An Open Letter from the Board of Lectureship

The Christian Science Board of Lectureship

During the past year a new program for lecture scheduling in the United States and Canada has been in operation. The purpose is to provide a centralized system that will avoid both the bunching of lecture dates and the overscheduling of individual lecturers in some areas, as well as reduce the distance traveled by each lecturer. Electronic data processing has been employed to accomplish this.

A number of workers in the Field have written to the Board of Lectureship about this program. Some have asked how it is possible to demonstrate divine guidance in lecture planning when the schedules are determined by a computer. The answer is that behind every computer program there are many human judgments and decisions.

Computers do not think. They are programmed to follow a line of logic that originates in the intelligence expressed by individuals. Individuals acting under divine guidance can make sure that the computer operates effectively. Members of church boards and lecture committees, personnel at headquarters, and the lecturers themselves all make some input to the computer program. And each has the opportunity to demonstrate divine guidance.

This year was a start. In many ways the results were encouraging. However, a number of churches were not assigned one of the lecturers they had listed, nor were all lectures scheduled within the time period desired. Next year, the central system of scheduling will still be used so that the wide interests of the whole Field may be considered along with the desires of each church, but some of the scheduling restraints will be relaxed and other changes made to improve schedules. The achievement of this end calls for the highest order of spiritual effort and demonstration.

The Board of Lectureship is deeply appreciative of the splendid support given this year, and looks forward confidently to the further development of this progressive program.

The Christian Science Board of Lectureship

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Church Dedications

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