The Board of Trustees of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New Orleans, recently wrote to the Christian Science Board of Directors of The Mother Church:
What progress! From initial services at the home of our First Reader to holding church in our Sunday School for 18 months, [church] was a haven for so many who had lost so very much. "If we would open their prison doors for the sick, we must first learn to bind up the brokenhearted" [see Science and Health, p. 366]. All of us fell into the category of broken-hearted at that time. Many attending [church services] had lost every worldly possession — homes to family photos. All had incurred some damage or personal loss. [Church] was a center for meeting, embracing, and supporting one another compassionately and prayerfully.
Friends united; family and friends also departed the city in large numbers. The changes were unsettling. Church [became] an anchor. The humble testimonies over the past 18 months would warm even the coldest heart. Our Sunday School, [our] temporary church, was the community center for all the local Christian Science churches [First, Second, and Fourth Churches] since all were flooded. We became one Church.
