FOUNDATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Mary Baker Eddy's vision for fellowship in her Church.
Through the centuries —from Jesus' time till now—Christians have known the vital importance of joining together in fellowship. As a young woman, Mary Baker Eddy, who began publishing the Sentinel in 1898, enjoyed Christian fellowship as an active member of the Congregational Church. And she saw fellowship as vitally important for members of the Church she herself founded. But what specifically does uniting in fellowship mean for members of the Church of Christ, Scientist?
JESUS' TEACHINGS THE FOUNDATION OF FELLOWSHIP
As a dedicated Christian, it was natural for Mrs. Eddy to turn to the teachings of Jesus for inspiration. In his ministry Jesus proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God, in which God would reign unopposed and His children would live in perfect love and harmony. In response to a question as to which was the greatest of all commandments, Jesus said: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Mark 12:30, 31, New Revised Standard Version). For Jesus, these two commandments embodied the essential values of the Kingdom, and he expected his disciples to then and there live these values by obedience to God and by radically loving and caring for each other. In fact, Jesus said that this aspect of fellowship was the way by which people could identify true Christians: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35, NRSV).
Many Christian Scientists in Mary Baker Eddy's time did their best to live in fellowship with each other and with the teachings of their Church. They thought of themselves as a spiritual family, united by love and allegiance to the Christ.
The two great commandments are reflected in Mary Baker Eddy's expectations for Christian fellowship in her Church. Before the Church was formally organized in 1879, Mrs. Eddy in 1876 started an organization of her own students called the Christian Scientist Association. The Association's bylaws emphasized the importance of fellowship, not only in requiring members to be committed to the teachings of Christian Science, but also by interacting with each other in the spirit of friendship and love. Section 9 of the bylaws, "Fellowship," reads: "It shall be the duty of Christian Scientists to befriend and help each other in times of need, and so far as is consistent with justice and truth to defend the reputation of a member of this association, and if they have ought against a member, to faithfully tell him or her of it, and be reconciled to thy brother." And the bylaws of the Church admonished members to examine their "...real state of love toward man and fellowship and communion with Christ, as to whether [they are] gaining in the understanding and demonstration of Truth and Love,... growing less selfish, more charitable and spiritual" (EOR 10, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection, The Mary Baker Eddy Library).
FELLOWSHIP AMONG EARLY MEMBERS
Certainly many Christian Scientists in Mrs. Eddy's time did their best to live in fellowship with each other and with the teachings of their Church. They thought of themselves as a spiritual family, united by love and allegiance to the Christ. In their letters, they frequently referred to each other as brother or sister. They shared meals, encouraged each other to be better healers, formed and participated in churches, and were there for each other during life's trials and tribulations. They rejoiced together over signs that the Kingdom of God was once again breaking into human lives in healing and regeneration. A Christian Scientist describes weekly evening meals in a Boston restaurant by a group of church members who joined together "in pleasant comradeship":
Here, over a simple meal, the work that was laid out for the coming week and the experiences of each since they had last met would be talked over. A review of what [Mrs. Eddy] had said to them ...would follow, or the result of a meeting held for some special purpose; then questions on the interpretation of passages of Scripture and of [Mrs. Eddy's book] Science and Health. This hour of the evening meal was filled with a wonderful sweetness. There was a free and generous exchange of thought, a simple association which bore the fruits of faithfulness and unity ... (William Lyman Johnson, The History of the Christian Science Movement, p. 80).
Mrs. Eddy's conviction of the importance of Christian fellowship is also evident in her responses to instances when Christian Scientists rejected the call for unity. Some did not remain loyal to Christian Science and even turned against it. Others at times found it hard to get beyond personality clashes, rivalry, competition, and ambition in their relations with other members. During the 1870s and 1880s Mrs. Eddy made vigorous efforts to bring about healing and reconciliation in these situations. There are numerous letters and accounts in The Mary Baker Eddy Collection that show her attempts to help Christian Scientists stay with her teachings and to heal anything that divided them and disrupted their fellowship. As she wrote to a student in 1890:
Love, love alone, will found, upbuild, and establish forever both the Christian Scientist and our Cause. But envy, jealousy, or rivalry, will kill the spirit of this Science in the person who possesses it and will thwart the establishment of it in this age. Oh why is not this realized by everyone who has the Cause at heart, and who has labored, faithfully ... for its advancement. ...The Principle of our demonstrations as Christian Scientists is Unity and our demonstrations depend on united minds and their at-one-ment with the One Mind. (Mary Baker Eddy to Laura Lathrop, January 1890, L04339, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection)
Later that year, however, Mrs. Eddy felt it necessary to withdraw from the often draining task of being a personal mediator in disputes. In the years to come she would still on occasion feel impelled to take on that role. But in a Christian Science Journal notice she set some boundaries for herself, and stated: "I shall not be consulted verbally, or through letters, on disaffections, if there should be any between the students of Christian Science" ("Seven Fixed Rules," The Christian Science Journal, September 1890, p. 249). This, of course, did not mean that she thought that harmony and unity among Christian Scientists were any less important.
In 1892, she reorganized her Church and provided for its governance in a Manual, first published in 1895, that included By-Laws specifically requiring Christian Scientists to live in fellowship: "Any member ... who does not live in Christian fellowship with members who are in good and regular standing with this Church, shall either withdraw from the Church or be excommunicated" (p. 51). And in Article XXIII, Section 12, she required the same of Christian Science churches: "In order to be eligible to a card in The Christian Science Journal, churches and societies are required to acknowledge as such all other Christian Science churches and societies advertised in said Journal, and to maintain toward them an attitude of Christian fellowship" (p. 74).
PRACTICAL GUIDANCE FOR TODAY
Even though it's been many decades since Mrs. Eddy has been personally present to offer her counsel, Manual By-Laws and the references to Christian fellowship in Science and Health and her other writings remain as essential guidance for relations with each other.
A passage in Science and Health turns us to the Scriptures: "When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: 'Let this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus'" (p. 276).
Living the divine precepts found in the teachings of Jesus can be the foundation of fellowship in Christian churches today, as all move forward together in demonstrating the presence and power of the Kingdom of divine Love.
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