"Some time ago I was feeling very burdened and put upon by my work on a branch church board and other committees... . With the aid of a practitioner I began to work. I knew that Church was for the healing of the world-since Church was a compound idea and world problems seemed to involve more complex problems. However, I felt that I could go off and demonstrate my pure, unbureaucratic concept of Church by myself. After about nine months I found it doesn't work that way. I really needed the family home, Christian fellowship, and love that the church manifests. For me the church is a give-and-take, a demonstration of God's love sustaining and uplifting us. Then I realized that it was not enough to carry the spiritual concept of Church within myself; I needed to defend my concept of church. This meant going back into the organization and proving what I knew church to be. Anything less was cowardice and disobedience to God.
"Church, like our sense of job and home, has to be proved on a daily basis, and the lies about the church need to be met there within the organization, not outside somewhere else. I began to look into joining another branch church. This time I did not look for a suburban or inner-city church, a young or old church, a liberal or conservative church. I prayed to be led to a healing church where the testimonies showed a spirit of Christian love and humility... .
"Shortly after joining (with the support of the loving practitioner), I was healed of a longstanding physical problem, and my job situation began to improve. Although there are still many, many challenges, I have learned to be a little more humble, a little less self-willed and have gotten rid of some self-righteousness. The branch church I belong to is warm, light-filled, and a healing church with a great sense of love for the community. I feel sometimes like the prodigal who has come home."
