Compare two well-heated buildings—two churches, if you will. People may love to go into one and be reluctant to enter the other. As they pass through the doors of the first they may feel a glow of benevolence and well-being embracing them, while the atmosphere in the second may seem austere and forbidding.
How can we account for this paradox? Of course, it is the mental climate generated by the people in the building that is largely responsible for the difference. While it is important to keep the physical temperature at a comfortable level of warmth, it is just as important to be sure that a warm and welcoming mental atmosphere awaits everyone who goes through the door. In the case of a church we can be sure that if there is affection and agreement, sharing and caring in its membership and congregation, a warm glow of love will embrace regular attendants and strangers alike. Even first-time visitors will quickly feel "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God." Eph. 2:19;
A warm welcome to the stranger, friendly but without pressure, is an essential feature of every branch of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as of The Mother Church itself. Mrs. Eddy, the Church's Founder and Leader, included a By-Law in the Manual of The Mother Church headed "Welcoming Strangers." Under this are two subheadings, "The Leader's Welcome" and "The Local Members' Welcome." The latter unequivocally states, "It shall be the duty and privilege of the local members of The Mother Church to give their seats, if necessary, to strangers who may come to attend the morning services." Man., Art. XVI, Sect. 2;
