To many English readers, The Herald of Christian Science may seem inaccessible or even irrelevant. But to someone who does not read English, the Herald—published in four languages in print and ten other languages online—may be their first and only ongoing experience with Christian Science.
Since the launch of Der Herold der Christlichen Wissenschaft in 1903, these vital magazines have been an integral part of The Christian Science Journal, Sentinel, and Herald (JSH) family of periodicals, “which are the organs of this Church” (Mary Baker Eddy, Church Manual, p. 44). Just as Mary Baker Eddy gave name and purpose to the Journal and Sentinel in her article “Something in a Name” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353), she also gave a name and a clear purpose to the Herald—“to proclaim the universal activity and availability of Truth.”
Over the past few years we have been working and praying to gain a deeper understanding of how the Herald needs to express itself today as “ably edited and abreast of the times” (Manual, p. 44). This prayerful desire to serve the global church activity is bringing growth and change. For example, last September the four print editions of the Herald united under a single editorial and circulation schedule, offering a global and universal message. Now each print edition includes the harmonized voices of German-, French-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-speaking Christian Scientists bearing witness to the universal activity of the Christ. Each print edition includes original articles and testimonies from each of the languages, a translated article from the Journal or Sentinel, as well as the editorial that also appears in the same month’s Journal.
