The Bible tells us that when Moses was receiving divine instruction concerning the making and furnishing of the tabernacle (the first structure for worship that the wandering children of Israel had), he was given a vital standard: "Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount." Ex. 25:40. Today this simple rule can provide the key to successful church government. Mrs. Eddy, author of the Manual of The Mother Church, declares, "Human law is right only as it patterns the divine." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 283. And in the Manual itself she stipulates, "In Christian Science each branch church shall be distinctly democratic in its government, and no individual, and no other church shall interfere with its affairs." Man., Art. XXIII, Sect. 10.
The democratic form of government, which is basic to the right conduct of the affairs of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, aids the unfolding of God's kingdom on earth. When underlaid by spiritual vision, it is a unique help in leading human thought out of limited, limiting concepts of cause and control into the freeing perception of God's prerogative and capacity to govern mankind.
But if we think of democratic church government solely as government by majority rule, we lose sight of the ideal spiritual pattern—the immortal man of God's creating and the God-sustained structure, Church, wholly governed by divine Principle through spiritual law. And we also forget that the perfection of man and Church can be demonstrated here and now. Belief in the mortal, material sense of many minds and faith in the weight of numbers may resolve into a "might makes right" philosophy or tempt us to resort to political tactics of one kind or another simply to gain the majority. But first and last the aim of democracy in a Christianly scientific context is to achieve the humble yielding to the one Mind that raises church government to a moral and spiritual activity.
In Science man is God's creation, governed by Him, and divine Principle is universally supreme. In the divine realm there is no opposition, no separate or secondary power, and nothing out of control. Harmony is the law, and perpetual good is the outcome of all action. The only influence or impulsion acting on man is the divine will, or law, which maintains man as God's reflection. Mind is made manifest in wisdom. Spirit is reflected in right action; Soul, in a pure, unerring sense of good. Thus man is found in joyous obedience to divine control. Man never needs correction or instruction, because he is the true idea emanating from God. And this is the real identity of each one of us.
Christian Science provides all of us equal access to this absolute truth of being and equal opportunity to let it dwell in our hearts and manifest itself in our lives. Ideally, everyone has the God-given ability to hear and heed Deity's direction, and no one can assume another's work of demonstrating divine wisdom.
That branch church government is best which most fosters individual self-government by encouraging each member to turn directly to divine Principle and Truth for guidance and control, thus adhering to the spiritual pattern as closely as possible. Thought needs to be lifted above the limited, human sense of activity to see man as spiritual idea, living and acting in the divine realm as God's reflection. Truth then begins to rule out of human consciousness the mortal elements of thought that produce unwise or inharmonious action. Church members' lives begin to show forth more clearly the spiritual fact in terms of sounder decisions and happier relations. And as each individual strives to demonstrate God's control, the collective action of the members becomes wiser—and more joyous as well.
Although bylaws outlining acceptable action are necessary, the greatest possible scope for prayer and spiritual unfoldment as governing factors should be preserved. Through each member's prayer and earnest endeavor to act and vote from his or her highest sense of right, the government of God is brought directly to bear on church affairs.
Clearly, this spiritually impelled process of government reaches its fullest potential through the participation of the membership as a whole. Such participation goes beyond voting on questions under discussion. It involves the whole process of searching for answers; of being willing to submit each plan to the test of uplifted thought; of learning to listen for the promptings of divine Love; of applying relevant spiritual truths to the matters at hand.
Spiritual growth of the members results in
a church that sturdily resists the influences of
human ambition, power politics, and personal
domination.
This process advances the growth of church members as individuals too. We learn how to respond more readily to the governance of God. We learn that all our activities need to have behind them more than human motivation and logic, that the greatest need is always more love, more humility, more prayer.
Such growth of the members results in a church that sturdily resists the influences of human ambition, power politics, and personal domination, yet still provides plenty of scope for members as individuals to help bring divine Truth's power to bear on the course of events through their prayers. Through strong affirmations and clear realization of the allness and might of God and the powerlessness of animal magnetism to interfere with the divine purpose, each member can yield to the activity of divine Truth and Love. This can have immeasurable impact for good on branch church affairs. The conviction of the present, infinite, divine harmony that such prayer brings lifts us above both apathetic inaction and anxious concern and leaves the field to God. As Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy says: "Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind governs, and that in Science man reflects God's government." Science and Health, p. 393. We may even discover that the course of events does not need to be altered quite so much as we had thought!
By establishing the spiritual pattern in thought, branch church members are also freed from the tendency to elitism, the belief that the recommendations or actions of certain individuals or groups within the church have behind them greater wisdom than that available to the membership as a whole. When a committee or executive board has certain tasks delegated to it —either by virtue of an existing bylaw or by direct vote of the members—it can then act with confidence, knowing that the authority to do so has been conferred by the decision of the church body. But this, of course, is no license for action beyond the bounds of the mandate nor for instructing or leading the membership in its actions and decisions. Members turn to God for guidance and find from Him wisdom and direction. In this way, authority and initiative remain vested in the membership; to think otherwise would be to allow the proverbial tail to wag the dog!
Now, we might fancy that a very energetic tail could indeed wag a very lethargic dog, and this underscores the great need for church memberships to guard against apathy. The involvement of all members in branch church affairs—men and women, young and old, longtime and new— is invaluable. As members individually turn to God for guidance and wisdom, as they actively share in the prayerful working out of important church affairs, they will find their decisions and activities more and more reflecting the harmony and unity of the divine order.
Sometimes the question arises: What of especially important matters? Can they be safely trusted to the democratic process? The answer is yes. No matter how crucial the issue, prayer-supported democracy can arrive at the right decision. Even if what some may regard as a wrong path is taken, members can recognize that democracy in the church is essentially a learning process. People make mistakes; individually or collectively they may fail at times to do what is wise or even necessary. But the way is still open; the means of correction right at hand. As church members prayerfully affirm and understand the all-government of God and the unfailing rightness of His idea, man, and then patiently persist along the divinely indicated path provided in the Church Manual, errors will be uncovered and the church family led to wiser choices.
Members' faithful, prayerful exercise of their collective authority over branch church affairs is very important, typifying, as it does, the self-government of man under God's jurisdiction. Christ Jesus taught his disciples to pray: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matt. 6:10. As the spirit of this prayer increasingly motivates each church member, divine wisdom, energy, and love will more regularly characterize church proceedings. Then, in the forum of inspired democratic interaction in the branch Church of Christ, Scientist, there'll be seen something of the spiritual power and unity of action that signal the descent of the Holy Ghost.
