Article June 3, 1996 Issue

Churches of different denominations serve their members and their communities in varied ways. Worship services are primary. Yet many churches also provide Sunday Schools, counseling, soup kitchens, preschools, and cultural festivals, to mention just a few activities. Still, at the heart of any church is the love of its members for God and for each other. Taken to its ultimate extent, this love, reflecting divine Love, has the capacity to heal phsically and morally—as the authors of the articles "in focus" this week found out.

A church without creeds

Beulah M. Roegge

When King Solomon consecrated the Temple that the people had built, he said of God, "Behold, heaven and the heaven of heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!" (II Chron.6:18). Though he perceived that God could not be confined to a building, apparently he thought of the Temple as a symbol of God's presence. His prayer continued by describing many situations and conditions under which his people could come to the Temple to receive help from God. He included wars and sickness, and also the needs of the stranger in the land.

From King Solomon's day to ours, people find that involvement in church support their efforts to solve all sorts of problems. I found this help myself when I first began attending the Church of Christ, Scientist.

My husband and I had moved to a new city, and I was in a very competitive profession. Most of the time I had a dull ache in my stomach. I didn't feel much love from others when I stepped outside our apartment. I did, however, feel love when I attended the Christian Science church services, and gradually the stomach pain disappeared. Assuming that their loving approach resulted from members' obedience to the creeds of the church, I remember thinking to myself, rather wryly, "These people have to love me." But I didn't really understand what was happening! I didn't know then that their love had nothing to do with creeds. I was feeling the great power of Church, based on the divine Principle, Love. This both impelled their love and healed the stomach ailment.

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