Article October 9, 1948 Issue

Notices

with contributions from The Christian Science Board Of Directors

To the class-taught student of Christian Science there is no more joyous occasion than his annual association meeting, provided for him by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, through a By-Law to be found in the Manual of The Mother Church (Art. XXVI, Sect. 6).

A thoughtful study of our Leader's references to associations in her published writings shows the importance she attributed to these gatherings and the tenderness and care with which she watched over them. The first association of her students marked the inception of the Christian Science organization. Today, as we scan the vast Christian Science movement, The Mother Church with its far-flung branches encircling the world, we may well be impressed with the inspiration and wisdom which directed our Leader to provide within this pattern the associations of the pupils of loyal teachers which exist for no other reason than as centers of spiritual illumination. These associations are bulwarks of spiritual strength within our movement. Their direction is the unerring direction of divine Mind, for the Manual states (Art. XXVI, Sect. 6), "The pupils shall be guided by the Bible, and Science and Health, not by their teachers' personal views."

The student who recognizes the value of regular attendance at his association meeting gains a rich reward, for, in a certain sense, the association meeting is a renewal of class instruction from year to year. It has been aptly referred to as a "refresher course." Those associations which are without teachers need the consecrated support of each one of their members even more than when the teacher was personally with them, for then it becomes the demonstration of each member to see that the association shall continue to grow in spirituality and so fulfill its God-ordained purpose.

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