Article December 30, 1922 Issue

Among the Churches

(Current Notes)

Ardmore, Okla. (First Church) (Excerpt from dedicatory address).—A Christian Science church is not dedicated until it is free from debt. Last June we moved into our present church home, and God has graciously blessed our efforts. Paying for our church has not been a long and laborious task,—the giving has been joyous and spontaneous, each realizing that "of thine own have we given thee." A little handful of earnest workers was organized as a society in 1895. Although the society seems to have undergone many difficulties, its members were led to see that it was impossible for discord to remain in His "structure of Truth and Love" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 583); and when they realized the nothingness of these discords, organization was again effected. A Christian Science church may be likened to a lighthouse, constantly turning its saving rays to those battling among the rocks and reefs in the dark waters, guiding them toward protection and Life.

Our doors are ever open to those who are "athirst in the desert" (Science and Health, p. 570); and a cup of cold water is offered to all. Our services are designed to heal; our prayers are offered for the congregations; our members are those who have tasted of the healing waters and are ever ready to minister to those athirst. The lame, the blind, the deaf, the dumb, the poverty-stricken, the broken in heart,—all are of one great family, and each is in reality an heir of God, capable of reflecting only Godlike qualities. As Mrs. Eddy expresses it in Science and Health (p. 294), "Man's genuine selfhood is recognizable only in what is good and true." This church is a branch of The Mother Church. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The spiritual understanding of Church is as impersonal as the Word; and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Humbly, and with gratitude in our hearts for God's goodness, and for His tender mercies to the children of men, we dedicate our church to the eternal Builder,—to God, the creator and preserver of man, the One to whom honor, dominion, glory, and majesty belong forever.

Venice, Calif. (First Church).—A notable addition to the churches of the Santa Monica Bay district will be made when the new Church of Christ, Scientist, is constructed on the northeast corner of Arizona and Fifth streets. The new church will cost, approximately, thirty thousand dollars to erect, and will conform to the distinctive style of architecture which has been used so effectively in the many beautiful Christian Science churches throughout the country.—Venice Vanguard.

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