RESILIENT AND DYNAMIC—TWO WORDS I USE to describe our Christian Science branch church membership. But we might not have called it either one as little as four years ago, about the time we embarked on the construction of a new church building.
Don't get me wrong. Our little membership had good Readers, talented musicians, and a caring congregation. However, we occupied a structure built for 1,200 churchgoers and 1,000 Sunday School pupils. We could sit so far apart that we resembled scattered embers in a fire, so spread out that we came close to extinguishing the flame and purpose of our church.
Following an earthquake that resulted in massive damage to our 70-year-old building, decisions on how to proceed varied as widely as the membership. However, the definition of Church in Science and Health, which we recited at the end of every membership meeting, jolted us out of our passivity: "Church. The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle.
"The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick." Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 583.
This spiritual viewpoint of Church served as a beacon that enlightened and impelled our church members forward and promised a growth in grace that our members could hardly have foreseen.
First, the idea of "the structure of Truth and Love" helped us consider a more practical physical structure for our small membership. Some members wanted to build a smaller church, some wanted to join with another branch Church of Christ, Scientist, and still others wanted to disband altogether. It seemed progress had reached an impasse. Eventually—prayerfully, humbly—more than the required two-thirds majority agreed to building a new church that would continue our 70-plus-years presence in our city. The spiritual healing and renewal within our church family that led to that decision became the true foundation of this exciting, challenging idea.
When we put our architectural plans out to bid, we quickly found ourselves in a cycle of spiraling costs for cement, lumber, and steel. Our process over the first few months resembled a car getting on a freeway, taking every exit ramp, and then returning to the freeway to inch slowly forward again. Every time we moved forward, we'd take several steps back. But our prayers resulted in a church redesign that proved sufficient for our current needs, including all the desired elements of grace, style, and function, while maintaining financial feasibility.
Our membership initially disagreed as to the new church's style, size, and location. So we kept turning back to the definition of Church. The phrase "whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle" helped us embrace and express the idea that our church's true foundation was divine Principle. We soon came together in unanimous enthusiasm to move forward and support those professionals in whom we had put our trust. Meetings with the architect, contractior, owner's representative, and various departments of the city ran smoothly, with productive give-and-take of ideas.
Many delays, myriad city reviews and committees, cost increases, all played havoc with the progress of the building. So we checked our goals for the new church against the concept of affording proof of its utility ... elevating the race ... rousing the dormant understanding. Also, members determined to bear witness to the healing power of Christian Science, to share deeper, more compelling testimonies, and to rouse our thoughts about Church overall. As a result, we soon noticed that the dynamic between the city and our project changed for the better. When a final hearing took place, the city planning and architectural commissions approved our church project in a unanimous vote of confidence.
Constant interaction over the course of four years demonstrated qualities of love, patience, teamwork, and trust. No longer were the words Christian Science strange to these people in our community.
Members began to glimpse many blessings. For instance, our attorneys, real estate agent, and workers on the construction site were all gaining exposure to Christian Scientists at hearings and meetings. Many of these individuals had simply known about our beautiful church building from the past, but had no idea what went on inside or what Christian Science teaches. Constant interaction over the course of four years demonstrated qualities of love, patience, teamwork, and trust. No longer were the words Christian Science strange to these people in our community.
The membership continued to take into account the idea of apprehending spiritual ideas and demonstrating divine Science. We called frequent member meetings to discuss everything from exterior and interior finishes to room sizes to membership participation. Each meeting invited all ideas—some of them eagerly accepted, others argued well into the night. But as the months progressed, the members moved closer to apprehending and demonstrating divine Science, and, as families often do, also moved closer to one another. Storms of prior months simply dissipated, and the membership more diligently expressed one Mind.
Meanwhile the blessings kept coming. New member applications came in modestly but steadily, often with the comment that the applicant was drawn to our branch church because we seemed like such a vital and welcoming group. Current members left their names up for various elected positions, whereas before some of these positions had been hard to fill. As tradespeople spent time on site and learned that this was a church building, discussions included questions about our religion, offering yet more opportunities to rouse "the dormant understanding" and spread Christian Science in a natural way. We sometimes shared—and they graciously accepted—Christian Science literature.
Now, after our several years of planning and building, our new church promises to welcome fellow Christian Scientists, neighbors, city workers, construction tradespeople, and guests to our services—for generations to come. Members have taken on the assignment of "casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick." The proof of our utility (and a true welcome mat) will guarantee the continued growth of our membership, not so much in numbers necessarily, but more through the healings we demonstrate and the spiritual ideas we express. We feel confident that our sharing of these healings and ideas will surely keep our church—meaning our members and visitors—resilient and dynamic!
