Article November 9, 1940 Issue

Our Sacred Privilege

EARL E. SIMMS

THE services in Christian Science churches are spiritually patterned. They are designed to heal sin and sickness; to dispel fear and discouragement; and to give hope, courage, and comfort to those present. This is their purpose. That this purpose is being accomplished there is abundant proof in the many healings experienced during these services. The Lesson-Sermon from the Christian Science Quarterly, read in the Sunday service, bespeaks eternal life. It speaks of Love and Truth, and shows forth divine power. It is truly a healing and saving message from the Father. The daily study of the Lesson-Sermon is enlightening. It furnishes the student with moral fortitude and spiritual food for the day. To be present in church on the Sabbath day to hear the Lesson-Sermon read is equally important. Alert church attendance is an expression of love, loyalty, and obedience.

The Wednesday testimony meetings are inspiring and encouraging. They afford attenders an opportunity to listen to the reading of selections from the Bible and Science and Health, and to hear firsthand testimonies of the power of God, as revealed in Christian Science, to heal, save, and regenerate. At these services opportunity is given to all to tell of the good received from the ministrations of Christian Science, thus giving hope and assurance to those present who are in need of healing, and who are hungering and thirsting for a better understanding of God and His Christ.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and the beloved Leader of the movement, provided that church services should present the healing message so that all who come humbly, honestly, and earnestly seeking the truth should receive help. In the Manual of The Mother Church, under the caption "Prayer in Church," she has wisely and lovingly directed (Art. VIII, Sect. 5) that "the prayers in Christian Science churches shall be offered for the congregations collectively and exclusively." There our prayers are to be offered earnestly, lovingly, and unselfishly for "the congregations collectively and exclusively." Praying thus, one's consciousness is opened not only to experience the ever-present good acknowledged in one's own prayer, but also to receive of the good realized in the consecrated prayers of others present.

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