The $55.4 Million Goal of the Restoration and Renewal Fund has been reached. Since its inception in 1997, the Fund has received contributions and commitments from individuals, churches, and Christian Science associations in 74 countries worldwide.
Deep thanks go to all contributors for their steady and generous support of the Restoration and Renewal Fund. The gratitude we feel for the monetary gifts also includes deep appreciation for the heartfelt desire of each participant to contribute to both the restoration of the buildings and to a renewal of the church built in the affections. First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany. p. 195 . This devotion of thought and the generosity it impelled have resulted in blessings that reach far beyond church walls.
Mary Baker Eddy knew the worth of such giving. In a message to The Mother Church in January 1898, speaking of gifts received, she wrote: "To me, however, love is the greater marvel, so I must continue to prize love even more than the gifts which would express it. The great guerdon of divine Love, which moves the hearts of men to goodness and greatness, will reward these givers, and this encourages me to continue to urge the perfect model for your acceptance as the ultimate of Christian Science." Ibid., p. 123.
