Branch Church News
Recently my husband and I went to a popular fast-food restaurant with two other couples and six of their preschool-to-fourth-grade children and grandchildren. While the adults stood in line for the food, the children sat together at the tables.
What would gradually draw people from many places to work together for more than a decade in order to establish a branch Church of Christ, Scientist? What would impel them to work together in a city where, prior to several years ago, Christian Science itself had not even been heard of? Of course, there are many reasons why people would do this. Certainly love of God is central.
Prayer for Sunday School From a Sunday School superintendent : At one time I was feeling discouraged about church members' involvement in the Sunday School. The teacher of one class had decided to withdraw from teaching, and I still had not found anyone to be assistant superintendent.
Tape-recording the Lesson-Sermon In the past The Christian Science Publishing Society has extended permission to branch churches and care services to taperecord a reading of the Lesson-Sermon from the Christian Science Quarterly — Bible Lessons under special circumstances of need. This allowance was made in place of the availability of the Lesson Sermon on audio tape.
I think the answer is in one word— love. Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, tells us in Science and Health, "Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and teaching"—and it is also the true incentive for writing.
At some point in our experience most of us have grappled with the question "What is my real purpose in life, my true career?" We yearn to see our specific path clearly and to find fulfillment by following it. Yet the cold, hard "realities" of life would have us doubt that possibility, and doubt even more that there's a God who can help.
When I was serving as usher in a Christian Science branch church, the words of the title came to me when I began to take the collection one Sunday. Those words were said in Old Testament times by King David to all the people who gathered together to express their gratitude to God by giving contributions for the construction of the temple at Jerusalem.
However varied the circumstances which caused us to become interested in the teachings of Christian Science, they all have one thing in common: there was something positive about Science that appealed to us. It might have been the attitude of a neighbor, an article we read, a lecture we were invited to, a healing we witnessed or one we even experienced ourselves with the help of a Christian Scientist.
Whether at a shopping mall, on a college campus, or in the foyer of a church, a bulletin board is a great place for people to share information. You can learn a lot about an active community from reading local bulletin boards.
Whether at a shopping mall, on a college campus, or in the foyer of a church, a bulletin board is a great place for people to share information. You can learn a lot about an active community from reading local bulletin boards.