"Show Me, Shepherd" is the theme of this year's Annual Meeting.
With freshness, candor, and vitality this theme supports the threefold purpose of the 1976 Annual Meeting season: "To enlarge our vision of Christian Science, to get a clearer concept of its mission, and to understand what we must do to fulfill it."
The "Shepherd" theme will be carried out in a way that will feed and inspire all members of The Mother Church family—those new to its ranks who will be guiding the movement into the twenty-first century, as well as those longtime, devoted workers who have given so much to forwarding the growth of Christian Science.
This will be a meeting in which everyone's participation is important —and needed. Even if you haven't written a talk or submitted questions (see the January Church in Action section, pp. 45-46), you can do much by your prayerful support, whether or not you plan to attend.
Annual Meeting will begin at a new hour this year—10 a.m. on Monday, June 7—and it will be a different kind of meeting. It will include a special address on Mrs. Eddy's continuing leadership. Reports from the Board of Directors and other church officers will provide forthright and inspiring perspective on progress, challenges, and the current status of our church organization.
On Monday afternoon 15 special interest sessions will show how prayer in Christian Science and the vitality of spiritualized thinking can transform and heal within areas of specific human concern, such as retirement, creative arts, business, education, equal opportunity, and the practice of Christian Science.
The Tuesday morning session will call on us to squarely face and destroy what Mrs. Eddy calls "the broadcast powers of evil," Science and Health, p. 65. blatant and subtle, and to enter the battle and fulfill our individual responsibility. It will remind us unequivocally that victory over evil is certain.
Tuesday evening's meeting will be a "mountaintop" session enlarging our vision of the Christ and Christian Science. Just what is that wider vision and how are we to attain it? How can we face up to the challenge of the higher purpose of the Christ and accomplish those "greater works" that Jesus said we would do?
And a Wednesday morning "tell it like it is" meeting on branch churches will come to grips with how we can go about feeding His sheep. We'll understand better why the church organization is needed. Also, a panel, which will include a member of the Board of Directors, will give frank answers to questions from the Field.
The May and June issues of the journal will have additional information about times of meetings, special workshops, registration, guided tours, child care, and so forth. (Please see pages 106 and 107 of the February issue if you would like to serve as a volunteer usher, assistant guide, or child-care attendant during Annual Meeting.)
A college organization reports some good news
A few college students set out to right what they thought was an injustice. For 20 years no Christian Science literature but the Monitor could be placed in their college library except for short periods. Organization members felt the students and faculty shouldn't be denied this access to Christian Science, and they decided to do something about it.
Each member, individually, began doing metaphysical work. One young woman worked with this verse from a hymn:
For right is right, since God is God;
And right the day must win;
To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin.Christian Science Hymnal, No. 86.
After discussing the matter with their campus advisor, who is also the local Assistant Committee on Publication, several of the students visited the new librarian and readily received permission to place all of Mrs. Eddy's writings and other authorized literature on Christian Science on the college library shelves. What's more, the library also accepted a gift subscription to the Sentinel!
'Inseparability of church and Sunday School is an infinite circle of blessings'
Talk about doing things in a big way. This branch in California appoints its entire membership to the Sunday School committee!
"There are numerous ways a member can support the Sunday School, but first," the superintendent reasons, "he must be aware of its needs— and what better way than by serving on the Sunday School committee. About one third of our membership serve as teachers and staff. However, each month every member is called upon to provide metaphysical support, with the superintendent suggesting a particular study topic relating directly to Sunday School.
"There are times," her report continues, "when a teacher or the staff may feel need for specific metaphysical help. Then the superintendent calls a church member and requests specific support for the Sunday School. Though these calls are impersonal, naming no class, student, or teacher, the superintendent keeps in touch with the 'practitioner' to report progress.
"Surely the inseparability of church and Sunday School is an infinite circle of blessings," the superintendent observes. "A church is blessed by an active, vital Sunday School; and a Sunday School is blessed by a membership that is individually and collectively involved in its progress.
"We have found over and over again that the cement of our Sunday School is love. Love expressed through inspiration, consecration, and dedication—through demonstrating spiritual growth and joy, and sharing infinite good.
"We are grateful to see our teachers express daily interest and concern for their pupils, to hear that they pray daily for their classes, and are enriching their knowledge of the Bible by taking Bible history courses. The students can't help but feel their teachers' love of God, love of Church, and love for their fellowman. This love shines so brightly that the students are bathed in it. They learn their lessons well and want to share their understanding of the Christ with others.
"Evidence of this growth is seen in more and more of our students joining The Mother Church. Many have joined our branch church while still in Sunday School. When these students reach age 20, they want to return to Sunday School as teachers. And they are backing up their enthusiasm and love of Sunday School with class instruction in Christian Science."
Rather than hold large Sunday School workshop meetings, the superintendent calls together smaller groups of teachers who teach a common age-group. At times they invite parents who are seeking fresh ways to communicate with their children. Sometimes these parents are not yet church members or are very new members. As a time for sharing ideas, these parent-teacher sessions can be a training ground for new teachers. The parents see firsthand a teacher's love for his class, and there develops a bond between parent and teacher that continues to bless the Sunday School pupil.
"The Sunday School staff is also alert to members who can be prospective teachers," the superintendent adds. "We encourage them. We meet with them. And we hold training sessions for these prospective teachers where we consider in depth the Sunday School Handbook and enlarge our awareness of the Bible."
Friday Workshops will resume in May
"How can I be a more effective church worker?"
That's the question the new series of Friday workshops at the Church Center is being designed to answer. The workshops, open to all who are students of Christian Science, will begin on May 7 and continue each Friday through October.
The Workshop in Reading Aloud is being planned to help all branch church Readers and others who present reports and papers, conduct meetings—or simply read Christian Science material aloud to friends—to do so more effectively. Topics covered will be inspirational and technical. For example: preparation for reading, attitude of a Reader, the Christian Science pastor, pronunciation, timing, and emphasis.
The Lecture Workshops will discuss the many steps branches must take to prepare for a lecture. Lecturer selection, cooperation between branches, auditorium and platform arrangements, promotion, membership involvement, inspirational meetings, and other topics will be presented from both a technical and a metaphysical point of view. Churches will be encouraged to see in their support of the Church Manual provision for giving a lecture the fulfillment of their spiritualizing and healing work in the community.
The Church Activities Workshop will be a multipurpose session, exploring the entire range of activities included in church. Sample topics that will be discussed include getting a church into action, the role of committees, practicing Christian Science, healing services, church and higher education, demonstrating a sense of family in church, our Healing Goal, Sunday School and church, supporting our Reading Rooms, and church and the community.
On the first and third Fridays of each month the Department of Care will hold a special one-hour workshop beginning at 1: 30 p.m. Discussions will include the overall function of the Committee for Care—to support the Healing Goal of church by responding to the human need; specific functions of the committee; information and services provided, as well as the human footsteps that are needed.
A portion of each workshop will be devoted to questions and answers and to comments from the audience.
Workshop sessions will be held in the Sunday School building at the following times:
9:00-10:00—Reading Aloud
10:15-11:15—Lecture
11: 30-12:30—Church Activities
1:30-2:30—Committee for Care (first and third Fridays)
Limited parking for those attending these Friday sessions will be available in the Church Center garage.
Our 'mail' got through by special airlift
Operation "Canadian Airlift" didn't attract any headlines. Even among Christian Scientists it was little known outside of Canada. But late last fall, during the 42-day Canadian mail strike, church members from Moncton to Moose Jaw— branches all across the dominion— were calling special air shipments of new Quarterlies, books, and periodicals their "care packages from The Mother Church."
The Circulation and Production Departments of the Publishing Society and the Reading Room Service Center, working closely with Committees on Publication in Canada, set up 12 strategic distribution centers to service upwards of 60 churches and societies.
"We wanted to do everything we could to see that communication wasn't cut off between The Mother Church and our Canadian members," a Circulation Department representative said. "We especially didn't want the mail strike to keep people from reading their lesson or to discontinue church services because new Quarterlies hadn't arrived. It was just beautiful, the sense of love— the unity—the way everyone pitched in and pulled together to make the airlift successful."
A special order-fulfillment team in Boston canvassed by phone the needs of churches within the distribution areas, packaged the shipments, and airfreighted them to the central collection points in Canada. Members there, in turn, received the shipments and sorted out the literature for forwarding to outlying branches and Reading Rooms.
Local Committees on Publication prepared desk notices that told people they could once again get current supplies at the Reading Room, and these CoP's were on hand generally to coordinate deliveries and help in clearing customs.
"The outstanding thing," one CoP reported, "was the way everyone worked together and the value that the members placed on the literature. They were willing to drive great distances—150 miles in some cases —to pick up packages."
Committees on Publication spoke, too, of the harmonious dealings with customs authorities and how even the largest packages were readily released. Librarians were also grateful for the helpfulness of Reading Rooms in border cities such as Buffalo and Niagara Falls for their hospitality and sharing of stock with their Canadian neighbors.
It was in every way an example of love in operation, further proof of The Mother Church's love for its members, its members' love for one another, and their ability to pull together.
Friendlier, more relaxed notices 'like a breath of fresh air'
Many branches today are putting more warmth in the notices being read from the desk at Sunday and Wednesday services—addressing them primarily to visitors in a friendly, more personal, conversational tone.
Executive boards are working closely with First Readers in keeping the wording contemporary. In revising notices, executive boards might want to consider if the wording is really appropriate.
For instance, could "join" be used in place of "unite with"? And "here" instead of "in this auditorium"? How much routine material might be cut from the notices and simply placed on a bulletin board?
Care is taken that notices remain brief and "necessary," Man., p. 120. as the Church Manual instructs. An important point to remember is that a notice is not a mini-sermon. It is not intended to persuade or even encourage. Its sole purpose is to inform—but that can be done with warmth and joy.
At one branch in California a few more words about the Reading Room are added one week, perhaps mentioning the free lending library. The following week the First Reader may say more about the Sunday School, and so forth—to provide freshness, as well as a fuller explanation for visitors.
"The friendlier, more relaxed style of notices," one church member noted, "is like a breath of fresh air."
Boston's newest Reading Room relevant, vital, up-to-date
There was never any mystery about what was going in at 541 Boylston Street in Boston's Copley Square. There wasn't any whitewash on the windows and many passersby stopped to check it out. A large sign on the front window said,
OPENING
SOON
A Christian
Science
Reading Room
We hope you'll find your visit here a pleasant break.
The committee who did the planning wanted a Reading Room that would be as open and welcoming as possible—one that would say to the community, "Here's your chance to see what Christian Science is all about."
What they have in less than 850 square feet is one of the most compelling, approachable Reading Rooms yet seen. As one member noted, "It just sparkles!"
Utilizing light and glass effectively to exhibit Mrs. Eddy's writings and the many other colorful publications to full advantage, the designer has left the window-shopper with no doubts as to what's inside. Apart from the few words in the window that invite you to come in and browse, the general warmth and openness of the room tell you immediately that here is a place where you can explore new ideas . . . take time for quiet thought and prayer . . . read the Monitor . . . study the Bible . . . learn more about God—all without any verbal contact or commitment.
An attendant is available to answer questions and handle purchases, but the sales module is tucked away unobtrusively in a corner to the rear.
This invitation to browse, to handle the books—without a librarian imposing or the visitor having to make any personal contact if he doesn't wish to—enhances the accessibility, the freedom to come and go, or perhaps sit down and read awhile.
"And how important it is many times," an attendant reminds, "to let the books speak for themselves. To let Truth do the communicating."
From the friendly invitation to come in and quietly think things through, to the prominent lending library just inside the door, the emphasis throughout is one of sharing rather than sales.
The principal innovation is in the use of freestanding display modules that minimize structure (see photo). The transparency of the glass creates an environment which, instead of competing with the products, sets a tone, a background that lets the products themselves provide the accent color and vitality.
Innovative, too, was the way the committee of local Mother Church members introduced the community to the Reading Room. To announce their special two-day open house, postcard-size invitations were sent to many residences and businesses in the neighborhood via sealed third-class (nonprofit) mail. (This is mail that the sender takes to the post office and the post office delivers at its own convenience within a three-week period.)
The committee, working with a local street directory, mapped out its territory and made lists, each with 150 names. With these the addressing went fairly easily. But the most rewarding part for the volunteers— those, too, who handed out invitations on a one-to-one basis— was the opportunity to see man as God's intelligent idea, never separated from any good.
Evidently their good work is paying off. Since the day the room opened, many from the community have come in to get their first look at a Christian Science Reading Room. Many have stayed to ask questions or read awhile. And countless others stop each day at the window and can't help but gain a clear impression that the message offered is relevant, vital, and up-to-date!
German-speaking hear Annual Meeting in their own language
Each year many members of The Mother Church attend their first Annual Meeting. For some—especially those from overseas—it is the fulfillment of a long-held dream.
One woman from Germany who attended last year had saved for eight years to make the trip—and you can imagine her immense gratitude for being able to hear her first Annual Meeting in her native language.
This June for the third consecutive year special preparations are being made to translate each of the talks for the many German-speaking visitors. Last year 150 headsets were provided for this purpose in the first balcony (center) of The Mother Church Extension. Each of the more than 300 who arrived from Germany and another 50 from German-speaking Switzerland had at least one opportunity to use these earphones, with the overflow watching the sessions and listening to the translation in an especially equipped conference room.
This was just one part of the group's busy week in Boston. Both the International and Translation Departments hosted special open houses for the German-speaking members. They attended an all-day informal gathering in the Sunday School building, where officers and department heads discussed—in German—aspects of Mother Church activity of special relevance to the overseas field.
The Mother Church also aided in arranging hotel accommodations, meals in the employees' cafeteria, special badges for Annual Meeting hosts and hostesses who spoke German, German-speaking guides to lead special tours of the Church Center, translated scripts for bus tours of the Mary Baker Eddy historic sites, and registration and information tables especially for overseas members.
The effect of these preparations might be summarized by the observation of a German Christian Scientist now living in the United States: "It was a different crowd I met at the airport from the one that left 10 days later. Lightheartedness, happy smiles, and joy were so evident when they departed; their eyes were alight."
"We really felt the mother-love of The Mother Church," a member from Switzerland remarked. Many expressed similar awareness of this love and they anticipated the rich blessing each had received would have an uplifting and spiritualizing effect on the whole German-speaking Field.
"We have taken home with us," wrote one member, "a treasure of ideas and inspiration."
Two years ago at Annual Meeting a French translation of the talks was provided, but as most vacation time in France is restricted to July and August and so few members are able to attend in June, this translation was discontinued. In July of this year, however, a group of between 100 and 150 members from France are planning to visit The Mother Church and arrangements are being made similar to those for the German-speaking group, including special tours and an all-day informal session with church officers and department heads. Every effort will be made to make these members realize they too are a much-loved and important part of The Mother Church "family."
