Three and a half hours for a church election meeting—where the only business was to elect three executive board members and a president—seemed like an unbelievably long time. Where was the efficiency? Couldn't someone find a way to speed up this election process? And as a new member of a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, I didn't know any of the eligible members. How should I have voted?
What if we replaced each thought that restricted or outlined another's demonstration and listened to Christ, Truth, for direction? Then a church meeting would be seen for what it is—a time for each member to redeem thought, to pray to be Christlike.
These were just a few of the questions I considered as I left my first church meeting at which elections were held. As soon as I could, I planned to look into the possibility of a bylaw change in order to improve this election process. I also expected to bring loads of Christian Science Sentinels, Journals, and Monitors to read during the next election meeting. But things didn't turn out as I expected. Instead, step by step over the weeks and months that followed, I found myself gaining a more spiritual view of Church and a greater appreciation of the purpose of service within our branch churches.
