possible. But why not? Branches that have done so find more of their youth joining the church. And it's only natural, isn't it? We're much more likely to join something we're familiar with than an organization whose activities are unknown to us.
Someone is likely to ask if these young people are really mature enough in their understanding of Christian Science to do church committee work.
Sometimes people are tempted to think that metaphysical maturity is a product of age. Isn't it rather the day-to-day exercise of spiritual receptivity? Mortal thinking would have us accept many limiting claims about young people, but we can free children to express their God-given maturity. I don't mean to suggest teen-agers should tend the Reading Room by themselves, but by working together we can learn from these young people, and they from us. We can share our expertise and benefit from their vigor and enthusiasm.
Of course it's important, too, for the young people to realize that they aren't helpless, either, in achieving recognition in church. Their offers to help, their interest, their responsiveness and responsibility in doing what they are given to do, prove their maturity. Attending Wednesday evening testimony meetings and giving testimonies help also to communicate their demonstrated spirituality.
Isn't it right for the church family to appreciate and include everyone —the more senior members as well as the young—in working together to meet the spiritual needs of mankind?
More than can be measured in dollars and cents
Aware that divine Principle can reverse any sense of lack or business instability, many branch church members are helping to overcome resistance to the Monitor as a viable advertising medium in this time of close budget scrutiny.
By continuing to patronize Monitor advertisers and turn in proofs of purchase, members demonstrate in practical terms their loyalty and love for the paper—and this is much noticed in the business community.
One advertiser told the local Advertising Representative flatly that he would have to stop his Monitor ads for at least a year. The Ad Rep member was able to replace her frustration with a clear awareness of all-encompassing Love and the oneness of Mind, and then wrote the advertiser a letter. She reminded him of the loyalty of Monitor readers and suggested a schedule of smaller ads. On her next visit she was very warmly received. The advertiser told her he'd be happy to run the suggested ads.
Another Ad Rep faced a similar challenge. "Obtaining ads for a banner page was one of the most difficult assignments I have ever had," she reports. "Everyone said 'NO' most emphatically, with all manner of excuses. Two days before the deadline I panicked. So I got off into a corner for a long talk with myself and with my heavenly Father.
"First, I wrote on a large sheet of paper, 'GOD'S UNIVERSAL LAW OF GOOD IS ALWAYS IN OPERATION, AND CONSTANTLY EXPRESSED THROUGH CHRIST, MEETING ALL HUMAN NEED.' Then," she continues, "I tore the statement apart and studied each word. What is God? What is a law? A universal law? A good law? (A law of health, supply, assurance, faith?) What is the difference between a human and a spiritual need? . . . Well, when I came out of that huddle, I felt just like David, armed with Truth and ready for Goliath. The result? For two days no one said 'NO.' Everyone said 'YES.' So, Saturday morning the envelope containing my quota of ads was mailed, and it was inn Boston Monday morning—on time."
Yet another Ad Rep found members of her branch church asking "Why should I patronize someone just because he advertises in the Monitor, when he's the highest-priced store in town? It seems neither wise nor economical when I can get what I want for less from a nonadvertiser."
The Rep's reply was indeed thought provoking:
"Why," she said, "should a store advertise in the Monitor when the advertising costs three or four times as much as the local paper? And the Monitor doesn't have as much local circulation. Is this wisdom and economy for the advertiser?"
Obviously, the members agreed, there must be more of a blessing for everyone than can be measured in dollars and cents.
Special Interest Sessions during Annual Meeting
Instead of Monday afternoon as usual, Annual Meeting will convene this year on Monday morning, June 7, at 10 a.m.
A number of Special Interest Sessions are scheduled for Monday afternoon, each to run one hour. Members will be able to attend from one to three sessions. Each will focus on the efficacy of Christian prayer in meeting our daily needs.
Special Interest Sessions will include such topics as:
Careers
Practicing Christian Science
Business
Creative Arts
Government—Individual to World
Education
Body—Beauty and Fitness
Health
Supply
Employment
Equal Opportunity
Singlehood
Safety
Marriage and Family
Retirement
Locations available to The Mother Church for Special Interest Sessions vary greatly in size. So The Mother Church would appreciate your help in estimating ahead of time the attendance at each.
Please drop a note to the Annual Meeting Coordinator by April 1, listing the three sessions you might attend. In no way will you be committed to attend those sessions, but the information will be helpful in deciding where to hold them. Send your three choices to:
The First Church of Christ, Scientist
Annual Meeting Coordinator, A173
Christian Science Center
Boston, MA, U.S.A. 02115
Thank you!
ANNUAL MEETING PARTICIPATION —A REMINDER
If you're planning to participate in this year's Annual Meeting by submitting questions or a talk, please send them to the Annual Meeting Coordinating Committee without delay. March 1 is the deadline for these and for progress reports from branches and college organizations. (See the January Journal, pages 45-46 of the Church in Action section, for details.)
They are learning to minister to all Protestant denominations
Christian Scientists serving as "intern pastors" in four Methodist churches near Boston?
It took some tall explaining. The four participating in this activity are among eight Christian Scientists presently training to become chaplains in the Armed Forces of the United States. Each is working toward a Master of Divinity degree at Boston University's School of Theology. See "Chaplain Training Program" notice, page 175 of this month's Journal.
Serving as intern pastors fulfills a fieldwork requirement and gets them started in the work they will do as chaplains—ministering to men and women of all Protestant denominations. It also provides excellent opportunity for enjoying with them the message of the Christ.
One minister whose church takes part in this program admitted, "Some of my congregation were at first very skeptical about our using Christian Scientists for this work, because they felt the intern could not avoid choosing for or against important religious ideas. But [the chaplain trainee], by his warmth and the fact that he has unusual wisdom for a man his age and understands people's hurts and needs, has been a deeply enriching force. Now those who were doubtful see that there is no pressure to make [the trainee] what he isn't, nor on his part to make us what we are not able to be. There has developed a deep respect for his views.
"He has been able to minister to ball our people, young and elderly alike, without jeopardizing his own commitment to Christian Science. Having him here," the minister continued, "has shown us all that between two communities there are so many similarities that the differences need not stand in the way of our mutual sharing."
Another intern, as she delivered the sermon one Sunday, noticed the members of the choir were leaning over the balcony and some members of the congregation were sitting on the edge of their seats. She asked afterward, "Couldn't you hear me? Didn't my voice carry?"
"Oh, we could hear you all right," one responded. "We just didn't want to miss a word!"
A fellow student at the university, after observing a service conducted by a Christian Scientist trainee, commented, "Up to now I've always felt I'd delivered a good sermon if I had the congregation going right up the walls. But after your sermon, people said that they left church really thinking about what you had said. I see now that the really good sermon is one that leaves people thinking."
One candidate met with possible rejection because some of the congregation objected to his being a Christian Scientist. He had been recommended by pastor and lay committee, but the pastor found that the members who opposed the trainee's candidacy had read only books hostile to Christian Science and Mrs. Eddy. He told his people that he believed the young man had been unfairly judged and asked them to read The Christian Science Way of Life by DeWitt John and then invite the trainee to come and answer their questions.
This they did, and the Christian Scientist answered all their questions with spiritual insight, confidence, and kindness. "Is Jesus God?" they asked. "Was Jesus the true Messiah or only an example for us?" "When called upon to teach in our Sunday School, how would you teach the Trinity?" Knowing that his questioners also loved the Bible, he referred repeatedly to biblical authority for his answers.
The people accepted him and have since become enthusiastic about his work. He, on the other hand, is learning that a love for the Bible unites us to many who do not agree with us on every point; that Christian men and women everywhere express the qualities of God and are inspired and nourished by many of the same infinite truths that Christian Science propounds.
A fresh look at member involvement in Reading Room
We've heard it so often it's beginning to sound like a broken record: "If only we could get more of our own members using the Reading Room. . . ."
It's something librarians and their staffs have wrestled with for years.
"But," says Fenton W. Larimer, new supervisor of the Reading Room Section of the Department of Branches and Practitioners, "we have seldom approached this subject in any other way than what we think the members should be doing. Let's reverse this," he suggests, "and see what the members are already doing:
— "They voted to support the
present location.
— "They pay the rent, taxes,
insurance.
— "They pay for furnishings, purchase
stock, pay the utilities, pay
salaries, support metaphysically.
— "They will support when called on.
"I'd recommend," Mr. Larimer continues, "that librarians and staff look for ways they can do more for their members. For example, are fruitage reports as inspiring as they could be? Do we see they are shared with members who might not be at the quarterly business meeting? Do all the members really feel our appreciation of their support? Has the staff member considered picking up a church member who doesn't have a car or other means of getting to the Reading Room?
"There must be many ways we can be of greater service to our members and better appreciate the many things they are already doing for the Reading Room."
Fund contributions meeting needs in developing areas
Just a year ago The Christian Science Board of Directors announced the opening of the new Fund for Developing Areas. Its purpose: to provide financial assistance in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for the advancement of Christian Science where the needs and opportunities for growth temporarily exceed the capabilities and resources of local Christian Scientists, or where economic conditions hamper normal development.
Already contributions to the fund are assisting branches and groups of Christian Scientists in several countries.
Applications for assistance from this fund may be made by writing,
Marc Engeler, Treasurer
The First Church of Christ, Scientist
Christian Science Center
Boston, MA, U.S.A. 02115
Among purposes for which funds might be used in the developing areas are to help churches, societies, and groups to secure proper facilities for their church services and other activities; to provide books and periodicals; and to assist in other projects found necessary to the progress and effectiveness of Christian Science in developing areas.
This assistance supplements the self-help of those receiving it with the objective of their becoming self-sustaining.
They get their start from small beginnings
Many branch churches and societies get their start from small beginnings, perhaps one or two students of Christian Science meeting in a private home to read the Bible Lesson. To interest others in joining them, their next step might be to place a notice of the time and location of their service in the local newspaper or on placards, posters, and community bulletin boards.
As their activity develops in response to the spiritual needs of their community and with their desire to meet those needs, the group begin patterning their activities in accordance with branch church requirements, using the Church Manual by Mrs. Eddy as their guide. Their specific purpose, like that of a recognized branch, is to share Christian Science primarily through effective, healing services.
The maintenance of well-placed literature distribution boxes, outdoor tables, or a study room (sometimes called a library or information center) where Christian Science books and literature are available, can also be effective expressions of the group's active presence in the community. And with the sponsorship of a nearby branch or The Mother Church, a group might also give a Christian Science lecture.
Students of Christian Science who would like to establish such a group in their community can write the Department of Branches and Practitioners for helpful guidelines. Those moving or traveling to a particular area may also write that department to see if there is a group nearby if they don't find a branch listed in the journal.
Until recently a group not yet recognized as a branch of The Mother Church has been called "Informal Group of Christian Scientists (City/Town)." The new designation drops the word "Informal" and makes it simply "(City/Town) Group of Christian Scientists." An example would be "Live Oak Group of Christian Scientists."
'When unity has been established . . . demonstration is irresistible'
Reading Rooms in a number of major cities around the world are moving to ground-floor locations in order to be seen—and used—by more people. Reports include this one from Second Church, Paris:
For a long time some members of Second Church had realized their seventh-floor Reading Room wasn't adequately meeting the need. Yet several attempts to find a new location failed.
Finally these members recognized that the problem wouldn't be solved without wholehearted prayerful work by the entire membership. Those most interested in relocation developed a study program. The whole membership was divided into small groups and went to work to heal in themselves apathy and the many other antagonistic beliefs of mortal mind. "This first step," they report, "led to a nearly unanimous vote in favor of moving our Reading Room to ground-floor premises."
But again, little progress. So a new committee was formed to properly focus all the church's efforts to solve the problem. It first identified the criteria that would help the church recognize the ideal location. "Consequently when a member drew attention to a vacant shop near the Champs Elysees," the report continues, "we knew immediately it met our needs. And the rent was scarcely higher than for the rooms we wanted to leave—with about twice the space!"
The rights on the location they were vacating were sold well, and to a firm that had been looking for years for just such premises.
While remodeling their new Reading Room, the membership again took part in a program of study and prayer: reading the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Bible, then researching applicable ideas.
A special inspirational meeting was held that centered on Mrs. Eddy's statement, "Prayer, watching, and working, combined with self-immolation, are God's gracious means for accomplishing whatever has been successfully done for the Christianization and health of mankind."Science and Health, p.1. The members gave thought to how this related to the mission of their Reading Room—its service to the Christian Science movement, to the individual, to the community, and to mankind generally.
To put themselves on a solid footing from the beginning, attendants worked with the Handbook for Librarians, Reading Room Notes, and the cassette tapes from the Circulation Sales Department of the Publishing Society.
Their new Reading Room opened in late 1974. Right away they began having visitors who had never heard of Christian Science. The Reading Room window display posters from The Mother Church have proved to be "messages of extraordinary efficacy," their report says, "since many people have stopped to read"— and some have come in to comment on them.
The members proved that "when unity has been established among the members, demonstration is irresistible."
They learned through prayer what needed to be healed in themselves. And once they perceived their spiritual objectives clearly and focused their efforts, those objectives were realized in just the right way. "Each time we could not see our way," they write, "we waited, praying, until events started unfolding again. Through this collective work we have learned to cooperate better and to put to use everyone's talents."
The membership is grateful for these lessons— grateful, too, that it is learning how to offer Christian Science boldly to the public after having their Reading Room tucked away for so many years.
CoP speakers do their 'homework'
If you were to walk into a college history class or Kiwanis Club luncheon or a seminar for social workers and hear someone speaking on "Christian Science," you might be surprised, but the event wouldn't be an unusual one.
Numbers of people are becoming keenly interested in what their neighbors believe—in how others worship, in the faith and spiritual experience that sustain them. About 1,400 such groups each year currently ask for speakers on Christian Science, and the Committee on Publication answers these requests.
Who are these speakers? Earnest Christian Scientists who are ready to answer those that ask "a reason of the hope that is in you."I Pet. 3:15. More and more people, the speakers find, are grappling with questions about meaning in life. They're wondering about life after death and if Christianity is still valid.
What a joy it is, the speakers relate afterward, to be able to explain a little of the history and nature of the Church of Christ, Scientist—to quell others' misapprehensions about Christian Science and share something of the naturalness and effectiveness of Christian healing as we know and are experiencing it.
Sometimes the group is small. A dozen clergymen and doctors questioned a Christian Science speaker for several hours on a spring evening in Esher, England. The interchange was friendly, but the questions were probing. The Christian Scientist had carefully prepared for the talk and felt the invitation itself had been the answer to her outreaching prayer. She wrote later, "On leaving the vicarage that night I had a great feeling of harmony and brotherly love, and somehow I knew that our community would never be quite the same again. A bridge had been forged and used . . . ."
At a correctional home for youth, the young teen-agers kept the invited speaker for an hour and a half after the talk, asking about Christian Science views on delinquency and use of drugs, the Ten Commandments, and the Sermon on the Mount.
After talking to a college class in English literature, a Christian Scientist learned that one of the students had been sufficiently inspired by the speaker's words in the line of fire to go to the local Christian Science Reading Room on her own to learn more. The speaker said after the occasion, "I began to feel that I was a spokesman not only for Christian Science but for Christianity as well."
A recent report by one speaker told how he compassionately and straightforwardly worked to heal skepticism underlying a typical question. On this occasion a member of the audience asked, "If I'm right in thinking that Christian Science teaches that evil and matter are unreal, how do Christian Scientists explain the evil in the world? Do you just ignore it?"
The speaker reported: "I said in part that although Mrs. Eddy came to the conclusion that evil has no ultimate reality, no Christian Scientist claims to have proved this completely for himself. What we feel called upon to do is to prove it by degrees through a commitment to healing— healing of bodily ills and all the other evidences of man's alienation from God. I said that Jesus must have known something about matter that other people didn't when he walked on the water and fed and healed the multitudes. Here, again, it was brought out that it's through practical healing experiences that a Christian Scientist feels he is beginning to understand more about matter's unreality. He is usually modest in his claims. But he continually expects to understand more of what Jesus understood about life, good, reality, Spirit."
During the past year talks were given in South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in the United States and Canada. In each case the Committee on Publication speakers did their homework ahead of time. But more than anything else, their goal was to speak honestly and naturally, not to share theories but practical experience and something of a Christian Scientist's deep faith and trust in God.
A high school pupil wrote in her report of the Christian Scientist who came to talk to them: "She was an effective speaker because of her enthusiasm and involvement in Christian Science and because she obviously loves God and people. It is an experience we would like to repeat."
Christian Scientists who hear of a potential invitation for a talk from a church, school, or community group should contact their Assistant Committee on Publication or the state, county, or national Committee on Publication.
In some areas, church members may find it possible to attend a seminar for speakers held by the Committee on Publication.
