The Bible's New Testament calls the follower of Christ to "walk worthy of the vocation," or calling, that he or she has been given. Chief among these callings are healing and teaching. Without healing through prayer, the gospel has no proof of its truthfulness. Without faithful teaching, Christian healing might once again become random and unsystematic—a lost art with no science to assure its dependability.
Every three years, the Church of Christ, Scientist's Board of Education conducts a Normal class ("normal" refers to a school for training teachers), in which up to 30 experienced Christian Science practitioners are taught and examined on the essentials of Christian Science theology and the teaching of its healing practice. The next Normal class will be in December of this year.
In a wide-ranging conversation the Board's officers—Karl (Sandy) Sandberg, President; , Vice President; and Thomas Black, Teacher, who taught the Normal class in 2003—discussed the work of the Board of Education and the Normal class. In segments that will run in later issues, they also considered questions that have sometimes been raised by Christian Scientists on the discipline of teachers and the global need for spiritually well-educated Christian healers.
