"If you are looking for a story about a really alive branch church," Tessa Bray, a customer service representative for The Mother Church, recently told a Journal staff editor, "definitely be in touch with First Church, Seattle. I have never been in a church that expresses so much joy, family, and generosity. They take my breath away. They have been in a real process of transformation over the past six years—and it shows."
"Right now," she continued, "they're in a storefront—and it's the most 'church-feeling' place I've ever been in, because they live church. The members decided that they had to be a family—not just on Sundays and Wednesdays, but to live as a Christian Science church, and be there in every way—practically and spiritually—for every need the members have. For example, in the year and a half since I've been attending there, I've never had to take the bus home. Five or more members ask me if I want a ride home each time—and almost none of them live anywhere nearby."
So at Tessa's bidding we contacted Jack Clay, a member of the Executive Board of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Seattle, who, just before leaving on a three-week trip to Russia, sent us off an e-mail with this report:
