What was the first thing you noticed when you pulled The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, or Herald out of your mailbox this week?
You most likely saw the physical changes—the new cover design and nameplate, the smaller 7 x 10 inch size, the new layout and design of the articles, columns, and testimonies. These are visible signs of three years of prayer and listening; but the deeper signs of this work are in the words and ideas that make each article and testimony a blessing to the reader. These are your words: the record, the watch, and the proclamation of divine Truth, Life, and Love. They are the statements that bear witness to the healing activity of the Christ.
Our prayer as we continue to work on the redesign of the periodicals is to understand deeply the meaning of “ably edited and kept abreast of the times” (Mary Baker Eddy, Manual of The Mother Church, p. 44). To see how this demand of the Manual can harmonize with the purpose Mary Baker Eddy gave to each of the Christian Science periodicals in her article “Something in a Name” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353). To express what it means for the periodicals to serve as “the organs of this Church” (Manual, p. 44) in today’s Internet age, and to blend naturally the print editions of The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald with the new digital JSH-Online edition. To let the print and digital formats express their unique qualities, blessing those who read them and inspiring all to subscribe.
