The Lectures

The very large attendance at the semi-annual lecture of the Mother Church given in Symphony Hall, Boston, when several hundred persons, probably a thousand, were turned away for lack of room, indicates that suffering and disheartened humanity is still seeking a practical means of escape from pain, sin, sickness, and sorrow, and that the means heretofore employed for relief from these relentless task-masters, have been largely unavailing.

The increasing attendance at these lectures marks the steady growth of interest in Christian Science. The persons comprising these large audiences are more than ordinarily attentive, and it is noticeable that they remain until the close of the lecture. This indicates that idle curiosity is not their motive.

That this interest is not confined to any particular section is shown by the reports received from different places at which the lectures are given. In one instance a church in one of the smaller cities reported an attendance of four hundred at its first lecture, and about a year later an attendance of eight hundred at its second lecture. In another instance we are informed that it was necessary to give the lecture two evenings in succession in order to accommodate. all who wished to hear it.

These lectures were inaugurated for the purpose of meeting the demand for an authoritative presentation of Christian Science and to correct the many misunderstandings and misapprehensions which have grown up in public thought, therefore this means of placing our Cause and its Leader in a proper light before the world should be used without stint. We regret to find, however, that some churches are not thoroughly awake to the benefit to be derived from a liberal interpretation of the by-law permitting each church to arrange for two lectures a year. We cannot refrain from urging upon the churches everywhere a liberal policy in this matter, and would suggest to them that when providing for their yearly expenses, the cost of two lectures be included. M.

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