CHURCH CAN MEAN MANY THINGS TO MANY PEOPLE. Some may think of it as simply a place to go once or more a week to participate in worship services with others who are likeminded. Others may think of church as the specific denomination they belong to. When Mary Baker Eddy organized the Church of Christ, Scientist, she took the concept of Church to a whole new level. She established her Church to restore the first-century practice of Christianity, making church essentially the way one lives one's life from a healing perspective.
The purpose of the church she organized is explained in the Church Manual: "To organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing" (p. 17).
As this explanation shows, the very framework of this Church is healing. This concept of a Church being firmly rooted in Christian healing is borderless—not limited to denominational church services and fellowship. Of course, Church very much includes these aspects but also goes way beyond these borders. In fact, this concept of Church requires that we individually become "Church in action"—that we deal with the various challenges in our daily lives as opportunities to bring healing to ourselves and others.
