Editorial November 27, 1937 Issue

Elections in Branch Churches

Duncan Sinclair

The elections of officers in Christian Science branch churches are rightly regarded as of outstanding importance, because of the fact that the usefulness of the churches and their prosperity in no small degree depend on the choice of persons which is made by the various church memberships.

Christian Scientists should never regard these elections lightly. Before they are held they will have impersonally considered the names of those eligible for election to whatever office, be it that of Reader, clerk, treasurer, librarian, trustee or director, with a single eye to his or her suitability. And while doing so they will have prayed, even as Christian Science teaches them to pray, for divine illumination and guidance. This praying for guidance is overwhelmingly important, for it means the cleansing of the thought from a false sense of responsibility, and from any tendency to animosity or personal bias. In this regard Mrs. Eddy's words in Article VIII, Section 1, of the Church Manual are as "a lamp unto [our] feet, and a light unto [our] path." She says: "Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church. In Science, divine Love alone governs man."

Being democratic bodies, the government of Christian Science branch churches lies in the hands of the church members—not of a few, but of the whole membership. This should be realized by all; for unless it is, there will be those who fail to see their duty, and in consequence fail to exercise their legitimate right to take part in the carrying out of the elections, perhaps by staying away from the meeting called for the purpose. More and more, as church members grasp the significance, the importance, of placing in positions of official trust those best fitted to fill them, will they appreciate their duty and seek to fulfill it worthily.

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