Article April 2, 1938 Issue

Our Annual Meeting

ETHEL MUNRO GOSS

The Annual Meeting of The Mother Church, whether we attend it or not, present to every Christian Scientist an opportunity to revaluate his obligations as a member, and to gain a wider vision of the Christian Science movement and its redemptive mission. For those who live at a distance from Boston, it may not always be the part of wisdom to attend the Annual Meeting. But this is an occasion when every Christian Scientist may pledge himself to a more understanding loyalty to The Mother Church, and to a deeper appreciation of its significance in relation to our branch churches and our individual experience.

In her Message to The Mother Church for 1899, our beloved Leader wrote: "Brethren, our annual meeting is a grave guardian. It requires you to report progress, to refresh memory, to rejuvenate the branches and to vivify the buds, to bend upward the tendrils and to incline the vine towards the parent trunk" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 125). All may share in this spiritual activity, whether or not they attend the meeting in person. A careful study of Mrs. Eddy's messages to The Mother Church quickens our perception of the significance of The Mother Church and of the spiritual demands of church membership.

Our Leader was wont to direct thought beyond the symbol to the spiritual idea. On the occasion of the dedication of the Concord church she said (ibid., p. 162), "Our proper reason for church edifices is, that in them Christians may worship God,—not that Christians may worship church edifices!" To gain a proper sense of the significance of membership in The Mother Church we need to study and understand the spiritual meaning of "Church" as defined by Mrs. Eddy on page 583 of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," in part as "the structure of Truth and Love." Church, as spiritual idea, has always existed in Mind and will exist throughout eternity; and it has been revealed to this age through Christian Science.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
Testimony
April 2, 1938
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit