For the community of Corvallis, Oregon, there are some bridges that were years in the building. Bridges between members of the same religious community. Bridges between one religious community and another. And bridges between religious communities and the community at large. The longing to build was there—as was the impetus—but one question remained: How?
For Marsha Pecaut Moersch, of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Corvallis, Oregon, it began with the groundwork that had been laid over a decade ago—with her church's distribution of inserts from The Christian Science Monitor that covered the subject of Christian healing. The series explored the way in which the practice of healing was being revitalized in religious communities like the Presbyterian Church, and it was sent to all the churches in the area. Though the response to the distribution was minimal—only two churches wrote to express their appreciation—Marsha still looks back to this effort as the beginning of something bigger: an expanding concept of Church that has come to embrace the entire community.
"Over the years, I've prayed daily for myself, my church, my community, and my world," Marsha related. "With my prayers every day, I just say, 'Father, I'm here to serve you in the way you want me to serve.' This desire—to keep healing at the center of my daily life—has enabled me to balance human steps with prayer, to let God's will rather than human willfulness guide my activity."
