FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST, LARKSPUR, CALIFORNIA, prospered for half a century. But by the late 1990s, membership had declined to fewer than ten active members. The 35-year-old buildings were deteriorating. And with no funds available to make repairs and operating expenses consuming the church's meager financial reserves, the membership decided to sell the buildings and the land the church owned.
We began holding monthly "vision" meetings. The most important point to come out of these meetings was that unconditional love was the glue that held our membership together. Nurturing such love for one another would help us keep sharp retorts and uncharitable remarks out of our interactions. After one member introduced the Quaker concept of the "sense of the meeting," which many Quakers would describe as arriving at a decision by consensus, we resolved to decide every question in this way, rather than by majority vote. For the most part, we were successful.
Another key point to come out of these discussions was "complement, don't duplicate." That meant we wouldn't do what other Christian Science churches in the area were doing, if there was no need for it. Instead, we looked for opportunities to serve in ways that no else was. For example, no one in our area was broadcasting the Christian Science Quarterly weekly Bible Lesson, so we undertook that, using the facilities of our local cable company.
