Church has the potential to bless the entire world, so it’s worth rousing our thoughts about it from stereotypical views of it being dull, conformist, and restrictive, to its real purpose of uplifting and healing. As we weed out any aggressive or subtle mental resistance to the idea of Church, we might feel the need to engage more fully with it, supporting its revolutionary impact on the world.
Church organization wouldn’t be necessary to support our study and practice of Christian Science if it were simply an outdated tradition to which we hold just a perfunctory allegiance. More than just a vehicle for congregational worship, church is vital to our individual spiritual growth. And without the provision of a working church body guided by divine law, we might feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of Christ’s counsel to spiritually and effectively nourish the human family. We might feel inadequate in our personal efforts to serve God in this way.
The central commandments of Christianity are to love God first and love others as ourselves. This requires us to share what we are learning. The activities of The Church of Christ, Scientist, are designed to help fulfill Christ Jesus’ commands to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15) and to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils” (Matthew 10:8). These activities include public worship services, Sunday School classes for students up to the age of twenty, periodicals containing contemporary accounts of spiritual healing, Reading Rooms carrying authorized Christian Science literature, and public talks for anyone interested in learning more about Christian Science.
