Institutions have always played a role in the shaping and forming of society. Perhaps that’s as true today as at any time in history. Some people might think first of giant global corporations that have vast financial influence. Others would assume that the world of medicine is shaping much of the direction society is taking. Or maybe you think the environmental movement is key to where the world is headed.
But there are perceptive individuals who would say that more than any other institution, religion shapes the destiny of humanity. Competing theological ideas define so much of what is happening in our world. When I think of the modest size of our church, I’m amazed to realize how it is leading the way in this reshaping process. And it all began with a vision about reinstating something that was lost centuries ago.
Mary Baker Eddy, at a meeting of Christian Scientists, made a motion “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” (Church Manual, p. 17). We have a church that is coming more fully alive by bringing more fully alive Christian healing.
