CHURCH LIVES November 15, 2004 Issue

'It just felt right'

Antero Villalpando—Mexico City, Mexico

I Have A Friend who thinks that churches are just big businesses. She doesn't go to a church, doesn't ever want to be a member of one. Sometimes people are disappointed in church organizations because they preach one thing and do another. For example, inside a church people can talk about loving one another and being honest, and then step outside and criticize everyone. It's not always easy to practice God's love, which is the foundation of any church.

Although I've been going to a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, all my life, I first became a member of a church when I was 12 and joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, The Mother Church, in Boston. I felt something was calling me to become more active in the Church, and to be engaged with a healing movement that was looking outward and helping others. At 16 I joined that branch of The Mother Church, and I felt the same way. I never thought of uniting with a church as something you just do at a certain age. It just felt right to do it when I did.

My current "church" is in a two-story commercial building in the Villa Coapa region of Mexico City, in the southern part of the city. Although our new group is not yet a branch of The Mother Church, we're working toward that goal. Since last December we've held Christian Science services regularly on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. People in the neighborhood are attending, and we also have children in our Sunday School classes.

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