Some people aver that the present is an irreligious age, that love of churchgoing in not a few communities is conspicuous by its absence, and that many who do frequent places of worship are motivated more by a sense of duty than by a love for the service. Be this as it may, is not a serious question posed right here for many who call themselves Christian Scientists? Is church attendance for the student of this healing truth a joy, or is it becoming merely a humdrum Sabbath and Wednesday observance? If the latter, some prayerful heart-searching will not be amiss.

Why should the Christian Scientist go to church and delight in going? Can he not on Sundays read the Lesson-Sermon from the Christian Science Quarterly in the quiet of his own home or possibly hear the service over the radio? And as for attending a Wednesday testimony meeting, is it not his privilege to read in the weekly and monthly periodicals many healing experiences? Subtle arguments of the carnal mind, these, and one needs to be alert lest they seem plausible, harmless, and attractive.

In the Manual of The Mother Church, Mary Baker Eddy states the purpose of the Church of Christ, Scientist. She writes (p. 19): "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., is designed to be built on the Rock, Christ; even the understanding and demonstration of divine Truth, Life, and Love, healing and saving the world from sin and death; thus to reflect in some degree the Church Universal and Triumphant."

When one takes the sacred step of joining The Mother Church or one of its branches, he has indeed allied himself with a holy enterprise. His is the privilege of helping to hold aloft that Christly concept of the true Church which the Apostle Paul describes in the fifth chapter of Ephesians (verse 27) as "a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." When the doors of a Christian Science church are opened, there should the Christian Scientist delight to be; there he belongs. Are not his cheery presence and loving spiritualized consciousness necessary for the successful conduct of the service? A tree is said to breathe through its leaves. Is not the redemptive voice of Truth heard through its reflection in the uplifted thought of all church members?

At this seemingly difficult hour in human history, the Christian Scientist is needed personally at his church services as never before. He needs to mingle his prayers with those of his brethren for the quieting of the present stormy seas of the carnal mind. He needs to support, with loving thought, the reading from the desk with its healing Christ-message, and to know that "the Church Universal and Triumphant" is indeed founded upon the Rock, Christ, and that, as Jesus said (Matt. 16:18), "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

And when the majestic words of "the scientific statement of being" from our Leader's textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 468), and the correlative Scriptural passages from John's first epistle (3:1–3) have been read, and the benediction pronounced, let not the church member feel that his work for the service has been concluded. For example, at the close of a Wednesday meeting a Scientist breathed this prayer: "Father, if there is anyone here who needs a healing message that I may give, lead me to him or her."

The Scientist was thus continuing the church service. The true Church was continuing to be lifted up in her consciousness, and is it surprising that a complete stranger was drawn to her, who needed a message that only she could give? Said the stranger: "I came to this meeting hoping I should hear of the healing of a certain disease with which I am confronted, but no testifier touched upon the subject. Then as I was coming down the stairs I saw you, and something told me to speak to you." It seems that the Scientist knew personally of a beautiful healing of the malady in question, and her new-found friend departed comforted and confident of healing.

Do we not need to guard against the mesmeric suggestion of turning the aftermath of a Christian Science service into a happy social gathering? Christian Scientists should be and are as a rule a joyous people; but let their joy be shared equally with friend and stranger and kept on a spiritual level. The healing service should continue until the church door closes.

What a happy, important part in the services of a Church of Christ, Scientist, is the work of the ushers. Those who serve in this capacity are generally the first ones with whom the stranger within the gates comes in contact. The usher is really the welcoming committee; he is the one who greets and escorts the guest to a seat. When would-be ushers, therefore, stand like expressionless statues at the beginning or end of a church aisle, giving no sign of welcome and making no move to seat a worshiper, can it be said that they are fulfilling our Leader's concept of this happy and sacred work? Replying to a letter sent to Mrs. Eddy by the corps of ushers of The Mother Church, she wrote (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 352), "I thank you not only for your tender letter to me, but for ushering into our church the hearers and the doers of God's Word."

At the services of The Mother Church in Boston strangers cannot help noting the friendliness and informality of the ushers. They do not stand rooted to a spot. They move about when necessary, smilingly greeting the attendants, occasionally consulting them as to where they would like to sit, and deporting themselves as the loving hosts and hostesses they truly are. Their demeanor bespeaks the quiet joy of those who are conscious of a great privilege, the privilege of leading friend and neighbor to the banqueting house where the banner over all is Love.

The alert student of Christian Science, therefore, is happy about church attendance. Not only is he happy, but he is eager to participate in the great work of healing and regeneration. And he echoes the words of the Psalmist (Ps. 122:1), "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."

John Randall Dunn